# Best Recordings Of...



## eonbird (Aug 21, 2012)

So I'm currently experimenting around with various recordings of pieces. Do any of you guys have recommendations for any of the following pieces? Are there any recordings that you feel like I should really listen to? I'm looking for recordings with better sound quality that preferably are from the more well-known musicians.

Below each piece I've put the musicians/orchestras I've listened to. Please tell me if you would second these or, if not, suggest some others. ^^

*Beethoven Waldstein Sonata*

*Prokofiev "Romeo and Juliet"*
Considering the recording of Gergiev and the London Symphony Orchestra

*Chopin Nocturnes*
Rubinstein?

*Liszt Concert Etudes (but specifically Un Sospiro)*

*OR any other suggestions for any operas?*
I don't own any full opera recordings; my listening tends to be pretty piano-centric. So any favorites for both operas overall and specific recordings?


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## Selby (Nov 17, 2012)

For the Chopin I have strong preference for Maria João Pires.


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## Guest (Dec 23, 2015)

For the Beethoven Waldstein sonata, I highly recommend Wilhelm Kempff. It is by far my favorite recording, and Kempff is highly regarded in this repertoire.

For Chopin's Nocturnes, other than Rubinstein, you could also try Maurizio Pollini.

I don't have the Liszt or Prokofiev works, so I couldn't recommend a recording.

For opera, I am not the biggest fan, but one of my all-time favorite classical works of any genre is Mozart's Magic Flute (Zauberflote) opera. I love the recording by Otto Klemperer and the Philarmonia Orchestra on EMI. The performance of Lucia Popp as the Queen of the Night is incredible.


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## Manxfeeder (Oct 19, 2010)

For the Waldstein, you might also consider Emil Gilels.


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## D Smith (Sep 13, 2014)

All the above recommendations are good. I'd add:

Waldstein - Stephen Kovacevich
Chopin Nocturnes - Claudio Arrau
Romeo and Juliet - Riccardo Muti 

As for Opera it's hard to know where to begin. Bizet's Carmen was an early favourite of mine. I'd recommend Callas/Pretre for that but there are many excellent recordings and hard to go wrong. Or any of the popular Puccini operas.


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## Chronochromie (May 17, 2014)

I second Pires for the Nocturnes and Kempff for the Waldstein and also recommend Ronald Brautigam on fortepiano for the latter.

For the complete Romeo and Juliet, Maazel/Cleveland.

As for opera, any of these could be a good starting point:

Ravel - L'enfant et les sortileges, Maazel/Orchestre National de la R.T.F.

Verdi - Rigoletto, Kubelik/Orchestra del Teatro Alla Scala

Rameau - Pygmalion, Leonhardt/Le Petite Bande


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## Andolink (Oct 29, 2012)

For the Beethoven Waldstein I'd recommend Ronald Brautigam. Magnificent performance on a really beautifull sounding period fortepiano (part of the complete Beethoven set on the Bis label).


#Wow, coincidental cross-post about the Brautigam Beethoven!


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Chopin _Nocturnes:_ Garrick Ohlsson. One of the great Chopin interpreters, often forgotten. Other favorites are Rubinstein, Moravec, Arrau.


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## Selby (Nov 17, 2012)

^Agreed. His complete works project is a gift to the classical community. Rarely does a complete collection of that magnitude maintain such consistent quality.

Although, for me, for the _Nocturnes_, Maria João Pires still hits the mark _closest_ to perfect.


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## DaveM (Jun 29, 2015)

Manxfeeder said:


> For the Waldstein, you might also consider Emil Gilels.


I second that and add Barenboim on EMI. IMO, Barenboim is one of the most underrated Beethoven piano sonata artists.


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## DeepR (Apr 13, 2012)

For a very nice performance of Un Sospiro you can check out Van Cliburn on youtube.


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## Becca (Feb 5, 2015)

Given the other pieces that you mentioned, for operas I would recommend Verdi's _Falstaff_ - about the only Verdi that I can stand any longer.


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## techniquest (Aug 3, 2012)

For Prokofiev's Romeo & Juliet, I'd suggest the old Czech Philharmonic / Ancerl recording.


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## Arsakes (Feb 20, 2012)

Some conductors can perform a composer's work greatly and the other unattractively.

