@@DavesClassicalGuide And the initial Rachmaninoff set on RCA Victor, with him conducting most of his purely orchestral music and as soloist in the piano concerti and Paganini Rhapsody with Stokowski and Ormandy conducting the Philadelphia Orchestra.
Another suggestion for the same series : Vivaldi Op 1-12 by I Musici (19 CDs set). It was a milestone in the revival of Vivaldi in the 1960s. And it still stands very well the comparison with more recent interpretations (Pinnock, Hogwood, Podger, Biondi ...).
loved this. the price/value for the works when this came out is just astounding. i picked it up anyways even having about 2/3rds of it on their own releases.
I agree cross the board on your criticism. Something just 'works' in these works. What's not here is the final version of The Soldiers Tale - they didn't manage to get a release of his full version until 2007 (narrated by Jeremy Irons). The liner notes of that from the artists who recorded the sessions are a great read.
Am loving this series of talks! I have the complete Bach cantata set (the long box) and the beautiful luxury black box set of this Stravinsky set; they are both featured prominently, center-shelved in my living room - also have that original shiny Kondrashin/Shostakovich Melodiya set right below - I wonder if you feel if either of the Boulez Webern complete sets are worthy (Sony and/or DG) - I recall you spoke very highly of the Robert Craft performances…
I agree with David's assessment of this project. Recently, I have become familiar with recordings of his conducting from broadcasts and broadcasts from about 1935 to 1957 when his health was better, and some of these are more powerful performances, especially his mono RCA Orpheus, Columbia Le Basier De La Fe, and Petrouchka, and a 1957 broadcast performance of Apollo and Jeu de Cartes. In his 1960s recordings of the Le Basier and Petrouchka his energy vanishes at the climax of each. But this collection, imperfect as it is, is my most treasured.🎉
I came away from Stephen Walsh's Stravinsky biography with the idea he was not an especially strong conductor. However, his Agon with Los Angeles remains among the best I've heard. MTT's recording with LA is like listening to Stravinsky's version with better sound.
One thing I dislike about composers conducting or performing their own works is that I feel like it smothers the interpretive creativity of other conductors or performers. Anyway, what I found the most interesting is his Oedipus Rex. The narrator's voice and tone are quite different from other recordings I've listened to and are definitely much better than in other recordings in terms of the intensity it creates. But, in terms of the music, there are better versions by other conductors.
I'd like to nominate the Beaux Arts Trio - Complete Phillips Recording. Probably the most important collection of Piano Trio works ever recorded. And maybe it'll convince Decca to re-release it or something so I can actually buy it. :)
I thought of a couple of candidates for this series: Bruno Walter's Columbia stereo recordings from the late 50s and early 60s, and Leonard Bernstein's first Mahler cycle.
There are three editions of it on cd. The first was a set of boxes in a hard plastic box. Then it came out in a budget box...shown by mr hurwitz. And, as Hurwitz mentions, there was a deluxe box that included all the mono recordings and a few other surprises.
Hi Dave, another set of recordings that I suspect may be on your mind somewhere is the Schuricht Beethoven symphony cycle with the Paris Conservatory Orchestra. I say this because I've heard you rave about the orchestra on numerous occasions and because you have told us about this orchestra's history with Beethoven performance. Thanks for your videos, this is definititely an interesting series to follow and I look forward to the rest!
@weewee2169 Weingartner's was the first cycle with a single conductor but all of the symphonies had been recorded complete more than once going back to the acoustic era. 1927 saw complete electrically recorded cycles on Columbia and Victor.
The only performance that rocked me was the Petruscka. My point of comparison being a concert with the Budapest festival orchestra under Ivan Fischer. It was a glorious performance and I find a lot of that magic with Stravinsky one. Nothing else really stuck out for me.
I don't know if this counts as a specific project, but how about Copland recording all his major works with mostly British orchestras in the late 1960s for Columbia(now Sony)?
