Felix Mendelssohn - Piano Concertos Nos. 1 & 2 / Violin Concerto in E minor

 2002; 9 tracks
Eugene Ormandy / Philadelphia Orchestra
Rudolf Serkin, pianist
Isaac Stern, violinist  Felix Mendelssohn was a German composer of classical music during the Romantic period. I'll admit I am not very familiar with him or many of his works, but I still very much appreciate these three pieces.

This is one of the greatest recordings of Mendelssohn's two piano concertos, the first of which being quite nice and the second slightly simplistic, and the violin concerto which continues to be performed at a highly frequent rate.

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Frédéric Chopin - Essential Chopin

2003; 2 discs, 27 tracks
Vladimir Ashkenazy, pianist

Some of the most popular Chopin piano pieces all put in one place, all played by one of the world's most favorite pianists. Pretty nifty.

Disc 1

01 Grande Valse Brillante, Op. 18
02 Fantaisie-Impromptu, Op. 66
03 Nocturne in E-flat Major, Op. 9, No. 2
04 Waltz in A minor, Op. 34, No. 2
05 Mazurka in D Major, Op. 33, No. 2
06 Scherzo in B-flat minor/D-flat Major, Op. 31
07 Waltz in A-flat Major, Op. 69, No.1
08 Nocturne in F-Sharp Major, Op. 15, No. 2
09 Waltz in B Minor, Op. 69, No. 2
10 Ballade in G Minor, Op. 23
11 Mazurka in B-Flat Major, Op. 7 No. 1
12 Waltz in G-Flat Major, Op. 70, No. 1
13 Nocturne in B Major, Op. 32 No. 1
14 Polonaise in A-Flat Major, Op. 53

Disc 2

01 Ballade in A-flat Major, Op. 47
02 Prélude in C-sharp minor, Op. 45
03 Waltz in D-flat Major, Op. 64, No. 1 "Minute"
04 Waltz in C-sharp minor, Op. 64, No. 2
05 Étude in C minor, Op. 10, No. 12 "Revolutionary"
06 Étude in G-flat Major, Op. 10, No. 5 "Black Key"
07 Nocturne in F minor, Op. 55, No. 1
08 Polonaise in A Major, Op. 40, No. 1 "Military"
09 Barcarolle in F-sharp Major, Op. 60
10 Prélude in D-flat Major, Op. 28, No. 15 "Raindrop"
11 Étude in A minor, Op. 25, No. 11 "Winter Wind"
12 Étude in E Major, Op. 10, No. 3 "Tristesse"
13 Scherzo in C-sharp minor, Op. 39

Sergei Rachmaninoff - The Complete Preludes

1990; 24 tracksAlexis Weissenberg, pianist

"The practice of composing sets of piano preludes in all twenty-four keys became increasingly popular after Chopin’s Op. 28 appeared in 1839, yet it seems that Rachmaninoff did not originally plan to write a full set of twenty-four preludes. His first, "Prelude in C-sharp minor," was written in 1892 as part of five Morceaux de fantaisie. In 1903 he composed Ten Preludes, Op. 23, still without any intention of creating a cycle, but seven years later he decided to complete the set by writing Thirteen Preludes, Op. 32 in the remaining keys.

As a genre, the piano prelude was quite common in Russian music of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, but, as opposed to the rather intimate preludes of Lyadov or Scriabin, Rachmaninoff’s are much larger, much more developed pieces with a very obvious 'concert' profile. As ever in Rachmaninoff's music, allusions abound in these pieces. In some the composer uses certain genres – a Minuet, a March, a Barcarole – yet these are just hints of the original dances. For instance, in the D minor Prelude, the fateful pace of a Sarabande can be felt more than an innocent Minuet. Some preludes, especially those based on a motoric motion, are very similar to Chopin’s Études, and are definitely influenced by Chopin’s piano style.

With points of reference spanning the years, Rachmaninoff's twenty-four preludes present a microcosm of his music and his major musical ideas. Contained within these pieces one can find every single element of his style, with its poetry, depth and originality."

I love these preludes, every last one of them. You may recognize his first, that fateful piece which would come to define the composer's life long after it was first penned at the age of 19 (which brings to mind Anthony Burgess' thoughts on A Clockwork Orange... a piece he was not altogether proud of, but would later be his most well-known work). The truth is, each of these are extraordinary. I am no critic on interpretation, and it seems like that of Weissenberg's is either loved or hated, but I certainly could find no fault with it. I saw Berezovsky has done the full cycle (as did Ashkenazy, but why not switch it up a little) so I'd like to give those a listen. One of my favorite of the Preludes is the second of the Op. 23, in B-flat Major - here is a look at the opening measures:





how well he hears silence

Franz Liszt - Piano Concerto No. 1 & No. 2

Kyrill Kondrashin / Sviatoslov Richter
2000; 7 tracks

Here are the two Piano Concertos of Hungarian piano virtuoso Franz Liszt - not the "Hungarian Fantasia" or Chopin pieces (sorry).

