GMG Members' Personal Essentials Lists

[DavidRoss]

Okay, y'all:  We've gotten warmed up with a group effort at an Essentials List for newbies.  How about we each offer our own essentials list, picking a manageable number of titles (cycles included here) that's neither too daunting for a newbie nor insufficiently restrictive to prevent us from careful consideration of our selections...say, 25 titles apiece?  But to keep it a bit more challenging, let's limit the number of box sets to 5, and further restrict that to cycles (i.e. LvB 4tets) and not complete collections:  no 100-disc Complete Haydn on Brilliant or similar offerings.  Operas, oratorios, Mahler symphonies (  ), etc.,  will not count as such a set but rather as one work

You can approach this however you like, as a broad overview intended for a rank newcomer, as a narrower but deeper exploration of a particular era or genre that excites you and you think will excite others, or as a personal "desert island faves" list that you would not want to be without...or by throwing darts at your CD collection, if that's what floats your boat!

Anyone care to begin?

[karlhenning]

Taking title to include multi-disc issues makes this a bit easier.

Off the top of my head, 25 titles which, even if I somehow had to liquidate my library, I should refuse to let go:

Stravinsky Conducts Stravinsky
Stravinsky, Threni, Les noces, Symphony of Psalms / Robt Craft conductor
Shostakovich, Complete Symphonies / Maksim Shostakovich, conductor
Shostakovich, Symphony № 10, Songs & Dances of Death / Jansons, Phila, Robt Lloyd
Shostakovich, Preludes & Fugues, Opus 87 / Nikolayeva

Shostakovich, Suite on Words of Michelangelo, Six Romances on Verses by Relaigh, Burns & Shakespeare, &c. / Abdrazakov, Noseda, BBC Phil
Shostakovich, Violin Concertos / Khatchatryan, Masur, Orchestre National de France
Hindemith, Complete Kammermusiken / Abbado, members of the Berlin Philharmonic
Hindemith, Das Marienleben (new version) / Isokoski, Viitasalo
Prokofiev, Violin Sonatas / Kremer, Argerich

Prokofiev, Romeo & Juliet / Ozawa, BSO
Prokofiev, L'enfant prodigue, Le pas d'acier / Jurowski, conductor
Boulez conducts Schoenberg I
Boulez conducts Schoenberg II
Feldman, Crippled Symmetries / California EAR Unit

Sibelius, Symphonies / Blomstedt, SFSO
Doráti conducts Bartók
Berlioz Box / Munch, BSO
Rakhmaninov, Symphony № 1, Isle of the Dead / Noseda, BBC Phil
Rakhmaninov, Complete Songs

Wuorinen, String Sextet & other works / Group for Contemporary Music, &al.
Markevich, Arrangement of JS Bach The Musical Offering / Lyndon-Gee, Arnhem Phil
Tallis, Complete Works
Cage, Cheap Imitation &c. / Schleiermacher
My 40-disc JS Bach box

[DavidRoss]

Way to go, Karl!  Perhaps your approach is wiser than mine--I'm having a hard time paring it down and up.  A dozen or so is easy, and 50+ might not be too hard, but trimming it to 25 is proving harder than I thought.  Heck, in most cases even choosing one version among several competing recordings of a work is tough!

Anyway, here's a go that's both aimed at newbies and none of which I'd care to be without:


