# Definitive recordings of the 21st century



## Gallus (Feb 8, 2018)

What are yours?










The idea for this thread came to me when listening to Hilary Hahn's recording of the Sibelius and Schoenberg violin concertos, an incredible rendering of two titanic 20th century pieces.


----------



## Brahmsianhorn (Feb 17, 2017)




----------



## Portamento (Dec 8, 2016)




----------



## NLAdriaan (Feb 6, 2019)

Messiaen QPLFDT, it's even of this decade.


----------



## CnC Bartok (Jun 5, 2017)

Singularly failing to go beyond the chamber world:


----------



## Pat Fairlea (Dec 9, 2015)

CnC Bartok said:


> Singularly failing to go beyond the chamber world:
> 
> View attachment 121539


Yes, that one would make my list.


----------



## CnC Bartok (Jun 5, 2017)

Pat Fairlea said:


> Yes, that one would make my list.


I'm delighted you say that, Pat! These are fabulous performances, with the right balance of earthiness, poise, classicism and precision, all essential elements of these indisputable masterpieces. I've got over twenty complete sets of these, and I am very capable of resorting to the familiar, but these blew me away when I first heard them, and have continued so to do.

My first choice in the Bartók Quartets, although not price wise!.......


----------



## NLAdriaan (Feb 6, 2019)

CnC Bartok said:


> I'm delighted you say that, Pat! These are fabulous performances, with the right balance of earthiness, poise, classicism and precision, all essential elements of these indisputable masterpieces. I've got over twenty complete sets of these, and I am very capable of resorting to the familiar, but these blew me away when I first heard them, and have continued so to do.
> 
> My first choice in the Bartók Quartets, although not price wise!.......


Thanks for sharing, the CD-issue already seems to be OOP...it is on Spotify however. Will give it a listen!


----------



## Larkenfield (Jun 5, 2017)




----------



## Gallus (Feb 8, 2018)

Was that recorded in the 21st century?


----------



## Rogerx (Apr 27, 2018)

Gallus said:


> Was that recorded in the 21st century?


No, of cause not...............................:cheers:


----------



## Merl (Jul 28, 2016)

These are definitely two of mine.....


----------



## NLAdriaan (Feb 6, 2019)

Gallus said:


> Was that recorded in the 21st century?


Unless Reiner and 'Living Stereo' miraculously resurrected from his reported death in 1963:angel:


----------



## Larkenfield (Jun 5, 2017)

Larkenfield said:


>


Apologies. The Reiner was not recorded in the 21st.


----------



## Dirge (Apr 10, 2012)

Here are eight recordings made since the turn of the century that have become top favorites of mine, with each performance presented raising the bar, as I hear it, in its respective work …

Claudio MONTEVERDI: _Lamento della Ninfa_ from Madrigals, Book VIII (p. 1638)
· Zomer, Veldhoven/Cappella Figuralis [Channel '01]




_Lamento della Ninfa_ is cast in three sections: a prelude wherein a choir of shepherds (2 tenors and 1 bass) introduces the sad story of the nymph, the actual lament of the nymph (soprano), and a postlude wherein the choir of shepherds concludes the sad story. The choir of shepherds also takes part in the lament, commenting on the scene as it takes place (à la _Mystery Science Theater 3000_). Monteverdi provides introductory notes specifying that the nymph "has to sing according the her emotions" (al tempo dell'affetto del animo), while the shepherds are to sing at a regular beat (al tempo della mano). As a result, performances of the work very greatly, as sopranos exploit this composer-condoned expressive license. Cappella Figuralis offers up the most deftly woven sonic tapestry that I've heard in this work, and Johannette Zomer seizes ownership of the nymph part with a heart-wrenching tour de force of sublime expressivity.