These are the go-to recordings for both concertos, due mostly to their pristine recordings and Richter's incredibly lively and beautiful interpretations of the pieces. Franz Liszt took almost 20 years to finalize the First Concerto (which is amazing and you should recognize it as soon as you hear it). The Second was begun shortly afterward, but not finished for nearly another 20 years. The First Concerto is typically considered a soloist's showpiece, which is certainly not uncommon among the many showy Liszt pieces, and is therefore very popular among non-classical music fans. According to an eternally unknown source, the "Second [concerto] shows Liszt attempting to confirm his compositional talent while distancing himself from his virtuoso performance origins."

Franz Liszt was a very interesting character, in terms of music and real life, much like Johannes Brahms (to me). If you have the time, I highly recommend reading about his eventful life, one full of immense glory, sadness, and personal enlightenment. I posted some of his other piano music a while back, and they can be found here.

Piano Concerto No. 1 in E-flat
Piano Concerto No 2 in A

Oh, one last thing - I have just begun to learn this piece (below). It is "Un Sospiro" from Liszt's Trois études de concert. I wouldn't call it my favorite Liszt piece, but it does look fun to play. And very challenging. The only other Liszt piece I learned was his "Au bord d'une source," probably the most difficult piece for me to keep under control. I need to train my fingers a little better to play things this rapid and still sound as lightweight and gorgeous as this pianist, Marc-André Hamelin, does. Maybe someday...

Ludwig van Beethoven - Complete 32 Piano Sonatas

Volume I

Piano Sonatas 1-3, 16 tracks

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Volume II

Piano Sonatas 4-6, 10 tracks

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Volume III

Piano Sonatas 7-10, 13 tracks

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Volume IV

Piano Sonatas 11-14, 15 tracks

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Volume V

Piano Sonatas 15-17, 10 tracks

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Volume VI

Piano Sonatas 18-22, 13 tracks

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Volume VII

Piano Sonatas 23-27, 12 tracks

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Volume VIII

Piano Sonatas 28-29, 7 tracks

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Volume IX

Piano Sonatas 30-32, 9 tracks

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Maria Grinberg's legendary recordings of the 32 Beethoven piano sonatas, recorded between 1964-1967, were the first done by a Russian pianist. Click here for scans of the inserts.

"We encountered a protean outstanding interpreter of Beethoven's sonatas, Maria Grinberg (USSR). The great art of this pianist is happily combined with penetrative spirituality and mature realization of form. Her rendering of music is clear, transparent, full of passionate temper and virile force, but sometimes it is tender, lyrical, contemplative, evoking moods, which touch hearts of the audience."
- Alfred Tipe, Dresden, 1963

As we all know, Ludwig van Beethoven was a titanic composer of Romantic music and a pioneer in the expansion of the piano's potential sound. The liner notes found in the set (written by Samuel Feinberg) provide more information:

"In piano works of Beethoven, first of all, in his remarkable cycle of 32 piano sonatas, there is something important, central for his whole legacy. They are linked to all his other musical compositions in many different ways. A multi-part sonata formm, which has been designed for implementation of dramatic contents, with its manifold powerful devices fit to development of contrasting themes, became for Beethoven a main area for realization of his artistic concepts. Besides piano, violin and cello sonatas the composer wrote in this form all his symphonies, quartets, trios, all his concertos, in a word, almost all of his best output."

I have never really liked Beethoven, just out of personal preference, but these sonatas are enough to really sweep you away. I believe Maria Grinberg does a fine job, although her sound can get a little heavy at times... Being obsessed with the Soviet Union I just find it interesting to listen to the music of one of the most famous composers ever interpreted by a classically trained Soviet pianist (and a WOMAN, omg).

Hector Berlioz - Symphonie Fantastique

1999; 5 tracks
Riccardo Muti / The Philadelphia Orchestra

Hector Berlioz was French composer of the early Romantic period, and a conductor most well known for his contributions to the modern orchestra. I've heard his name thrown around for quite a while but never looked deeply into his plethora of musical output... Hearing The Symphonie Fantastique for the first time two nights ago made me so fantastically excited about exploring more of this fiery Frenchman's work.

