Classical Christmas One

Well, this year we start at the top. This classic performance from the 1960's is an all-around best bet.

Bargain MP3 Operas

Amazon.com has some fantastic deals on MP3 album operas. These are from the label Past Classics, and are very old recordings of varying sound quality, and for the most part are only split into a few tracks, and of course no libretto. However, considering the cost of opera cds, and the fact that you can download many librettos online, these are a great way to expand your opera collection. These all cost $2.97 or less. Do be sure to listen to the previews to get an idea of the sound quality. These recordings feature great artists from the early part of the last century like Maria Callas and Tito Gobbi.

Liszt Rhapsodies

Zubin Mehta and the Israel Philharmonic in an excellent disc of 6 Liszt 'Hungarian Rhapsodies' arranged for orchestra. On CD or MP3 Album.

Mozart String Quintets

Philips Trio has packaged Mozart's compete String Quintets featuring the Grumiaux Trio with guests in a great 3CD set. These are about the best set of these works you can find, and at a bargain price, and the MP3 version is an even better buy.

Mozart Piano Concertos

Murray Perahia recorded the Mozart Piano Concertos in the 1970s and 80s and the set has been remastered by Sony. The 12 disc set is a fairly good deal on CD but is a great bargain on MP3. These performances with the English Concert are highly recommended.

Deutsche Grammophon Anniversary Box Set

Updated 6/2/10: I do not usually recommend large classical box sets because they are expensive and not always a good buy. However the new '111 Box' by Deutsche Grammophon is a fantastic buy. The set is a 55-CD Box of full albums from DG's first 111 years. The box set seems to be out of print now, but the MP3 version is available for around $108, so a fantastic bargain. DG has set up a special site at dg-11.com with all of the information on the albums, where you can listen to a full album from the collection every week.
If a 55 disc set is too daunting, there is a 6 disc set with one track from each of the albums in the 111 set, plus other tracks for a great price too.

I Love The 80's [1880s that is]

Naxos is offering the MP3 collection 'I Love The 80s' free at Amazon.com. These are full recordings of seven symphonies, conducted by Marin Alsop. The works included are:

Symphony no. 3 in F Major: Johannes Brahms
Symphony no. 1 in D Major (Titan): Gustav Mahler
Symphony no. 5 in e minor, op 64: Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Symphony no. 6 in D Major op. 60: Antonin Dvorak
Symphony no. 3 in a minor (unfinished): Alexander Porfir'yevich Borodin
Symphony no. 3 in c minor "Organ": Camille Saint-Saens
Symphony no. 9 in d minor WAB 109: Anton Bruckner

And the cost: FREE, so go get it!

Wind Trios

A great MP3 album bargain, 72 tracks of wind trios by the Saarland Radio Wind Trio. No, I haven't heard of them either, but the playing is good and the recording pleasant. The works are from Mozart and several other lesser-known composers. And at the price of $7 for over 3 hours of music you just cannot go wrong with this one.

Dmitri Shostakovich Recommended Works

Shostakovich has 15 symphonies, so where do you start? By many accounts, the 5th is the best place, and there are several excellent recordings available. Ormandy on RCA recorded the 5th with the Philadelphia Orchestra in the 1970's, and this is an overall favorite of mine. It was reissued on CD in Japan a few years ago [I even paid to have it shipped from Japan to replace my vinyl copy], but fortunately ArchivMusic has released it domestically. It comes with 'Prometheus' by Scriabin and is a warm and effective recording.

Ormandy Edition Vol 14 - Shostakovich: Symphony No 5; Scriabin






Bernstein famously recorded the 5th Symphony in 1959 in the presence of the composer, and is known for the exceptionally fast last movement that will make you stand up and take notice. It is coupled with the 9th Symphony as part of the Bernstein Century line and is also an MP3 Album. Bernstein also recorded the 5th in 1979 in Tokyo live, and while the movements are taken at a slightly slower pace, the recording is better than the 1959 version, but overall is a secondary recommendation to the 1959 version.

For the same 5th and 9th coupling, Haitink on Decca has a great recording of these works and is a good alternate to the Ormandy and Bernstein performances. Also on MP3 Album.

If you are adventurous and are looking for a complete set of all the Shostakovich Symphonies, there are sets by Kondrashin and Haitink. I tend to favor the Kondrashin set, although the sound quality is about what you would expect from Soviet-Era recordings, not great but serviceable. Haitink's Set is culled from recordings in the 1970's and 1980's and is a good overall choice too, and also available on MP3 Album. If you want to explore some other Shosh symphonies without the whole set, the individual recordings from the above sets are also on spearate CDs, and Gergiev with the Kirov has some great recordings too of Symphonies 4-9.

