List of Best (Most Recommended) Classical Music in Surround Sound

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Grendel13G

Member
Joined
Aug 29, 2013
Messages
30
Location
Fresno, CA
Hi QQers!

Recently I decided to start getting into classical music in surround sound, but I didn’t know where to start. So I scoured the QQ forums and compiled a list of titles that were recommended by QQ members. I thought I would share the recommendations with you!

If you’re new to classical music in surround (or new to classical music, period, like I am), I hope you’ll find this list useful! If you have some experience with classical music in surround, I hope you will share your own recommendations, or better yet, comment on the recommendations already listed! Once a title has multiple recommendations, I’ll move it up to the highly-sought-after “spotlight” list below. :)

First, some background information and a few things I’ve learned in my classical journey so far.

Threads: I copied all the recommendations from the following threads on the QQ forums:
Favorite Classical 5.1 Disc
Classical for rock fans
Best classical released in surround sound?
What's a good classical surround demo???
Classical Music in surround
The Tacet Thread (Reviews/Latest News & Releases/General Discussion)
It seems that most classical titles have “ambient” information in the surrounds, which is how most classical aficionados prefer it. However, a number of these threads specifically asked for more discrete recordings or demo disks, which is handy for those of us who were weaned on discrete rock albums. :D I’ve carried over a snippet of information on each title from these threads where applicable (other QQ members’ quotes are in italics), but for a more in-depth discussion, be sure to check out the original threads.

Format: I hope you like SACDs. Most classical releases are on SACD, and most SACDs are classical. (To put this in perspective, sa-cd.net lists 299 multichannel SACDs in the Pop/Rock genre, and 5,004 in the Classical genre. Yikes!) As I’ve listened to most of my music digitally for years now, SACD is by far the least-convenient modern format for me. To help out others who are in the same boat, I tried to list alternative recommendations on DVD-A, BD, or digital download where I could.

Helpful Sites: I found sa-cd.net to be a fantastic resource for tracking down classical titles on SACD (and some BD). It’s easy to search for alternative recordings of the same title (though watch out for the same title in different languages, like “The Right of Spring” and “Le Sacre du Printemps”), and the ratings and reviews are great. Unfortunately, there’s no real equivalent for DVD-A; dvd-a.net is pretty limited in comparison. It took me forever to discover this, but you can search for DVD-As on amazon.com by going to the CDs & Vinyl department and clicking “Advanced Search” at the top right, which is probably as good as it gets for DVD-A. For digital downloads, findhdmusic.com is a great meta-search engine that searches many digital music sites, and you can filter for multichannel, though it may not include some titles that are offered directly by their labels.

General Recommendations: A few recording labels really stood out in the above threads. Here are the ones that were mentioned the most:
  • Tacet (tacet.de): Specializes in more discrete, immersive recordings of surround material, and has drawn rave reviews from many QQ members (though the love isn’t quite unanimous, in large part because the immersive approach isn’t really true to how most classical pieces were intended to be heard). There’s at least one whole thread devoted specifically to Tacet: The Tacet Thread (Reviews/Latest News & Releases/General Discussion)
  • AIX (www.aixrecords.com): Many AIX titles have tracks with a standard “audience” perspective as well as an immersive “on stage” perspective (albeit sometimes in lossy formats like DTS or DD). They also have a great selection of titles available for digital download, and I found that at least some of these include lossless versions of the stage perspective.
  • RCA “Living Stereo” SACD series: These are only 3-channel titles, but drew very favorable reviews both for their quality and for their representation of the classical genre.
Specific Recommendations: Finally, it’s time for the specific recommendations! The “spotlight” list below contains all the titles that were recommended multiple times in the aforementioned threads. My method isn’t exactly scientific (after all, the same person might have recommended the same title in different threads), but I think this is as good a place to start your classical music collection as any! As a bargain hunter, I tried to give some indication of price, as well ($ = under $10, $$ = under $20, $$$ = under $35, $$$$ = under $50, $$$$$ = over $50, based on a quick look at amazon.com used prices plus shipping). Without further ado…

