Ian bumped this (or rather, its predecessor) back to the top today, which got me thinking I should probably start revising it. Indeed, I've had this thought when Adam and George have done the same over the last couple of months. Initially thinking this would be a quick job, I then, rather shockingly, noticed that the last update was nearly two years ago (and, unsurprisingly, there have been one or two noteworthy threads during that time). This has lead me to trawl back through the last 22 months or so (in addition to the one or two things I'd been adding along the way). It has also prompted me to do something I've been meaning to do for an age: link to all Todd's Beethoven sonata posts (assuming I've not missed any). I also notice that this is probably the 3rd thread (and at least the 5th list) and certainly the most substantial revision to date. I won't claim to have caught everything, so if you spot something, post it and I'll add it.

[Note to self - must update list more often.]

For newcomers to the thread, it's purpose is simple: to provide links to interesting threads on the subject of classical music (and in particular the various "getting started..." threads there have been over the years). It does exactly what it says on the tin. Please note that more up to date versions of this list may be found further down the thread.

An excellent thread on getting started in classical music may be found here (particularly my post 4th from bottom).

Also see George's excellent 'first' threads:

Piano

Concertos

Symphonies

Choral

Opera

Opera in English, and some further recommendations

And Nigel's First Bach

Milo's Quartets

Sloop's first Moart

Mansoor's Classical Guitar

smu's Must Have Classical Albums.

And forum members' First Classical Recordings


You can also view George's library though the full thing only appears on page two. Most of my library is also listed (at least, most of my library at the time of that post, which was a little while ago now, so is not longer all that representative). Actually, you could do a lot worse than just search the forum and read all George's posts (note, he previously was Fredrik Fiske).


Those looking for classical vinyl should turn their attention here.



It has been suggested, perhaps fairly, that some of the threads listed here can be more than a little intimidating to the uninitiated. This paragraph roughly marks the dividing line between the "getting started" type threads above and the more in-depth discussions below. However, such characterisations are not hard and fast and one of the following threads seems interesting, you have nothing to lose by checking it out (in particular the section on 'specific works' towards the bottom of this post, which contains a number of threads that shouldn't be intimidating).



Along more in depth lines is Todd's wonderful post on Beethoven's Emperor concerto and the addendum.

Indeed, any of Todd's posts make good reading, particular his never-ending survey of surveys of the Beethoven piano sonatas: Angelich, Ashkenazy, Backhaus, Badura-Skoda, Barenboim (EMI), DVD, Biss, Brautigam, Brendel, Ciani, Freire, Gulda, vol 2, Joyce Hatto (or whomever it was whose recording(s) they stole), Heidsieck, Hewitt, vol 2, Kodama, Kovacevich, Kuerti, vol 2, Paul Lewis, Vol. 2, Lipkin, Lucchesini, Nakamichi, vol 2, Nat, O'Conor, Øland, Kun-Woo Paik, vol 2, Perl, Pludermacher, Riefling, Schiff, vol 2, vol 3, Sheppard, Sherman, Silverman, Uchida and Yokoyama).



Bach:

Goldberg Variations

Walcha Plays Bach

Bach not on the piano forte

And my sequel to those last two two.

Yet more Walcha, this time playing Bach's organ work.

And one final Walcha thread containing some info and discussion about a recent budget reissue of his earlier mono organ cycle.

Bach's vocal music.

Performance of his works on Period Instruments and on Guitar.


Beethoven's Symphonies. Specifically Klemperer and his Testament issues, Bohm and Kleiber in 5&7 and Haitink (at least initially, thereafter Furwangler and more).

Brahms' Piano concertos and Symphonies.

Bruckner here, here and in connection with Celibidache.

Elgar here.

Handel's 12 Grand Concertos.

And those who like their Mahler should look here (I am currently working on a thread rounding up my entire collection of Mahler symphonies, but I suspect it will be some time in the works yet [note - it's now just under two years since I first wrote those words, so don't hold your breath, I am at best half-way in listening, and a good way behind that in typing up]).

Messiaen

My Mozart thread may be of interest as well as this one on concertos, but is he any good?.

Schubert in general and the Great C Major Symphony, a postscript and hisUnfinished Symphony in particular.

My ongoing Siblius series may be found here (hopefully to be completed fairly soon).

