# Must listen to "anyting played by....." obsessions



## Oskaar (Mar 17, 2011)

I have one obsession, but I have not started discovering him thoroughly yet... Rostropovich! What I have heard from him is eminent!

Do you have a simular interrest in one special artist or orchestra/ensemble or conductor, in the past, nowadays, or in the future?


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## Polednice (Sep 13, 2009)

I feel them, but they are very fleeting. I will sometimes latch onto a composer or a musician, and I will go in search of everything, but because no one is perfect, there are things that I don't like, and as soon as I hit such a hurdle my illusion is shattered and I return to less obsessive listening.


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## Crudblud (Dec 29, 2011)

Scott Ross, although I have a tendency to forget what I have, then find something I got months ago and think "must listen to that!" and then I forget again. I've had quite a few recordings, Ross or otherwise, for a year or more before actually listening to them.


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

I'm slowly collecting more Rostropovich recordings myself. In the past year I've picked up some of his recordings of Britten, Schnittke, Shostakovich, and Messiaen.


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## Dodecaplex (Oct 14, 2011)

Glenn Gould. He gives superficial music the proper levity it deserves and gives profound music the proper reverence it deserves.


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## StlukesguildOhio (Dec 25, 2006)

Anne-Sophie Mutter
Magdalena Kozena
Anna Netrebko
Philppe Jaroussky
Philippe Herrewegghe
Andreas Scholl
Harry Christophers and The Sixteen
William Christies
Véronique Gens
John Eliot Gardiner
Fritz Wunderlich
Maria Callas
Glenn Gould


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## joen_cph (Jan 17, 2010)

Conductors: Scherchen, Mengelberg, Abendroth, Carlos Kleiber, Mravinsky
+ to some extent Swoboda, Mitropoulos, Stokowski.

Pianists: Yudina, Horowitz, Feinberg, Ernst Levy, Rubinstein pre-1955, Sofronitsky, Nyiregyhazi, Gould, Pavel Serebryakov, Rudolf Kerer, Moriz Rosenthal
+ to some extent Sviatoslav Richter.


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## bigshot (Nov 22, 2011)

Stokowski and Furtwangler

Lauritz Melchior, Enrico Caruso


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## Ukko (Jun 4, 2010)

S. Richter -with the assistance of 'my man in Kiev'. V. Horowitz - with the assistance of my friend the Vlad nut. Mela Tenenbaum - because I love her interpretations. B. Bartók - because his music seems to purify my mind. Several Bluegrass groups from the 50s-70s, which I can't elaborate on here. Pete Fountain, whose playing brings me several shades of joy.


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## Lenfer (Aug 15, 2011)

oskaar said:


> I have one obsession, but I have not started discovering him thoroughly yet... Rostropovich! What I have heard from him is eminent!
> 
> Do you have a simular interrest in one special artist or orchestra/ensemble or conductor, in the past, nowadays, or in the future?


My *Boyfriend* introduced me to *Rostropovich*. Although my *Mother* played the cello she was more a fan of *Jacqueline du Pré*. I'd say *Rostropovich* is my favourite cellist thus far not only was he technically brilliant but played with a lot of feeling as well, at least to my ears. *Oskaar* the *EMI* box set is reasonably priced on *Amazon* that's where I started my *Rostropovich* collection might be worth a look. 

I don't have anything that I'm particularly keen on at the moment. I have been buying as many versions of *Górecki's* "*Symphony No. 3*" as I can find does that count? Overall I seem to be moving away from big orchestral and operatic works that I loved as a child to smaller chamber groups and soloists. It's hard for me to pin down something I really like at this moment.


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## kv466 (May 18, 2011)

My deep appreciation for Rostropovich began long ago and I, like Starthrower, am just now beginning to build his part of the collection. 

I obviously have a strong affinity for the Canadian master as I have tirelessly professed throughout the boards and there is also a certain Pennsylvania-born who I feel I have a strong obsession with. Why? Because everything he touches turns into absolute silk on a keyboard. Earl Wild can make a concerto by some strange American composer you would never otherwise listen to sound like one of the best ever written...and he takes the ones you've heard over and over and makes them magical full of perfect balance and execution of phrases along with virtuosity to spare as even titans such as Horrorwitz and Rubinstein were never able to achieve such strong moments of mastery. 

I'm currently beginning a love affair with Grumiaux although he's already failed to satisfy with the 4 Seasons; still, I don't like Glenn's Moonlight and I don't like Earl's Appassionata so I'm listening to more and more and it was a delight to learn I'd owned all of his Mozart for years and didn't know his name...those are what got me going recently when I looked at the name and started reading and realized he's a legend. 