1   Bach      Cello Suites      Fournier      
2   Bach   Goldberg Variations   Schiff ECM      
3   Bach      Violin Concertos        Suwanai/COE      
4   Beethoven   Piano Sonatas         Kovacevich      
5   Beethoven   String Quartets   Emerson SQ      
6   Beethoven   Symphonies   Abbado/BP (Rome)      
7   Brahms   Piano Concertos 1 & 2     Freire/Chailly/Gewandhaus Leipzig      
8   Copland   Appalachian Spring/Rodeo/Billy the Kid        MTT/SFS      
9   Debussy   Prelude...Faun/La Mer/Images/En Bateau   MTT/Giulini/BSO      
10   Debussy   Preludes      Planès      
11   Elgar   Cello Concerto/Enigma Variations    Tortelier/Boult/LPO      
12   Haydn   String Quartets op 33   Quatuor Mosaiques      
13   Mahler   Symphonies    Sinopoli/Philharmonia      
14   Mozart   Symphonies 40 & 41   Minkowski/Musiciens du Louvre      
15   Mozart   Cosi fan tutte    Jacobs      
16   Pärt     Tabula Rasa/Fratres/Cantus   Jarrett/Kremer      
17   Prokofiev   Piano Concerto 3 (+ Ravel Piano Concerto)   Argerich/Abbado/BP      
18   Rachmaninov   Piano Concertos 2 & 3   Ashkenazy/Kondrashin      
19   Rossini   Il Barbiere di Siviglia      Prey/Berganza/Abbado/LSO      
20   Sibelius   Symphonies   Blomstedt/SFS      
21   Sibelius   Tone Poems   Vänskä/Lahti      
22   Strauss, R.   Four Last Songs/Metamorphosen/Oboe Cto   Janowitz/Karajan/BP      
23   Stravinsky   Pétrouchka/ Le Sacre du Printemps      Boulez/CO      
24   Vaughan Williams   Symphony 5/The Lark Ascending   Davis/Thomson/LSO      
25   Vivaldi   Four Seasons/3 Violin Concertos   Carmignola/Marcon/Venice Baroque Orch      

Of course the list would probably be different tomorrow, but about half would probably be included every time (at least the works, if not the performers).

Edit: typo

[Bulldog]

Question:

Can more than one recording be cited for a particular work? 

[The new erato]

Question:

Can more than one recording be cited for a particular work?

Translated: Is 50 Goldbergs acceptable?

[Franco]

I didn't spend much time on this, but here's a list that I can live with off the top of my head:

Bach B Minor Mass Harnoncourt
Bach WTC   Tureck
Beethoven Piano Sonatas  Arrau
Beethoven SQ Takacs
Beethoven Symphonies Karajan
Berg Boulez Edition   
Carter SQ   Arditti
Debussy (w/Saint-Saens) Chamber Music for Woodwinds   
Durufle/Faure Requiems Cleobury
Haydn SQ    Amadeus
Haydn Symphonies (mixed set) Weil
Mozart Symphonies 25-41 Bohm
Mozart Cosi fan tutte Jacobs
Mozart Requiem Hogwood
Mozart/Brahms Clarinet Quintets Emerson/Stolzman
Puccini Tosca Callas
Puccini La Boheme Tebaldi
Schoenberg Boulez Edition I   
Stravinsky Greek Ballets Craft
Stravinsky Concerto set Stravinsky
Stravinsky Minatures set Stravinsky
Verdi Otello Toscanini
Webern - comp. Boulez   
Wourinen Music of Two Decades I   
Wourinen Music of Two Decades II

EDIT: nixed Golijov and added Beethoven piano sonatas.   

[Bulldog]

Translated: Is 50 Goldbergs acceptable?

Wouldn't be more than 25.  Actually, a lot less.  I have to leave room for a few WTC's and recordings of other composers.

[Lethevich]

A location dedicated to lists with near-infinite subjects... I sense this becoming the most popular of all GMG threads

[Bulldog]

Here's mine:

Bach - Goldberg Variations - Hantai/Mirare
Bach - Goldberg Variations - Tureck/DG
Bach - Goldberg Variations - Schiff/ECM
Bach - Goldberg Variations - Gould (81)/Sony
Bach - French Suites - Cates/Music & Arts
Bach - ClavierUbung III - Suzuki/BIS
Bach - WTC - Tureck/DG
Bach - WTC - Woodward/Celestial Harmonies
Bach - WTC - Wilson/Teldec or Apex
Bach - WTC - Watchorn/Musica Omnia
Bach - Keyboard Partitas/Sheppard/Romeo
Bartok - String Quartets/Vegh/Music & Arts
Chopin - Preludes - Argerich/DG
Dvorak - String Quartets - Panocha/Supraphon
Granados - Goyescas - De Larrocha/EMI
Handel - Heroic Arias - Bowman/King/Hyperion
Haydn - Piano Sonatas - Brendel/Philips
Mahler - Symphony No. 4 - Fischer/Channel Classics
Mozart - Great Mass in C minor - Leppard/EMI
Myaskovsky/Vainberg - Violin Concertos/Yablonsky/Naxos
Schumann - Kreisleriana & Sym. Etudes/Schliessmann/Bayer
Scriabin/Shostakovich - Piano Preludes/Deyanova/Nimbus
Shostakovich - Preludes & Fugues, Op. 87 - Nikolayeva/Regis
Taneyev - String Quartets - Taneyev Qt./Northern Flowers
Taneyev - Piano Trio & Piano Quartet - Barbican Piano Trio/Dutton Epoch

[DavidRoss]

Question:

Can more than one recording be cited for a particular work?

Translated: Is 50 Goldbergs acceptable?

As long as it's Bach!

I'm looking forward to seeing more lists.  Seems to me that this exercise might be helpful to newbies seeking recommendations re. music to investigate, to forum newcomers (new to CM or not) getting a handle on members' tastes and predilections, and also to old-timers hoping to discover unsuspected gems among the well-worn faves...as well as being surprised sometimes by others' picks, like Don's Mahler 4 and Granados, or MI's Bantock.

[Luke]

Mr Henning, I particularly love that you selected this!

Markevich, Arrangement of JS Bach The Musical Offering / Lyndon-Gee, Arnhem Phil

Glad I'm not alone in adoring it so much (though it could do with a better recording - somewhere I have an almost hallucinatory LP of it which I used to spin endlessly)

[mc ukrneal]

Ukrneals Uberlist ( ) (utterly uber!):


Arriaga/Vorisek Symphonies, Mackerras on Hyperion
Beethoven Piano Sonatas Kempff (mono) on DG
British Light Music (4 discs, Hyperion set)
Brahms Hungarian Dances, Bogar on Naxos
Chopin (Set) Rubinstein on RCA/Sony
Copland Symphony No 3, Bernstein on DG
Debussy Various Piano, Koscis on Phillips
Dvorak Overtures/Slavonic Dances (3 discs, set), Kubelik on DG
Fete du Ballet, Bonynge on Decca (set)
Godowsky Complete Studies on Chopin's Etudes, Hamelin on Hyperion
Grainger/Coates Country Gardens, Fennell on Mercury
Grieg Peery Gynt, Lyric suite and S Jorslafer, Jarvi on DG
Holst The Planets, Steinberg BSO
Mozart Marriage of Figaro, Solti on Decca
Offenbach Entre Nous (Outstanding introduction to his music), Various artists on Opera Rara
Prokofiev, Peter and the wolf (includes Bizet, Debussy and Dukas), Sir Ralph Richardson
Puccini La Boheme, Karajan on Decca
Rimsky-Korsakov Scheherezade (+Capriccio Espagnol), Mackerras on Telarc
Rossini Overtures, Orpheus on DG
Schubert Impromtus, Brendel on Phillips
Schumann Dicterliebe, Wachter/Brendel on Decca
Strauss (Richard) Alpine Symphony, Haitink on LSO
Tchaikovsky Symphonies 4-6, Mravinsky on DG
Verdi Otello, Domingo/Mehta on RCA
Wagner Mesitersinger, Kubelik on Arts Music

There were some tough cuts, but this representa music I could listen to repeatedly and continue to enjoy. My rule was to limit each composer to one disc (filler was excluded).