I'd place this one much higher than no.11. What is there not to treasure? A great composer showing the tempi and phrasing that he wants in his music, mostly in good stereo from the late 50s and 60s. Britten's Decca legacy is similar and arguably better, because of Britten's probably superior ability as a performer (and not just in his own music) together with the state of the arts sonics provided by Decca at that time.
Decca recorded pretty well all of Benjamin Britten's music conducted by the composer, but does this make it a great recording project? Unlike Stravinsky, you can say that Britten is also a superb conductor, and he had huge help from the recording engineers too, as is clear from the sessions of the War Requiem released with the CD transfer. They are certainly sui generis as DH likes to say.
Solti is the only conductor I know of who consciously and specifically studied and emulated the composer's own recordings when he did Elgar. But what conductor has ever paid close attention to and tried to match Bartok’s section and mvt timings that he laboriously wrote into his scores? The only conductor Ive ever heard who actually consistently exceeds them (faster) in the Concerto for Orchestra is Dorati in the mono box. Almost everybody just does what they want to, usually slower.
And so....Britten conducting almost ALL of his own stuff on Decca - surely qualifies as an important project.....!
Surely.
@@DavesClassicalGuide And the initial Rachmaninoff set on RCA Victor, with him conducting most of his purely orchestral music and as soloist in the piano concerti and Paganini Rhapsody with Stokowski and Ormandy conducting the Philadelphia Orchestra.
Another great series Dave. Looking forward to your talk about The Hyperion Schubert Edition.
Another really interesting selection. How about the Bis Holmboe series, which is now pretty extensive? Very enlightening too.
Another suggestion for the same series : Vivaldi Op 1-12 by I Musici (19 CDs set). It was a milestone in the revival of Vivaldi in the 1960s. And it still stands very well the comparison with more recent interpretations (Pinnock, Hogwood, Podger, Biondi ...).
Yes!
loved this. the price/value for the works when this came out is just astounding. i picked it up anyways even having about 2/3rds of it on their own releases.
I agree cross the board on your criticism. Something just 'works' in these works. What's not here is the final version of The Soldiers Tale - they didn't manage to get a release of his full version until 2007 (narrated by Jeremy Irons). The liner notes of that from the artists who recorded the sessions are a great read.
Am loving this series of talks! I have the complete Bach cantata set (the long box) and the beautiful luxury black box set of this Stravinsky set; they are both featured prominently, center-shelved in my living room - also have that original shiny Kondrashin/Shostakovich Melodiya set right below - I wonder if you feel if either of the Boulez Webern complete sets are worthy (Sony and/or DG) - I recall you spoke very highly of the Robert Craft performances…
I agree with David's assessment of this project. Recently, I have become familiar with recordings of his conducting from broadcasts and broadcasts from about 1935 to 1957 when his health was better, and some of these are more powerful performances, especially his mono RCA Orpheus, Columbia Le Basier De La Fe, and Petrouchka, and a 1957 broadcast performance of Apollo and Jeu de Cartes. In his 1960s recordings of the Le Basier and Petrouchka his energy vanishes at the climax of each. But this collection, imperfect as it is, is my most treasured.🎉
I came away from Stephen Walsh's Stravinsky biography with the idea he was not an especially strong conductor. However, his Agon with Los Angeles remains among the best I've heard. MTT's recording with LA is like listening to Stravinsky's version with better sound.
One thing I dislike about composers conducting or performing their own works is that I feel like it smothers the interpretive creativity of other conductors or performers. Anyway, what I found the most interesting is his Oedipus Rex. The narrator's voice and tone are quite different from other recordings I've listened to and are definitely much better than in other recordings in terms of the intensity it creates. But, in terms of the music, there are better versions by other conductors.
I'd like to nominate the Beaux Arts Trio - Complete Phillips Recording. Probably the most important collection of Piano Trio works ever recorded. And maybe it'll convince Decca to re-release it or something so I can actually buy it. :)
I thought of a couple of candidates for this series: Bruno Walter's Columbia stereo recordings from the late 50s and early 60s, and Leonard Bernstein's first Mahler cycle.