And Wagnerians may like to look here, at this discussion on the respective merits of the Solti and Keilberth's Rings and at this thread on discs of exerts (with a note that Warner have finally repented and rereleased the Runnicles disc).



Conductors:

Bernstein (specifically releases in DG's Collectors Edition series).

Furtwangler (but focussing on politics and his decision to remain in Germany during the war).

Carlo Maria Giulini, and specifically his recordings of the Verdi Requiem.

Eugen Jochum, and his recordings of several Haydn symphonies (and take two of the same).

Erich and Carlos Kleiber

Georg Solti



Artists:

The Budapest Quartet play Beethoven (buy this, buy it now).

Edwin Fischer plays Beethoven and Mozart.

Emil Gilels plays Beethoven.

Glenn Gould, and in particular the controversial remaking of his 1955 recording of Bach's Goldberg Variations.

Paul Lewis plays Beethoven and again.



Some threads on specific works:

Bach's Matthew Passion, Pinnock's new recording of the Brandenburg Concertos, the Brandenburgs more generally and the Cello Suites.

Beethoven's Violin Concerto and the Erioca, 4th and 9th symphonies.

Britten's War Requiem.

Faure's Requiem to which, if the thread was still live, I would add a recommendation for Giulini's live recording on BBC Legends with the Philharmonia and Janet Baker.

Haydn's [urlhttp://forums.naim-audio.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/38019385/m/8332988217]Piano Sonatas[/url] and his London Symphonies.

Janacek's Kata Kabanova as conducted by Charles Mackerras, for the second time.

Messiaen's Quartet for the End of time and Des canyons aux étoiles.

Mozart's Horn Concerti, Piano Sonatas and a curiosity in the form of his arrangement of Handel's Messiah.

Orff's Carmina Burana.

Scubert's D960 piano sonata.

Verdi's Don Carlos, in French and live in 1958.

Wagner's Meistersinger.

Wetz's Symphonies.


Also possibly of interest:

Tuning in Baroque Times

Conductors and Technique

Technique, Musicians, and Expression Of Emotion In Music

Tempi and Repeats

Minimalism

Live versus Studio

Were all the best classical recordings from 1930 to 1970?

Does sound quality matter?

Todd's thread on exploring lesser known works and his more recent new music log and its sequel

This discussion asks what the lowest note in a piece of music is.

George's Great Music Arranged and unarranged.



Live classical music:

The Edinburgh Festival 2005, 2006 and 2007. Reviews will be posted to the 2008 thread at the time.

The BBC Proms 2007.



regards, Tam

p.s. As noted above - if you recall a good thread, even if you don't want to (or can't) track down the link, mention it and I'll try and find and add it to the list.

Dear Tam,

I know how frustrating it can be to find one thread that was remembered, from distant times! I can only imagine that you have patience, persistence and superb judgement [or at least you see things the same way as I do!], so, many thanks for reminding me of happy reading from the past, and the chance to revisit these wonderful threads at the click of a mouse.

If ever a thread diserved "sticky" status, it is this one. It is actually a resource of the Forum.

Thanks from George

A labour of love indeed Tam - that must have taken an age to put together - so thank you on behalf of me and everyone here for that.

I've already found some interesting nuggets you've pointed to.

cheers

Ian

A quick note on "Joyce Hatto": the recordings were John O'Conor's, audibly altered.

Dear Tam,

as a Newbie to this thread I would like to thank you for all the work and structure you have put into it.

I look forward to many returns browsing through various links.

All the best ... Oliver

Thank you for your kind comments. Actually, it didn't take all that long (probably the better part of four hours, but when one considers how long it's been since I last updated it that isn't too bad, and it saves me a lot of time in not having to type out the same answers over again or search for things).

Thanks Todd, I've noted that for the next revision.


regards, Tam

bump for Dean.

regards, Tam

Add to list - JS Bach 'Art of Fugue' thread

No collection would be complete without least one version of Strauss Four Last Songs.

In an effort to keep this updated a little more often, version 3.1:


An excellent thread on getting started in classical music may be found here (particularly my post 4th from bottom).

Also see George's excellent 'first' threads:

Piano

Concertos

Symphonies

Choral

Opera

Opera in English, and some further recommendations

And Nigel's First Bach

Milo's Quartets

Sloop's first Moart

Mansoor's Classical Guitar

smu's Must Have Classical Albums.

