# Advice requested to expand my current collection



## MitchMan (Nov 6, 2021)

Hey everyone,

I'm looking into expanding my current (small) collection with similar pieces and was hoping to get some recommendations.


Bach, Goldberg Variations - Glenn Gould (1981)
Bach, Brandenburg Concertos - Britten
Vivaldi, The Four Seasons - Joshua Bell
Bach, Cell Suites - Yo-Yo Ma

Much appreciated!

Mitch


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## jegreenwood (Dec 25, 2015)

As I'm sure you know, there are countless options, but here's the one that came to my mind. All your choices so far are by Baroque composers. Why not move forward in time to the great classical composers*, Mozart and Haydn. For Mozart, you could try his piano concertos. He wrote a lot of them, and those from 14-27 are pretty much all masterpieces. You can actually get a highly regarded complete set by Murray Perahia at Amazon for $24 and change. It might even be cheaper elsewhere. That should keep you going for some time, although if you want more, I'd recommend Symphonies 40 and 41 and the clarinet concerto.

Haydn pretty much invented the symphony; he wrote 104 of them. 93-104 are the London symphonies and they are especially good. Leonard Bernstein is one of many fine Haydn conductors. Haydn also invented the string quartet. He wrote a lot of those as well. I'd start with his Op. 76 (consisting of 6 quartets).

Then you can move onto Beethoven, who is the link between the classical era and the romantic era. Start with the symphonies. There must be over 100 complete cycles of all 9. I would guess a poll would show Herbert von Karajan's 1960s cycle as the most frequently recommended. If you don't want a complete set at this time, you could pick up Carlos Kleiber's recording of the 5th and 7th. Beethoven also transformed the string quartet. When I started listening to classical I began with his "Middle Quartets." But again you can pick up the entire cycle of 16 by the Tokyo String Quartet (on Sony - they recorded the cycle again for another label) for less than $25 from Amazon.

Then there's Schubert - but I think that's enough for today.

* In this case "classical" means an era - roughly 1770 - 1805.

Edit - I have been taken to task in a private post for referring to Haydn as the the inventor of the symphony and string quartet. It seems like the more common description is, "father of the symphony and string quartet." See e.g. Wikipedia, whose article on Haydn begins:

Franz Joseph Haydn[a]; 31 March* 1732 - 31 May 1809) was an Austrian composer of the Classical period. He was instrumental in the development of chamber music such as the piano trio. His contributions to musical form have earned him the epithets "Father of the Symphony" and "Father of the String Quartet".*


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## Kreisler jr (Apr 21, 2021)

MitchMan said:


> Hey everyone,
> 
> I'm looking into expanding my current (small) collection with similar pieces and was hoping to get some recommendations.
> 
> ...


Bach: Violin concerti, orchestral suites, Partitas for keyboard, anthology of organ works if you like organ, sonatas for violin+keyboard

Handel: Water music, music for the royal fireworks, Concerti op. 6

Unless you are allergic to singing: Bach: Magnificat, Christmas oratorio, Handel: Messiah, Dixit Dominus, Mozart: c minor Mass, Haydn: Creation

Mozart: Some piano concerti, Sinfonia concertante for violin and viola, Symphonies 38-41

Haydn: cello concerti, some symphonies, if you particular like the 3rd and 6th Brandenburg, try also string quartets by Haydn (and Mozart), nothing wrong in starting with the nicknamed ones, Haydn op.33/3 "Bird" op.64/5 "Lark", 74/3 "Rider", 76/2,3,4 etc. Mozart K 458 "Hunt" 465 "Dissonances" etc.

Mendelssohn: Violin concerto

if you particularly like cello:
cello concerti by Dvorak, Saint Saens, Elgar
cello sonata #3 op.69 by Beethoven


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## SanAntone (May 10, 2020)

MitchMan said:


> Hey everyone,
> 
> I'm looking into expanding my current (small) collection with similar pieces and was hoping to get some recommendations.
> 
> ...


Going with your current collection the one set of pieces you are missing that I think fits are the Solo Violin Sonatas & Partitas. They would compliment the Solo Cello Suites. There are a countless number of complete sets, one I like is the two-volume set by *Isabelle Faust*.


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## Olias (Nov 18, 2010)

This should absolutely be on your to purchase list. All three Bach violin concerti played by one of the best violinists in the world.


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## Animal the Drummer (Nov 14, 2015)

The music, yes indeed - the recording, however, not so much. There is music in which Ms,Hahn is simply superb (I love her Elgar concerto for example, though the less said about Colin Davis' flabby accompaniment the better) but for me the outer movements of her Bach concertos are too quick. They make the music sound almost fierce, then find themselves having to put the brakes on big style in the closing rallentandos. Arthur Grumiaux's readings are the ones to have IMHO.


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## joen_cph (Jan 17, 2010)

If you're mainly into Baroque, but you'd like some different expressions than what you've already got, and some catchy works & recordings ... a few obvious choices, besides the already mentioned Bach violin concertos, would be:

- *Händel*. Tons of stuff available, but:
"_The Messiah_". I'd suggest with Karl Richter, DG (the English version of course, not the German version of the work)
"_12 Concerti Grossi" op.6_. I prefer Max Pommer's recording.

- *J.D. Zelenka*
There isn't that much instrumental music, but the quirky _Trio Sonatas_ have more wind instruments and a different sound picture than many of the more familiar, baroque works.

- *M.A. Charpentier*:
_Te Deum_ is famous as the "Eurovison theme". The Naxos recording has a couple of other works by him and it's good and sufficient.

