[Closed] 'Must have' Classical Records

Liszt Hungarian Rhapsodies, Beethoven 4th & 7th.

Almost anything by Chopin

All time fav. is Khatachurian Adagio of Spartacus and Phrygia

Bolero.

This is all you need.

[url= http://www.classicfm.com/shop/digital-albums/50-tv-classics/ ]http://www.classicfm.com/shop/digital-albums/50-tv-classics/[/url]

Beethoven Eroia and 9th
Karl Orff carmina buranah
Berlioz symphony fantastique
Schahrazde
Peer Gynt
Pictures at an exhibition Mussorgsky
Katachrian Saber Dance.

I should point out I can't spell to save my life.

Actually, in all seriousness, something by Gershwin - possibly Rhapsody In Blue - at least you'll recognise it.

[url= http://www.classicfm.com/pictures/artist-pictures/100-classical-music-recordings-you-must-own/ ]This is a pretty good list for starters[/url]

Spotify it and buy what you like

Any of Mozart's concertos for flute, violin, piano, etc.
There's plenty to choose from and apart from the clever bits they all sound much the same. Try the bassoon and clarinet ones.

Pictures at an exhibition Mussorgsky

Good call!

Antonín Dvo?ák New World Symphony. Gustav Holt - The Planets. Carmina Burana of course. Turandot, although that's more of an Opera.

Erik Satie - Gnossiennes.

J.S.Bach

The 1812 Overture and Swan Lake, by Tchaikovsky.

Although you could just ignore most of the suggestions here, get a "100 Best Classics" album and see what you like.

Wagner Der Ring Des Niebelungen.

Gustav Holst - The planets

Vivaldis Four Seasons

I am getting mainly into symphonies. I would say
Beethoven 5th and 9th
Mahler 5th
Holst The Planets
Also like Brahms and Mendelsohn.
I would add Williams Star Wars Episode IV soundtrack.

Bach B minor Mass, Mozart Requiem or Serenade for Wind K361, Victoria Requiem, Tallis Spem in Allium, Faure Requiem, Palestrina Missa Papa Marcelli. A bit of a vocal bias but that's mainly what I listen to.

Elgar: Enigma Variations
Bruckner: Symphony No. 4

The only one I have that I'd not do without is The four seasons on Argo, Neville Marriner,Alan Loveday I've got three copies, just to make sure..

I am not a classical buff but I do love this.

suburbanreuben - Member
Erik Satie - Gnossiennes

I came here to say this ^

Glad to see I can play a large number of these

Bach for me and other Guitar stuff

Heitor Villa-Lobos - composer

Recuerdos de alhambra- piece

Rachmaninov 3rd (Organ) Symphony, Isles Of The Dead.

bruch violin concherto 1-4
prokofiev romeo and juliet
the Barbour of Seville
carmen
rachmaninov piano concherto no 2

i also cannot spell!

Mahler - Symphony # 2 with the Berlin Phil conducted by Claudio Abbado is always on my iPhone.

Another vote here for Dvo?ák's 9th (New World Symphony)

Messiah - Handel
Cello concertos - Elgar and Haydn
Toccata and fugue (organ) - Bach
Horn concertos - Mozart
Violin concertos - Mendlesson
St Matthews passion - Bach
Enigma variations - Elgar
Ave Maria - Shubert
Chopin piano - pretty much all of it
Meditation - Thais

Misha Maisky and Yo Yo Ma on the cello
Something choral
More cello
Repeat.....

And visually, make an effort to see the Simon Bollivar orchestra if you can get tickets.

Violin concertos 1&2 - Bach
Tabula Rasa/Frates/Speigel im spiegel - Arvo Part
Sextet/Six marimbas / music for 18 musicians /proverb - Steve Reich
New music for bowed piano -Stephen Scott
Weather - Michael Gordon
Time Loops - Michael Harrison
'Dido's Lament' - Henry Purcell (from Dido & Aeneas)
Allegri - miserere
Gorecki - Symphony No. 3

I do have a distinct minimal/minimalist bent though....