===== The Spotlight Section (titles with multiple recommendations) =====

Bach: Four Toccatas and Fugues. Very discrete. Huge amounts of very low bass.
  • Bach: Four Toccatas and Fugues (E. Power Biggs). SACD. <sa-cd.net> QQ rating: 9.5; sa-cd.net recommended: 56 out of 58; Price: $$$$$
Beethoven: 9th Symphony. The second movement of Beethoven's 9th is just rocking. You can just about see the troops coming over the hill. Everyone thinks of the 4th (choral) Movement when they think of the 9th, and everyone thinks of the 5th for excitement - but for pure high-horsepower high-torque classical music, very little rocks like that 2nd movement of the 9th Symphony. Grendel’s note: No specific recommendations were given, though I have two observations: (1) This is the only Beethoven symphony not available on Tacet, despite years of pining by QQ members :(, and (2) If you like Beethoven’s symphonies, there are a number of well-reviewed complete sets to choose from that might offer more bang for the buck. Here is the highest-reviewed version of Beethoven’s 9th on sa-cd.net, which does have an associated complete set:
  • Beethoven: 9th Symphony (Jarvi). RCA; SACD. <sa-cd.net> sa-cd.net recommended: 25 out of 26; Price: $
Berlioz: Requiem. One of my favorite recordings of all time… The Telarc recording of this is sweet. The four brass ensembles are placed in the four corners (which is what Berlioz originally intended) of the Hall and there are some fantastic bits where the music bounces around you. Grendel’s note: there was some disagreement about the quality of the Telarc recording, so I’ve provided some alternative options.
  • Berlioz: Requiem (Spano). Telarc; SACD. <sa-cd.net> sa-cd.net recommended: 13 out of 21; Price: $
  • Berlioz: Requiem (Norrington). Hanssler; SACD. <sa-cd.net> sa-cd.net recommended: 28 out of 34; Price: $$
  • Berlioz: Requiem (Abravanel). Vanguard/Artemis; DVD-A/SACD. <sa-cd.net> <amazon.com> sa-cd.net recommended: 3 out of 3; Price: $$
Holst: The Planets. Specifically mentioned for its “WOW” factor and availability on DVD-A. The recommended Lloyd-Jones DVD-A version has mixed reviews on sa-cd.net; I’ve also provided the most affordable of the best-rated SACDs:
  • Holst: The Planets suite (David Lloyd-Jones). DVD-A/SACD. <sa-cd.net> <amazon.com> sa-cd.net recommended: 7 out of 12; Price: $
  • Holst: Orchestral Works Vol. 2: Planets (Davis). Chandos; SACD/Digital. <sa-cd.net> <findhdmusic.com> sa-cd.net recommended: 33 out of 37; Price: $$
Messiaen: Turangalîla Symphony: Riccardo Chailly on Decca has good use of the rear speakers, best I can think of… I especially recommend Previn's recording of Messaien's Turangalila (spectacular).
  • Messiaen: Turangalîla Symphony (Chailly). Decca; SACD. <sa-cd.net> sa-cd.net recommended: 20 out of 22; Price: $$$$
  • Messiaen: Turangalîla Symphony (Previn). EMI; DVD-A. <amazon.com> Price: $$$$
Music for Organ, Brass and Timpani. It's a direct to DSD recording designed to show off the Super Audio CD format in Surround. The musicians are arranged in a horseshoe layout and if you give this SACD a bit of extra volume on playback it's pretty spectacular.
  • Music for Organ, Brass and Timpani. Sonoma; SACD. <sa-cd.net> sa-cd.net recommended: 18 out of 18; Price: $$
Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition and Night on Bald/Bare Mountain: "Night on Bald/Bare Mountain" comes to mind. These two (Bournemouth/Naxos and Slatkin/MoFi) are better as far as surround mixes go - my favorite being the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra version, which comes in DVD-Audio as well.
  • Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition, Night on Bare Mountain (Serebrier, Godunov). Naxos; DVD-A/SACD. <sa-cd.net> <amazon.com> sa-cd.net recommended: 27 out of 27; Price: $$$
  • Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition, Night on Bare Mountain (Slatkin). MoFi; SACD. <sa-cd.net> sa-cd.net recommended: 12 out of 12; Price: $$$$$
Orff: Carmina Burana. Orff's "Carmina Burana" is superb. The version by Zubin Mehta is the one I have, and it is really good.
  • Orff: Carmina Burana (Mehta). Teldec; DVD-A. <amazon.com> Price: $$
Shostakovich: Piano Quintet. The AIX Records "Shostakovich Piano Quintet" performed by the Chamber Music Palisades is a stunning recording… It places the string instruments in every corner and they are staggeringly realistic.
Strauss: Also Sprach Zarathustra. Sprach Zarathustra is also a favorite, both the original and the other versions.
  • Strauss: Also Sprach Zarathustra (Kempe). EMI; DVD-A. <amazon.com> Price: $$$
Stravinsky: The Firebird. Cited for it’s great “WOW” factor. No specific recording mentioned, though this is the most affordable one with decent ratings (also see Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring below):
  • Stravinsky: The Firebird (complete ballet) (Litton). BIS; SACD. <sa-cd.net> sa-cd.net recommended: 26 out of 30; Price: $$
Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring (Le Sacre du Printemps). I've always thought that Stravinsky's "Rite of Spring" was the first prog rock composition. It's one of the most hyped pieces of music ever, and it totally lives up to the hype… I couldn't agree more. "The Rite of Spring" (Le Sacre Du Printemps) has been an all time fave of mine since forever. (Grendel’s note: there was some disagreement about the quality of the recommended Deutsche Grammophon recording, so I’ve listed the highly-rated RCO recording as an alternative, which also contains (excerpts from?) Stravinsky’s Firebird.
  • Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring (Salonen). Deutsche Grammophon; SACD. <sa-cd.net> sa-cd.net recommended: 33 out of 44; Price: $
  • Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring (Jansons). RCO Live; SACD/Digital. <sa-cd.net> <findhdmusic.com> sa-cd.net recommended: 27 out of 28; Price: $$
Tchaikovsky: 1812 Overture. I really like Telarc's SACD and DVD-A release of Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture. Very good demo material, especially if you have dynamic full-range system… Telarc’s 1812 Overture is pretty good, one of the best versions i have heard and the surround is more Pop mix than the usual Ambiance in the rears, cannons form all four corners of the room… The Telarc 1812 was released both on SACD and DVD-A, although the new Gergiev/Mariinsky 1812 on SACD is a better performance with more interesting cannons.
  • Tchaikovsky: 1812 Overture, etc (Kunzel). Telarc; DVD-A/SACD. <sa-cd.net> <amazon.com> sa-cd.net recommended: 25 out of 45; Price: $$
  • Tchaikovsky: 1812 Overture etc (Gergiev). Mariinsky; SACD. <sa-cd.net> sa-cd.net recommended: 23 out of 34; Price: $$
Vivaldi: Four Seasons, Concertos for Double Orchestra. The Double Orchestra is the QQ-ers' wet dream here - if you're into surround music and have any interest in Classical at all - with one orchestra in the front, the other in the rear - you'll absolutely love this!
  • Vivaldi: Four Seasons, Concertos for Double Orchestra (Juritz). Naxos; DVD-A. <amazon.com> Price: $$
===== Other Specific Recommendations =====