So yeah, those are two of my only musical champions.


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## Taneyev (Jan 19, 2009)

David and Igor Oistrakh
Heifetz
Kreisler
Young Menuhin
Neveu
Hassid
Igor Politkovsky
Starker
Fournier
Rostropovich


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## Llyranor (Dec 20, 2010)

Henryk Szeryng is the only one I've done this for so far. What a superb violinist, and my favorite by far!


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## moody (Nov 5, 2011)

Stokowski, Szell, Toscanini, Reiner, Munch, Paray, Furtwaengler.

These singers are all almost perfect: Karl Erb, John McCormack, Gigli, Martinelli, Richard Tauber, Zinka Milanov, Jan Peerce, Gerard Souzay, Virginia Zeani, Tiana Lemnitz, Robert Merrill.


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## StlukesguildOhio (Dec 25, 2006)

And a few more added to my earlier list:

Elizabeth Schwarzkopf
Hans Hotter
Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau
Anne Sofie von Otter
Renee Fleming
Patricia Pettibon
Kirsten Flagstad
Cecilia Bartoli
Helen Hunt-Lieberson
Gerard Souzay
Dmitri Hvorostovsky
Dawn Upshaw

Again... mostly singers, but then vocal music is my great love.


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## Rigotonio (Jan 2, 2012)

Gedda and Freni singing 'La Boheme" made a big impression for me, so i started checking them out a little more, but one can only hit the library so hard, also nikhil banerjee on sitar is fairly awesome. I went through a strauss phase, listening to 'elektra' constantly, but robert fripp of king crimson is probably my all-time most obsessed over musician


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## Manok (Aug 29, 2011)

Shostakovich, Beethoven, Mozart, Rachmaninoff, Debussy, Brahms, Bach, Vaughan-Williams, Ravel (I'm kind of obsessive when it comes to music. If you can't tell.


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## Air (Jul 19, 2008)

... Sviatoslav Richter. I continue to be fascinated by how versatile the man was... everything he played from Bach to the 20th century is solid gold. His fire, his passion, and his utterly sensitive musicality is always interesting and never lacking. For me, far and away, the greatest pianist of the mid-late 20th century, or at least the one who left behind the greatest legacy of recordings.


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## Huilunsoittaja (Apr 6, 2010)

Well, flutist Emmanuel Pahud is a mild obsession, I really need to hear his recordings of things I work on, not other flutists. I trust him the most, I find.

For conductors, I must hear Neeme Jarvi conduct works that I like, I need to hear his interpretation always I feel.


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## Guest (Jan 3, 2012)

I seem to be buying all the Tianwa Yang available. Not an obsession though.

Alice Sara Ott might qualify as an obsession though. I sure wish she'd stop calling me so often!


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## Sid James (Feb 7, 2009)

No obsessions to listen to particular performers, but I do avoid some who I find do not respect the composer's vision. But it's only a few, and even these interpreters have their strong points, or at least some of them. Overall, all musicians have something to bring to the table of the listener, if the listener is interested, open to it, is engaged in it, etc...


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## Conor71 (Feb 19, 2009)

Violinists Kyung-Wha Chung and Jacha Heifetz
Pianist Martha Argerich
Herbert Von Karajan
Neville Marriner


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## agoukass (Dec 1, 2008)

I went through an Arthur Rubinstein phase that lasted several years. I collected many of the recordings that were available as separate volumes in the Arthur Rubinstein Collection from RCA Victor. The first recording of his that I bought was the Chopin nocturnes and after that I couldn't help myself. I ended up with a whole ton of Chopin, Beethoven, Brahms, and numerous other recordings. I suppose what fascinated me at the time was the sheer joie de vivre in his playing as well as the beauty of his tone. However, I have heard other pianists whose Chopin is much more to my taste like Ignaz Friedman and Benno Moiseiwitsch. For Brahms and Schumann, however, Rubinstein will always remain non pareil for me. 

Right now, I'm obsessed with the recordings of Vladimir Horowitz. When I was going through my Rubinstein phase, I always thought of Horowitz as a kind of circus performer. I had plenty of his recordings at that time, but I really didn't listen to them. What changed all of that and started me on my present course was his recording of Beethoven's Thirty Two Variations in C minor. It's one of my favorite works, but he plays it with such precision and poetry that it blasted me out of my seat and forced me to listen. Another work that was a revelation was his recording of the Tchaikovsky Dumka (a piece that he dropped from his repertoire around his retirement in 1953), it is a neglected piece but he plays it so beautifully that I often wonder why more pianists don't play it. 

