The Essential Classical Recordings 100 CDs for Today's Listener

by Phillips, Rick

• ISBN13: 9780771070013
• ISBN10: 0771070012
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2004-10-05
• Publisher: McClelland & Stewart

Summary

Most guides to classical recordings on CD comprise thousands of brief listings. In their attempt to be comprehensive, they end up being heavy and intimidating. Phillips knows better. He sticks to what he considers to be the 101 essential CDs, and tells readers not only why each one is the best recording in his opinion, but also why this piece of music belongs in their collection and where thecomposer fits into the evolution of classical music. Read consecutively, the recommendations from medieval Gregorian chant to Arvo Part'sFratres, written in 1977 form a dazzling and concise history of classical music. Bach, Beethoven, and Mozart are here, of course, along with other beloved but lesser-known composers, such as Josquin Desprez, Anton Bruckner, and Gabriel Faure. And popular pieces, such as Bach's Brandenburg Concertos, Handel'sThe Water Music, and Elgar'sEnigma Variations, are complemented by such less-familiar but outstanding compositions as the Turangalila Symphony by Olivier Messiaen. Connoisseurs and die-hard listeners to "Sound Advice" will appreciate having Phillips's recommendations of specific recordings (and their catalogue numbers) between two covers at long last. And those who are just starting to explore the rich world of classical music will soon discover that Phillips is a guide they can trust.

Author Biography

<b>Rick Phillips</b> is the host and producer of <i>Sound Advice,</i> the weekly guide to classical music recordings that airs Saturdays on CBC Radio One and Sundays on CBC Radio Two.