Bach Das Wohlentemperte Klavier (aka 48 preludes and fugues)

Durufle's Requiem

Mozart 40th Symphony - also his requiem, also Don Giovanni

Stravinsky Firebird Suite

oh yeah - The Circus Band by Charles Ives, a work of astounding genius. It's a recreation of a band marching through a crowd and if you ever hear it live it is as though a band walks through the auditorium; the instruments when not playing the tune play random notes and sounds to mimic the sound of the crowd when not playing the tune.

There is an interesting tale associated with the above.

It was written in the 1500's and came to be consider too scared to be conscribed and only played once a year in the Sistine Chapel (the pope threatened anyone who disobeyed excommunication). All was well until a certain WA Mozart attended a recital aged 14 and memorised it note perfect.....

just marking this....

Try Saint Saens Symphony No 3, stick with it, it builds and you'll recognise some of it even though you may never had heard it.

Philip Glass for something a bit different.

I must second this suggestion as well;

Gorecki - Symphony No. 3

Faure's Requiem. (Apologies for the missing accent!)

How about a bit of modern classical?
Ludovico Einaudi - Nightbook.
Pushing the boundaries a little more , Nihls Frahm - Spaces,
the track "SAYs" is pretty must have imo.

Wow - brilliant responses folks; lots to try out!
Cheers,

Rachmaninov piano concertos

As much which composers as which works, but some Stravinsky, Bartok, Janacek should be in there. Also Shostakovich - all with pretty well unique sound signatures (listen to some and see what I mean).

So, the likes of Stravinsky Firebird, Pulicinella; Bartok Romanian Dances, concertos; Janacek - Glagolitic Mass, string quartets.

Brahms - clarinet quintet.
Byrd - choral works, see also Carver & Tallis

Much more modern - Steve Reich?

Middle distance - some of the Britten works are sublime, may be a bit long or intricate at first though.

I explored quite a bit of classical music by just going to concerts and listening to Radio 3 - get the education bit as well - and also having listened to the likes of E L & P, followed up what they based their works on. Hence the Janacek, Bartok above.

J.S.Bach: Magnificat, Brandenbergs, cello suites by Yo-Yo Ma, Glenn Gould doing piano sonatas, Tochata and Fugue in D minor
Allegri: Miserere
Faure: Requiem
Mozart: Requiem
Vivaldi: Stabat Mater
Beethoven: ninth symphony, the Emperor
Guitar classical: Julian Bream, Paco de Lucia
Popular opera collections: Benjamino Gigli, Jussi Bjorling

As well as the more recent stuff recommended above, go for older Renaissance music by Tallis, Byrd, Tavener (as well as the modern John Tavener who has just died) Palestrina, Gabrieli, Praetorius, Gibbons etc. Beautiful.

Mozart Piano Concert 23 in A

There's too wide a range - do you want purely Classical (i.e. Beethoven onwards) or earlier Baroque style such as Handel (Zadok the Priest) and Bach e.g. 48 Preludes & Fugues or even earlier?
Then there's 20th Cent Classical, e.g, Holst The Planets and Elgar's Nimrod, moving onto Philip Glass and John Adams' Short Ride in a Fast Machine.

It might be worth listening to radio BBC3 Breakfast or Classical FM to get a feel for what you like.

THEN there's which conductor you like as one arrangement can sound really different to another.

sublime

[url= http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/classicalmusic/6137471/Best-classical-recordings.html ]some good ones here[/url]

I've only got 1 classical album - Rossini's William Tell Overture. I robbed it off an ex-girlfriend. It's stirring stuff, but I could live without it.

Some of my favourites are:

Rachmaninov piano concerto no 2
Beethoven, symphonies 5 and 7 are my pavourites, but they are all great
Mozart, requiem, clarinet concerto
Beethoven piano concerto no5
Stravinsky, the rite of spring
Vaughan Williams , fantasy on a theme by Thomas Tallis

Not very adventurous , but all good!

My favourites are

Mendelssohn violin concerto in E (all time fave) - beautiful, fragile, powerful, perfect.

