Classical Corner Classical Music Corner (thread #18)

After ordering this one based on lots of stellar reviews on SACD.net and others, I am finally listening and I am blown away. One of the very best SACDs I have heard. A near perfect recording with a tremendously dynamic performance:

http://www.sa-cd.net/showtitle/6592

 

Wow, that's crazy money. I often wonder when I'm looking through stacks of LPs at an estate sale if I just passed on a big dollar item. Most are trashed but some were taken care of.

On the flip side I just bought this Bach/Hogwood CD for a $1.00. Sounds lovely.

 

I didn't either. When I first started listening to classical, I upset someone who'd been listening to classical music all his life when I said I didn't want to listen to any more Tchaikovsky or Mozart, that I liked Mahler. My friend was of the opinion that you need to go in order, from "easy" to, well, less "easy," and he just would not move off that point: "How can you possibly get Mahler if you haven't first listened to Brahms (whose orchestral music I find impossibly dull)?"

That's a lot of fun. I still listen to things I haven't heard before, even though I've got my list of favorites.

My favorites of each of those are ones you do not list. I like Bernstein's M6 on Sony (available in very worthwhile DSD remastering in a nice, cheap box set). http://www.amazon.com/Mahler-Comple...=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1290208087&sr=1-1

My favorite M4 is by Karajan, and it will be rereleased on DG's Mahler, the People's Edition sometime soon. http://www.mahler150.com/en_GB/dream-mahler/the-peoples-mahler

And I like Bernstein's M5 on DG, also contained in the People's Edition.

 

My top choice for the Resurrection is below. Even tops Lenny, Walter IMHO.

 

Yeah, going from the "easiest" to, let's say, more "difficult" is too simplistic. Just by "getting" Mahler rather quickly, we can see that the so-called theory holds no water.
Aside he says: "Water Music" itself it pretty good by the way ... Nice work, Mr. Handel.

As I said previously, I held off on Mahler because so many said he was impenetrable, hard to understand, etc. Well, not for me.

 

So you're talkin' Vienna Philharmonic as opposed to New York on Sony?

 

Now playing CD1 from this set for a first listen ...

 

For Mahler's Fifth, yeah. But Don't rule out Herbert von Karajan's DGG recording with the Berlin Philharmonic. Karajan's Mahler generally doesn't work for me, this is the exception.

 

I did have Bernstein's DG disc noted as a possibility for the 5th but was still undecided. Baribolli seems to have a lot of fans for that piece. Karajan I had slated for the 9th until I finally decided on Boulez.

 

Now playing CD2 from this set for a first listen ...

 

I have the HvK's Mahler 5th on LP ...

 

Now playing CD3 from this set for a first listen ...

 

Now playing this CD for a first listen ...

 

Nice find!
Is that a record or CD?

 

Yes, that's right. I also like Sinopoli's M5.

 

I like HVK's 4th (favorite version) and 6th, too.

 

OK, Bernstein on DG will do it for No. 5 then. Got it in my shopping cart already. Thanks for the reply.

 

Love this! I picked up a cd copy in the 90's when I was looking for holiday fare and was enchanted. I think there's another studio disc (carols and capers, which i haven't heard), a live disc (carols at christmas), and an original christmas inspired song cycle about the nativity (gold, frankincense, and myrrh). As much as I enjoy the studio stuff, I'd highly recommend the live disc which has a palpable sense of 'you are there' to it, and quite a few thrilling moments, especially considering it's basically a holiday disc. Going back about 10 years I happened to be in London just before Christmas and thought I'd check to see what music was happening. I couldn't believe my luck to see that Maddy & the Carnival Band were doing a holiday show at Southbank! It was really a great show and I got the chance to say hello afterwards, although I didn't get any signatures. Apparently the holiday shows developed quite a reputation and they took it on the road annually, although I think they no longer do...

 

how did i miss this(the building) when i was in Berlin ?(1986) the interior
is familiar from old Karajan DGG lp covers.

 

i never got the "Mahler is difficult" thing either.not to say that it's easy
to grasp everything he's up to at first listen,but the sound of his music is so
wonderful-the tunes,the orchestral texture.the lighter passages are so
delightful & the darker ones so powerful...

 

Couldn't "Messiah" be considered Christmas Music?
Or is that a bit of a reach?
Out of all the Classical CD's I own I find it hard to believe
that only one is directly Christmas Related!

 

And consider how much John Williams pinched of the first movement of the Second Symphony, the final movement of the First, etc. I've been hearing Mahler and Wagner since I was a kid!

 

We Like Sheep!

Fantastic, albeit totally non-authentic, rendition of the ole chestnut. Powerful singing by the male leads, overblown orchestration by Eugene Goosens, classic fifties stereo. "Everything's wrong and at the same time it's rrrrrright!" as Captain Beefheart always sez. Anyway, this is my favorite "Messiah".

 

It's the original LP version of this CD:

 

I'm listening to the 2nd now. I've thought from time to time that if he were alive today, Mahler would be making music for the movies.