Reddit mentions: The best classical concertos music

In terms of feel and style, there's a lot of overlap between All Things Must Pass and Drake's music, though I feel that the actual content of their music diverges in an important way. They both deal very much thematically with impermanence, but I feel like Harrison's portrayal of impermanence is one of comfort and ease, while Drake's is one of the fleeting nature of the meaningful in life. There's a definite sense of resignation and withdrawal in Nick Drake's music that he expressed in such beautiful and gentle songs far more sophisticated than any other music I've ever heard about dealing with depression. Both George and Nick can make me feel better, but it's definitely in different ways and definitely depend on my mood.

Now in Tom Waits and Scott Walker, you have two amazing artists whose discographies are huge and have made music so stylistically diverse, that you can always find something to hit the spot. I really like early Scott Walker with the Brel covers and large arrangements.

Spanish guitar is wonderfully relaxing and fascinating and Andres Segovia was the first person to legitimize the instrument as fit for performing solo classical works, not just accompanying singing and dancing. Unfortunately, even though he rose to prominence in the 20th century, there was a major dearth in classical literature for the guitar and he was limited to the very few Spanish composers who wrote for the instrument and transcriptions of famous works for other instruments, such as Bach's preludes and fugues. Since then, several great composers of guitar music have emerged, such as Villa-Lobos and Rodrigo (my favorite.) If you've never heard this, it's one of the best CDs (I know, I know, this is /r/vinyl) I've ever owned across all genres. And John Williams (the guitarist, not the composer) is sick nasty.

And no one should ever be too sure about what's next--there's no terminus in this endeavor!

Martha Argerich Rach 3 and Tchaikovsky - A classic. First rendition of Rach 3 I heard. Not the most technically perfect (e.g. compare with Kissin) but just so powerful and exhilarating.

Solti Mahler 8 in Vienna - Perfect soloists, perfect sound, perfect interpretation. Completely different league with respect to any other recording in terms of the soloists and Part 1.

Solti Brahms cycle - Great cycle. Either I love CSO/Solti recordings or I can't stand them. This is one of the former probably because Brahms is more in line with Solti's type of conducting. The fourth is particularily strong.

Mahler 2 Bernstein - Another classic. Not your everyday Mahler 2 but then again you don't listen to Mahler 2 every day. Pushing the score to its romantic limits as one reviewer put. Spiritual listening experience of death and transfiguration for the listener.

Eugene Ablulescu's Hammerklavier - Very interesting academic performance (not as slow or heartfelt as Solomon in the adagio for example). Rigid adherence to marked tempi. No idea why it isn't more well known.

Also I totally second the Gilels/Jochum Brahms concertos.

I have listened to Vladamir Askenazy's and Georg Solti's Beethoven: The Piano Concertos a lot. I mean like 200 times or more. I love the whole thing.

I also really enjoy Nelson Freire & Riccardo Chailly with the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig playing Brahms Piano Concertos. I realize the hallmark for Brahms 1st Piano Concerto is the Clifford Curzon and George Szell recording but for some reason this recording is the one I go back to. Again I have listened to this Nelson Freire & Riccardo Chailly recording a ton of times.

Another album I have been listening to recently and obsessively is Paul Badura-Skoda's Schubert: The Complete Piano Sonatas Played on Period Instruments. I really love how Schubert's Sonatas sound on period fortepianos making it so that you have to play it faster since the strings cannot sustain the notes as long as modern pianos. Badura-Skoda also tried to tie fragment pieces into sonatas and extended some of the unfinished fragments like combining the F-sharp Minor D.571 fragment with D. 604 and two movements from D.570 to make "Sonata no. 8" as well as tacking on the C Major Allegretto D.346 onto the end of the C Major D.279 Sonata. While controversial to purists, I have quite enjoyed these additions especially C Major Allegretto D.346 which makes a unique use of the fagotto lever that gives a shocking power to the piece that I have never heard before. I will admit there are times where the playing is muddled which I think is attributed to both the artist and the instrument but for some reason I really like the sonatas like this plus I really love Schubert's piano music. This doesn't mean I love Kempff, Brendel or Richter's playing less but I really appreciate what this album does.

