Thread: Rate the classical piece above you

Yes, I've always adored that piece and I never get tired of listening to it :) The violin concerto of Tchaikovsky is one of the best ever and the performances of this concerto by Oistrakh are legendary. The concerto is so rich, it's just incredible. So yeah, 20/10 from me :)

Here's the wonderful preludium & allegro of Kreisler, played by Itzhak Perlman

Oh, what a beautiful rendition. Every time I listen to Perlman I like him more. And such an amazing life story. He truly is simply a fantastic person, there's no other way to put it... I won't even grade it, I don't see the point in doing that

Here's a great recital by Sviatoslav Richter in Moscow. Enjoy ;)

I didn't understand the Russian, but fortunately music is a universal language. Richter is a legend of course, and this vid shows why. Still, I must say I'm not a huge fan of his. I think I enjoyed his rendition of the last movement of Beethoven's famous piano sonata no1 the most ( I didn't like the dynamics/phrasing of the first part), as well as his interpretation of Schumann's op26 (last movement in particular).
At certain points I had to laugh though. At times Richter gives his audience such a "so not amused" face (in the beginning for example) and sometimes it almost seems as if Richter thinks he's playing in front of a bunch of miserable fools and wants to get it over with asap ;) (just my interpretation though haha)
Oh and I thought the coughing of the audience was funny as well; not only did it sound as if some people were almost dying out there, but at a certain point they started coughing too early because they thought the piece had finished - that was hilarious, especially because Richter just continues to play without flinching. :)

Anyways, now for something completely different :) Here's a vid featuring some tracks from a CD that I'd really recommend: Via Crucis. It's a CD of one of my favorite ensembles - L'Arpeggiata (dir. Christina Pluhar; I'd recommend all their discs btw), here together with countertenor Philippe Jaroussky and the ensemble Barbara Furtuna. The combination of the voices is just wonderful. I just love Nuria Rial's voice.



This is my favorite track of the CD: Maria (sopra la Carpinese) from Via Crucis - YouTube - it's in HD :)

That was really good! Had never heard it before. Thanks for the tip, I'll look into it. 9,5/10 for me.

And about Richter, well, I would not be so amused with an audience like that either. LOL. But I see your point. For me, and that's highly personal, he is one of the most amazing pianists I have ever heard (on a sidenote, I just discovered that Kissin is going to play here in my city this year!), and I'm sorry for insisting, but if you haven't heard his rendition of the Piano Concerto no. 1 by Lizst, you need to hear it:

10/10 Absolutely wonderful! That was genius! Thank you for insisting, because this is the best Richter I've ever heard! I think he wasn't at his best in the other video, you know, it sounded over-articulated and mannered to me at some points. But this performance had none of that! What a brilliant poetic/lyrical rendition that was! Thanks for pointing it out to me!
BTW I didn't pick up on your comment about Perlman, but yeah, he really is an amazing violinist; his tone is always perfect and so rich, it's as if he actually sings on his violin. You should listen to his rendering of the capricci of Paganini - awesome stuff.

One of my other favorite composers of the twentieth century is Philip Glass.
A few tips: - String Quartets performed by the Kronos Quartet
- The album "Reflections", performed by the cello octet Conjunto Ibérico
- The second violin concerto "The American Seasons", performed by McDuffie/Alsop
- The album "Piano Etudes"

I'm going to post his superb violin concerto no.1 here. Unfortunately the quality of the recording isn't that good, so I'd recommend getting a good FLAC somewhere ;) Each of the three movements is equally mind-blowingly beautiful.



2nd movement: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CsioM3GaAAY
3rd movement: philip glass violin concerto 3rd movement - YouTube


The Australian saxophonist Amy Dickson has made a transcription of this concerto. It's really awesome stuff. You can find it here:
1st movement: Saxophonist Amy Dickson - Philip Glass' Violin Concerto No 1. - Exclusive C Music TV video - YouTube
2nd movement: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=18NzZBnrEeo
3rd movement: (apparently not on YT..)

Well, Glass is one of the few contemporany composers that I know and actually like. That's a really beautiful piece, I would give it 8,5. But I'll look for flac versions ;)

I'm glad you liked the piece I posted. The other one saw Richter not at his best, but even then I find him amazing. But that rendition of Liszt's concert is something else. I remember the first time I heard. I got back from my music store, and that cd was reccomended by the salesman I usually speak to. I didn't know much about music by then, but ir just blew my mind! It was released under the BBC Legends collection, and it certainly has a place there. It's simply astonishing

Anyway, here's a piece by a not-so-know french composer, with the great Isaac Stern as soloist:

9/10 I never really listened to music of Lalo, and I'm glad I did now. This is great music and some great playing as well (can't expect anything less from Stern ofc). Thanks for sharing this beautiful piece.

I'm happy to hear you know Philip Glass and like his music. I don't like all his work, but he has a good amount of works that are really great. Like the ones I mentioned in my previous post.
Another interesting contemporary composer is the Latvian Peteris Vasks. I'd recommend his string quartets and his violin concerto.
I'm going to post his string quartet no.4 here.

Movement1 - Elegy



Movement2 - Toccata1 Peteris Vasks - String Quartet No. 4 (2/5) - YouTube

Movement3 - Chorale Peteris Vasks - String Quartet No. 4 (3/5) - YouTube

Movement4 - Toccata2 Peteris Vasks - String Quartet No. 4 (4/5) - YouTube

Movement5 - Meditation Peteris Vasks - String Quartet No. 4 (5/5) - YouTube

Well, another new composer for me. I liked that. Thanks Trevor, you showed some really nice things that I probably wouldn't find otherwise. 9/10 for me. I'll check the violin concerto.

Now, something that I hadn't heard in a long time, until it played in the radio this morning. A really nice piece by Schubert, the Arpeggione Sonata, D. 821. Unfortunately, I found only the first movement on youtube, but the whole piece was released by Decca, on the Decca Legends series. If you have the opportunity, check it out, it's worth it.

9/10 Thanks, that was beautiful. I have been listening to the entire recording, and it was great.

So I thought I'd post a Schubert piece as well. I picked the Fantasia in F minor, played by Perahia and Lupu. Wonderful playing.



Part2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6uUiajLkF3U