(When The Arts recently assembled a beginner`s guide to building a classical-record collection, we promised a second listing of desert-island choices. ”Choose as you wish,” the writers were told, ”but don`t compare notes.” Ah, temptation.)
Last time, I tried to jam as many basic pieces into 25 slots as possible. I didn`t make it past Mozart, but no reader so far has expressed riotous disagreement, though lifelong favorites that didn`t survive the cut–”Why no Mendelssohn?” or ”You got something against Telemann?”– were stoutly defended.
I can`t quibble with our first list, but it does seem a waste to repeat recordings already mentioned, except where I feel especially strongly about them. Here, then, is a further–and even more whimsical–mix of some favorites, crowd-pleasers that offer more variety and still survive in new and used record stores, public libraries, and on FM broadcasts.
1. Albeniz. ”Iberia” (Complete). Michel Block, pianist. Connoisseur Society CS-2120-21 (OP). A wonderfully evocative and much-honored performance. 2. Bach: ”The Passion According to St. Matthew.” Fischer-Dieskau, Pears, Schwarzkopf, Ludwig, Gedda, Berry, Otto Klemperer/Phlharmonia Orchestra and Chorus. HMV SLS 827. (Available as British import). Among the monumental triumphs of recorded music.
3. Bartok: Violin Concerto & Unaccompanied Sonata. Ivry Gitlis, Jascha Horenstein/Vienna Pro Musica. Dover HCR-5211 (OP). These galvanic readings remain the benchmark to which young fiddlers seek to rise.
4. Berlioz: ”The Damnation of Faust.” Von Stade, Riegel, Van Dam, King, Georg Solti/Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Chorus. 3-Lon. LDR-73007. Awesome, sumptuous: Solti and his conquering army at their most formidable.
5. Bernstein: ”West Side Story” (complete). Te Kanawa, Carreras, Troyanos, Ollmann, Horne, Leonard Bernstein/Orch. & Chorus. Deutsche Grammophon 415253-1. The first time Bernstein has conducted his (and Sondheim`s) most popular work–arguably America`s finest musical–and the composer has converted it to an opera. The change in conventions is jolting at times, the singers sound too mature and lack grit; but they know how to penetrate this magnificent score, give it all they have, and shower us with cold chills.
6. Bizet: Symphony in C. Jean Martinon/Chicago Symphony. Record OP; tape available, Victrola ALK1-4967. Ever youthful and soaring; one of the loveliest of all CSO recordings.
7. Borodin: Symphony No. 1. Gennady Rozhdestvensky/Moscow Radio Symphony. Melodiya Angel SR-40182 (OP). An exotic and beautiful symphony, unjustly neglected. Paul Kletzki`s version was better, but long ago consigned to even deeper oblivion.
8. Chopin: First Piano Concerto. Martha Argerich, Claudio Abbado/London Symphony. DG 2543524. As youngsters in the 1960s, Abbado and Argerich infused many concertos with fresh ideas that perk up even the most jaded ears. The playing here is hallucinatory.
9. Dvorak: Cello Concerto/Tchaikovsky: Variations on a Rococo Theme. Mstislav Rostropovich, Herbert von Karajan/Berlin Philaharmonic. Deutsche Grammophon DG 139044. Rostropovich`s legendary traversals of the Dvorak Concerto have long been among the unforgettable Big Events in concert music. This record comes closest to recapturing the experience.
10. Haydn: The Creation. Mathis, Baldin, Fischer-Dieskau, Neville Marriner/Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields. 2 Philips 6769047. The unsurpassed Haydn symphony recordings by George Szell and the Cleveland Orchestra have been mentioned earlier, giving me a chance to include this bewitching production of Haydn`s choral masterwork.
11. Hummel: Septet in D minor, (& Quintet in E-flat for piano and strings). The Melos Ensemble of London. Oiseau Lyre SOL-29.(British import). A treasured chamber recording; affecting and lyrical, slam-bang virtuosity.
12. LeBrun: Oboe Concertos (Complete). Heinz Holliger, Thomas Furi/
Camerata Bern. 2-DG ARC-2742005. Eighteenth-century poignancy and dazzle by Holliger, one of the great musicians of the world.
13. Liszt: ”Homage to Liszt.” Vladimir Horowitz, pianist. RCA LM-2584
(OP). Representative of this incomparable artist; a record that joins the spirits of two of the most amazing pianists of all time.
14. Mahler: Symphony No. 4. Emmy Loose, Paul Kletzki/Philharmonia. Seraphim S-60105 (OP). I could pack this list with Mahler by Abbado, Bernstein, Horenstein, Karajan, Scherchen, Solti, Walter, etc., but this magical recording by Kletzki, a musician`s musician, deserves a place.
15. Monteverdi: ”Vespers of the Virgin Mary.” Hanns-Martin Schneidt/
Regensburg Cathedral Choir. DG 2727018 (import). A gorgeous rendering of this pivotal masterpiece.
16. Mozart: ”Cosi fan Tutte.” Schwarzkopf, Merriman, Simoneau, Panerai, Bruscantini, Otto; Herbert von Karajan/Philharmonia Orchestra and Chorus. HMV RLS-7709 (OP) Everything came together in this, among the most radiant of Mozart performances.
17. Poulenc: Trio for Piano, Oboe, and Bassoon (& Schumann, Saint-Saens, Tansman). Ray Still, Milan Turkovic, John Perry. Telefunken 64208.
Delightfully atmospheric; flamboyant, fresh, unfailingly poetic.
18. Ravel: ”Daphnis and Chloe” (Complete ballet). Charles Dutoit/
Montreal Symphony & Chorus. London LDR-71028. The digital stunner that ushered in a new technological age.
19. Rodrigo: ”Concierto de Aranjuez” for Guitar and Orchestra
(& Britten ”Gloriana” dances, Vivaldi Guitar Concerto). Julian Bream, Colin Davis/Melos Orch. RCA LSC-2730. An old standby, Bream`s first hit record, is still romantic as hell.
21. Schubert: ”Trout” Quintet. Sviatoslav Richter, Borodin Quartet, Hortnagel. Angel. DS-37846. A trout much too big to ever throw back. Richter, especially, is electrifying.
22. Smetana: ”The Bartered Bride” complete in Czech. Benackova, Dvorsky, Novak, Kopp, Jonasova; Zdenek Kosler/Czech Philharmonic. Supraphon digital 11163511/3. One of the most irrepressible and irresistible opera performances ever set to record.
23. Strauss, Richard: ”Ein Heldenleben.” Fritz Reiner/Chicago Symphony Orchestra. RCA ATL 1-4100. The standard bearer in the Reiner/CSO pantheon; a performance that was burned into the memories of those who heard it live and remains achingly beautiful today.
24. Tchaikovsky: Symphonies Nos. 4 and 5. Eugene Mravinsky/Leningrad Philharmonic. DG-410569. Sound quality, dating to 1961, is not the best, but nobody whips these warhorses into life like the Russians.
25. Wagner: ”Gotterdammerung.” Nilsson, Windgassen, Fischer-Dieskau, Frick, Neidlinger, Watson, Ludwig. Vienna State Opera Chorus, Georg Solti/
Vienna Philharmonic. 6-London 1604. This world ends with a bang.
