# Musician's connected w/certain pieces or composers.



## Air

What musicians would you consider to be definitive of a certain piece or composer?

Everyone must have somebody they cannot help but relate to when they think of a certain piece or composer. They need not be specialists like *Schnabel* or *Gould*. I realize everyone will have their favorites and since nobody will be right, this can lead to discussion. Note that just because another musician is connected to something it doesn't mean another musician can't be.

Since this will be well exhausted by the time this page finishes, I will start by connecting *Jacqueline Du Pre* with the *Elgar Cello Concerto*. This partly is because I never really had a chance to listen to many other recordings, but also because there is an emotional connection. I naturally think about the part in that movie with her sitting on the wheelchair listening to the record. (BTW, if you can recommend another recording, that would be great)

In my opinion, one of the best pianist for *Beethoven* would be *Claudio Arrau*. There are many others of course, *Wilhelm Kempf*, *Rudolf Serkin*, and *Alfred Brendel* to name a few, but of the *Emperor*, there is only one recording for me, that of *Arrau*. His *Waldstein* is also fantastic.

*Prokofiev Piano Concerto No. 3* has always been such a thrill to listen to but throughout these years, I have always come back to the recordings of *Martha Argerich*. *Sviatoslav Richter*, I feel, is the better interpreter of Prokofiev, but Argerich owns the 3rd and nobody can even come close. In this song, her speed is neither offensive or flashy, but exciting, precise, and right.

Feel free to state opinions and the connections you feel, and if you must, argue.


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## Elgarian

airad2 said:


> I will start by connecting *Jacqueline Du Pre* with the *Elgar Cello Concerto*. This partly is because I never really had a chance to listen to many other recordings, but also because there is an emotional connection. I naturally think about the part in that movie with her sitting on the wheelchair listening to the record. (BTW, if you can recommend another recording, that would be great)


That's a powerful connection. Other strong Elgar connections strike me, too.

Janet Baker (_Sea Pictures_)
Beatrice Harrison (cello concerto, favoured by Elgar himself)
Yehudi Menuhin (violin concerto, favoured by Elgar himself)

Of course Jacqueline du Pre and Beatrice Harrison can't _both_ be definitive, strictly. Though perhaps, in their different ways, and in their time, they are.


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## nickgray

Pollini's Chopin (I didn't listen to a lot of Chopin's recordings, but I don't think that I'll find somebody better than Pollini to play him)
Dorati's 1812 and Marche Slave, now of those two I've heard several interpretations, but nobody came even close to Dorati's.
Vivaldi's 4 Seasons, played by Carmignola and Venice Baroque Orchestra. This overplayed piece of music never sounded more alive with Carmignola's performance. It's the only, The Definitive recording of it.
Mozart's 40, Requiem. Celibidache. Um... just listen to his interpretation, I don't even know how to explain it. If you're familiar with Celibidache (and you like him) you'll probably gonna know what I mean.


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## YsayeOp.27#6

nickgray said:


> Vivaldi's 4 Seasons, played by Carmignola and Venice Baroque Orchestra. This overplayed piece of music never sounded more alive with Carmignola's performance. It's the only, The Definitive recording of it.


You should listen to Fabio Biondi, that'll change your mind.


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## xJuanx

YsayeOp.27#6 said:


> You should listen to Fabio Biondi, that'll change your mind.


I've heard Biondi's version (even heard him live playing it), but the version I praise is The English Concert with Simon Standge. Has anybody heard it?


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## xJuanx

Well now that I think Biondi has done two versions, one for Opus 111, and the other one is the entire cycle _Il cimento dell'armonia e dell'invenzione_ for Veritas.


