# Which Pieces Do You Have The Most Versions Of On Recording?



## HarpsichordConcerto (Jan 1, 2010)

Most if not all of us obviously do not buy more than one version of recordings/downloads for the vast majority of the music we listen to. But many of us end up with more than one version of a particular piece of music for a variety of reasons. It could simply be because these are just damn old favourites, and or these pieces just happened to be paired/packaged with other pieces that you were seeking instead. I would like to know what works you think/know you have the most versions.

Me, currently it is Bach's six _Brandenburg Concertos_. I can think of ten versions in my collection. Oh the shame of it ...

_Edit: I thought I had eight versions but I did a count: I have ten Brandenburgs (complete) ..._


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde:
Nine versions....


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## HarpsichordConcerto (Jan 1, 2010)

Actually, this could potentially be a useful thread for members thinking of buying a particular version (or two), as the other member(s) who have many versions of the piece in question might be suitably "qualified" to recommend ...


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## Aramis (Mar 1, 2009)

This one of those questions that make me ask myself "how on earth could I know such thing?"

I think it could be:

- one of Chopin's works (perhaps one of ballades, first is very probable)
- Symphonie Fantastique
- One of Mahler's symphonies
- Wagner's opera
- Wieniawski's 2nd concerto which is quite odd because I don't like it that much (it's great but there are some I like better, even his 1st) and yet I have something like five recordings of it


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## Charon (Sep 8, 2008)

Probably one of Beethoven's piano sonatas. Most likely No.23.


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## jurianbai (Nov 23, 2008)

Stravinsky Violin Concerto is like everywhere paired with other violin concerto. And Brahm's Hungarian Rhapsody is favorite fillers , I got many of them.


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## HarpsichordConcerto (Jan 1, 2010)

Aramis said:


> - Wieniawski's 2nd concerto which is quite odd because I don't like it that much (it's great but there are some I like better, even his 1st) and yet I have something like five recordings of it


That's the spirit! Now, can you recommend one? I have none.


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## Aramis (Mar 1, 2009)

HarpsichordConcerto said:


> That's the spirit! Now, can you recommend one? I have none.


Like I wrote in thread about Wieniawski, I recommend recording by Gil Shaham/LSO/Lawrence Foster which also includes his 1st concerto, Legende and fantasy on gypsy airs by De Saraste.


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## sabrina (Apr 26, 2011)

I have 3-4 DVDs with Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Traviata, Rigoletto, Die Zauberflotte.
In CDs, mp3 I have even more opera doubles, triples with Maria Callas and others.
I have at least doubled Beethoven concerts, symphonies and quartets. So goes with Mozart, concerts, symphonies, especially his Requiem.
Everything I like is in most often in more interpretations. Unfortunately, I have so many CDs/DVDs I have big problem with their storage.


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## science (Oct 14, 2010)

I must have 7 or so of Tchaikovsky's 1st piano concerto and of Beethoven's 5th symphony. 

About 5 of the major violin concertos, Beethoven's other major symphonies.


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## waldvogel (Jul 10, 2011)

I have five versions of _Pictures at an Exhibition_ - an LP and two CD's of the Ravel orchestration, another CD of an orchestration by Jukka-Pekka Saraste, and the piano version with Sviatoslav Richter.


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## Air (Jul 19, 2008)

Owning more recordings doesn't necessarily mean that you have heard more recordings of a particular work, or vice versa - it just increases the chances. For example, I have heard at least 20 recordings of Chopin's First Ballade and many rarities - Egorov, Hofmann, Brailowsky and such, but only really own two to my knowledge - Rubinstein and Michelangeli (my favorite). On the other hand, it is possible for an avid collector to have hundreds of recordings of say Mahler's 2nd and have heard only 1 of them, or none even. It really depends on how close of a relationship one fosters with one's own collection.

By the way, I only have two Mahler 2nd's - Mehta and Bernstein. But I love them both.


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## Sid James (Feb 7, 2009)

That's true, Air & I would extend that I see no use in owning thousands of discs if getting little chance to hear them at least once.

I'm surprised HC, I thought you'd have the most recordings of _The Messiah _by the bewigged gent on your avatar.

As for me, the most versions of a work I have is three of Bartok's _Concerto for Orchestra_, due to different couplings. For the same reason, the other ones I can think of is Stravinsky's _Symphonies of Wind Instruments, Octet for Winds_, two of his works for SQ - _Double Canon & Three Pieces _(two recordings of each of those), as well as three accounts of his _The Rite of Spring_.

There was a thread on a similar issue HERE.


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

This shouldn't take long!

Mahler - 7-8 recordings of each symphony and DLvdE (I will stop once I get the Levine box plus one or two other isolated recordings). Along the way I have accumulated 9 Kindertotenlieders as well (mostly as fill-ups).

Bruckner - 3 of symphony 00, 5 of symphony 0, 6 of symphony 1 and 7 each of symphonies 2-9 (that will do for me now).

Beethoven - 6 of symphony 9 and 5 each of the others (will probably stop when I get the Gardiner box).