I've also been obsessed by other performers such as Aldo Ciccolini, Jacqueline du Pre, Paul Tortelier, John Ogdon, Arthur Grumiaux, and others. Of course, there are also composers such as Respighi and Dohnanyi.


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## Lisztian (Oct 10, 2011)

Krystian Zimerman.


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## Oskaar (Mar 17, 2011)

Milder versions of "obsessions" like "strong interrests" is also very interresting to read about!


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## pluhagr (Jan 2, 2012)

One of the lovely things about loving a living composer is that I get to eagerly await their newest releases. Philip Glass' 9th symphony premires this month!


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## TrazomGangflow (Sep 9, 2011)

I thourougly enjoy the London Symphony and the Vienna Philharmonic although I can't say I'm obsessed. I feel similarly about Vladimir Ashkenazy. I don't seem to obsess over performers as much as I do composers.


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## Sid James (Feb 7, 2009)

oskaar said:


> Milder versions of "obsessions" like* "strong interrests" *is also very interresting to read about!


Well in that case, I've got several. But they're all works in progress, as they'll ever be. Chief among them -

Australian composers & performers
Guitar music, esp. solo guitar
Film musics
Andre Rieu
J.S. Bach's solo instrumental works - I am going through them, as well as some of his chamber things...


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## clavichorder (May 2, 2011)

Anything played by Emil Gilels. I love the way he plays. 

Also, anything played by Boris Berezovsky, he does a wonderful job with everything I've yet heard, not the same classic personality Gilels has, but not only is he top notch, but he takes pride in performing lesser known russian composers, a rare combination.


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## Oskaar (Mar 17, 2011)

I think Itzach Perlmann may very well become a little obsession. He have Mutters virtuosity, but a little more humanity in hes play in my oppinion. ( Have not hear TO much mutter, so take that statement as a weak argument from a quite unexperienced listener).


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## Vaneyes (May 11, 2010)

This thread started by oscaar, wherever you are. Hope you haven't gone the way of Ishtar (1987).

My mild CM obsessions--Keyboard/Piano Sonatas recs. for Scarlatti, Haydn, LvB, and Scriabin.


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## xuantu (Jul 23, 2009)

On reflection, I was a little taken by surprise that being a very much performer-oriented listener, I didn't really get into a buying frenzy for any artist/ensemble's works until recent years. One of the artists that I have lately become quite fond of is the British-Australian pianist Stephen Hough, who has dominated the new acquisitions in my piano collection. Part of the reasons is his unusual choice of repertory (by my standards, that is; for example, Mompou, Hummel). Part is because of the presentation of his discs (the mixed piano albums, for instance). But what I like the most is the strong sympathy that he feels for the music he plays (as in his Tchaikovsky concertos & Schubert sonatas). His most successful interpretations seems to have been reached by a combination of identifying the human souls hidden in the scores and taking great care to keep them intact. They are so well conceived and realized that they can sound strikingly fresh and revealing.
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My favorite young/youngish singer at the moment is the French countertenor Philippe Jaroussky, whom I have seen performing in the flesh (in Steffani's Niobe, Regina di Tebe). We critics (self-appointed or not) often praise a singing actor/actress by commenting on his/her ability to make us believe: "Mr. ___ did not only sing his part tonight. He lived his character..." Jaroussky's several performances, on stage or on discs, fit my idea of this overused comment perfectly. I have seldom seen a singer rendering so much of his/her resources, of his/her being to the art, a total devotion down to the very last fiber in his/her muscles. This integration of singing, facial expression and bodily movement creates uniquely potent and expressive interpretations. Completed with his boyishly brilliant voice (and so full of bloom!) and astonishing technique -- I am tempted to use another cliche -- everything he touches becomes magic.
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Two weeks ago, I experienced my first Hagen quartett concert. (It was also their Boston debut!) My love for this family ensemble goes way back when I first discovered the Bartok quartets through their recordings nearly ten years ago. Inexplicably, that set has been the only Hagen I own until the recent concert fueled my desire to hear more from them. Their 30th anniversary album on Myrios (2011) is a very fine disc of quartets by Beethoven, Mozart and Webern. It shows off their slightly different new style of a more austere sound, more distilled aesthetics and a more immediate approach to the heart matters of music, the emotions. A Haydn disc from 1988 on DGG is also very satisfying. The playing is alert to the dynamics and brimming with vibrant, vivid colors. Among the preeminent quartets before the public today, Takacs may have more human qualities to their performances, but Hagen has that special modern sheen (and a modern attitude) to their sound, reminding the listeners of their times.
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## joen_cph (Jan 17, 2010)

I very much agree with you on the qualities of Hough and the Hagen quartet.


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