I like some of Zimmer's scores, but he does tend to use electronics symphonically, whereas I prefer scores played by actual orchestras with no synthesized sounds mixed in.

Aside from Beethoven's 9 Symphonies, his 5 Piano Concertos are my second favourite, following by his 32 Piano Sonatas, and 16 String Quartets are great. I really love all 5 piano concertos.

Among the 32 piano sonatas, this one is my favourite:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SAFjOcOv868

Here is Beethoven's Piano Concerto 1. The stunning first movement cadenza starts at 13:05.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ywv0JwoTuk

Another performance of it I enjoy watching

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hf2xPDmzkYg

The most famous of the 5 is probably number 5, known as The Emperor Concerto. Here is the great Pollini playing it quite recently.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yTLOQGF-c1E

My personal favourite of the 5 piano concertos is number 4.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AXq2Dq0W5lY

If you want a CD recommendation for the Beethoven Piano Concertos:

https://www.amazon.com/Beethoven-Piano-Concertos-Ludwig-von/dp/B0000041K9/ref=sr_1_1

or a video recommendation, here's an old but awesome performance

https://www.amazon.com/Beethoven-Piano-Concertos-DVD-Video/dp/B000V9B7PW/ref=sr_1_1_twi_dvd_1

A good starter list of a few different styles, with links to Amazon to get some samples...

• Barber: Adagio For Strings Op.11 - Slow yet intense string piece.
  
  
• Dvorak: New World Symphony - Good symphony with a wide range, from slow moving parts to more bombastic parts. (at times, you can hear similarities to the score from Star Wars/Imperial March)
  
  
• Rachmaninov: Vespers - One of my personal favorites. Choral music - intense, haunting at times, interesting harmonies founded on that trademark Russian low bass.
  
  
• Mozart: Le Nozze di Figaro A very accessible opera, and one of Mozart's most famous, perfect for a beginning opera listener.
  
  
• Beethoven - Symphonies 5 and 9. Easily two of Beethoven's most famous symphonies. Beyond the parts you hear in movies and commercials, very moving and complex pieces. The 9th is incredibly deep, particularly the 4th movement. I literally have over a dozen recordings of this piece alone, and hear something new every time I listen to it.
  
  
• Vivaldi: Four Seasons. You'll recognize this in quite a few places. I'm fond of the Winter suite, especially the third movement.
  
  
• Bach: Brandenburg Concertos. A good example of Bach's counterpoint style in Baroque string music
  
  
• Rachmaninov: Piano Concerto #2. Intense and melodic, this piece transitions from sweeping melodic lines building to full frenzy - almost chaotic at times.
  
  
• Beethoven: Piano Concerto #5 - Emporer. You could call this a "fancy" piece - several running lines across the piano, including heavy ornamentation and embellishments, particularly in the 1st and 3rd movements. The 2nd movement is more reserved, and it's tranquility bridges the more lively movements.
  
  
• Stravinsky: Rite of Spring. Fascinating, driving intensity - asymmetrical rhythms make this very interesting, unconventional.
  
  
• If you're feeling adventurous and want to delve into a longer piece of a different style, Handel's Messiah or Mendelssohn's Elijah are two great oratorios.

> What would you say is the 'greatest' Rach 3?

Well, there are a lot of opinions on the best Rach 2 & 3 recordings out there. Personally, I think Ashkenazy does it best. This one with Andre Previn in particular. There's another one he recorded with Anatole Fistoulari with the LSO that also is beautiful.

For "white hot" virtuoso playing, the consensus is the previously mentioned Argerich or Horowitz.

Editing to add that Valentina has some YouTube videos of her playing the Rachmaninoff concertos without orchestra backing and they're really cool to watch if you've heard these a million times. Your brain fills in the orchestra part.

Enjoy!

His most famous works are his piano concertos (particularly his second and third.) I really like this recording featuring Byron Janis. This new recording of the 1st and 2nd by the BPO and Leif Ove Andsnes is great, too.

