I think that Karajan’s earliest Beethoven Symphony set (Philharmonia/EMI, when he was de facto principal conductor of that orchestra) was by some distance his best set of the Beethoven symphonies, and that each of his subsequent recordings of the cycle was a step down from its predecessor.
I managed to find a Japanese CD set of those early Philharmonia recordings from Amazon years ago, beautifully made (although I can’t make much of the Japanese liner notes) and the readings are very fiery, unlike the ultra-smooth readings that Karajan made with ‘his’ Berliners, starting with his celebrated 1963 set.
Carlos Kleiber is something very different, much greater music making altogether.
I’m sure you’re right. By the 80s, the BPO were in their new building, which has never been known for having great acoustics, plus you’ve got very early DACs and recorders probably hampering the sound, plus you’ve got Karajan’s insistence on very close miking of the orchestra which makes the recordings sound a bit odd, and that’s before you get to anything regarding the performances and interpretations themselves!
I would never try to argue that his 80s cycle is anything other than idiosyncratic, but it’s the one that I will always have in my head whenever I listen to anyone else.
I spent several hours driving to and from Yorkshire yesterday and played Classic FM for the whole journey. What a relaxing and enjoyable trip due to the music played, a lovely alternative from listening to Planet Rock! I heard lots of great stuff with Schubert being one.
There are conductors I prefer to HvK, but about a dozen years ago a discount on-line music store mispriced quite a number of big EMI boxes by about 80%. I picked up the HvK orchestral and vocal music boxes - 160 discs for about $40 IIRC.
I still haven’t listened to everything. I have the ‘63 cycle on SACD, so the EMI cycle was towards the bottom of my list. However with your recommendation I will move them to the top.
A couple of Schubert suggestions that you might want to investigate:
Symphonies 3 & 8(‘Unfinished’) Kleiber/VPO (DGG)
Winterreise - Hans Hotter/Gerald Moore (EMI)
Schwanengesang - Fritz Wunderlich (DGG)
Late Piano Sonatas - Pollini (DGG) or Perahia (CBS Sony)
You won’t go wrong with any of the above.
Schubert composed songs throughout his life and you used to be able to buy pretty much all of them sung by Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, accompanied by Gerald Moore, in a huge (30 LPs or so) box, which you may be able to pick up s/h for not a lot of money. Alternatively, Hyperion are working their way through them all, with individual singers on each CD, all accompanied by Graham Johnson’s piano.
Schubert’s own instrument was the piano, and he wrote 21 sonatas, plus lots of smaller impromptus and moments musicaux. Many of these have been covered by the great pianists of the age - you will find fantastic recordings out there from the likes of Sviatoslav Richter, Maurizio Pollini, Murray Perahia, Clifford Curzon and Alfred Brendel.
That is indeed epic, and I see six electric guitars as well. I assume that they’re not just for show?
I had a work colleague long ago who was a talented amateur guitarist (his day job was a solicitor advising large property companies in the acquisition and disposal of properties). Occasionally he would treat himself to a business class seat on a plane to New York to visit Sam’s Music Store. For the return trip he booked two business class seats, for himself and the ‘new’ (usually quite old) Fender or Gibson (or whatever) guitar, as he didn’t trust the baggage handlers to treat it well in the hold.
Great story! Yes I’ve played in bands for fun over the years so bit of an escape as with my HiFi and music collection. I’ve tried to get as realistic sound as possible to the ‘live’ experience and with this kit I’m pretty near. The classical strings and piano that I’m listening to at the moment sound pretty authentic and so I’m enjoying my new discoveries.
Do shout out if you need any help in tracking down particular string or piano music - there will always be lots of views on what you should listen to, all of which are (at least) well meant!
I’ll repeat my recommendation of Schubert’s chamber music, including the Trout Quintet I’ve posted in this thread.
Also the 9th Symphony. My favorites include Szell and Munch. Both are paired with the 8th. The latter was included in the Living Stereo SACD series.
And speaking symphonically, I’m not sure Mendelssohn has been mentioned. You can find enjoyable pairings of the Italian Symphony and his Overture and Incidental Music for A Midsummer Night’s Dream. I have discs by Szell and Mackerras.
As you listen to the Overture to ‘A Midsummer Nights Dream’, you may care to ponder upon the fact that its composer was 16 or 17 years old at the time of its composition. (He was a comparative old man of 33 years (if I’m remembering correctly) when he wrote the remaining Incidental Music. He didn’t live to a great age either.
Now, I’m trying to remember which of the musical pieces that I wrote in my mid-teens that I shall be remembered for. Errrr… can’t bring any to mind.
Turning to Schubert’s Eighth and Ninth Symphonies, I recommend that you add Kleiber fils et père respectively to any shortlist. Carlos coupled the Third and Eighth on his DGG recording, which is still available as an LP or CD, the only Schubert works that he ever conducted or recorded (I bought a new copy of the LP a couple of weeks ago, but haven’t played it yet). His father Erich’s recording of the Ninth (at the helm of, I think, the Cologne Radio orchestra has flitted around various Polygram-owned labels. It is a lovely piece of conducting, although the early 1950s recording is not the nighest of fi.
PS The Schubert Third Symphony formed part of Carlos Kleiber’s now sadly infamous only London orchestral concert which I had the huge privilege to attend (about which, and particularly the critical backlash, I have written previously here).
Later in Midsummer you’ll hear a section, which has definitely crossed over into popular culture.
While the music was written to accompany a stage performance, two of the greatest choreographers of the 20th century, Balanchine and Ashton, have used it for ballets.
I was put off Classic FM in the early days by the horrific compression on yes FM, since listening to it on streaming or DAB it seems to be far less of an issue
My wife has recently discovered Classic FM for her driving days (normally Tuesday/Wednesday/Thursday).
She is a lot less critical of the world around her (other road users in other words) as a result and is a lot less stressed when she gets home in the evening…
She’s a “Rock Chick” although she would kill me for using that phrase
Rock streaming from her phone mostly (Daughtry, Theory of a Deadman, Pop Evil, Shinedown, Hollowstar… you get the picture🤷🏻♂️)
We both gave up on Planet Rock sometime ago, but she hasn’t managed to get Qobuz working in her overly complicated new Hyundai Hybrid Tucson, so switched to my radio station of choice😁
