# Performer(s) you are a die hard fan of



## Phil loves classical (Feb 8, 2017)

Are there performers you are obsessed with and collect all or most of their recordings? I’m a fan of Ashkenazy, but it was more just value buys that I acquired his complete Mozart Piano Concertos, Beethoven Sonatas, Scriabin’s Sonatas, Prokofiev Piano Concertos.


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## Boston Charlie (Dec 6, 2017)

Performer(s) you are a die hard fan of 

Conductors: Bernstein, Karajan, Ormandy, Britten
Piano: Gould, Horowitz, Serkin, Yuji Takahashi
Violin: Menuhin (also not a bad conductor), Stern, Francesscatti, Oistrakh, Itzhak Perlman, Kyung Wha Chung
Cello: Fournier, Rostropovich, Ma 
Vocals: Pavarotti, Domingo, Mario Lanza, Fischer-Diskau, Paul Robeson, Christa Ludwig, Price, Jessye Norman; Peter Pears owns the music of Benjamin Britten
Flute: James Galway

HIP: Masaaki Suzuki


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## Phil loves classical (Feb 8, 2017)

Boston Charlie said:


> Performer(s) you are a die hard fan of
> 
> Conductors: Bernstein, Karajan, Ormandy, Britten
> Piano: Gould, Horowitz, Serkin, Yuji Takahashi
> ...


That's quite a list. How many CDs is that?


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## Captainnumber36 (Jan 19, 2017)

Gould is a favorite of mine just because of the sound he was able to get out of the piano. He was so percussive and precise, I love it! However, some of his renditions are annoying to me (ex: Moonlight) but his technique remains a spectacle!


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## Boston Charlie (Dec 6, 2017)

Phil loves classical said:


> That's quite a list. How many CDs is that?


I'm 50 and started collected classical music recordings when I was 14; 36 years of collecting LPs and later CDs. All-in-all, I'd guess I have about 2,000+ classical LPs and CDs total, maybe more.


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## Phil loves classical (Feb 8, 2017)

Interesting. I find I don’t value any performer much except with a particular composer, and usually not with every work by that composer.


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## Joe B (Aug 10, 2017)

I'm a huge fan of Dawn Upshaw. Her voice just does it for me. I enjoy her performances of classical songs and show tunes equally. Currently, I'm trying to get my hand on the CD's of her's I don't have before they are unavailable anywhere. When my latest ordered discs come in, the count on her CD's will be over two dozen. The fact that my wife enjoys her voice equally means I get to listen to her discs when we're driving somewhere together. The wife favors the show tunes; I'm not so picky.


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Bernstein on Sony, two boxes, waiting for the DG box, and Muti, almost all.
Piano;The Ashkenazy box and Perahia box and recently the Arrau box.
Singers, _all_ by Fleming, Dame Joan Sutherland.


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## Haydn man (Jan 25, 2014)

Murray Perahia for me
I have his Mozart Piano Concertos, Beethoven Piano Concertos and Bach box sets, along with a few other recordings.
He is no showman and simply lets the music happen. Perhaps a little conservative for some but not me
Seen him play three times and due to make that four in June


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## mbhaub (Dec 2, 2016)

The only personalities I collect are conductors, and they're all long dead. 

Bruno Walter
Fritz Reiner
Pierre Monteux
Paul Paray
Serge Koussevitsky
Charles Munch

Heavy on the French. I was too young to have ever heard any of them live. What a recorded legacy.


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## Guest (Mar 27, 2018)

To name just a few......

Gustav Leonhardt
Ernest Ansermet
Bernard Haitink
Ashkenazy
Andrew Parrott


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

Not going for completion, but a lot of the CD's by Dawn Upshaw, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, and the Kronos Quartet.


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## Marinera (May 13, 2016)

Vocals - Maria Cristina Kiehr, Andreas Scholl, Werner Güra, Gerard Souzay, Sandrine Piau, Natalie Dessay, Teresa Berganza, Galina Vishnevskaya
Piano - Claudio Arrau
Jordi Savall - viol and the projects he undertakes


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## jenspen (Apr 25, 2015)

My CD collection favours, in their different musical fields:

Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau

Arthur Rubinstein

Nikolaus Harnoncourt

The Alban Berg Quartet


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## Blancrocher (Jul 6, 2013)

Sviatoslav Richter. Luckily the sound quality sucks on most Richter cds, so I was never able to remain too single-minded about him.


