# First impressions of a composer



## Rondo (Jul 11, 2007)

For some of you, this may require some long thinking or perhaps a stroll down memory lane (to word it differently). Which particular conductor/performer first introduced you to a particular composer's body of work (not just the symphonies but the entire orchestral body)? To include non-orchestral, such as sonatas or quartets, there can be two categories: orchestral/non-orchestral.

For some of you, it may be a conductor/performer notorious for their interpretations of the composer's work, while some of you may have been "introduced" to the composer by another individual (perhaps a live performance at a university or another small, local orchestra). Maybe you still believe the conductor/performer is the "go-to guy" for this composer's work, or maybe some exploring has led you to believe another has since equaled or _surpassed_ him/her.

I'll get the ball rolling:

Some are still favorites, some aren't:
*Beethoven:* Walter (Symphony No. 4), Barenboim (Sonata No. 30)
*Brahms:* Bernstein (Symphony No. 4)
*Copland:* Tilson Thomas (_Rodeo_)
*M. Arnold:* Richard Hickox (Symphony No. 5)
*Nielsen: *Blomstedt (Symphony No. 4)
*Bruckner:* Wand (Symphony No. 8)
*Grieg:* Jeffrey Tate (_Peer Gynt_)
*Rachmaninoff: *Temirkanov (Symphony No. 2), Frederick Moyer (Preludes)


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## handlebar (Mar 19, 2009)

My classical education started in the late 70's and included introduction to these composers by the following:

Mahler: Solti and Walter. Especially the 2nd and 9th respectively.
Beethoven-Krips symphonies.
Chopin-Rubenstein all the way!
Rachmaninov-His own recordings.If i could wear out a cd set this one would be it.
Bruckner-Jocum set.
Rimsky-Korsakov-Scheherazade-Jonel Perlea on MMG

Those were the first classics I had introduced to me. From there the fun began!

Jim


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## World Violist (May 31, 2007)

Mahler: Bernstein/NYPO; I've heard better, I've heard worse
Sibelius (7th symphony): Bernstein/NYPO; I've heard quite a few better, not many worse actually
Beethoven: Toscanini/NBC; heard better, and can't particularly realize this as the "best"...
Mozart: Walter/Columbia; sublime
Haydn (88th symphony): Bernstein/VPO; Youtube! Pure fun. Haven't heard anybody else in this music...


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## JTech82 (Feb 6, 2009)

Performances that got me hooked on a composer's work:

1. Nielsen: Symphony No. 4 - Herbert Blomstedt, San Francisco Symphony
2. Langgaard: Symphony No. 1 - Thomas Dausgaard, Danish National Symphony
3. Mahler: Symphony No. 2 - Leonard Bernstein, NY Philharmonic
4. Sibelius Tapiola - Neeme Jarvi, Gothenburg Symphony
5. Ravel: Le Tombeau de Couperin - Jean Martinon, Orchestre de Paris
6. Debussy: La Mer - Pierre Boulez, Cleveland Orchestra
7. Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 6 - Leonard Bernstein, NY Philharmonic (DG version)
8. Mendelssohn: Symphony No. 3 - Herbert von Karajan, Berlin Philharmonic
9. Stravinsky: Symphony of Psalms, Igor Stravinsky, Columbia Symphony
10. Delius: In A Summer Garden - Sir Charles Mackerras, Welsh National Opera Orchestra
11. Bax: Spring Fire - Vernon Handley, Royal Philharmonic
12. Vaughan Williams: A London Symphony - Sir Adrian Boult, London Philharmonic (EMI)
13. Brahms: Variations On A Theme By Haydn - Sir Colin Davis, Bavarian Radio Symphony
14. Smetana: Ma Vlast - Rafael Kubelik, Boston Symphony
15. R. Strauss: Alpine Symphony - Herbert von Karajan, Berlin Philharmonic
16. Copland: Billy the Kid - Morton Gould and His Orchestra
17. Berlioz: Symphony Fantasique - Sir Colin Davis, Royal Concertgebouw
18. Bartok: The Wooden Prince - Pierre Boulez, Chicago Symphony
19. Shostakovich: Symphony No. 7 - Bernard Haitink, London Philharmonic
20. Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherazade, Fritz Reiner, Chicago Symphony

That's all I can think of right now.


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## Aramis (Mar 1, 2009)

I've explored most of composers long before I even realised that performers are important thing. So I can't even tell who they were when I started listening to my favorite composers. Anyway, here are some important (to me) performances: 

Mozart - Piano Concerto No. 21 and Don Giovanni overture by my local philharmony orchestra. The first classical performance I ever saw. 