Just thought of another: Leonard Bernstein's Haydn on Columbia, especially the Paris Symphonies.
There are three editions of it on cd. The first was a set of boxes in a hard plastic box. Then it came out in a budget box...shown by mr hurwitz. And, as Hurwitz mentions, there was a deluxe box that included all the mono recordings and a few other surprises.
Not are: were! That first hard plastic thing had very sharp edges. Ouch!
Hi Dave, another set of recordings that I suspect may be on your mind somewhere is the Schuricht Beethoven symphony cycle with the Paris Conservatory Orchestra. I say this because I've heard you rave about the orchestra on numerous occasions and because you have told us about this orchestra's history with Beethoven performance. Thanks for your videos, this is definititely an interesting series to follow and I look forward to the rest!
Actually, it's not on my list. No Beethoven symphony cycle is.
@@DavesClassicalGuide
would you consider felix weingartners since it was the first?
@weewee2169 Weingartner's was the first cycle with a single conductor but all of the symphonies had been recorded complete more than once going back to the acoustic era. 1927 saw complete electrically recorded cycles on Columbia and Victor.
The only performance that rocked me was the Petruscka. My point of comparison being a concert with the Budapest festival orchestra under Ivan Fischer. It was a glorious performance and I find a lot of that magic with Stravinsky one. Nothing else really stuck out for me.
I have that one and really enjoy it. I even have some of the original LPs.
Curious (watching this again) - thoughts on Copland's self-conducting from around the same time period?
So-so.
I don't know if this counts as a specific project, but how about Copland recording all his major works with mostly British orchestras in the late 1960s for Columbia(now Sony)?
It counts.
I'd place this one much higher than no.11. What is there not to treasure? A great composer showing the tempi and phrasing that he wants in his music, mostly in good stereo from the late 50s and 60s. Britten's Decca legacy is similar and arguably better, because of Britten's probably superior ability as a performer (and not just in his own music) together with the state of the arts sonics provided by Decca at that time.
I don't think the list is in order of importance.
It's not. I made that clear at the start.
Decca recorded pretty well all of Benjamin Britten's music conducted by the composer, but does this make it a great recording project? Unlike Stravinsky, you can say that Britten is also a superb conductor, and he had huge help from the recording engineers too, as is clear from the sessions of the War Requiem released with the CD transfer. They are certainly sui generis as DH likes to say.
I think I paid something like $25 for that box.
How about Philips complete Mozart project (produced by son of Hans Schmit-Isserstedt and former Decca producer Erik Smith)?
Will you present the Henze project in your “Least important” series. Is it worth it?
Stick around and see.
Solti is the only conductor I know of who consciously and specifically studied and emulated the composer's own recordings when he did Elgar.
But what conductor has ever paid close attention to and tried to match Bartok’s section and mvt timings that he laboriously wrote into his scores? The only conductor Ive ever heard who actually consistently exceeds them (faster) in the Concerto for Orchestra is Dorati in the mono box. Almost everybody just does what they want to, usually slower.
Mackerras studied Elgar's recordings too. Reiner takes Bartok's tempos pretty literally, but Bartok never expected anyone to follow them slavishly.
Naxos ongoing Brazilian series…???
Would all the Bax works on Chandos qualify for this series?
Only on Baxia
@@Warp75As a Bantockian I have to agree.
A Bax Box set? 😎🎹
@@MarshallArtz007 How about a big bargain Bax Box set?
I think Ligeti Project will be included in this series.
Don't get your hopes up.
Este lo tengo, porque quería escuchar el compositor interpretando su propia música.
I bought this box used but in perfect condition recently, and I only paid 12 €.
Composers wanting endless time and money for their musical productions; the patron saint of that attitude would have to be Wagner!