For example Karajan could perform Sibelius greatly, but couldn't perform Dvorak good enough.


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## joen_cph (Jan 17, 2010)

+1 for the mentioning of Arrau in Chopin (unusual, though), and Kovacevich or Gilels in Waldstein.


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## eonbird (Aug 21, 2012)

Thank you all for your suggestions! They all helped give me some more direction; I was particularly impressed by Barenboim's interpretation of the Waldstein. 

Going along another note though, do any of you have suggestions for the Liszt Totentanz?


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## CypressWillow (Apr 2, 2013)

I love Rubinstein for Chopin.

For Queen of the Night's aria, how about this?






The performance, the staging, the acting, and that costume! Zowie!


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

eonbird said:


> Thank you all for your suggestions! They all helped give me some more direction; I was particularly impressed by Barenboim's interpretation of the Waldstein.
> 
> Going along another note though, do any of you have suggestions for the Liszt Totentanz?


Liszt:

Piano Concerto No. 1 in E flat major, S124

Piano Concerto No. 2 in A major, S125

_Totentanz_, S126 for piano & orchestra

*Joseph Moog* (piano)

Deutsche Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz, Ari Rasilainen


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## Steatopygous (Jul 5, 2015)

DrMike said:


> For the Beethoven Waldstein sonata, I highly recommend Wilhelm Kempff. It is by far my favorite recording, and Kempff is highly regarded in this repertoire.
> 
> For Chopin's Nocturnes, other than Rubinstein, you could also try Maurizio Pollini.
> 
> ...


When I saw this recommendation for Pollini (and other recommendations for Arrau), I thought that's odd. To me Rubinstein (tender, poetic), Pollini (austere and restrained) and Arrau (very Beethovenian) represent extreme opposites (if you can have 3 opposites, probably not). But then I realised that if the OP tries all three, that will provide an excellent example of the options available, within which fall most interpretations. I should say I admire all three, but Rubinstein is way out in front for me in this extremely precious repertoire.


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## Guest (Dec 27, 2015)

I agree about Rubinstein - but he/she was looking for something else, as they had already tried Rubinstein.


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## joen_cph (Jan 17, 2010)

eonbird said:


> Going along another note though, do any of you have suggestions for the *Liszt Totentanz*?


There are of course many, but some of the best are:

- Berezovsky & Wolff
- Freire & Plasson
- Brendel & Gielen

There´s an Argerich on you-tube as well.


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## Chordalrock (Jan 21, 2014)

eonbird said:


> Going along another note though, do any of you have suggestions for the Liszt Totentanz?


The Brendel recording is great.

Arrau is great in the concert etudes, and by the way makes some of the Transcendental Etudes sound like music.

Gilels is amazing for the Beethoven sonatas if you like sweet playing & sound quality.

The second-to-last "number" of Mozart's Don Giovanni is one of the most powerful things I've heard. I'm not up-to-date on recordings though. I like the old recording with Josef Krips as conductor.


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## Pat Fairlea (Dec 9, 2015)

Gilels for Waldstein. Arrau for Chopin Nocturnes, if you want them measured and thoughtful.


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## Balthazar (Aug 30, 2014)

*Beethoven's Waldstein Sonata:* Paul Lewis, Richard Goode, and András Schiff. You may want to take a look at this thread on comparative listening of Waldstein recordings.

*Chopin's Nocturnes:* Nelson Freire is my current favorite. I find Arrau interesting, but aggressively idiosyncratic (like Gould's Mozart) -- I feel he disregards many of Chopin's marks. Curious, as he is one of my favorites for the following...

*Liszt's Concert Etudes (but specifically Un Sospiro):* Claudio Arrau and Jorge Bolet.

*OR any other suggestions for any operas?* A great place to start is with the three Mozart/Da Ponte operas: _Don Giovanni, Le nozze di Figaro,_ and _Cosí fan tutte_. Check out the recently compiled list of recommended operas here. Suggestions for specific recordings can be found here (based on an older list of recommended operas).

*Liszt's Totentanz:* Georges Cziffra at the piano with Georges Cziffra, Jr., conducting the Orchestre de Paris.


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

Any fan of the Waldstein should hear Stewart Goodyear play it. Direct, virtuosic, tasteful, and he sounds like he's having a ball.


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