JOSQUIN des Prez: _Miserere mei, Deus_ (1504)
· Testolin/De labyrintho [Stradivarius '03]




This beautiful but uncharacteristically spare and austere Josquin motet, a deftly polyphonic setting of Psalm 51, is most notable for its insidiously varied repetition of phrases, most noticeably the tenor's repeating of "Miserere mei, Deus" after each verse (with the other voices joining in one at a time to reinforce him). Spare as it is, it features some passages that would give goose bumps to the Devil himself, and it has a cult of advocates who think it the most affecting motet of the Renaissance. De labyrintho's chaste and unaffected singing and plaintive tone risks sounding plainspoken, but it's so focused and concentrated and superbly accomplished that it works all the better for it. De labyrintho employs two voices per part, with women on high.

J. S. BACH: Sonatas for violin & harpsichord (piano here) (early 1720s)
· Zimmermann & Pace [Sony '06]




The playing here is classical and elegant in an unfussy aristocratic manner, winning over the listener with a compelling combination of integrity and tasteful expressiveness that stands up beautifully to repeated listening. Zimmermann & Pace obviously have no HIP ax to grind or pretensions of authenticity, but they have judiciously incorporated some lessons learned from the historical movement into their interpretation-that is, their playing is historically informed but not historically constrained. The equal partners keenly support or challenge each other, as called for, with equal zeal and aplomb throughout, propelling things along in lively but not exaggerated fashion in the fast movements and establishing a kind of nobly flowing pulse in the slow ones-with everything being all the more affecting for not being the least bit affected or indulgent.

Leonel POWER: _Anima mea liquefacta_ (after 1425)
· Stimmwerck [Aeolus '07]
This beautiful late-Mediæval motet quotes the famous Binchois song "De plus en plus," which is believed to have been written in 1425. Stimmwerck sings with a chaste intensity that reminds me of De labyrintho, but Stimmwerck is an all-male group that employs only one voice per part and sings, if anything, with even more purity and understated perfection. Stimmwerck, like De labyrintho, risks sounding plainspoken in its pursuit of chastity, but the result is as disarming and mesmerizing as it is unspoilt.

Thomas TALLIS: _Miserere nostri_ (from «Cantiones Sacrae» 1575)
· Skinner/Alamire [Obsidian '09]




"Miserere nostri, Domine, miserere nostri" ("Have mercy on us, Lord, have mercy on us")-that's the complete text of this deceptively simple seven-voice motet, which is actually a contrapuntal tour de force and one of the finest examples of art concealing art from the Renaissance. The intricate system of canons is so ingeniously derived and insidiously contrived that it calls no attention to itself even as the music naturally emerges out of it; then, almost before you know it, it's over. The ardent Alamire performance ramps up decisively and doesn't let up until the last possible moment. The group is recorded in a closer, less blended way than usual that allows you to better hear and discern the inner workings, though many listeners will prefer a more conventionally blended and homogenized sound.

Johannes BRAHMS: Geistliches Lied, Op. 30 (1856)
· Pedersen/Det Norske Solistkor [BIS '11]
http://www.classicalm.com/en/disk/7...ks-by-Brahms--Schubert---Det-Norske-Solistkor (track 21)
This is a deceptive work of great beauty that conceals a structure of unexpected complexity-a rather ingenious double canon as it turns out. In that regard, it might be thought of as the Romantic counterpart to Tallis's _Miserere nostri_. The exceedingly well-matched and balanced Norwegians sing in as pure and flawless a manner as humanly possible while managing not to sound neutral/generic/faceless-no mean trick. It's all very sublime.