"The Symphonie Fantastique was initially composed in 1830 and first performed in December of the same year under the direction of Habeneck. Berlioz however revised the work extensively during his trip to Italy in 1831-2 and in subsequent years and did not publish it until 1845. The work as we now know it is thus substantially different from the original of 1830, which can no longer be reconstructed in full detail.

The Symphonie Fantastique has always been the work with which Berlioz’s name is most closely associated. The composition of this revolutionary masterpiece marked a breakthrough in the composer’s career, at once the culmination of his years of apprenticeship, and the starting point of his mature work as a symphonic composer. The impact that Beethoven had on Berlioz is evident in the work, but no less evident is Berlioz’s originality in opening up new paths that Beethoven had not explored, and the sound world of Berlioz is entirely his own."

Understanding The Symphonie Fantastique comes with understanding the story behind it:

"When he was twenty-four years old, Berlioz fell in love with a theater actress named Harriet Smithson. He sent her countless love letters, but she never wrote him back. Feeling that his love for her has been completely misunderstood, his pain and suffering then turned into musical motivation, which led to the creation of Symphonie Fantastique. With a length of roughly sixty minutes (depending on the conductor's pace, of course), this programmatic composition is more of a semi-autobiography. It tells the story of an artist who cannot resist the urge to think of a young woman he has fallen in love with. Slowly, the image of the woman starts to haunt him. Even when he's in the countryside, her appearance still lingers in his head. This leads to fear and paranoia as he becomes convinced that he's deceiving her in some way. With an overdose of opium, the man dreams that he is being executed for murdering her. Smithson was not there when this work premiered, but she eventually had a chance to meet Berlioz himself. They married, but this turned to me anything but a happy ending. The marriage became a disaster, and they divorced eleven years later. Smithson would die several years before the French composer did.

The symphony itself is pure brilliance: it's filled with wild orchestral color and wicked imagery (in the second half). With so much expression in terms of both story and music, this would become a milestone in the history of classical music. It, as well as a few other works by other composers, would take every single orchestra straight into the Romantic era."

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Arturo Márquez - El danzón según Márquez

2002; 8 tracks
Eduardo García Barrios / Orquesta Mexicana de las Artes

"Arturo Márquez is a mexican composer known for his series of symphonic danzones, a traditional genre of music and dance that originated in Cuba and is now a staple of mexican culture. This is incredibly beautiful music, with a very distinct personality and harmonic language. The orchestration is nothing short of superb, and the Danzon No. 2 is easily one of the finest Mexican orchestral pieces ever written. Anyone who enjoys Latin-American music like Ginastera or Villa-Lobos, or Mexican music like Moncayo and Revueltas, will adore this."

@ andruini: You asked me what an American thought of this. Well, I fucking loved it. The Danzon According to Marquez has such a jazzy freedom to it that I find lacking in so much classical music today, and it suits my ear a little better when I'm not in the mood for Brahms or Liszt. These works by Márquez have such lyrical beauty (just listen to the luscious harp-infused "Pasión según San Juán de Letrán") that the melodies could easily stand alone - though I much prefer them with the latin rhythms that accompany each piece. The Orquesta Mexicana de las Artes (of course, it MUST be Mexican) produces such incredible interpretations of Márquez that I can't imagine any other recording. This is such a brilliant representation of Mexican music in general, and I desperately want to discover anything similar.

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Johannes Brahms - The Piano Concertos

2006; 2 discs
Riccardo Chailly / Gewandhaus Orchestra
Nelson Freire, pianist

I love the Claudio Arrau / Bernard Haitink recording of these phenomonal works for piano + orcehstra, but Freire / Chailly create such a precise and irridescent rendition (recorded live, too) that it is often acclaimed as one of the greatest recordings of Brahms' Concertos of all time.

The Second Piano Concerto is the product of Brahms' more mature years and one of the most powerfully moving pieces of music you will ever hear, but his First was written before he was 30, a near 22 year gap between the two works.

"... an ardent live version of these works with the legendary Brasilian Nelson Freire and the even more legendary 250 year old central european Gewandhaus Orchestra of Leipzig (Mendelsohn was one of its first Kapellmeisters!) under the baton of its new conductor Riccardo Chailly: an invaluable coupling.

This is pure, vintage Brahms, especially in the hands of Freire and Chailly. The transparency of Freire's performance along with Chailly evoking the response from the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, especially with the dark, earthy sound of the strings, makes this performance so superlative that it seems that one is hearing it for the first time."

Disc 1
Disc 2

Johannes Brahms - Complete Organ Works

2009; 15 tracks
Haig Mardirosian

These painfully beautiful organ works were the last works of Brahms' before his death. His reluctance to die is especially haunting as the fifth and last track of the Eleven Chorale Preludes are titled, "O Welt, ich muss dich lassen," or "Oh world, I must leave you."

