Wherein We Elect Our Favourite Classical Compositions of… the 1800s (the decade, that is. Also, this is Totally-Not-a-Middle-Period-Beethoven-Poll)

I'll take a listen to the piano trios :)

I'm partial to the Trio Wanderer set fwiw.

Top 5 here are waldstein sonata, eroica, pastoral, 5th, op. 59 #1

Why’d you leave out op. 27#1? I love that piece best of all the “opus twentysomething” sonatas

No idea tbh, maybe because I assumed no one would vote for it anyway (in which case I should have excluded far more than I did). I agree that it holds up better than the Moonlight Sonata.

I also love the designation 'Quasi una fantasia', which Sibelius later took up in his 1st Symphony.

pom thank you in advance for this project which will be truly educational for me

My pleasure, silby! I hope one decade per week isn't too rapid a pace.

Didn't we all play Clementi when we took piano lessons? I sure did. I went back and listened to some of it recently and honestly I think it holds up well.

a decade a week is definitely too rapid but I love lists and I'll file these away

I like this thread idea. I'm not voting but I look forward to the discussion and results.

I'll mainly be listening and reading during this period, but I don't need much excuse to make a playlist and hurriedly created this one before bed last night. (pomenitul's recommendations where I could find them, but kinda arbitrary otherwise.)

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2EYlQf53HQG7HmGpmCwmw0

Thanks, Nag! Much appreciated.

Btw what are everyone's favourite recordings of the Beethoven picks?

Op.27 “Moonlight” Sonata: Rudolf Serkin, Ivan Moravec, Ronald Brautigam
Op. 53 “Waldstein” Sonata: Alfred Brendel (his first one, on Vox), Pollini, Stephen Kovacevich, Arrau
Op. 57 “Appassionata” Sonata: Sviatoslav Richter, Ivan Moravec
[for the ones you should have included: Alfred Brendel’s 90s recordings of Op. 27 #1 and the almighty Op. 32 trilogy.]
3rd, 5th and 6th symphonies: I always come back to Pierre Monteux on London Decca. The most satisfying cycle I know. For a recent fast and stinging approach, Mackerras.
4th piano concerto: Ivan Moravec or Stephen Kovacevich
Violin Concerto: Isabelle Faust
String Quartets: Vegh Quartet (their stereo ones on London Decca), Takacs Quartet
Trios: I have several I like but no resounding favorite
Cello Sonatas: Richter/Rostropovich
[you should have included the awesome Op.30 trilogy of Violin Sonatas! Here I like kremer/argerich and dumay/pires. Not sure if Faust/Melnikov have recorded these but if they have it probably slays).

I love the Op. 30 trilogy, but I tried my best to preempt Beethoven overkill. And Faust/Melnikov have indeed recorded it – by far one of my favourite violin/piano duos, alongside the other two pairs you mention!

Waldstein vs Symphony 5 atm

I've been listening to the 1954 Stokowski recording of Pastoral on NML. A really pleasant listen.

will give these a fair listen but I gotta say symphony no 5 is gonna be hard to beat

I ended up going with the so-called 'Kreutzer' sonata (with Kremer/Argerich in mind) because it, too, deserves our love.

I'll mainly be listening and reading during this period, but I don't need much excuse to make a playlist and hurriedly created this one before bed last night. (pomenitul's recommendations where I could find them, but kinda arbitrary otherwise.)

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2EYlQf53HQG7HmGpmCwmw0

― Nag! Nag! Nag!, Saturday, November 2, 2019 3:41 AM (two days ago) bookmarkflaglink

Thankig u! <3

Would you prefer two weeks instead of one for the remaining polls or is the current pace fine? Let me know.

I think this poll series is absolutely awesome but I just don’t have the time to seriously listen to even a tenth of this list or of the rock/metal tracks poll going on :(

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Ludwig van Beethoven - Cello Sonata No. 3 in A major, Op. 69 (1808)

this is really good - thanks, Spotify playlist

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

aw man i forgot to vote. Symphony No. 5 for me.

Ludwig van Beethoven - Symphony No. 5 in C minor, Op. 67 (1807-1808) 2
Ludwig van Beethoven - Symphony No. 3 in E-flat major, Op. 55 (1805) 1
Ludwig van Beethoven - Piano Sonata No. 14 in C-sharp minor, Op. 27/2 (1801) 1

c'mon y'all!!

I did vote for Symphony 5 in the end. As much of a cliché as it has become, it is a perfect composition imo.

Heh, I didn't expect Hummel to make a dent out of all the non-Beethoven selections, but I'm glad there was at least one exception to the rule.

Onwards to part 2:

Wherein We Vote for Our Favourite Classical Compositions of… the 1810s