Schubert - 6 of symphony 9 and 5 of the unfinished (will stop once/if Bruggen box gets reissued plus I also want Wand's Berlin PO 8 and 9 on RCA).

I've also got multiple recordings of Dvorak's Czech and American suites but that's more by luck than design AKA the Fill-Up Factor.

I've got many operas on CD but unlike quite a few of the esteemed forum members I have never been inclined to collect more than one recording of the ones I've got.

Just for the record, I copied and pasted this from my erroneous posting on the similar opera thread!


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## haydnfan (Apr 13, 2011)

Well I hate to admit it, but I used to be a crazed Mahlerian! I had something like 30 recordings of Mahler's 9th and 10-20 for the rest of his symphonies.


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

haydnfan said:


> Well I hate to admit it, but I used to be a crazed Mahlerian! I had something like 30 recordings of Mahler's 9th and 10-20 for the rest of his symphonies.


That's seriously going some! You say 'used to be' - does that mean you didn't hang on to some/most of your recordings?


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## tdc (Jan 17, 2011)

I am still in my expanding phase in my collection, exploring many new works and composers all the time, so in my collection there really aren't a lot of duplicates. I probably have the most versions of Ravel's Bolero just because it comes included on so many different Ravel compilations. A couple people have given me recordings of this piece as well.


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## Chi_townPhilly (Apr 21, 2007)

The "related threads" tool at the bottom of this page will reveal that we've covered this ground before... but still, it might be interesting to re-explore this with a new set of members- and to add our recommendations-

Six- Bruckner Symphony 5- Furtwängler-Berlin, Ormandy-Philadelphia, Karajan-Berlin, Solti-Chicago, Tintner-Royal Scottish, Sinopoli-Dresden. My favorites- Sinopoli & Solti.

Five- Wagner Tristan und Isolde- Furtwängler-Philaharmonia, Böhm-Bayreuth, Karajan-Berlin, Barenboim-Bayreuth, Pappano-Covent Garden. My favorites- You can put the Böhm and Karajan sets in a bag and come out okay picking either one... but if pressed, I'll say Karajan. Really, I think any of these is all right- maybe Barenboim is a half-step behind the other four.

Five- Bruckner 8- Furtwängler-Vienna Phil, Böhm-Vienna Phil, Karajan-Berlin, Solti-Chicago, Tintner-Ireland. Favorites here are a little more complicated, as we have Haas, Nowak and Carragan editions in this selection. If you're okay with the Nowak edition, then Furtwängler is great, and Solti is just fine, too. If you prefer the Haas, then the Böhm is fine, and is much better value than the overpriced Karajan-Vienna version that I refused to acquire for the prices they were charging.

Author's note- though I have five versions of some other works, I've limited my listings of favorites to the pieces where I also have study-scores...


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## Sid James (Feb 7, 2009)

Another one that I forgot earlier is *Haydn's Surprise Symphony*, which tends to get coupled with all manner of things, by him and others. I think I've got about 4 recordings of this in total, two on CD, one on tape, another on vinyl, and also Salomon's piano trio arrangment on CD. But it's a favourite of mine, so I suppose I'm okay with this, but I normally don't duplicate if I can avoid it...


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## kv466 (May 18, 2011)

It's true what Air was saying about how many we have not necessarily reflecting how many we've heard...I used to have dozens of pieces in the 10 at least category as far as how many versions I owned...luckily, I know a lot of people that might pop on a classical disc once in a blue moon and thus as I've filtered out versions I don't care for and maybe exposed someone to a marvelous piece in the process...I'm practically down to the bare bones for my absolute favorite classical pieces for I've heard them all by at least 30 different performers and can only truly listen to the one I consider tops...most of this exposure was thanks to a young teenage job I had which involved a lot of walking around a big, forest-like park and listening to nothing but the classical fm station on the radio; all the names I know and conductors and artists (except the ones I've seen live) come from the radio!...I mean, at least 90%...the rest I learned from buying, concerts and just walking around the aisles at the record stores...

...so, now that my collection is very much stripped down (yet still manages to be huge) I probably got a lot of Mozart concerti for piano...for flute...and for horn doubled up by different folks...a few of the Beethoven Symphonies both single and complete doubled up...and a few piano concerti as well...off the top of my head, I might have a lot of Emperors out there 'cause I just saw an Alfred Brendelfly recording I bought in SF a few years back in my rack and I know for sure I have at least six more, as well as my favorite conducted by Leopold Stokowski.

I'm currently in the process of adding to my collection by finding my favorites among pieces I'm not so familiar with and am discovering thanks in large part to you fine folks...I don't know how I bought at least a couple new discs a week for at least ten years though!...I certainly can not do that now so I'm kinda going with recommendations instead of trial by error nowadays.


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## eorrific (May 14, 2011)

I have at least four versions of Schumann Piano Concerto as it is often paired up with other (as a "filler" as coined by jurianbai). Two with Grieg's Piano Concerto, one with Schoenberg's Piano Concerto, one with Schumann's Cello Concerto.


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## kv466 (May 18, 2011)

eorrific said:


> I have at least four versions of Schumann Piano Concerto as it is often paired up with other (as a "filler" as coined by jurianbai). Two with Grieg's Piano Concerto, one with Schoenberg's Piano Concerto, one with Schumann's Cello Concerto.