Aside from the Eleven Choral Preludes, Op. 122, this recording features 2 Fugues and 2 Preludes + Fugues, all of which were composed some 40 years prior to the others.

On May 21, 1896, Brahms' lifelong friend and champion, Clara Schumann, passed away in Frankfurt am Main. Brahms, who considered Clara to be the 'greatest wealth' in his life, was so devastated that he bungled his travel arrangements and missed the funeral in Bonn. Upon his return to Ischl, where he spent his summers, Brahms' friends noticed an unsettling change in his appearance. Physicians at first told the composer that he had jaundice, though they secretly believed he was suffering from liver cancer, the disease that had killed his father. When Brahms left Ischl to 'take the cure' at Karlsbad, it is possible, though unlikely, that he was unaware of the seriousness of his condition; he rarely admitted to having an illness, even if he knew it was the truth.

In was in this atmosphere that Brahms composed the Eleven Chorale Preludes, his first music for the organ since 1857. It is possible that some of the settings may have originated before 1896; most of Brahms' work on the set, however, took place during that year. Brahms may have known, if only subconsciously, that he might not live to see another summer; this may have influenced his decision to set, twice each, the chorales 'Herzlich tut ich verlangen nach einem sel'gen End' (I sincerely wish for a happy end) and 'O Welt, ich muss dich lassen' ('O world, I must leave you'). Indeed, the second of the two 'O Welt' settings contains the last notes the composer ever wrote.

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Frédéric Chopin - Nocturnes, Études, Waltzes, Piano Concertos

2005; 19 tracks
Maurizio Pollini, pianist

Maurizio Pollini is one of my 4 favorite pianists in the world (the other three are naturally Zimerman, Michelangeli and Berezovsky). His interpretations of Chopin, as shown in these 19 Nocturnes, is literally unprecedented. His style is robust, tender, and absolutely 100% perfect. While listening to his playing of Chopin's most beautiful solo piano pieces, I never have to question why he made this or this choice regarding the sound - he plays Chopin so flawlessly and elegantly that no amount of "affectation" is needed. He plays not for the audience, but for form - true form, that of the Romanticists and of the true Chopin-admirer. Nocturne Op. 27, No. 1 is my favorite of them all, it is a scene of murder and moonlight and the whisking away to heaven's gates after death. Only Pollini can pull this off so well. I highly, highly recommend this recording.

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1990; 24 tracks
Vladimir Ashkenazy, pianist

Ah, Ashkenazy. He is wonderfully technical and precise, but I've always sensed a rather off-putting lack of emotion in his interpretations. Perhaps I have just never cared for him... but in any case, you would be hard pressed to find a finer recording of the Études than this. These are marvelously mechanical (not in such a negative way), truly exemplifying the wondrous abilities of a fine-tuned piano and a master of technique. Chopin himself was a pianist of great talent, and these virtuosic pieces (pieces intended for private study but are so beautiful that they are played in concert halls) showcase every important technique a student must learn to master the piano. That is why these are so often taught to students of the piano, they are "Studies" (Études) of important techniques. As a student of piano, I can say that these pieces are tremendously difficult, requiring the skill of a very mature pianist. Oh my god I'm rambling now. Listen to this and tell me if Étude Op. 25, No. 12 in C minor, the very last track, doesn't absolutely fucking blow your mind.

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2010; 19 tracks
Alice Sara Ott, pianist

The Waltzes of Chopin are utterly timeless, and indeed essential to the understanding of his works as a whole and, in a way, Romanticism itself. I don't believe Ott plays unremarkably, but she takes too many liberties with Chopin's work (the "Grande Valse Brilliante" makes me so mad, but whatever). This doesn't detract from the lovely energy she exudes in these pieces, however. Ott's version of the Waltzes are very enjoyable to listen to, very lustrous and full of life.

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1999; 6 tracks
Krystian Zimerman, pianist / Polish Festival Orchestra

God, I love these. Chopin should have written more for orchestra. Zimerman is amazing as always. <3

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Richard Wagner - Tristan und Isolde

Here, Karl Böhm conducts the Bayreuther Festspielorchester in a wonderful, fiery performance of Wagner's most popular opera.

Richard Wagner was a German late Romantic composer whose work was highly influential to many composers, like Mahler and Strauss. Listening to this epic musical drama (better yet, seeing the opera) is so much better than watching the lame movie.