[Lethevich]

My personal favourite recordings. Not all ones I'd expect people to drop down and worship, or even like the music, but I return to these very frequently:

Schubert - String Quartet No.10, 13 (Mosaïques Quartet, Astrée)
Vaughan Williams - Violin Soanta, String Quartet No.2, etc (Nash Ensemble, Hyperion)
Bantock - Celtic Symphony, Hebridean Symphony, etc (Handley, Royal PO, Hyperion)
Vasks - Violin Concerto, Symphony No.1 (Kremer, Kremerata Baltica, Teldec)
Bax - Orchestral Works Vol.5 (Thomson, London PO, Chandos)
Bartók - Violin Duos (Keller, Pilz, ECM)
Britten - Frank Bridge Variations, Purcell Variations, Simple Symphony (Britten, ECO, LSO, Decca)
Cooke - Symphony No.1, String Concerto, etc (Braithwaite, London PO, Lyrita)
Bruckner - Symphony No.6 (Haitink, Staatskapelle Dresden, Profil)
Dvořák - Symphonic Poems (Järvi, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Chandos) --- this one surprises even myself
Tchaikovsky - Symphony No.6, Francesca da Rimini (Giulini, Beecham, Philharmonia, Royal PO, EMI)
Glass - Another Look at Harmony Part 4, Music for Voices (Riesman, etc, Orange Mountain)
Schubert - Winterreise (Padmore, Lewis, Harmonia Mundi)
Holmboe - Symphony No.11-13 (Hughes, Aarhus Symphony Orchestra, BIS)
Ten Holt - Canto Ostinato (Brilliant Classics) [box]
Liszt - Piano Works (Bolet, Decca) [box]
Medtner - Piano Quintet, Piano Concerto No.1 (Alexeev, Lazarev, BBC SO, Hyperion)
Palestrina - Missa Ecce ego Joannes, etc (O'Donnell, Westminster Cathedral Choir, Hyperion)
Parry, Stanford - Songs of Farewell, etc (Marlow, Trinity College Cambridge Choir, Conifer)
Wagner - Tannhäuser (Solti, Vienna Philharmonic, Decca)
Skalkottas - Greek Dances (Fidetzis, Urals State Philharmonic Orchestra, Lyra)
Simpson - Symphony No.11, Nielsen Variations (Taylor, City of London Sinfonia, Hyperion)
Sibelius - Collection (Vänskä, Lahti Symphony Orchestra, etc, BIS) [box]
Schumann - Symphonic Étude, Bunte Blätter, Fantasiestücke (Richter, Regis)
Strauss - Der Rosenkavalier (Kleiber, Fassbaender, Jones, DG) [DVD]

@DavidRoss: Cue more Bantock surprise

My memory is useless so I am no doubt forgetting vital things that could replace others on the list.

[DavidRoss]

Quite a few surprises, Sarah.  I'm rather fond of that Bantock disc, too, but didn't know others liked it so much.  Perhaps the Glass is most surprising to me, even in a list with so few of the usual suspects.  I darned near included his Violin Cto coupled with Adams's.  Maybe I should look him up on the composers threads to see who else likes him. 

[Luke]

OK - I'll play!

I want to take that Bach/Markevitch disc too, of course. So, I'll put it first. Otherwise, just the order they occur to me:

1 - Bach/Markevitch - A Musical Offering. In the Marco Polo recording seeing as no other is available right now
2 - Martinu - Symphony 4/Tre Ricerare - Turnovsky (Apex disc also includes a wonderful PC 4, so I'll take that one)
3 - Enescu - works including Violin sonata 3 and Piano sonata 3 (Enescu/Lipatti, twofer)
4 - Janacek - String Quartets (Smetana Quartet)
5 - Brian - Emi twofer including symphonies 7, 8, 9 (Mackerras/Groves)
6 - Ravel - Piano Concerti/Gaspard (Francois)
7 - Ravel - L'enfant et les sortlieges (Ansermet)
8 - Janacek - piano works (many versions I'd be happy with)
9 - Janacek - Diary of one who Disappeared (Blachut)
10 - Janacek - Violin Concerto/Schluck und Jau (Suk)
11 - Faure - Nocturnes (Thyssens-Valentin)
12 - Chopin - Mazurkas (Rubinstein)
13 - Bryars - After the Requiem (Frisell etc.)
14 - Silvestrov - Silent Songs (ECM)
15 - Part - Arbos (ECM)
16 - Chopin - Preludes (Cortot)
17 - Ives - Concord Sonata (Lubimov - yes, really, that is my considered choice)
18 - Brahms - Violin Sonatas 1-3 (Grumiaux)
19 - Brahms - Horn Trio/Clarinet Quartet (A Brain/Kell)
20 - Beethoven - Late Quartets (Busch)
21 - Beethoven - Late Sonatas (again, I'd choose from a few possibles)
22 - Bach - Violin Sonatas/Partitas (possibly Sergiu Luca, if available)
23 - Cage - Sonatas and Interludes (Butterley, if available, otherwise Steinberg)
24 - Mozart - any of a number of choices of later piano concerti, but must include K488
25 - Xenakis - Chamber music (Arditti/Helffer)