Hmmm, that's interesting because that brings up another I have a few of and it is always the Schumann Piano Concerto with the Grieg Piano...one of these is part of a big collection from RCA with Artur Rubinstein playing; very nice...I think it was no. 48.


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## HarpsichordConcerto (Jan 1, 2010)

Air said:


> Owning more recordings doesn't necessarily mean that you have heard more recordings of a particular work, or vice versa - it just increases the chances. For example, I have heard at least 20 recordings of Chopin's First Ballade and many rarities - Egorov, Hofmann, Brailowsky and such, but only really own two to my knowledge - Rubinstein and Michelangeli (my favorite). On the other hand, it is possible for an avid collector to have hundreds of recordings of say Mahler's 2nd and have heard only 1 of them, or none even. It really depends on how close of a relationship one fosters with one's own collection.
> 
> By the way, I only have two Mahler 2nd's - Mehta and Bernstein. But I love them both.


I certainly hope that the extreme examples you pointed out are not "the norm" - owning recordings and not ever listening to them even once. While I do have CDs that are not yet listened, I buy recordings with the clear intention of listening to them (usually because they are on sale/good price "buy first, listen later"  ). The other point you made about owning one or two CDs of piece X while having listened to 20 recordings of piece X; unless you have a very good listening memory, I doubt folks can really compare and contrast recordings, and hence make recommendations/critiques on that basis alone. Often, I immediately listen to my favourite version on CD of _Brandenburg #3_ for example, after listening to a version of it on radio/live concert/wherever, to compare it while I can still remember that one-off experience (usually after concerts).

As for Handel's _The Messiah_, I do have a shameful 7 or so that I can think of (Hogwood, Higginbottom, Jacobs, Christie, Pinnock, H. Christophers, Suzuki).  It's one damn sublime piece of work.


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## Sid James (Feb 7, 2009)

HC, that sounds more like it! (or more like you!).

I think it's actually worth owning more than one recording of _The Messiah_, because there are about 8 different versions (in score) of this work. Last night I was listening to Hogwood's Foundling Hospital version. I've also got what approximates the original Dublin version on Naxos. A friend of mine has Gardiner's Novello version. I've also got the "big mumma" version of Sir Malcolm Sargent from the 1950's. The version I saw last year in December had 400 choristers, so similar to what Sargent played, but the orchestra was not huge. & I've also read on TC, I think member stlukes was listening to the all-male version recently found & put down on Naxos.

So there you go. It's one of those works that there's not simply different recordings, but different _actual_ versions, which makes it more interesting than just comparing interpretations per se...


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## hocket (Feb 21, 2010)

Rather boringly I suppose it'd be Spem in Alium which is currently the most poptacular renaissance piece, and probably the equivalent of the Brandenburg Concertos. I have versions of it by The Tallis Scholars, The Taverner Consort, Magnificat, Chapelle du Roi, The Sixteen (their earlier version but not the later one), The Huelgas Ensemble, The Oxford Camerata, Pro Cantione Antiqua, Kings' College Cambridge's choir and quite possibly some I've forgotten about. I've also got a version of the contrafacta 'Sing and Glorify' by Chapelle du Roi (I don't have The Sixteen's version).

So at least ten if you include the contrafacta.

Make that 11 as I've just remembered that I have the version that was used in The Tudors TV series though I can't remember who performs it.


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## eorrific (May 14, 2011)

kv466 said:


> Hmmm, that's interesting because that brings up another I have a few of and it is always the Schumann Piano Concerto with the Grieg Piano...one of these is part of a big collection from RCA with Artur Rubinstein playing; very nice...I think it was no. 48.


Poor Grieg's lone Piano Concerto always gets paired up with Schumann's. 
I've browsed the Rubinstein's set once, but didn't buy it. And I once almost bought Leon Fleisher's Grieg-Schumann PC combo, but decided that I'd had enough of such combination. :lol:


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## graaf (Dec 12, 2009)

15 versions of Vivaldi's Four Seasons. I guess I'm too nostalgic about it, but it's almost like OCD  
Favourite version would be Kyung-Wha Chung, followed by Janine Jensen.


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## haydnfan (Apr 13, 2011)

elgars ghost said:


> That's seriously going some! You say 'used to be' - does that mean you didn't hang on to some/most of your recordings?


Yup culled away!! I am no longer an obsessed Maherlite!


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## Conor71 (Feb 19, 2009)

I have 5 versions of Bach's Well Tempered Clavier - thats about the most I have of anything, as a general rule I try not to duplicate works!.


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## Ravellian (Aug 17, 2009)

Oddly enough, Dvorak's Serenade for Strings in E major, about 5 versions. Record labels seem to love throwing that piece in there as filler for any Dvorak CD.


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

Ravellian said:


> Oddly enough, Dvorak's Serenade for Strings in E major, about 5 versions. Record labels seem to love throwing that piece in there as filler for any Dvorak CD.


And quite often paired with Tchaikovsky's Serenade which increases the duplication risk!


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