# Favorite Interpreters of Composers, specifically Schubert



## EnescuCvartet (Dec 16, 2016)

Three part question:

1.) Describe your favorite interpreters (solo piano, mainly,) of your favorite composers.

For my purpose, I'd like you to:

2 Include your favorite Schubert interpreters.

And more specifically:

3.) Do you have a favorite version of the D959?

...

Addressing #3, I long admired most the Serkin D959, but of late fancy the Pollini. The Uchida is too slow for my tastes and the Zimerman is too fast. Nothing against Kempff and Brendel.

Addressing #1, I like my Scriabin by Sofronitsky, my Chopin by Moravec, and my Rachmaninoff by Rachmaninov.


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## MatthewWeflen (Jan 24, 2019)

As far as Schubert goes, I own and am very please with the following:
String Quartets: Diogenes Quartet
Symphonies: Karajan/BPO; Immerseel/Anima Eterna (two quite different but very satisfying approaches)

I have not dived into the lieder or piano material.


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## realdealblues (Mar 3, 2010)

EnescuCvartet said:


> Addressing #3, I long admired most the Serkin D959, but of late fancy the Pollini. The Uchida is too slow for my tastes and the Zimerman is too fast. Nothing against Kempff and Brendel.


Question 1 would take forever to write out.

Question 2 depends on the work.

Question 3...I can answer that my favorite interpreters of Piano Sonata #20, D. 959 are probably Claudio Arrau, Maurizio Pollini, Murrah Perahia (2003 recording) and Leif Ove Andsnes. Those are probably my favorites for that particular sonata, but I also like Alfred Brendel, Wilhelm Kempff, Radu Lupu and Rudolf Serkin to name a few others. I don't mind Daniel Barenboim's recording ether.


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## Coach G (Apr 22, 2020)

Favorite Interpreters of Composers (biased towards old recordings):

*Un-HIP Bach*: Pablo Casals/Marboro Festival Orchestra for a very bright and lively "American-style" _Brandenburg Concertos_ and _Orchestral Suites_; Benjamin Britten/English Chamber Orchestra for a reverent and polished "English-style" _Brandenburg Concertos_ and _St. John Passion_ featuring Peter Pears, John Shirlet-Quirk, Heather Harper, Alfreda Hodgson, Robert Tear and other friends on the _St. John Passion_; Glenn Gould or Glenn Gould and friends on Bach's keyboard fare.

*HIP Bach*: Masaaki Suzuki across the board

*Beethoven*: Bruno Walter, Arturo Toscanini, Leonard Bernstein (New York Phil/Columbia years), Rudolf Serkin

*Haydn*: Leonard Bernstein

*Mozart*: Bruno Walter, Arturo Toscanini, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, (surprisingly) Leonard Bernstein

*Tchaikovsky*: Eugene Ormandy, Seiji Ozawa, Leonard Bernstein, Herbert Von Karajan

*Berlioz*: Colin Davis (most other conductors seem to overplay Berlioz)

*Wagner*: Herbert Von Karajan, George Solti

*Debussy* and *Ravel*: Pierre Boulez, and (surprisingly) Herbert Von Karajan

*Bruckner*: Herbert Von Karajan is the most reliable, unless you want to take it to the outer limits with Sergiu Celebidache

*Mahler*: Dmitri Mitropoulos, Bruno Walter, George Szell, George Solti, Maurice Abravanel, (surprisingly) Herbert Von Karajan, Leonard Bernstein (early NYPO/Columbia years)

*Stravinsky*: Pierre Monteux, Igor Stravinsky

*Schoenberg*: Pierre Boulez

*Copland*: Leonard Bernstein OWNS the music of Aaron Copland even more than Aaron Copland does.

*Britten*: Benjamin Britten's own recordings are the standard.