GO TO SHOSTAKOVICH'S PAGE

Gustav Holst Recommended Works

Richard Hickox and the BBC National Orchestra of Wales recently released a CD of Orchestral Works by Gustav Holst on Chandos Records. Included are The Perfect Fool, The Golden Goose, The Lure and The Morning of the Year. These works are ballet suites and music recorded by Hickox before he past away late last year. Those of you familiar with The Planets will find a lot to like here yet will hear a different side of Holst. These works are not recorded too often, and only recently has the recordings of some of these works from the 1970's been re-released on Lyrita. The performances are stellar, the sound quality is excellent, and these recordings beat any of the currently available versions. An MP3 version is also at Amazon's aStore.

The Planets is a suite in seven parts, each named for a planet in our solar system. Earth is not named, and Pluto had not been discovered at the time Planets was composed. This recording by Karajan and the Berliner Philharmonic is a great performance and has demonstration-class sound. MP3 Version also available.

Naxos has a nicely performed CD of various other Holst works such as Beni Mora and Somerset Rhapsody. Some good British music with nice playing and sound. MP3 Version also available.



GO TO HOLST'S PAGE

Bela Bartok Recommended Works

Bartok's best works are the Concerto For Orchestra, Music for Strings Percussion and Celesta, and The Miraculous Mandarin Suite. His works reflect a modern style of composition, but are filled with a wonderful tapestry of sounds and melodies.

Reiner and the Chicago Symphony have the most basic of performances from which others are judged, and the remastering of these old recordings is just great. The Concerto, Music for Strings, and Hungarian Sketches make up this Living Stereo release, and is the perfect place to start your Bartok collection. Also available as an MP3 Album.



Boulez with the Chicago Symphony features newer digital recordings of all of Bartok's major works. The Miraculous Mandarin and Music for Strings is an excellent CD, and even with the duplication of a Reiner performance, Boulez has something different to say about Celesta, so still a nice recording to have in your collection. Also on MP3 Album. Boulez also recorded other Bartok works such as Divertimento and Dance Suite in another DG set that combines these works in a well-performed package. MP3 Album version

Anda, Fricsay and the Radio Symphony Orchestra of Berlin may not be household names, but they give a searing account of Bartok's Three Piano Concertos on DG. Released on DG 'The Originals' this is another basic performance that others are compared. The sound is decent and the playing gets right down to the essence of these very powerful concertos. Also on MP3 Album.

Antonio Vivaldi Recommended Works

Vivaldi's most famous work is the 'Four Seasons' or 'Le quattro stagiono', four concertos from his Op. 8 Violin Concertos. There are dozens of recordings available and here are a few of my favorites.

On original instruments, Trevor Pinnock and the English Concert give the definitive performance on Archiv. The recording is from 1982 and has been remastered with a few additional works. Highly recommended, also comes in an MP3 Version.

Abbado and the London SO with soloist Gidon Kremer give a great performance on modern instruments. A bit smoother sound but great none the less and comes in an MP3 Version.

Nils-Erik Sparf and Drottingham Baroque Ensemble have a spectacular sounding recording on BIS. The sound is crystal clear, and the playing is excellent, the only downside is that it is only available for download as an MP3 Album.

The 'Four Seasons' is actually the first 4 concertos in a set of 12 works also known as 'The Contest between Harmony and Invention'. Kraemer and the Raglan Baroque Players with soloist Monica Huggett on Virgin Veritas have a bargain set from 2000. The 2 CD set is bargain priced, and the MP3 Album even cheaper. It is a very nice recording, and includes the 'Seasons' along with the other Op. 8 Concertos, along with 2 other concertos.



GO TO VIVALDI'S PAGE

Igor Stravinsky Recommended Works

The works that make up the essential Stravinsky collection are 'The Rite of Spring', 'Petrouska' and 'Firebird'. Stravinsky made concert suites of his music and also updated a lot of his works in 1946-47 due to some copyright issues, so there are several versions of the various works and things can get confusing to say the least. Since most of the recordings below contain two or more of these works they are summarized at the end.

As a sidenote, Sony has a Masterworks podcast that it produces on and off, and they had a fascinating series on some of the Stravinsky recording sessions from 1961. You can access the podcast thru iTunes, and you are looking for the episodes from 2007 with Stravinsky in the title, or go to Sony Masterworks Podcast to visit the website and listen.


The Firebird
The ballet music for Firebird comes in the following versions: 1910 Original Ballet, 1911 Concert Suite, 1919 Concert Suite and the 1945 Concert Suite. To make things simple, the 1919 Suite is the most popular and contains selections from Firebird. The 1945 Suite has all the music from the 1911 and 1919 Suites and contains almost all of the music from the 1910 version but without the interludes. The 1945 is the one Stravinsky himself recorded in the 1960's. The 1910 and 1945 are interchangeable since they have about the same music, and the 1919 is a great selection of the best parts.