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## jhar26

Martha Argerich...Rachmaninov 3
Martha Argerich...Prokofiev 3
Glenn Gould...Bach Goldberg Variations
Fritz Reiner...Bartok's Concerto for Orchestra
Claudio Arrau...Chopin Nocturnes
Otto Klemperer...Beethoven's Eroica
Mstislav Rostropovich...Dvorak's Cello Concerto
Solti's Ring Cycle
Elisabeth Schwarzkopf...Strauss' Four Last Songs
Elisabeth Schwarzkopf as the Marschallin in Strauss' Der Rosenkavalier
Mirella Freni as Mimi in Puccini's La Boheme
Maria Callas in Puccini's Tosca


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## Atabey

Furtwangler with all Beethoven symphonies
Kempff with Beethoven's Moonlight
Mravinsky with Shostakovich's symphonies 5-12


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## YsayeOp.27#6

jhar26 said:


> Martha Argerich...Rachmaninov 3


Wrong... That's Horowitz'.


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## Alnitak

YsayeOp.27#6 said:


> Wrong... That's Horowitz'.


Obviously.

That's a fact.


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## Air

Alnitak said:


> Obviously.
> 
> That's a fact.


LOL, I always thought the best version was Rachmaninoff's. Like jhar26, I prefer Argerich. Horowitz sounds sloppier and his 3rd movement seems to drag along, not to mention he plays a handful of notes wrong.


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## Alnitak

Of course, I said «*obviously*».


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## Chi_townPhilly

*The Wagner roles!*

*Lauritz Melchior*: virtually all tenor male leads. [Only Walter from _Meistersinger_ is excepted from this span!]
*Friedrich Schorr*: Wotan
*Kirsten Flagstad*: Brünnhilde
*Astrid Varnay*: Ortrud in _Lohengrin_
*Waltraud Meier*: Kundry in _Parsifal_

honorable mention to _Jon Vickers_ for TRISTAN, and _Frida Leider_ for ISOLDE


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## YsayeOp.27#6

airad2 said:


> Horowitz sounds sloppier and his 3rd movement seems to drag along, not to mention he plays a handful of notes wrong.


So you don't like "his recording" of the work. Enough for this discussion, I suppose.


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## Elgarian

Chi_town/Philly said:


> *Kirsten Flagstad*: Brünnhilde


Did Birgit Nilsson score any points while you were making your decision, CTP?


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## World Violist

Berglund - Sibelius: Symphony No. 5, Kullervo
Osmo Vanska - Sibelius: Tapiola
William Primrose - Berlioz: Harold in Italy
Yehudi Menuhin - Bach: D minor Partita
Pablo Casals - Bach: Cello Suites
Mstislav Rostropovich - Shostakovich: 1st cello concerto, Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk
Jascha Heifetz - Sarasate: Zigeunerweisen, Brahms: Double Concerto (w/Piatigorsky!), Mendelssohn: Violin Concerto

etc. etc. etc...


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## Chi_townPhilly

Elgarian said:


> Did Birgit Nilsson score any points while you were making your decision, CTP?


She definitely deserves a lot of credit and much love. From the start of the last century to about 2/3rds of the way through, there have been those who've viewed Leider as the Platinum Voice, Flagstad as the Gold Standard, and Nilsson as the Silver Clarion. When I first heard Varnay, I thought that she, too, deserved her own metaphor (Diamond, maybe).


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## Air

YsayeOp.27#6 said:


> So you don't like "his recording" of the work. Enough for this discussion, I suppose.


I never said that. Horowitz/Reiner is one of my top 5 recordings of the concerto, besides the ones I already mentioned and Volodos/Levine. Maybe I am biased towards a faster tempo, grew up with Argerich/Chailly, because Ashkenazy's tempo feels slow instead of Argerich's feeling fast. Yes, I have heard Horowitz/Barbirolli but for the tempo, it seems to sacrifice more artistry than does Argerich. Rachmaninoff, on the other hand, is a faster recording than Argerich but somehow it doesn't sound rushed at all.

Back to the discussion, has anyone heard of Gyorgy Cziffra? Kind of like the Glenn Gould of Liszt.


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## YsayeOp.27#6

airad2 said:


> Back to the discussion, has anyone heard of Gyorgy Cziffra?


Ever heard what he did to Brahms' Hungarian Dances?


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