Table of Contents

Introduction	1	(4)
Gregorian Chant	5	(2)
"L'homme armé" Masses
Josquin Desprez	7	(3)
Pope Marcellus Mass
Giovanni da Palestrina	10	(3)
Vespro della Beata Vergine (1610 Vespers)
Claudio Monteverdi	13	(3)
Violin Sonatas, Op. 5
Arcangelo Corelli	16	(2)
Ode for St. Cecilia's Day
Henry Purcell	18	(3)
"The Four Seasons"
Antonio Vivaldi	21	(2)
Overtures & Suites
Jean-Philippe Rameau	23	(3)
The Brandenburg Concertos
Johann Sebastian Bach	26	(2)
The Six Suites for Solo Cello
Johann Sebastian Bach	28	(2)
The Goldberg Variations
Johann Sebastian Bach	30	(2)
The St. Matthew Passion
Johann Sebastian Bach	32	(3)
The Mass in B Minor
Johann Sebastian Bach	35	(3)
Messiah
George Frideric Handel	38	(2)
Water Music
George Frideric Handel	40	(2)
Music for the Royal Fireworks
George Frideric Handel	42	(2)
String Quartets Op. 76, Nos. 4, 5, 6
Franz Joseph Haydn	44	(2)
Symphonies Nos. 85, 86, 87
Franz Joseph Haydn	46	(2)
Die Schöpfung (The Creation)
Franz Joseph Haydn	48	(3)
Symphony No. 38, K. 504, "Prague"	51	(2)
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Piano Concertos Nos. 15, 21, 23	53	(2)
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Requiem, K. 626
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart	55	(2)
Operatic & Sacred Music Selections	57	(3)
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
String Quartet in C, K. 465, "Dissonance"	60	(2)
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Symphonies Nos. 5 & 7
Ludwig van Beethoven	62	(2)
Piano Concerto No. 5 in Ellett, Op. 73, "Emperor"	64	(2)
Ludwig van Beethoven
Piano Sonatas - "Moonlight," "Waldstein," "Appassionata"	66	(2)
Ludwig van Beethoven
String Quartets Op. 59, Nos. 1-3, Op. 74, "Harp"	68	(2)
Ludwig van Beethoven
Symphony No. 9 in D Minor Op. 125, "Choral"	70	(3)
Ludwig van Beethoven
Violin Concerto in D, Op. 61
Ludwig van Beethoven	73	(2)
Overtures, Highlights from Il Barbiere di Siviglia	75	(2)
Gioachino Rossini
Lieder
Franz Schubert	77	(2)
Piano Quintet in A, D. 667, "Trout"
Franz Schubert	79	(2)
Symphonies Nos. 8 & 9 Franz Schubert	81	(2)
Piano Sonata in B flat, D. 960, etc.
Franz Schubert	83	(2)
Symphonic fantastique
Hector Berlioz	85	(2)
Octet in E flat, Op. 20
Felix Mendelssohn	87	(2)
Symphonies Nos. 3 & 4
Felix Mendelssohn	89	(2)
Dichterliehe, Op. 48
Robert Schumann	91	(2)
Kinderszenen, Kreisleriana, Humoreske	93	(3)
Robert Schumann
Piano Concerto No. 1 in E Minor Op. 11, etc.	96	(3)
Frédéric Chopin
Waltzes
Frédéric Chopin	99	(2)
Six Grandes Étudesde Paganini
Franz Liszt	101	(3)
Opera Excerpts Highlights
Richard Wagner	104	(3)
Opera Excerpts Highlights
Giuseppe Verdi	107	(3)
Violin Sonata in A
César Franck	110	(3)
Symphony No. 4 in E-flat, "Romantic"
Anton Bruckner	113	(3)
Waltzes
Johann Strauss, Jr.	116	(2)
Symphony No. 2 in D, Op. 73
Johannes Brahms	118	(2)
Ein Deutsch. es Requiem (A German Requiem), Op. 45
Johannes Brahms	120	(2)
Violin Concerto in D, Op. 77
Johannes Brahms	122	(2)
Piano Concertos Nos. 1 & 2
Johannes Brahms	124	(2)
Solo Piano Music
Johannes Brahms	126	(2)
The Carnival of the Animals
Camille Saint-Saëns	128	(2)
Violin Concertos Nos. 1 & 3
Max Bruch	130	(2)
Pictures at an Exhibition
Modest Mussorgsky	132	(3)
Piano Concerto No. 1 & Violin Concerto	135	(3)
Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Symphonies Nos. 4, 5, 6
Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky	138	(2)
Ballet Suites Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky	140	(2)
Symphonies Nos. 8 & 9
Antonin Dvorák	142	(3)
Piano Concerto in A Minor, Op. 16
Edvard Grieg	145	(2)
Excerpts from Peer Gynt
Edvard Grieg	147	(2)
Scheherazade, Op. 35
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov	149	(2)
Requiem, Op. 48
Gabriel Fauré	151	(2)
Enigma Variations, Op. 36
Sir Edward Elgar	153	(2)
Cello Concerto in E Minor & Sea Pictures
Sir Edward Elgar	155	(3)
Highlights from La Bohème
Giacomo Puccini	158	(2)
Symphony No. 4
Gustav Mahler	160	(2)
Prélude à l'après midi d'un faune, La Mer, etc.	162	(3)
Claude Debussy
String Quartet, Op. 10
Claude Debussy	165	(2)
and String Quartet in F
Maurice Ravel
Images & Children's Corner
Claude Debussy	167	(2)
Four Last Songs
Richard Strauss	169	(2)
Tone Poems
Richard Strauss	171	(2)
Violin Concerto in D Minor, Op. 47
Jean Sibelius	173	(2)
Symphony No. 5 in E-flat, Op. 82
Jean Sibelius	175	(2)
Symphony No. 5 and "The Lark Ascending"	177	(3)
Ralph Vaughan Williams
Piano Concerto No. 2 in C Minor, Op. 18	180	(2)
Sergei Rachmaninoff
The Planets, Op. 32
Gustav Holst	182	(3)
Verklärte Nacht and Pelléas and Mélisande	185	(3)
Arnold Schoenberg
Daphnis et Chloé
Maurice Ravel	188	(2)
Gaspard de la Nuit
Maurice Ravel	190	(2)
Piano Concertos
Maurice Ravel	192	(2)
Nights in the Gardens of Spain & The Three-Cornered Hat	194	(3)
Manuel de Falla
Spanish Guitar Music	197	(2)
Pines of Rome, Fountains of Rome
Ottorino Respighi	199	(2)
Concerto for Orchestra
Béla Bartók	201	(3)
String Quartets
Béla Bartók	204	(2)
The Firebird, Petrushka, and Le Sacre du Printemps
Igor Stravinsky	206	(3)
The Symphony of Psalms
Igor Stravinsky	209	(2)
Music for String Quartet
Alban Berg and Anton Webern	211	(2)
Romeo and Juliet (Excerpts)
Sergei Prokofiev	213	(2)
Piano Sonata No. 7
Sergei Prokofiev	215	(2)
Carmina Burana
Carl Orff	217	(2)
Rhapsody in Blue
George Gershwin	219	(2)
Appalachian Spring
Aaron Copland	221	(2)
Symphonies No. 5 and No. 9
Dmitri Shostakovich	223	(2)
String Quartets Nos. 1, 8, and 9
Dmitri Shostakovich	225	(2)
Turangalila Symphony
Olivier Messiaen	227	(2)
War Requiem, Op. 66
Benjamin Britten	229	(3)
Candide Overture, West Side Story Symphonic Dances, etc.
Leonard Bernstein	232	(3)
Fratres
Arvo Pärt	235	(2)
Index	237

Excerpts

In the early seventeenth century, the English religious scholar Thomas Draxe said, “Music is the eye of the ear.” The link to sight or the visual has been something music has wrestled with for generations. Today we tend to use our hearing as a way of confirming our sight, so Draxe’s claim could easily be turned around to read, “Music is the ear of the eye.” Manufactured images today are everywhere, in films, on television and computer screens, on billboards, and in the print media. We are now very visually oriented, relying on our sight to learn, experience, and entertain, and on our hearing to enhance what we see.