Rachmaninoff was also a famed pianist himself, and there are some really interesting recordings of him playing his own music, like this one. (Spotify link.)

My absolute favourite, though, is his Symphonic Dances. It's warm, quirky, fun, late Rachmaninoff at his best. You could do worse than this recording by the London Philarmonic.

Hope that helps!

I think modern culture has promulgated the falsehood of the prodigy and the overnight success, such that we're trained to think everything is just talent that you're either born with or not. The truth is that gaining any skill like photography or cooking or ice skating or piano takes months and years of patient effort. There's really no way around that (even for prodigies), but you can learn to practice much more efficiently. Chuan Chang's book Fundamentals of Piano Practice might be very helpful. The Art of Practicing by Madeline Bruser is also quite good. You choice of music is your own of course, but I will add that my love of classical was absolutely triggered by this one album. I cannot recommend it too highly! It's just such a mind-boggling trip and I can't overstate it's impact on a bunch of us kids in the 1970's who had literally never heard this music before. Give it a shot. It might change your mind about what "classical" music can be! https://www.amazon.com/Switched-Bach-Johann-Sebastian/dp/B00005ORCV [EDIT: Added note on switched on bach]

Not sure just how slow you're looking for, but the longest one I've got is Krystian Zimerman's 1999 DG recording with the Polish Festival Orchestra (which he conducted himself). If I remember correctly he was very deliberate about rethinking every element of the piece (and the 2nd concerto which is also included on the CD) for the recording and having it done exactly to his specifications - and among those elements is the slightly slower tempo. The first movement is 23 and a half minutes long, and the whole piece ends up clocking in at 46 minutes. I highly recommend it, as well as any other Chopin he has recorded - he's a fantastic pianist. Very precise and clean, if not almost a bit too clean at times.

Get the version of Vivaldi's Four Seasons that's performed by Nigel Kennedy. Here's a link.

Another nice starting point (if you're completely in the dark when it comes to this kind of music) is with soundtracks. There's usually some variety and you can then pursue those composers you enjoy. It's also true though that you get some "film-specific" music, which might be a waste of money (if you end up actually paying for the music).

I like some of what's on the Master and Commander Soundtrack, as well as some of what's on the soundtrack to The Pianist. A no-brainer is the soundtrack to Amadeus.

If you're looking for vocal "classical", I recommend Maria Callas, as well as Ensemble Organum, The Sixteen, Oxford Camerata, and if you're looking for very early music, from the middle ages, Ony Wytars Ensemble and Unicorn Ensemble.

For classical guitar, look up Liona Boyd or Andres Segovia. They're pretty good. Also, Bach's Brandenberg Concertos, those are good. And Handel's "Water Music".

I agree. His improvisation often has strong influences from Bartók. I'm quite sure this is why he appealed to me at first.

If you listen to his Children's Songs, or his 1st or 2nd Piano Concerto, it is pretty apparent that he has contributed to contemporary classical music. The 2nd Piano Concerto is especially good; he truly blends the classical and jazz idioms unlike few others (Claude Bolling comes to mind). This is why I love Chick. He is a musician, not just a jazz pianist.

A few to consider, some more affordable than others:

• Complete Webern
  
• Complete Varese
  
• The DG Complete Beethoven Edition (if you can find it anywhere)
  
• The Philips Complete Mozart Edition (if you can find it anywhere)
  
• Steve Reich
  
• Philip Glass
  
• Handel - Orchestral Works
  
• Bach - Orchestral Works
  
• Ravel - Complete Edition
  
• Debussy - Complete Edition
  
• Shostakovich Edition (one of the few Brilliant Classics box sets I can wholeheartedly recommend, unlike many of the others which can be a bit patchy)
  
• Strauss - Complete operas
  
• Wagner - Complete operas (Solti)
  
• Boulez - Bartok
  
• Boulez conducts Schoenberg (far from complete, but this about the best you can do)
  
• Boulez - Stravinsky
  
• Various Bach choral stuff - Gardiner
  
• Stravinsky
  
• Alban Berg Collection
  
• Berlioz - Complete orchestral works (Davis)
  
• Brahms - Complete Edition (absolutely superb collection)
  