The Bernstein has the 1919 Suite with 'Rite' while Rattle conducts the 1910 Original in his 2CD bargain set. Gergiev and the St. Petersburg Kirov Orchestra however gets the nod for the best all out recording of the 1910 Original and comes with a great work by Scriabin.
Stravinsky recorded a lot of his works in the 1960's for CBS and Stravinsky Conducts: Firebird features the 1945 Suite along with other works. There is also a 22CD set of everything Stravinsky conducted for Columbia, and is in a bargain box set available used. Do note the reviews about the documentation in the set being skimpy, but still a great value.



Rite of Spring [Le Sacre du Printemps] / Petrushka
Once again there is more than one version of Petrushka, and many of the recordings are paired with 'The Rite of Spring'. The main difference is in the orchestration, the 1947 version is for a smaller ensemble.
The 1911 original version by Monteux, who conducted the premiere of the work in 1911, is an RCA recording classic from 1959 and the sound quality is remarkable for its age. There are two releases of the same recording, with 'The Rite of Spring' [a 1951 mono recording], or on the RCA Living Stereo release with Franck's 'Symphony in D' [THE recording to get of Franck's work], so choose your coupling.
Boulez with the Cleveland Orch. has two recordings of 'Petrushka' and 'Rite', one from 1969 on Sony and his digital remake from 1992 on DG. While the DG recording has the upper hand with superior sonics, for the best performance, the CBS era recording is really the way to go, and comes with the best version of 'The Rite of Spring' too.
If you prefer to get the 1947 Version of Petrushka, you have a choice between Stravinsky's recording, or the excellent one by Bernstein with 'Pulcinella'.
Ozawa with the Boston and Chicago Symphony Orchestras has a excellent recording of 'Rite' and 'Petrushka [1947] ' on the BMG High Performance label.

GO TO STRAVINSKY'S PAGE

The Complete Symphony Set - 226 Symphonies

Brilliant Classics is known for producing bargain box sets that draws music from various labels.
The Complete Symphony Set - 226 Symphonies - 100 Discs is a great deal at the list price of $169 but at the moment ArchivMusic.com has it on sale for $109, around a dollar a disc! The set includes full sets of Mozart, Beethoven and others. The performances vary, but boy do you get a lot of music. This set is missing a few composers, but that hardly matters. If you want to expand your music collection at a bargain basement price, this is surely the way to go.

Here is the review from ArchivMusic.com:

Brilliant Classics has given us some of the most astounding values in classical music recordings over the last few years, but they have surely outdone themselves with this latest issue.
The 100 CDs in this set contain 226 complete symphonies. With a few notable exceptions, virtually the entire symphonic canon of the Classical and Romantic period are included. There is no Bruckner or Sibelius, and it would have been nice to have the rest of the Dvorák and Tchaikovsky cycles, but why dwell on what is missing? What is included is extraordinary.
This set includes the complete symphonies of Mozart, Haydn, Beethoven, Schubert, Schumann, Brahms, Mendelssohn, Mahler, and Nielsen -- and even the great 20th-century symphonist, Shostakovich, has a spectacular complete cycle included as well. The mature symphonies of Tchaikovsky and Dvorák are here, and there is even room for some surprises, like the complete Rimsky-Korsakov and Borodin symphonies.
Most importantly, it’s not just about the quantity. The quality of some of these cycles is as good as it gets. By any standard, Herbert Blomstedt’s Beethoven cycle in Dresden is one of the great ones. The complete Haydn symphonies with Adam Fischer and the Austro-Hungarian Haydn Orchestra is worth the price of the entire set all by itself. In fact, for anyone looking for a complete set of the Haydn symphonies, this is hands-down the way to go. The Brahms and Mozart cycles recorded by Brilliant have both been critically acclaimed, the ever-reliable Neville Marriner and his Academy are here for Schumann, Roy Goodman and Hanover play Schubert . . . what’s not to like? The aforementioned Shostakovich is one of the best all-around cycles available, yet it’s currently difficult to come by outside of this box.
In short, this is a set that is sure to please anyone. There is no other way to get so much essential repertoire for so little. Many of the performances could suffice as a “reference” set for a collection, and those that don’t, like the mixed group of Mahler symphonies, include some notable alternate takes like a live BIS recording of the Eighth with Neemi Järvi and Jascha Horenstein’s third from Unicorn.
In short, this is one of the best investments in classical recordings you’ll ever make. Snap it up while you have the chance!

RCA Living Stereo

If you are a fan of the RCA Living Stereo series, you may get a kick out of this old film:
RCA LIVING STEREO