Yes, I think I could be happy with that... though I'd want some late Schubert in there too, I might have to sneak in the Lindsay's box set...

Edit - and oh dear, I'd NEED the CPO disc of Schoeck's Elegie too. And Ian Partridge's Schumann Dichterliebe/Eichendorff Liederkreis.... Can I go to 30??

Further Edit - and what about Kagan/Bashmet/Richter in the Shostakovich violin/viola sonatas? Or a set of the quartets, or the fugues. What about the Brilliant box set of Poulenc chamber music and piano music. I also NEED all of those. More thought needed, I think....

[bhodges]

Arias & Scenes: Tchaikovsky, Puccini, Janáček, R. Strauss, Wagner,  Lehár (Karita Mattila/Yutaka Sado/LPO)
Bach: Brandenburg Concertos (Concerto Italiano)
Bartók: The Miraculous Mandarin/Concerto for Orchestra (Chailly/Concertgebouw)
Berio: Sinfonia/Folk Songs (Chailly/Concertgebouw)
Bernstein: West Side Story/On the Waterfront Suite/Fancy Free (Bernstein/NYPO)

Britten: Peter Grimes (Runnicles/MET, DVD)
Bruckner: Symphonies (Chailly/Concertgebouw)
Debussy: La Mer/Nocturnes (Boulez/Cleveland)
Dvořák: Symphony No. 6/Janáček: Taras Bulba (Dohnányi/Cleveland)
Gubaidulina: String Quartets (Danish Quartet)

Ives: Holidays Symphony (MTT/Chicago)
Lachenmann: String Quartets (Arditti String Quartet)
Mahler: Symphonies (Chailly/Concertgebouw)
Murail: Gondwana/Désintégrations (Yves Prin/Orch Natl. de France)
Prokofiev: Symphony No. 3/Varèse: Arcana/Mosolov: Iron Foundry (Chailly/Concertgebouw)

R. Strauss: Four Last Songs (Janowitz/Karajan/Berlin)
Rachmaninov: Isle of the Dead/Symphonic Dances (Ashkenazy/Concertgebouw)
Ravel: Boléro/Rapsodie Espagnole (Boulez/Berlin)
Shostakovich: Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk (Jansons/Concertgebouw, DVD)
Shostakovich: Symphony No. 4 (Haitink/Chicago)

Stravinsky: Pétrouchka/Le Sacre du printemps (Boulez/Cleveland)
The Girl with Orange Lips: Falla, Stravinsky, Ravel, Delage, Kim (Dawn Upshaw)
Varèse: Complete Works (Chailly/Concertgebouw)
Xenakis: Complete Orchestral Works (Tamayo/Luxembourg)
Xenakis: String Quartets (JACK Quartet)

--Bruce

[Lethevich]

Perhaps the Glass is most surprising to me, even in a list with so few of the usual suspects.  I darned near included his Violin Cto coupled with Adams's.  Maybe I should look him up on the composers threads to see who else likes him. 

As a caveat, Another Look At Harmony Part IV is the only Glass piece I would be sad if it went to the incinerator. Many others I enjoy but am not fanatical about, but ALAH IV is remarkable - it's like a cross between a Renaissance or Medieval mass (or more specifically, Léonin and Pérotin's brand of weird minimalism) and Music in 12 Parts.