• Britten conducts Britten + operas 1 and operas 2 + Complete Britten
  
• Sibelius - Symphonies and tone poems
  
• Elgar - Collector's Edition
  
• Vaughan Williams - Collector's Edition
  
• Barber - orchestral works (Alsop)
  
• Scriabin - Piano works
  
• C.P.E. Bach Edition
  
• Corelli - Complete Works
  
• Telemann - Tafelmusik
  
• Schubert - Masterworks (Brilliant Classics - not always the best recordings, but for the amount of stuff you get, worth the money
  
• Poulenc - complete works
  
• Messiaen - complete edition
  
• Mahler - complete edition (the symphony recordings here are a representative cross-section, you might want to supplement it with another complete cycle, e.g. Solti, Bernstein, Abbado, etc.)
  
• Liszt - Complete piano music
  
• Janacek - Operas
  
• Haydn - Symphonies (Hogwood), not complete, but as close as anyone has come to it
  
• Mozart - Symphonies (Pinnock) - an alternative to Mackerras
  
• Bartok - Piano works
  
• Debussy - Piano works
  
  If you need anything more specific than that, let me know and I'll try to recommend something.
  
  If you have a look in the "Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought" section for any of these, you'll find many more.

Hi, thank you. That’s very sweet and I appreciate it. After listening to the beginning, I realized I had it on cd, and a few other devices, and love it. It’s beautiful music.

I’ve been listening to The Art of the Fugue lately. The slower pace of the music is a bit more calming, grounding. Sometimes melancholy is where it’s at. Take care of yourself.

You don't need advice. In my estimate, you've reached a point where it's time for you to trust your compositional decisions and stop seeking approval from peers. Your music is quite good.

What you do need is a good sample library to use with your midi scores! I've heard really good stuff done with the East West Orchestra Gold library. You should try to get ahold of a copy and use that from now on for your Sibelius scores. Listen to this earlier post and imagine how awesome your piece would sound if you used that library.

Somewhat off-topic, have you listened to the work of Jennifer Higdon? I think you would appreciate her Concerto for Orchestra.

I'm not a musician so I don't have the words or expertise to describe why I like what I do, but this version is my favorite because it seems to flow better. It seems like the instruments are more... balanced? I've heard versions that sound more "rock"-like (looking at you, Joshua Bell) and don't care for that style for this particular set of music, even the Summer presto movement.

The instrument used makes a difference with Bach's music. I'm not much of a fan of the harpsichord or the pipe organ, which are two of the instruments his music often gets played on. What really got me into Bach was Switched-On Bach by Walter Carlos, which is the name on the LP. Walter is now known as Wendy, which is the name on the CD. In case the Moog synthesizer is not your thing, I have also made a playlist of the same pieces played by a variety of acoustic instruments:

• Switched-On Bach Acoustic
  
  The Bach Variations: A Windham Hill Sampler is another good collection of Bach played on various acoustic instruments.

If you have these recordings, and you compare them to Argerich, she's done much better than he did. Maybe it's just the particular recordings I was using, but there's just no comparison. Ashkenazy can't do fast, intense, or energetic remotely as well as Argerich can.

Yes! Wendy Carlos, who used to be a man. I think he/she did some of the work on The Shining too. Amazon even seems to sell it.

http://www.amazon.com/Switched-On-Bach-Johann-Sebastian/dp/B00005ORCV

http://www.amazon.com/Clockwork-Orange-Carloss-Complete-Original/dp/B00000DGXX/ref=sr_1_3?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1457982168&sr=1-3

Price History

• Vivaldi: The Four Seasons; Violin Concertos RV. 522, 565, 516   ^PureLink
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Vivaldi: The Four Seasons

http://www.amazon.com/Vivaldi-The-Four-Seasons-Antonio/dp/B000003CSU

Does anyone know why CDs of Switched-On Bach sell for such a premium?

I managed to get a second-hand one for about €10, but I've seen them on offer for $60+
Here, for example

If you dig enough there's always a classical music (ie post copyright) CD for a couple bucks.

Who doesn't want more Vivaldi in their life?