Bach Cello suite 5 (c minor)

And as THM said pretty much all of Chopin - Pianist Soundtrack is a good random spattering of his stuff for a taster.

[url= http://wyntonmarsalis.org/discography/title/the-london-concert ]Wynton Marsalis - The London Concert[/url]

Stravinsky - Rite of Spring and Symphony in 3 movements

Handel's Messiah

Rachmaninov piano concertos

Someone suggested Carmen - I'd look for Carmen Jones (on film as well), which moves the story to 1940's Harlem and translates the songs to English (big plus if you want to follow the story)- The Toreadors Song/Stand Up and Fight is brilliant

I also really like Saint Saens Organ Symphony No 3 in C Maj but having heard it on the local concert hall organ, well that's a bit different to any home stereo performance.

listen to some ClassicFM/ R3 to pick up what you like.

EDIT - come to think of it, why not go to an orchestral concert?

Interesting that Bach's cello suites are mentioned several times. Originally tests rather than performance pieces but with different themes.

Best explained in the fascinating book

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Cello-Suites-Search-Baroque-Masterpiece/dp/0099546787/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1421232088&sr=8-2&keywords=Cello+suites

Wife and younger son both cellists (hence bias in my choices) but both biased against suites from having them used as technique exercises in their development. They are now less keen and moan when I put them on!!!

MM's version of allegro appassionato (one of THM minor's showpieces) is great too.

Great thread!

I'm no expert at all, and quite happily have Radio 3 just play me stuff but I really love Beethoven's string quartets and Brahms' symphonies 1-4.

The Charles Ives recommendation further up ^ is brilliant!

+1 for Erik Satie as well. And Nils Frahm. There was a tremendous 6Music session with him last year, might have been on Gilles Peterson.

If you like Cello music, it is often rearranged for the lute which is sublime - try Andrew Maginley "the Baroque Lute", I should declare an interest as he is a friend.

The Radio 3 idea is a good one. I put myself on a strict diet of it for 6 months and it certainly clarified and extended what I liked and didn't like. Classic FM I found too lightweight and populist. I was always amused by the R3 newsreaders sounding rather surprised that anything of significance could happen outside of music.

'Must have' for me would Schubert's Impromptus and Moments Musicaux for piano. Beautiful pieces, played at their best (IMO) by Peter Frankl. Might not be for you though if you prefer something more orchestral. This is the album:

http://open.spotify.com/album/7p8hO4LJ1XJVvRKYGK8DGe

Much of what has already been posted however, if it's the 1812 Overture you're after then it has to be [url= http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0000057MW/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_dp_ss_1?pf_rd_p=569136327&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B000003F1I&pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_r=06JCREFMJY60RX17B90T ]THIS RECORDING[/url]. It uses actual, period cannon and musket fire as well as proper church bells.

Have scared the neighbours more than once with it.

Barber Adagio
Elgar- symphony 1&2, Cello Concerto, Enigma Variations (Nimrod sends me emotional every time), Pomp & Circumstance Marches, all great British music.
Karl Jenkins The armed Man & Requiem, slightly more contemporary
Dvorak New world Symphony no.9(Hovis advert)
Mahler Symphony 1&5
Gershwin Rhapsody in Blue, An American in paris
Mussorgsky Pictures from an Exhibition, Night on a Bare Mountain
Prokofiev Classical Symphony, Lieutenant Kije
Saint Saens Organ Symphony no.3 Piano Concerto no.2
Shostakovitch Jazz Suite
Vaughan williams Fantasia on Greensleeves

A lot of Recordings have several pieces by the same composer so worth looking at different recordings

Moldau by Smetana

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Dvorak's Cello Concerto is beautiful.
Saint Saens Piano Concerto no.2 is a great listen for a relative novice as well. Loads packed into it.
For something a bit wackier with some church bell action at the end, try Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique.

I like minimalist and quite modern stuff too...

