| Eine Alpensinfonie - My favorite recording of Strauss' Eine Alpensinfonie is the one by the Los Angeles Philharmonic from 1976, conducted by Zubin Mehta. I'm amazed at the power of this music. I am literally moved to tears every time I reach track 11 (Gefahrvolle Augenblicke Auf dem Gipfel). The power of the music is equally matched by the power of the orchestra. And it's more of a gentle strength, with no forcing or raucousness. I will have to say that the bass trombone player (Jeffrey Reynolds) absolutely captivates my attention with his sound. His sound is so present and resonant through the entire piece that it grabs me, shakes me, and says, "listen up!" (Especially in track 11). The brass chords are so balanced with his amazing sound cutting through the orchestra.
Beethoven 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 – I have a box set of all the Beethoven Symphonies with the Berlin Philharmonic. The second of the two disk sets holds symphonies 5 through 9. I will typically get on a Beethoven cycle and listen to these disks for weeks at a time. I never tire of them!
Mahler 2 – This is the first major orchestral literature that I worked up in great detail. I spent several months working with my instructor (I was preparing the 2nd trumpet part). I organized a group lesson with a bunch of players from ASU and we played through a lot of the parts (the chorale from Ulrich was very memorable). The “Great Call” was another section that I really fell in love with. I ended up having a lesson with Ramon Parcells on this piece one year when I was in Santa Fe for the operas. What a great ride I had working this up and organizing meetings with really fine players! I have the LSO with Solti, BSO with Ozawa, and NYP with Bernstein. I would take any of them!
Die Fledermaus – One of my very favorite operas! I have seen this live in Santa Fe many times over the years. Surprisingly, I don’t have a recording of this one, but I would certainly find a good one for a desert island experience. Gotta have some fun, light hearted music for an outing like this!
Petrouchka – I will also nominate the Montreal recording to my list. When I was preparing for auditions a couple of years ago, I listened to this CD countless hundred times. I love the musical message that Stravinsky has created for all to enjoy. There is such a "groove" to this music. It's really quite powerful. Thompson is clearly my benchmark for this piece. |