*Shostakovich*: Robert Barshai, Yvgeny Mravinsky, Leonard Bernstein, Mstislav Rostropovich

*Sibelius*: Eugene Ormandy, Leonard Bernstein, Herbert Von Karajan, David Oistrakh for the _Violin Concerto_

*Elgar*, *Vaughan Williams*, and *Holst*: Adrian Boult

*Richard Strauss*: Herbert Von Karajan


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## MatthewWeflen (Jan 24, 2019)

Coach G said:


> Favorite Interpreters of Composers (biased towards old recordings):
> 
> *Un-HIP Bach*: Pablo Casals/Marboro Festival Orchestra for a very bright and lively "American-style" _Brandenburg Concertos_ and _Orchestral Suites_; Benjamin Britten/English Chamber Orchestra for a reverent and polished "English-style" _Brandenburg Concertos_ and _St. John Passion_ featuring Peter Pears, John Shirlet-Quirk, Heather Harper, Alfreda Hodgson, Robert Tear and other friends on the _St. John Passion_; Glenn Gould or Glenn Gould and friends on Bach's keyboard fare.
> 
> ...


I endorse this list, though I would add Karajan to Beethoven and Copland to Copland. I quite like Copland's versions.


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## Bulldog (Nov 21, 2013)

Bach on piano - Tureck, Koroliov, Gould, Woodward
Bach on Harpsichord - Gilbert, Leonhardt, Curtis, Rousset, Ross
Bach on Organ - Bryndorf, Rogg, Marcon, Weinberger, Walcha
Beethoven on Piano - Brendel, Pollini
Berlioz - C. Davis
Handel - R. King, Bowman
Haydn - Brendel, C. Davis, Salomon Quartet
Mozart - Uchida, Bohm
Shostakovich - Nikolayeva, Kondrashin
Schubert - Brendel


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## MarkW (Feb 16, 2015)

Schubert piano: Gabriel Chodos, Clifford Curzon


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## Holden4th (Jul 14, 2017)

Two pianists stand out for me in Schubert - Schnabel and Richter. Schnabel for his pioneering efforts in bringing the sonatas to the public view and Richter for taking these pieces of music to a new level.


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## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

EnescuCvartet said:


> 3.) Do you have a favorite version of the D959?
> 
> ...


This


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## OperasAndPassions (Aug 14, 2020)

HIP Beethoven - Gardiner for the Symphonies and Missa Solemnis, Brautigam for the Piano Sonatas and Concertos
Non-HIP Beethoven - Karajan for the Symphonies and Missa Solemnis, Kempff for the Piano Sonatas

HIP Bach - Suzuki for the Passions, Masses, Cantatas, Orchestral (B. Concertos and Orch. Suites) and all Harpsichord Works. For the OVPP versions of the passions, I enjoy Kuijken (as well as his violin sonatas and partitas set).
Non-HIP Bach - Karl Richter for the Passions, the Mass in B Minor and some of the Cantatas. Also him for the B. Concertos. Angela Hewitt for all the keyboard works in Piano.


For Schubert, I don't know much, but since you asked, I do love Muti for the Symphonies and Uchida for the Piano Sonatas. Kuijken for the String Quintet. I don't know much for the lieder, but I'm curious about some recommendations.


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## EnescuCvartet (Dec 16, 2016)

Thank you very much. I have not heard the Perahia and now very much look forward to it. I like the Lupu as well and really enjoy his take on the Impromptus. Thanks again for the rec.


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## Brahmsianhorn (Feb 17, 2017)

Beethoven symphonies - Furtwängler, Klemperer, Toscanini, Böhm, Karajan, Bernstein 

Beethoven string quartets - Busch, Budapest, Vegh, Hungarian, Talich

Beethoven piano - Schnabel, Solomon, Edwin Fischer, Gilels

Brahms symphonies - Furtwängler, Weingartner, Abbado, Kempe, Walter

Bruckner symphonies - Furtwängler, Karajan, Böhm, Giulini, Haitink

Chopin piano - Friedman, Cortot, Hofmann, Rubinstein

Mahler symphonies - Barbirolli, Horenstein, Klemperer, Walter, Bernstein 

Mozart symphonies - Beecham, Bernstein, Walter 

Schubert symphonies - Furtwängler, Mengelberg, Krips

Schubert piano - Schnabel, Edwin Fischer, Solomon, Kempff, Curzon, Kovacevich 

Shostakovich symphonies - Stokowski, Mravinsky, Kondrashin

Sibelius symphonies - Kajanus, Beecham, Collins, Karajan

Strauss tone poems - Karajan, Furtwängler, Szell, Kempe

Tchaikovsky symphonies - Furtwängler, Mengelberg, Mravinsky, Toscanini

Wagner operas - Furtwängler, Knappertsbusch


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## EnescuCvartet (Dec 16, 2016)

MatthewWeflen said:


> As far as Schubert goes, I own and am very please with the following:
> String Quartets: Diogenes Quartet
> Symphonies: Karajan/BPO; Immerseel/Anima Eterna (two quite different but very satisfying approaches)
> 
> I have not dived into the lieder or piano material.