Steve Reich - the Nonesuch 'Phases' collection is superb and includes some of Metalheart's recommendations

Michael Gordon - Industry is fantastic, in particular the electric cello piece, a recording of which should be somewhere in this http://boilerroom.tv/session/jonny-greenwood-and-the-london-contemporary-orchestra/ ...but my browser's not playing, and besides I was there when it was recorded!!

Eric Satie - Gnossiennes and Gymnopedie both lovely

Terry Riley - A rainbow in curved air

Messiaen - Turangalila - a bit crazy, but if you like modern music it's not much of a jump.

I think it's very tricky to make definite suggestions because as with all music (or art for that matter) taste enters into the equation.

I was going to make the suggestion of listening to Radio 3 too. It's perfect breakfast time listening and is the default station on the car radio (except when it comes back from a service - odd that!).

There's a guide of sorts on their website http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio3/classical/onmusic/

ELP were mentioned earlier and certainly in my young days my early taste of anything vaguely classical was via ELP and The Nice (Mussorgsky, Janacek, Copland). I think for anyone raised on a diet of rock that 20th century music is initially going to be more palatable (thrilling even?) than earlier periods. I started at around Shostakovich and drifted backwards to Stravinsky, Mahler, Bruckner, Beethoven, Mozart, Haydn, Handel, Bach...

These days I enjoy lots of stuff from Early music (Renaissance, etc) through to 21st C. Though not everything of course - taste as I mentioned. I used to do my browsing and sampling in the local record library, now there is tons of stuff available online. Try the big names first then if you find a style or period you particularly enjoy spend a bit of time investigating that.

But... BIG shoutout from me for Benjamin Britten.

Any of Mozart's concertos for flute, violin, piano, etc.

This. It (piano concerto) was the only thing that would calm our daughter when she was newborn and we both really enjoyed it!

John Dowland - In Darkness Let Me Dwell. Hauntingly beautiful singing from the Hilliyard Ensemble.

Ruggiero Ricci-Decca Recordings 1950-1960. Simply the best violin playing you'll ever hear.

definitely agree on the Britten, slowoldman, but it may not be an immediate attraction.
On the other mentions - do we share the same record collection?!

See also Debussy Cello Sonata; Scubert Arpeggione Sonata.

I also have a very soft spot for Monteverdi, Gabrielli and the Venetian Renaissance set.

Could I just suggest Henry Purcell, Dido & Aeneas in particular but anything is great.

I'm a particular fan of counter tenners of the Baroque period. Have a look out for the anything Andreas Schell, brilliant voice. I suspect he's pretty pleased he's a natural rather than become a castrato.

Mahler 4,5,6
Brahms 1 & 4
Beethoven 7
Mozart requiem, trio from the end of first act of Cosi
Janacek and Bartok string quartets
Bach St Mathew passion and Brandenburg 2, and cello suites and the Goldberg variations
Shostakovich 24 preludes and fugues
Tons of stuff really important to me.

But also rock, funk, house. Miles, Bill Evans
Anything but trad jazz and thrash metal
There is only good music and bad music.

Worth a listen is Nigel Kennedy and Palestine Strings performing Vivaldi's 4 Seasons at the proms.

definitely agree on the Britten, slowoldman, but it may not be an immediate attraction.
On the other mentions - do we share the same record collection?!

But yes, I looked back at your earlier post and I suppose we do share the same collections. The Janacek string quartets are fabulous, though for a starter I would point anyone to Janacek's "Sinfonietta" and "Taras Bulba".

I've always blown a bit hot and cold over Brahms but there are a couple of superb viola sonatas (arrangements of earlier clarinet sonatas).

For symphonies with impact and composers who are peerless in their use of the different colours available in the orchestra I would go for Shostakovich (for starters symphonies 5, 8 and 10, then 7) and Mahler (1, 4, 2)

Some of the Richard Strauss symphonic poems are worth a listen - Also Sprach Zarathustra and Alpine Symphony for example.

Oh and speaking of Steve Reich, there are some great Youtube videos which nicely demonstrate the use of shifting rhythms

Some of these minimalist pieces go on a bit, and on and on. But the point is to just let them drag you in. A nice glass of red helps.