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## bharbeke (Mar 4, 2013)

These performers I always get excited to hear:

Murray Perahia
Yo-Yo Ma
Itzhak Perlman
Teresa Berganza
Maria Joao Pires
Janine Jansen


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## Taplow (Aug 13, 2017)

The Beaux Arts Trio (original line-up)


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## Beet131 (Mar 24, 2018)

I have watched many videos of Carlos Kleiber and find him to be a fascinating conductor. I have several recordings on CD of Kleiber conducting the Vienna Philharmonic (Beethoven's 5th and 7th, Brahms' 4th and Dvorak's Piano Concerto/Schubert's Wanderer Fantasy with Richter). It's just a lot of fun to watch him conduct. I wish I could have seen him live! Anybody out there lucky enough to have seen him in person?


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## Manxfeeder (Oct 19, 2010)

I don't know if I would call myself die-hard, I seem to be attracted by just about anything by the Beaux Arts Trio, Murray Perahia, George Szell (except Schumann), Trevor Pinnock, and Karel Ancerl in the sense that whatever they're playing becomes interesting regardless of what it is.


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

Trevor Pinnock, always incredible as a Bach harpsichordist, and nearly as incredible as a Bach conductor.

Nathan Milstein for his incredible way with Bach's solo violin Partitas and Sonatas and always a reliable performer in the greatest violin concertos.

Artur Rubinstein, always dependable, no matter what the music, from Mozart to Schumann and Brahms.

Yehudi Menuhin, not as a great technician, but his warmth and passion always shine through in the great violin concertos. His recordings of the Bartók Second and Elgar Violin Concertos are for me, definitive.


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## Kjetil Heggelund (Jan 4, 2016)

I think I somehow lost my die hard feelings for any performers...I don't analyze too much anymore either. I have several musicians I look up to, but stopped idolizing. I like "new" performers that do well!


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## Selby (Nov 17, 2012)

The holy_ish_ trinity of piano:

Alfred Cortot
John Ogdon
Stephen Hough


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## Gaspard de la Nuit (Oct 20, 2014)

I listen to everything on youtube, but I would still consider myself diehard for Wanda Landowska, Skip Sempe and George Malcolm. Perlemuter is generally the best in Ravel and Furtwangler is probably the best Wagner conductor with Bohm somewhere nearby but I'm not sure diehard is the word to describe me in relation to them


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## Blancrocher (Jul 6, 2013)

Marcelle Meyer has been a revelation for me—there's a recent cheapo box set as well as some remastered disks available. Amazing pianist.


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## Becca (Feb 5, 2015)

I don't believe in being a 'die-hard fan'. There are certainly a number of musicians who I am always interested in hearing but none who I like no matter what they do (or did!) ... not even any where I like the majority of their performances.


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## BiscuityBoyle (Feb 5, 2018)

Of the living my favorites are Pletnev, Koroliov, Aimard and Anderszewski (though I like quite a few others too). Of the dead, too many to list.


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## Wendy88 (Mar 29, 2018)

Martha Argerich, Evgeny Kissin and Krystian Zimerman.


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

From the newbies; Daniil Trifoniov/ Evgeny Sudbin/ Jan Lisiecki all on the piano.


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## CnC Bartok (Jun 5, 2017)

Lots, and none. If a performer is brilliant at absolutely everything, this tends to raise alarm bells!

Among conductors I'd highlight Rafael Kubelik and Karel Ancerl, but neither's Beethoven, for example, would be high up in my list. Their Mahler, despite the shortage from the latter, would.

A pianist I am about to reacquaint myself with, having had plenty of his recordings on LP, and a big favourite then, is Claudio Arrau. I have just invested in his huge but awkward to store Complete Philips Recordings. Easter hols, time to dip in, starting with his Schumann, which I reckon is about as good as it gets!

Pugg - I saw Yevgeny Sudbin doing the Rachmaninov Third a couple of years back, in a two-piano reduction. I think I know what you mean! His new recording of that is pretty impressive, I hope you've checked it out.