- *Vivaldi*:
You probably need some of the impressive vocal music. I'd suggest Muti's recording of the _Gloria _and the _Magnificat_ for a start.
And the "_12 Violin Concertos op.3, L'Estro Armonico_" are a classic, like "The 4 Seasons". Check out Marriner's Decca recording.

- *C.P.E. Bach*:
A bit later than the Baroque, but the _Cello Concertos_, such as in the Suzuki/BIS recording is one of the most immediately catchy recordings of music of that Age, IMO.


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## Ethereality (Apr 6, 2019)

Sorry for delaying my aid. Here is your personally tailored list, in order of most recommended:

1. Brahms: Symphony #3 in F, op. 90 [1883]
2. Debussy: Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune (Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun) [1894]
3. Bruckner: Symphony #8 in C minor, WAB 108 [1890]
4. Mahler: Symphony #9 [1909]
5. Ravel: String Quartet in F [1903]
6. Brahms: Symphony #4 in E minor, op. 98 [1885]
7. Strauss, R.: Vier letzte Lieder (Four Last Songs) [1948]
8. Mahler: Symphony #2 "Resurrection" [1894]
9. Beethoven: Symphony #9 in D minor, op. 125 "Choral" [1824]
10. Mozart: Symphony #40 in G minor, K. 550 [1788]
11. Beethoven: Piano Concerto #5 in E-flat, op. 73 "Emperor" [1809]
12. Brahms: Piano Concerto #2 in B-flat, op. 83 [1881]
13. Mozart: Piano Sonata #11 in A, K. 331 [1784]
14. Mozart: Serenade #13 in G, K. 525 "Eine kleine Nachtmusik" [1787]
15. Bernstein: Symphony #1 "Jeramiah" [1942]
16. Mozart: Symphony #25 in G minor, K. 183 [1773]
17. Holst: The Planets, op. 32 [1916]
18. Mahler: Symphony #6 in A minor [1904]
19. Bach: Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin, BWV 1001-1006 [1720]
20. Mozart: Don Giovanni [1787]
21. Mozart: Requiem Mass in D minor, K. 626 [1791]
22. Strauss, R.: Don Juan, op. 20 [1888]
23. Chopin: Fantaisie in F minor, op. 49 [1841]
24. Beethoven: Symphony #1 in C, op. 21 [1800]
25. Chopin: Nocturnes [1827-46]


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## premont (May 7, 2015)

Olias said:


> This should absolutely be on your to purchase list. All three Bach violin concerti played by one of the best violinists in the world.
> 
> View attachment 160920


These recordings would be excellent if she just wasn't so keen on having to reach the next train.


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## premont (May 7, 2015)

MitchMan said:


> Hey everyone,
> 
> I'm looking into expanding my current (small) collection with similar pieces and was hoping to get some recommendations.
> 
> ...


If these recordings are what you feel attracted to, I think you should stick to baroque music at least for now. It's a bit unclear if you generally prefer piano to harpsichord. As for Vivaldi, the next step would be his opus 3 (L'Estro Armonico) and opus 4 (La Stravaganza). As for Bach, in the case of orchestral music it would be the orchestral suites, the violin concertos and possibly the harpsichord concerts. If you prefer Bach's keyboard music played on piano, Gould has recorded most of it (Wohltemperierte Klavier, Partitas, English and Frensh suites et.c.). As for the cello suites, the next logical step is the solo violin works (sonatas and partitas), the sonatas for violin and obligatory keyboard or the sonatas for viola da gamba and keyboard.


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## science (Oct 14, 2010)

MitchMan said:


> Hey everyone,
> 
> I'm looking into expanding my current (small) collection with similar pieces and was hoping to get some recommendations.
> 
> ...


That's a good, sound start.

I would branch out in two ways: diversity of form and diversity of era.

- Allegri: Miserere + Palestrina: Missa Papae Marcelli - Tallis Scholars (the older one, with the crucifix on the cover art). The truth is I prefer The Sixteen, but the Tallis Scholars have been the gold standard for a generation. This would be a beautiful introduction to the Renaissance & to choral music.

- Mozart: Don Giovanni - James Levine & the Met on DVD, Giulini on CD. The king of operas by one of the finest opera composers of all time. It's a good story and the music's good too. A great intro to opera and to the classical period.

- Beethoven: Symphonies 5 & 7 - Kleiber. Like Gould playing Bach's Goldbergs, this is one of the most famous recordings in the history of classical music; it's also some of the most famous music. A good intro to Beethoven and to the symphony.

- Schubert: Winterreise, D. 911 - Fischer-Dieskau & Demus. This will be a great intro to songs and to the romantic era.

- Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring - Ozawa. Here's a ballet, and the key "modernist" work.

- Glass: Aguas da Amazonia - uakti. Probably will stretch your idea of what classical music is, but at any rate it's good music and a great intro to minimalism, one of the main traditions of post-modern or contemporary music.


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## Olias (Nov 18, 2010)

Animal the Drummer said:


> The music, yes indeed - the recording, however, not so much. There is music in which Ms,Hahn is simply superb (I love her Elgar concerto for example, though the less said about Colin Davis' flabby accompaniment the better) but for me the outer movements of her Bach concertos are too quick. They make the music sound almost fierce, then find themselves having to put the brakes on big style in the closing rallentandos. Arthur Grumiaux's readings are the ones to have IMHO.


I'll politely disagree. The reason I love HH in this recording so much is BECAUSE of the tempi of the outer movements. I love the faster interpretation, it sets it apart from every other recording I've heard and has so much more energy which is to my liking. However, no judgement on what anyone else prefers (including yourself). We all like what we like.


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## Olias (Nov 18, 2010)

premont said:


> These recordings would be excellent if she just wasn't so keen on having to reach the next train.


To each his own. I myself much prefer my Bach on the fast side.


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