Part 1Part 2Part 3Part 4

Camille Saint-Saëns - The Carnival of the Animals & Symphony Op. 78, No. 3 in C Minor, "Organ Symphony"

2006; 17 tracks
Alberto Lizzio, Hanspeter Gmur / Munich Symphony Orchestra & South German Philharmonic

Camille Saint-Saëns was a Romantic composer of classical music from France. His music, as shown here in his symphonic suite The Carnival of the Animals as well as his Symphony No. 3, is extremely whimsical and yet very grandiloquent. His structural advantages are that his music is very lighthearted and friendly-sounding, especially in Carnival. The Symphony is an extremely grand, rich, and majestic piece - one that I had the pleasure of hearing performed live this past winter. It is an amazing piece, as well as all of the enjoyable movements of Carnival.

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Edvard Grieg Selected Piano Works

Edvard Grieg was a very influential composer of Romantic music. Born in 1843, Bergen, Norway, he became a heightened figure of Norwegian nationalist and Romantic music. His mother taught him piano at an early age but he soon took off with it, studied at a conservatory and then went on to become a concert pianist all over northern Europe. Composers such as Liszt and Sibelius noticed his genius and praised him all over. In the end, this man was very highly regarded in the classical music scene. I first came to love him when I played his piece Notturno, and I fell in love with his music.

I've made 4 links worth of piano music. Some of it is played by Gerhard Oppitz and some is Eva Knardahl. Other pieces are played by other people, but I don't know their names. I don't think it really matters.

Part I:
- Humoresque, Op. 6, 3 parts.
- Album Leaf, Op. 28, 4 parts.
- Moods, Op. 73. 7 parts.

Part II:
- Four Piano Pieces, Op. 1.
- Piano Sonata in E minor, Op. 7. 4 parts.
- Ballade and Romances, 0p. 29. 2 parts.
- Selected Lyric Pieces:
- Lullaby
- I Love You
- Princess
- Mother's Pain
- First Desire
- The Poet's Heart
- Love

Part III:
- Random Lyric Pieces
Op. 12 - Arietta
- Waltz
- Watchman's Song
- Elves' Dance
- Folk Tune
- Norwegian Melody
- Albumleaf
- National Song
Op. 38 - Berceuse
- Folk Tune
- Melodie
- Halling
- Leaping Dance
- Elegie
- Waltz
- Canon
Op. 43 - Butterfly
- Loneley Wanderer
- In the Homeland
- Little Bird
- Erotik
- To the Spring
- Valse-Impromptu
- Album Leaf
- Melodie
- Halling
- Melancholy
- Leaping Dance
- Elegie

Part IV
Lyric Pieces
Op. 68 - Vision
Op. 71 - Once Upon A Time
- Summer Evening
- Puck
- Gone
- Nighttime
Op. 54 - March of the Trolls
- Notturno
- Scherzo
Op. 57 - Vanished Days
- Illusion
- Secret
- Homesick
Op. 62 - Brook
- Phantom
- Homeward
- Vision
Links:

Part I

Part II

Part III

Part IV

Johannes Brahms - Piano Concerto No. 2 in B flat, Op.83

Johannes Brahms (1833-1897) is one of my favorite composers. This is so weird, my favorite piano concertos are always the SECOND one! I love Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2, I adore Shostakovich's, Prokofiev's is gorgeous, and Bartók's of course. I recently heard this exact version of this exact Piano Concerto on the radio the other day and I was, to say the least, frozen and amazed. I thought it sounded Romantic, but then there were Modern influences that made me think again. I always try to guess the composer whenever I hear some classical piece on the radio and I almost always get it right! But this time it was just impossible - I've never heard anything like this. The rich textures of the orchestra contrast beautifully with Arrau's magnificent, clear, scintillating playing of the piano.

Below is a link to the concerto as performed by Claudio Arrau and the Concertgebouw Orchestra, conducted by Bernard Haitink. It was recorded in Concertgebouw, Amsterdam in the October of 1969.



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4 tracks

Johannes Brahms - Complete Solo Piano Music

Johannes Brahms was a late-romantic German composer and pianist. I used to not be a huge fan of his music because, unfortunately, he was alive and thriving in a time that directly preceded my personal favorite music era - modernism. Also, he wasn't Russian. That makes him a little less than perfect for me. But, when I recently bought Glenn Gould's interpretation of the Ballades, Rhapsodies, and Intermezzi, I thought twice about this remarkably unusual composer. I am now very fond of all of his music, particularly his piano music. Brahms was and is a very original voice in the classical music scene, as you will hopefully hear and appreciate.

*BTW: My favorite tracks are the Ballade No. 4 and Rhapsodie No. 1. :)

Glenn Gould - Johannes Brahms' Complete Shorter Works for Piano


1993; 16 tracks

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