QUOTE=MatthewWeflen;1911260]As far as Schubert goes, I own and am very please with the following:
String Quartets: Diogenes Quartet
Symphonies: Karajan/BPO; Immerseel/Anima Eterna (two quite different but very satisfying approaches)

I have not dived into the lieder or piano material.[/QUOTE]

Thanks for sharing. I almost envy your not yet delving into the lieder and piano works, though I wouldn't want to be without them long enough to rediscover. Brendel recorded and released a set encompassing the solo works from 1822-1828 which is a good place to start.

I don't think I appreciated Schubert's late piano works until I was out of my 20's, but now they are very precious to me. As for the lieder, Fischer-Dieskau recorded all the lies for male voice and piano accompaniment, a monumental undertaking. They don't get much better than that. He did a similar feat for the Hugo Wolf lied which is indispensable. Elisabeth Schwarzkopf is a great Schubert Ian for female voice.


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## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

Brahmsianhorn said:


> Beethoven symphonies - Furtwängler, Klemperer, Toscanini, Böhm, Karajan, Bernstein
> 
> Beethoven string quartets - Busch, Budapest, Vegh, Hungarian, Talich
> 
> ...


Dead poets society.


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## Brahmsianhorn (Feb 17, 2017)

Mandryka said:


> Dead poets society.


I assume then you only listen to contemporary composers?


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## Turangalîla (Jan 29, 2012)

For Schubert, I am not as familiar with recordings of D. 959 as I’d like to be so I can’t make a recommendation, although I have recently been listening a fair bit to Fleisher’s recording of D. 960, which I think is without peer.

In terms of other composers, I will only discuss pianists as I do not feel comfortable making superiority judgments about other instruments.

Bach (JS) - Schiff, Tureck, Gulda, Feinberg, Fray
Scarlatti - Pogorelich (!)
Mozart - Haskil, Lipatti, Gulda, Fischer (Annie), Perahia, Uchida
Beethoven - Schnabel, Gulda, Biss, Richter only sometimes
Schubert - Brendel, Fleisher
Schumann - Cortot, Horowitz, Argerich, Haskil
Chopin - Cortot, Hofmann, Zimerman, Blechacz
Brahms - Kempff, Lupu 
Liszt - Laplante, Zimerman, Brendel, Sofronitsky
Ravel - Meyer, François
Debussy - François
Poulenc - Le Sage
Prokofiev - Richter
Scriabin - Horowitz, Sofronitsky
Bartok - Kocsis, Anda
Messiaen - Loriod
Ligeti - Aimard

I wrote this in a bit of a rush but I will edit if more come to me.


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## Marinera (May 13, 2016)

Schubert - Arrau, Richter


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## Enthusiast (Mar 5, 2016)

Schubert's piano music is difficult to come up with a favourite - although Richter has to me there. Andreas Staier has made some excellent Schubert records. I enjoy Lupu in much Schubert. There are others ...

Other than that Zoltan Kocsis (as a pianist and as a conductor) is very much my favourite in Bartok.


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## numinisgos (May 10, 2017)

Brahmsianhorn said:


> Beethoven symphonies - Furtwängler, Klemperer, Toscanini, Böhm, Karajan, Bernstein
> 
> Beethoven string quartets - Busch, Budapest, Vegh, Hungarian, Talich
> 
> ...


I concur with most of your noble preferences. I would add:

Kleiber for Schubert's 3rd & 8th and Beethoven's 5th & 7th. 
Arrau in Beethoven's piano sonatas. 
I have a soft spot for Jochum (mono) in Brahm's symphonies.
Zimerman, Lipatti, Moiseiwitsch in Chopin's piano sonatas.
I was rather surprised with the omission of Richter from Schubert's piano repertoire and the inclusion of Kovacevich. Brendel, Pires and Lupu deserve to be considered as well. 
Lastly, Klemperer's fliegende Hollander, Kubelik's Meistersinger, Solti's Parsifal (1973) and Tannhauser (1971) should be considered when approaching Wagner.


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