Mozart's Jupiter Symphony by Nikolaus Harnoncourt. I have no idea who he is, never checked it out. 

Brahms and van Beethoven Piano Concertos No. 1 and No. 2 (Brahms) / No. 4 and No. 5 (van Beethoven) by Krystian Zimerman and Leonard Bernstein. Still my favorite performances. I enjoyed Artur Schnabel's performances as well, but I don't like this archaic sound quality of old recordings. 

Vivaldi's Seasons and Violin Concertos by Ithzak Perlman. Also the best I've heard. 

Mandelssohn Violin Concerto with Mutter and von Krajan. Same here.

Martha Algerich: Tchaikovsky and Haydn piano concertos. I didn't hear other performances of those, yet. 

Also so called "Last Concerto for Israel", which was Artur Rubinstein piano recital made me interested with Schumann. 

In fact, I never liked any performance of particural work better than the first I've heard. Maybe because I usually listen to the most famous and notable performances and recordings at the first place.


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## Rondo (Jul 11, 2007)

Aramis said:


> I've explored most of composers long before I even realised that performers are important thing.


I understand. To make my list, I had to give it some _very_ serious thought. For many of the composers for whom I have a substantially large number of recordings (ie. Mahler, Shostakovich) I can't recall which was my first. Also, there are many works which are so ingrained in the collective consciousness (such as Beethoven's 5th), that it can be nearly impossible to list the conductor/work which was *truly* your first impression (thanks to all the snippets and excerpts played intermittently in film and tv). But, putting that fact aside, I can recall the first Beethoven performance I voluntarily listened to in its _entirety_: the 4th symphony as conducted by Bruno Walter. And, it wasn't a purchase, but a CD borrowed from the public library.


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## World Violist (May 31, 2007)

Oh, as for individual works/recordings that got me hooked on various composers...

Sibelius: Symphony No. 7 - Bernstein/NYPO (Quite a good recording that I come back to even though there are better ones)
Mahler: Symphony No. 2 - Bernstein/NYPO (Sony) (completely overwhelming even after more than a year of listening to it and others)
Beethoven: Symphony No. 3 - Toscanini/CBS (good but with some pretty terrible ensemble mistakes in places you just can't have them)
Wagner: Das Rheingold - Clemens Krauss/Bayreuth (excellent)
Rubbra: Viola Concerto - Lawrence Power (his viola is much too whiny; beautiful piece of music, though)
Holst: Planets - Boult/LSO (very interesting; I still don't quite grasp the ending as well as I probably should)
Elgar: Cello Concerto - Jacqueline du Pre/Daniel Barenboim (I cried the first time I heard the climax a little while into the first movement. Sounds pathetic, but there it is: it was tremendously moving for me)
Enescu: Symphony No. 3 - Rozhdestvensky/BBC Philharmonic (amazing; can't remember much else of it, but I loved it!)


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## Weston (Jul 11, 2008)

I'll try to limit it to those not so good old days of vinyl.

*J. S. Bach and the entire baroque era* - Wendy Carlos, then probably Trevor Pinnock reintroduced me to the baroque in the 1980's when I went on a baroque binge and tried to paint fugues.

*Beethoven* - Alfred Brendel performing the Emperor Concerto. I have no idea who the conductor was. I was probably 12 and it wasn't too long after Beethoven's time seemingly. Or was it Claudio Arrau?

*Richard Strauss* - Stanley Kubrick of course, but more deeply Fritz Reiner (Zarathustra) and Furtwangler (Death and Transfiguration / Til Eulenspeigel)

*Dvorak* - Zubin Mehta (Symphony No. 5, now called No. 9)

*Vaughan-Williams* - Bryden Thomspon (Sinfonia Antartica). I was somehow unaware of Vaughn-Williams until the late 1980's

Much of my earliest impressions were from public radio too. I couldn't afford to collect or pay too much attention to the performers at first.


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## Rondo (Jul 11, 2007)

I've found a few more of my older albums and can add to my earlier list:

*Britten:* Bernstein (_Young Person's Guide_)--unable to find a better one.
*Sibelius:* Robert Hart Baker (_Finlandia_)-- _very_ few better ones
*R. Strauss:* Karajan (_Zarathustra_), disregarding Kubrick's film
*Bizet:* Karajan (_Carmen_)

The prominence of such big names as Karajan, Walter, Solti and Bernstein in my list (and others') may be nothing more than an indication of the wide circulation of their recordings.


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