Edit:

12 - Chopin - Mazurkas (Rubinstein)

I knew I forgot something -_-

[Drasko]

Couldn't get it under 30, I'm weak.

Chant de l'Eglise de Rome Ensemble Organum (Zig Zag)
Janequin Masses Ensemble Clement Janequin (HM)
Monteverdi L'Orfeo Torres/Garrido (K617)
Bach French Suites Rousset (Ambroisie)
Rameau Pieces de Clavecin Ross (Still)
Delalande Grands Motets Christie (HM)
Lully Armide Laurens/Herreweghe II (HM)
Gluck Orfeo ed Euridice Jacobs (HM)
Mozart Piano Concerto No.24 Haskil/Markevitch (Philips)
Beethoven Sonatas 30-32 Richter (Parnassus)
Schubert Impromptus Zimerman (DG)
Chopin Ballades Francois (EMI)
Chopin Nocturnes, Mazurkas Rubinstein II (RCA)
Schumann Fantasia op.17 Sofronitsky (Denon)
Tchaikovsky Swan Lake Svetlanov (Melodiya)
Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto Heifetz/Barbirolli (Naxos)
Mussorgsky Sunless Nesterenko/Krainev (Melodiya)
Scriabin piano recitals Sofronitsky (Denon)
Rachmaninov Piano Concerto No.3 Horowitz/Barbirolli (APR)
Rachmaninov All-Night Vigil Sveshnikov (Melodiya)
Verdi Otello Del Monaco/Serafin (Myto)
Bruckner Symphony No.9 Furtwangler (DG)
Mahler Symphony No.9 Karajan II (DG)
Strauss Salome Welitsch/Reiner (Gebhardt)
Berg Wozzeck Grundheber/Abbado (DG)
Ravel Concerto for left hand Francois/Cluytens (EMI)
Ravel Piano Trio Rouvier/Kantorow/Muller (Erato)
Debussy Images Michelangeli (DG)
Granados Goyescas deLarrocha (Decca)
Poulenc Clarinet Sonata Spaendonck/Tharaud (Naxos)
Janacek String Quartets Janacek Quartet (Supraphon)

[DavidRoss]

Couldn't get it under 30, I'm weak.

 

[(poco) Sforzando]

I may have too many box sets here. Tant pis.

Bach, Goldbergs, Gould
Bach, Mass in B minor, Harnoncourt
Bartok, Quartets, Takacs
Beethoven, Diabelli Variations, Rosen
Beethoven, Late Quartets, Yale Quartet

Beethoven, Missa, Bernstein Sony
Beethoven, Symphonies, Bernstein Sony for 3, Gunther Schuller for 5, Bystrik Rezucha for 6 (I'm serious), Toscanini NYP for 7, Scherchen for 8, Harnoncourt for the 3rd mvt. of 9 (but nothing else), Mackerras for the rest
Berg, Wozzeck, Dohnanyi
Berlioz, Troyens, Davis 1st version
Boulez, Pli Selon Pli, the Sony version

Brahms, all the chamber music on Philips, except substitute the Berg for the Italiani
Bruckner, Symphony 8, Solti
Carter, Concerto for Orchestra, Knussen
Chopin, Piano Works, Azhkenazy, with Anievas for the Etudes
Debussy, La Mer and Images for Orchestra, Boulez

Dufay, Isorhythmic Motets, Huelgas Ensemble
Mahler, Rückert and other Lieder, Baker/Barbirolli
Monteverdi, Vespers, Bernius
Mozart, Figaro, Giulini
Mozart, Quartets and Quintets, Heutling

Schubert and Schumann song cycles, Munteanu
Stravinsky, Agon, Atherton, filled out with Lenny's Symphony of Psalms
Verdi, Falstaff, Solti
Verdi, Requiem, Toscanini
Wagner, Meistersinger, Kempe