And forum members' First Classical Recordings


You can also view George's library though the full thing only appears on page two. Most of my library is also listed (at least, most of my library at the time of that post, which was a little while ago now, so is not longer all that representative). Actually, you could do a lot worse than just search the forum and read all George's posts (note, he previously was Fredrik Fiske).


Those looking for classical vinyl should turn their attention here.



It has been suggested, perhaps fairly, that some of the threads listed here can be more than a little intimidating to the uninitiated. This paragraph roughly marks the dividing line between the "getting started" type threads above and the more in-depth discussions below. However, such characterisations are not hard and fast and one of the following threads seems interesting, you have nothing to lose by checking it out (in particular the section on 'specific works' towards the bottom of this post, which contains a number of threads that shouldn't be intimidating).



Along more in depth lines is Todd's wonderful post on Beethoven's Emperor concerto the addendum and some thoughts on the Diabelli Variations

Indeed, any of Todd's posts make good reading, particular his never-ending survey of surveys of the Beethoven piano sonatas: Anderszewski, Angelich, Ashkenazy, Backhaus, Badura-Skoda, Barenboim (EMI), DVD, Biss, Brautigam, Brendel, Ciani, Freire, Gulda, vol 2, Joyce Hatto (or rather John O'Conor, whose recordings they stole and altered), Heidsieck, Hewitt, vol 2, Kodama, Kovacevich, Kuerti, vol 2, Paul Lewis, Vol. 2, Lipkin, Lucchesini, Nakamichi, vol 2, Nat, O'Conor, Øland, Kun-Woo Paik, vol 2, Perl, Pludermacher, Riefling, Schiff, vol 2, vol 3, Sheppard, Sherman, Silverman, Uchida and Yokoyama).



Bach:

Goldberg Variations

Walcha Plays Bach

Bach not on the piano forte

And my sequel to those last two two.

Yet more Walcha, this time playing Bach's organ work.

And one final Walcha thread containing some info and discussion about a recent budget reissue of his earlier mono organ cycle.

Bach's vocal music.

Performance of his works on Period Instruments and on Guitar.


Beethoven's Symphonies. Specifically Klemperer and his Testament issues, Bohm and Kleiber in 5&7 and Haitink (at least initially, thereafter Furwangler and more).

Brahms' Piano concertos and Symphonies.

Bruckner here, here and in connection with Celibidache.

Elgar here.

Handel's 12 Grand Concertos.

And those who like their Mahler should look here (I am currently working on a thread rounding up my entire collection of Mahler symphonies, but I suspect it will be some time in the works yet [note - it's now just under two years since I first wrote those words, so don't hold your breath, I am at best half-way in listening, and a good way behind that in typing up]).

Messiaen

My Mozart thread may be of interest as well as this one on concertos, but is he any good?.

Schubert in general and the Great C Major Symphony, a postscript and his Unfinished Symphony in particular.

My ongoing Siblius series may be found here (hopefully to be completed fairly soon).

And Wagnerians may like to look here, at this discussion on the respective merits of the Solti and Keilberth's Rings and at this thread on discs of exerts (with a note that Warner have finally repented and rereleased the Runnicles disc).



Conductors:

Bernstein (specifically releases in DG's Collectors Edition series).

Furtwangler (but focussing on politics and his decision to remain in Germany during the war).

Carlo Maria Giulini, and specifically his recordings of the Verdi Requiem.

Eugen Jochum, and his recordings of several Haydn symphonies (and take two of the same).

Herbert von Karajan

Erich and Carlos Kleiber

Georg Solti



Artists:

The Budapest Quartet play Beethoven (buy this, buy it now).

Edwin Fischer plays Beethoven and Mozart.

Emil Gilels plays Beethoven.

Glenn Gould, and in particular the controversial remaking of his 1955 recording of Bach's Goldberg Variations.

Paul Lewis plays Beethoven and again.



Some threads on specific works:

Bach's Matthew Passion, Pinnock's new recording of the Brandenburg Concertos, the Brandenburgs more generally, Art of Fugue and the Cello Suites.

Beethoven's Violin Concerto and the Erioca, 4th and 9th symphonies.

Britten's War Requiem.

Dvorak's 8th symphony.