Since the development of radio and the gramophone in the twentieth century, music has lost ground to the visual in its power to arrest our attention. Music is in our homes and offices, and is as easily accessible as turning on the tap or the light switch. It’s in elevators, dentist’s offices, and shopping malls. Workers in factories often have music piped in to accompany their labours, but the music ­can’t be too good, because then it can be distracting, and production targets fall. This ease of accessibility has caused us to take music for granted. We hear music constantly today, but we don’t listen to it. It’s used to fill a void, or a perceived void.

Yet music can still draw pictures and images for us. The great German Romantic writer Goethe is reported to have described architecture as frozen music. It’s a powerful language that can communicate concepts and ideas non-­visually and non-­verbally, and it can also convey deep emotion and feeling.

This book is intended as a guide for both those who are just starting to explore the rich world of classical music and those who already have a serious cd collection but want to explore other performances. It is, above all, for those who want to expand their aural senses and awareness – who want to increase their understanding and enjoyment of the highly useful and expressive language of music. All forms of music are valid and worthy, from folk songs to pop, jazz, rock, and hip hop. They can all express ideas and emotions. But this book deals with classical music – the age­old form that has experienced many rises and falls over hundreds of years, and still manages to survive. How we use music is up to each individual, but this book deals with music that was intended to be listened to, not just heard – foreground listening, not background.

Today, we hear about the demise of the compact disc – the format of recorded music that’s been with us now for almost thirty years. Downloads, MP3s, and soundfiles are the way of the future, but, as always, the medium is not as important as the music. Regardless of how we access it, it’s the music itself that will survive. Many of the classical music recordings recommended in this book are “classic,” and will always be available in one format or another. Record companies are always reissuing recordings. Every few years, they remaster the original tapes using the latest technology, repackage them with new art, graphics, and jacket notes, and re-release them. As a result, the serial numbers of the recordings can change. But the music, artists, ensembles, and conductors remain the same, and usually the record label, so that’s what to look for. And remember that any list produced is obsolete the minute it’s printed. New recordings of classical music are always coming out, but the recommendations in this book are recordings that I think have a lasting shelf life.

Although there are 101 recommended recordings, you do not have to acquire all of them to truly enjoy classical music. Used as a guide, the book can steer you to furthering your own personal musical tastes. I hope that it will also expose you to new insights and ideas about music, encouraging you to listen to music that you might not have thought you would ever enjoy. If you’re like me, you’ve sometimes been surprised at how your musical tastes have developed and changed over time, and how you’re fond of music now that you would’ve never dreamed of liking a decade ago.

I’ve attempted to supply an overview of classical music, ranging from the Middle Ages and before, to the present day. For the purposes of this book, the Middle Ages lead into the Renaissance, or the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries in music. The Baroque period is roughly 1600 to 1750. The Classical period of music runs from about 1750 to 1820 or so, overlapping with the nineteenth-century Romantic Age, and leading on into the modern age of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.

I’ve avoided musical jargon and theoretical terms, and I don’t think that it’s necessary to be able to read music or understand musical theory or structure to enjoy classical music. They can enhance your appreciation, there’s no question. But really, just an interest and an open mind are the first requirements to a life of musical enjoyment. Music is a non-verbal language. It shouldn’t intimidate or scare anyone.

Many genres of music are here – from vocal and choral, to orchestral, chamber music, solo instrumental, and ballet. I’ve also tried to include a range of nationalities – not only of the composers, but also in the artists and ensembles selected. By no means is this a tally of the “best” 101 works or recordings. Any such list would be fruitless, given the subjectivity of art and music. It is simply an overview of classical music and recordings, and I don’t make any claim that my selection is right or definitive, or even better than any other. But, over twenty-five years in the classical music business, as a writer, broadcaster, and teacher, I’ve been following what has been recorded and released, and its worth.

---

Excerpted from The Essential Classical Recordings: 100 CDs for Today's Listener by Rick Phillips
All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.