Rolling Classical 2020

One thing led to another and I ended up on a late night Schubert Lieder YT binge. It brought me back to the great Thomas Quasthoff, who never disappoints:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pze4NxCOjg0

Happy birthday Beethoven!

^this!

what do ppl feel are his best works and what are the best recorded performances?

I'm no expert on the guy yet but the grosse fuge and no 32 sonata are total bangers

Lazy answer: all of his works are his best works.

Real bullet-point answer, which is highly subjective:

* 16 string quartets, esp. the late quartets (12-16 and the Große Fuge) – Alban Berg Quartett (live, 1989); Belcea Quartet; Quartetto Italiano
* 9 symphonies (esp. 3, 5, 6, 7 & 9) – countless performances, for a complete set I've always been fond of Claudio Abbado's live renditions with the Berlin Philharmonic; Wilhelm Furtwängler's wartime (1942) recording of the 9th with the Berliners is stupefyingly intense, and not just because of the obvious historical context; Carlos Kleiber's takes on the 5th and 7th are rightly celebrated as well
* Missa solemnis (Beethoven thought it was his best work) – Michael Gielen, et al., with the caveat that there is no single 100% satisfactory recording of this one, unfortunately; Philippe Herreweghe's recent re-attempt at a historically informed performance is also quite good
* 32 piano sonatas (esp. 8, 14, 21, 23, 28-32) – Stephen Kovacevich; Maurizio Pollini
* Diabelli Variations – Stephen Kovacevich; Maurizio Pollini
* 5 cello sonatas (esp. 4-5) – Miklós Perényi & András Schiff
* 10 violin sonatas (esp. 9-10) – Isabelle Faust & Alexander Melnikov
*5 piano concertos (esp. 4-5) – Maurizio Pollini, Berlin Philharmonic, Claudio Abbado
* 7 piano trios (esp. 5-7) – Trio Wanderer
* violin concerto – Isabelle Faust, Berlin Philharmonic, Claudio Abbado (yeah, I love me some late Abbado)
* An die ferne Geliebte – Christian Gerhaher & Gerold Huber
* Bagatelles for piano – Stephen Kovacevich

As you can see, his late works are almost always best in my book. Performance-wise, these picks tend to highlight a more forceful and dramatic view of Beethoven without ever overdoing it. Basically, I want my Beethoven to be as Romantic and dynamic and transcendental as possible while maintaining a firm foothold in the classical tradition. I dislike genteel takes no less than self-indulgent re-imaginings. Really, though, these suggestions are just meant to get you started – part of the fun is seeking out different recordings and seeing which ones jive with your own ears.

I screwed up the bullet point formatting, but this should be readable enough.

tysm that’s fantastic!!! bookmarked

from what I’ve heard the later works feel more profound but that also makes me a bit scared of them. the earlier stuff goes down easier for casual listening but it doesn’t always stick with me

I fancy tackling the big symphonies first bc they’re so familiar as cultural signifiers/cliches but I’ve hardly ever listened seriously to them (except for 9 which I love 3/4 of). abbado is one of the few conductors I’m a little familiar with so he’s the easy choice

Bitte schön.

Chronologically working your way through just about any single one of these cycles is the most straightforward approach. It makes it easier to tackle the next cycle, and so on, until you hit the Missa solemnis and go 'wtf' because so many of his late creations are downright bizarre, including the finale to the 9th, imo among the most surreal (if you'll allow the anachronism) of normalized/institutionalized classical warhorses and impossible to hear with fresh ears until you suddenly do (that 1942 Furtwängler recording is what did it for me, appallingly bad nazi sound notwithstanding).

Btw finding the exact Abbado set I was talking about can be a bit confusing because it's a live re-recording of a to-him-unsatisfactory studio attempt (and I tend to agree with that assessment).

thank you. it’s hard to just wade in with this stuff when you have no context for it

This is the one:

https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/products/7965665--beethoven-the-symphonies

It seems to have also been reissued as part of the DG's Abbado Symphony Edition boxset, which is available on Spotify and Apple Music.

cool thx

I don’t hate the 9th finale I just don’t know what the hell it’s trying to do most of the time. I will probably have to listen to the nazi one at some point

I'm not sure I do either tbh. One last thing: I didn't have much of a context for this stuff either when I got started, beyond a few pieces my dad was into when I was a kid. I just thought some of it was really moving and stayed with that feeling. I still can't read a score or play an instrument, but amateurishness is a huge step up from the legions of bougie concert-goers who dgaf about the music to begin with and who just show up to be *seen* and to mingle during the intermission (ye shall know them by their conspicuous absence whenever a post-1900 work featuring a smidgeon of dissonance is included in the concert program).

whether the rite of spring counts as music is still controversial in some of those circles

Some recent guitar stuff to check out:

https://www.lafolia.com/string-theory-35-mostly-guitars/

Thanks, putting on the Fongaard now.

Heh, these are definitely not inventions in Bach's sense of the term.

Ferneyhough’s Renvoi-Shards is not so different from the surrounding Fongaard

Haha what

I haven't listened to the album yet but that also made me go o_O based on Covell's description alone.

It's interesting but a long double album. I will come back to the later pieces.