Faure's Requiem to which, if the thread was still live, I would add a recommendation for Giulini's live recording on BBC Legends with the Philharmonia and Janet Baker.

Haydn's Piano Sonatas and his London Symphonies.

Janacek's Kata Kabanova as conducted by Charles Mackerras, for the second time.

Messiaen's Quartet for the End of time and Des canyons aux étoiles.

Mozart's Horn Concerti, Piano Sonatas, Cosi fan tutte (in English) and a curiosity in the form of his arrangement of Handel's Messiah.

Orff's Carmina Burana.

Scubert's D960 piano sonata.

Verdi's Don Carlos, in French and live in 1958.

Wagner's Meistersinger.

Wetz's Symphonies.



Also possibly of interest:

Tuning in Baroque Times

Conductors and Technique

Technique, Musicians, and Expression Of Emotion In Music

Tempi and Repeats

Minimalism

Live versus Studio

Were all the best classical recordings from 1930 to 1970?

Does sound quality matter?

Todd's thread on exploring lesser known works and his more recent new music log and its sequel

This discussion asks what the lowest note in a piece of music is.

George's Great Music Arranged and unarranged.



Live classical music:

The Edinburgh Festival 2005, 2006 and 2007. Reviews will be posted to the 2008 thread at the time.

The BBC Proms 2007.



regards, Tam

p.s. As noted above - if you recall a good thread, even if you don't want to (or can't) track down the link, mention it and I'll try and find and add it to the list.

Bump!

bumped for the Brahms link.

Bump! so I don't have to look for it.



Dean..

Not updated in a little while, so here's version 3.2:


An excellent thread on getting started in classical music may be found here (particularly my post 4th from bottom).

Also see George's excellent 'first' threads:

Piano

Concertos

Symphonies

Choral

Opera

Opera in English, and some further recommendations

And Nigel's First Bach

Milo's Quartets

Sloop's first Moart

Mansoor's Classical Guitar

smu's Must Have Classical Albums.

And forum members' First Classical Recordings


You can also view George's library though the full thing only appears on page two. Most of my library is also listed (at least, most of my library at the time of that post, which was a little while ago now, so is not longer all that representative). Actually, you could do a lot worse than just search the forum and read all George's posts (note, he previously was Fredrik Fiske).


Those looking for classical vinyl should turn their attention here.



It has been suggested, perhaps fairly, that some of the threads listed here can be more than a little intimidating to the uninitiated. This paragraph roughly marks the dividing line between the "getting started" type threads above and the more in-depth discussions below. However, such characterisations are not hard and fast and one of the following threads seems interesting, you have nothing to lose by checking it out (in particular the section on 'specific works' towards the bottom of this post, which contains a number of threads that shouldn't be intimidating).



Along more in depth lines is Todd's wonderful post on Beethoven's Emperor concerto the addendum, second addendum and some thoughts on the Diabelli Variations

Indeed, any of Todd's posts make good reading, particular his never-ending survey of surveys of the Beethoven piano sonatas: Anderszewski, Angelich, Ashkenazy, Backhaus, Badura-Skoda, Barenboim (EMI), DVD, Biss, Brautigam, Brendel, Ciani, Freire, Gulda, vol 2, Joyce Hatto (or rather John O'Conor, whose recordings they stole and altered), Heidsieck, Hewitt, vol 2, Kodama, Kovacevich, Kuerti, vol 2, Paul Lewis, Vol. 2, Lipkin, Lucchesini, Nakamichi, vol 2, Nat, O'Conor, Øland, Kun-Woo Paik, vol 2, Perl, Pludermacher, Riefling, Schiff, vol 2, vol 3, Sheppard, Sherman, Silverman, Uchida and Yokoyama).



Bach:

Goldberg Variations

Walcha Plays Bach

Bach not on the piano forte

And my sequel to those last two two.

Yet more Walcha, this time playing Bach's organ work.

And one final Walcha thread containing some info and discussion about a recent budget reissue of his earlier mono organ cycle.

Bach's vocal music.

Performance of his works on Period Instruments and on Guitar.


Beethoven's Symphonies. Specifically Klemperer and his Testament issues, Bohm and Kleiber in 5&7 and Haitink (at least initially, thereafter Furwangler and more) and various posters favourites.

Brahms' Piano concertos and Symphonies, and a little more on them.

Bruckner