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

> Pugg - I saw Yevgeny Sudbin doing the Rachmaninov Third a couple of years back, in a two-piano reduction. I think I know what you mean! His new recording of that is pretty impressive, I hope you've checked it out.



On the shelf's already.


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## Enthusiast (Mar 5, 2016)

I'm not sure I am a completist for any performer but I do have a tendency to get as much as I can of someone when I first discover them. This happened to me with Richter, for example, but is more often someone new. So, I am still in a phase of buying anything that Patricia Kopatchinskaja does. I don't always end up thinking her version is "the best" but her records do always seem rewarding. Now her reputation is growing I suspect there will be too many records going forward and I will have to get more choosy with her. There are others, too, but there will probably always be a point at which I think "OK - that's enough" and only get the ones I really like.


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## Barelytenor (Nov 19, 2011)

*Pianists: *
Horowitz, first and foremost
Martha Argerich
Jorge Bolet
Sviatoslav Richter
András Schiff
Alfred Brendel, the latter two mostly for their contrasting takes on Beethoven piano sonatas

*Conductors*
Fritz Reiner
Celibidache
Carlos Kleiber
Knappertsbusch
Böhm
Karajan
Bernstein
Gergiev (for his wonderful Russian opera performances)

*Singers*
*Sopranos*
Birgit Nilsson
Leontyne Price
Inge Borkh
Ghena Dimitrova
Mirella Freni
young Deborah Voigt
Shirley Verrett

Lots of coloraturas, esp Bubbalah, Dame Joan, Natalie Dessay, and one cluckatura, Christina Deutekom

*Mezzos*
Christa Ludwig
Marilyn Horne
Stephanie Blythe

*
Tenors*
Melchior
Pavarotti
young Domingo (not baritone-bass _would-you-please-retire _Domingo)
Kaufmann
Jussi Bjoerling
Sergei Lemeshev
Nicolai Gedda
Alfredo Kraus
Ian Bostridge for some Schubert lieder

*Baritones*
Leonard Warren
pre-gigantic-wobble Sherrill Milnes
Pavel Lisitsian
Hvorostovsky, gone too soon
Bryn Terfel for some lieder and Welsh songs more than his operatic performances

*Basses*
Mark Reizen
Boris Christoff
Ezio Pinza
Cesare Siepi
Paolo Montarsolo and several other basso buffos (bassi buffoni?)
George London
Ivan Rebroff

I could go on and on ... but the request was only for performers, not composers or favorite works.

How many CDs and DVDs is that? A lot ... View attachment 102498​
Kind regards, :tiphat:

George


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## Judith (Nov 11, 2015)

Dare I say it???
Think you all know. 

Joshua Bell 
Steven Isserlis 
Stephen Hough. 

Can imagine everyone having a groan!!!!


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## Mal (Jan 1, 2016)

Minor obsessions start up, and then my favourites let me down, and I become wary about collecting everything by them.


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## Selby (Nov 17, 2012)

Judith said:


> Dare I say it???
> Think you all know.
> 
> Joshua Bell
> ...


A groan!!??!!

Certainly any reasonable classical music fan would at minimum acknowledge the above mentioned artists are masters of their craft; certainly in consideration for best living performer for their instrument. I think the list is inspired.


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## Becca (Feb 5, 2015)

As noted earlier, I am not a die-hard fan of anyone but there are some performers who I usually find interesting...(in alphabetical order)

Sir John Barbirolli
Hildegard Behrens
Maria Callas
Lesley Collier
Rodrigo De Souza
Anthony Dowell
Carlo Maria Giulini
Tito Gobbi
Barbara Hannigan
Otto Klemperer
Hermann Prey
Sir Simon Rattle
Hailey Rutledge
Jon Vickers


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## Bulldog (Nov 21, 2013)

In no particular order:

Kenneth Gilbert
Christophe Rousset
Alan Curtis
Beatrice Rana
Scott Ross
Rosalyn Tureck
Glenn Gould
Alfred Brendel
Roger Woodward
Mitsuku Uchida
Walter Gieseking
Natan Brand
Emma Kirkby
Colin Davis
Karl Bohm
John Gardiner
Philippe Herreweghe
Karl Richter
Kirill Kondrashin
Walter Berry
Tatiana Nikolayeva
Claudio Arrau
Craig Sheppard
Jorge Bolet
Viktoria Mullova


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## WVdave (Jun 18, 2017)

Wow, what a great question. Trying to make this a relatively short list...