Benjamin BRITTEN: _Lachrymae_ "Reflections on a song of Dowland" Op. 48a (1976)
· Power, Volkov/BBC Scottish SO [Hyperion '11]
http://www.classicalm.com/en/compos...oncerto-Double-Concerto-Lachrymae-Ilan-Volkov (track 7)
This seamless, mostly hushed and eerie set of variations in search of their theme lurks in the nether frequencies and dynamics, with the soloist (viola) deviously making his way through the hushed orchestral shadows like an escaped leper trying to avoid the sun while eluding the CDC. The atmosphere is one of strange harmonies in a ghostly orchestral cloak until the music intensifies and builds to a climax near work's end; as the climax fades out and the music dissolves, the harmonies insidiously organize and coalesce into a sort of harmonic normalcy and the beautiful Dowland theme ("If my complaints could passions move") magically emerges in its original form for the first time, the viola and strings sounding together rather like a large viol consort-one of the most goosebump-inducing, "Ahhh"-inspiring moments in all of Britten.

I've heard quite a few other recordings of this dark and elusive work over the years, but I've never liked it nearly as much as I do via this performance, what with its beautifully sustained tension and atmosphere throughout and beautifully unaffected presentation of the Dowland theme at work's end. Violist extraordinaire Lawrence Power plays with great style and authority throughout and builds the climax with unmatched dramatic sense, making the transformation to the peaceful Dowland theme all the more effective.

C. P. E. BACH: Symphony in D major, Wq. 183/1 (1775)
· Bernardini/Barokkanerne [LAWO '12]




The D-major symphony has one of the eyebrow-raisingly great openings of any early Classical symphony-had CPE's dear old dad not already been dead by the time of this symphony, I'm sure that its opening would have killed him. The Allegro di molto first movement continues on in sturm und drang fashion until gently leading into the brief but lovely Largo middle movement, in which continuo is kept silent to allow for as calm as backdrop as possible for the fluid flutish theme to gently makes its way. The work then ends with a tawdry dance-like Presto that sounds like something Rued Lannggard might have written for _The Benny Hill Show_, what with its lowbrow high spirits being interrupted several times by a dark, menacing little portal from Hell trying to open in the middle of the movement. Barokkanerne is totally in tune with CPE's slightly demented ways and delivers an exceptionally zesty and vivid performance that responds with quicksilver nimbleness to every crazy twist and turn of the music.

_The most frustrating recording of the new century …_

W. A. MOZART: Sinfonia concertante in E-flat major, K. 364 (1779)
· Zimmermann, Tamestit, Szulc/Chamber Orchestra of the BRSO [Hänssler '15]




This production has all the ingredients for a truly great Sinfonia concertante: top-notch soloists who are longtime chamber music partners, a chamber orchestra drawn from one of the most well-rounded and versatile orchestras on the planet, and a conductor who is as imaginative and engaging as he is responsive and sympathetic. (Szulc is also Concertmaster of the BRSO.) Coordination and teamwork couldn't be better, and there's a great sense of purpose and occasion throughout the proceedings, but what impresses most is the rapport, synchronicity even, between Zimmermann and Tamestit: the relationship is supportive here, challenging there, complementary always, and the dialog is always between equals, with just the right amount of give and take at all times. Surprisingly, then, there's a marked and slightly distracting vibrato mismatch between the two, with Zimmermann employing moderate vibrato and Tamestit employing very little vibrato … and the orchestral strings seemingly employing no vibrato at all. The main problem, however, is that the orchestral strings collectively lack fullness, body, weight, and presence as presented here-in small part because they use no vibrato, but mostly because the producer and recording team (and perhaps the acoustics of the venue) conspire against them. As well as they play per se, the orchestral strings aren't nearly as prominent and impactful as they ought to be, and they don't adequately counter-balance the soloists in the sonic scheme of things. It's a crying shame, as what certainly would have been my favorite account of Sinfonia concertante on record has been undone by a poorly produced, very poorly balanced recording.


----------



## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

CnC Bartok said:


> Singularly failing to go beyond the chamber world:
> 
> View attachment 121539


That "new series" has quite a few special things in it. I'd say even more valuable than the excellent Mikrokosmos recording you cite is Barnabás Kelemen's recording of the solo sonata


----------



## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

;lmj/lnjlnh.lknmj.lnmj.lnj.ln


----------