*Pianists*; Horowitz, Rubenstein, Gould, Serkin, Haskil.....

*Violinists*; Heitfetz, Stern, Oistrakh..

*Conductors*; Stokowski, Reiner, Knappertsbusch, Furtwängler, Böhm, Munch, Karajan, Bernstein, Szell, Steinberg, Ormandy, Koussevitzky, Toscanini....


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Barelytenor said:


> *Pianists: *
> Horowitz, first and foremost
> Martha Argerich
> Jorge Bolet
> ...


and everything is so neatly lined up :tiphat:


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## Becca (Feb 5, 2015)

Barelytenor said:


> How many CDs and DVDs is that? A lot ... View attachment 102498​
> Kind regards, :tiphat:
> 
> George


Do you have a stepladder to access the upper shelves? Also, I do hope that you don't live in an earthquake-prone area!


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## Enthusiast (Mar 5, 2016)

Another relatively newbie who I followed avidly until recently (when the record companies caught on to the fact that they can charge over the odds for their new charismatic star) is Teodor Currentzis. He has made a number of really stimulating records including, in my opinion, his controversial da Ponte operas and I love his Shostakovich 14.


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## Barelytenor (Nov 19, 2011)

Becca said:


> Do you have a stepladder to access the upper shelves? Also, I do hope that you don't live in an earthquake-prone area!


Fortunately, I am a tall man so can reach the top shelves if not read them well. The (mostly) single CDs start top left with Adagios-Argerich-Arne-Bach-Callas. Second row top is Horowitz. DVDs of operas interrupt central areas. Then H-K-Mahler-Messiaen-Mozart-Pianists (Russian). Top row 3 is Ponselle-Price-Ravel-Respighi, more DVDs, Schubert, Sills, Strauss, Stravinsky, The central portion is DVDs and then Verdi-Wagner. Top row 4, Wunderlich, Ellen Beach Yaw. Then the Sets start: Bach cantatas, more DVDs, and Operas: Bellini, Bizet, Borodin, Donizetti, Dvorak, Handel. Top row 5 is Haydn, Massenet, Mozart, Offenbach, Rossini, Strauss (Johann and Richard). The last vertical row is strictly Verdi and Wagner, Weber.

So, this may all seem rather ****-retentive (and I'm sure it is), but it also enables me to find most things I'm looking for with a minimum of wasted time.

The safety issue I have considered--especially because these CD shelves are actually just stacked on top of one another. The bottom of each has a little protruding "lip" that provides a bit of extra stability. So the top half also has the "lip," which you can see running across just below the mug of Callas in the middle of row 1. The cats Saturn and Neptune (aka the Wookies) do not walk all the way across this, as Neptune is too fat and Saturn prefers standing on top of the chair and looking out the window. But the bottom halves and top halves are not physically connected; I just trust the weight and gravity that the bottom will not fall outwards. The top halves of each case, however, are securely bolted into the wall, both in the backs of some shelves and fastened on top. In a severe earthquake, this would still likely topple, but then, I have a massive desk with tall bookshelves in this same room all around the computer, and I would worry more about getting away from that. Fortunately Southwest Virginia is not terribly earthquake-prone.

Thus endeth my tale.

Kind regards, :tiphat:

George


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## Enthusiast (Mar 5, 2016)

Ooh - I've remembered another one: everything Celibidache did in Munich.


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

> Fortunately, I am a tall man so can reach the top shelves if not read them well. The (mostly) single CDs start top left with Adagios-Argerich-Arne-Bach


I am tall to which is good, on the other hand, the lowest shelf's give me back pain, so I have a kind of empty space underneath my storage.


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## Barelytenor (Nov 19, 2011)

^ Nature abhors a vacuum. Buy more music.

Kind regards, :tiphat:

George


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