Here are the titles that received one recommendation. Most of them mentioned a specific release, but for those that didn't, I provided one based on a balance of sa-cd.net ratings, availability on multiple formats, and affordability:
  • Aho: Symphony No. 12 (Storgårds). BIS; SACD. <sa-cd.net> sa-cd.net recommended: 27 out of 30; Price: $$
  • Bach: Brandenberg Concertos (Stuttgarter Kammerorchester). Tacet; DVD-A. <amazon.com> Price: $$$
  • Bach: Solo & Double Violin Concertos (Podger/Manze). Harmonia Mundi; SACD. <sa-cd.net> sa-cd.net recommended: 17 out of 23; Price: $$$
  • Bartok: Concerto for Orchestra etc (Reiner). Living Stereo; SACD. <sa-cd.net> sa-cd.net recommended: 92 out of 93; Price: $
  • Bartok: Music for Strings, Percussion and Celeste etc (Mackerras). Linn; SACD. <sa-cd.net> sa-cd.net recommended: 14 out of 14; Price: $$
  • Bartok: The Miraculous Mandarin (Alsop). Naxos; DVD-A/SACD. <sa-cd.net> <amazon.com> sa-cd.net recommended: 7 out of 8; Price: $$
  • Beethoven: Symphonies 1 & 2 (Rajski). Tacet; DVD-A. <amazon.com> Price: $$
  • Beethoven: 5th Symphony (unspecified; I would suggest Tacet or your favorite complete set).
  • Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 1-9 (Haitink). LSO Live; SACD. <sa-cd.net> sa-cd.net recommended: 51 out of 60; Price: $$$
  • Berlioz: Symphony Fantastique (Gergiev). LSO Live; BD+SACD. <sa-cd.net> <findhdmusic.com> sa-cd.net recommended: 9 out of 10; Price: $$
  • Biber: Missa Christi Resurgentis (Manze). Harmonia Mundi; SACD/Digital. <sa-cd.net> <findhdmusic.com> sa-cd.net recommended: 22 out of 26; Price: $$
  • Bizet: Carmen (Rosi). BD. <amazon.com> Price: $$$
  • Brubeck, Chris: Convergence . Koch; SACD. <sa-cd.net> sa-cd.net recommended: 1 out of 1; Price: $
  • Chopin: Four Ballades (Chang). AIX; DVD-A. <amazon.com> <findhdmusic.com> Price: $$$$$
  • Chopin: Selected Piano Works (Prosseda). AIX; DVD-A. <amazon.com> Price: $$
  • Copland: Fanfare for the Common Man, Appalachian Spring, etc (Ellis/LSO). Membran; SACD. <sa-cd.net> sa-cd.net recommended: 6 out of 7; Price: $$
  • Coronation of King George II (King's Consort/Robert King). Hyperion; SACD. <sa-cd.net> sa-cd.net recommended: 22 out of 23; Price: $$$
  • Debussy & Ravel: String Quartets (Parkanyi Quartet). Praga; SACD. <sa-cd.net> sa-cd.net recommended: 26 out of 27; Price: $$
  • Divertimenti (TrondheimSolistene). 2L; BD+SACD. <sa-cd.net> <findhdmusic.com> sa-cd.net recommended: 32 out of 34; Price: $$$
  • Dvorak: Symphony No. 9 (Jansons). RCO Live; SACD. <sa-cd.net> sa-cd.net recommended: 17 out of 20; Price: $$
  • Elgar & Vaughan Williams: Enigma, The Wasps, Greensleeves (Stern). Reference Recordings; SACD. <sa-cd.net> sa-cd.net recommended: 6 out of 7; Price: $$
  • Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue (Nakamatsu, Tyzik). Harmonia Mundi; SACD/Digital. <sa-cd.net> <findhdmusic.com> sa-cd.net recommended: 21 out of 21; Price: $$
  • Immersion . Starkland; DVD-A. <amazon.com> Price: $
  • Los Angeles Guitar Quartet : Guitar Heroes . SACD. <sa-cd.net> QQ rating: 9.44; sa-cd.net recommended: 27 out of 27; Price: $$
  • Los Angeles Guitar Quartet : Latin . SACD. <sa-cd.net> QQ rating: 8.83; sa-cd.net recommended: 23 out of 24; Price: $$
  • Mahler: Symphony No. 1 (Abravanel). Silverline; DVD-A. <amazon.com> Price: $
  • Mahler: Symphony No. 2 (Abravanel). Silverline; DVD-A. <amazon.com> Price: $$$$
  • Mendelssohn: Octet E flat major op. 20, Quartet D major op. 44 No. 1 (Auryn Quartet). Tacet; DVD-A. <amazon.com> Price: $$
  • Mozart: Requiem (Harnoncourt). DHM; SACD. <sa-cd.net> sa-cd.net recommended: 51 out of 58; Price: $
  • Pärt: De Profundis (Theatre of Voices, Hillier). Harmonia Mundi; SACD. <sa-cd.net> sa-cd.net recommended: 16 out of 16; Price: $$$$$
  • Ravel, Debussy, Faure (Guarneri String Quartet). DVD-A. <amazon.com> Price: $$$$$
  • Saint-Saëns: Complete Piano Concertos (Malikova/Sanderling). Audite; SACD. <sa-cd.net> sa-cd.net recommended: 9 out of 9; Price: $$$
  • Shostakovich: Symphony No. 5 (Rostropovich). LSO Live; SACD/Digital. <sa-cd.net> <findhdmusic.com> sa-cd.net recommended: 14 out of 18; Price: $
  • Sonar (Bodtker). 2L; BD/SACD. <sa-cd.net> <amazon.com> <findhdmusic.com> sa-cd.net recommended: 8 out of 10; Price: $$$
  • Stravinsky: Petrushka (Jansons). RCO Live; SACD/Digital. <sa-cd.net> <findhdmusic.com> sa-cd.net recommended: 34 out of 35; Price: $$
  • Tchaikovsky & Rachmaninov: Piano Concertos (Van Cliburn). Living Stereo; SACD. <sa-cd.net> sa-cd.net recommended: 78 out of 84; Price: $$
  • Tchaikovsky/Saint-Saens/Bruch (Wispelwey). Channel Classics; SACD/Digital. <sa-cd.net> <findhdmusic.com> sa-cd.net recommended: 30 out of 31; Price: $
  • Tchaikovsky: Swan Lake (Jarvi). Chandos; SACD/Digital. <sa-cd.net> <findhdmusic.com> sa-cd.net recommended: 9 out of 9; Price: $$$
  • Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 4, Nutcracker Suite (Bernstein). Sony; SACD. <sa-cd.net> sa-cd.net recommended: 4 out of 4; Price: $$$$$
  • The Adventures of Robin Hood (Korngold). Naxos; DVD-A. <amazon.com> Price: $$
  • Vaughan Williams: London Symphony (Hickox). Chandos; SACD/Digital. <sa-cd.net> <findhdmusic.com> sa-cd.net recommended: 38 out of 38; Price: $
  • Verdi: Requiem (Harnoncourt). RCA; SACD. <sa-cd.net> sa-cd.net recommended: 21 out of 25; Price: $$$$
  • Vivaldi: La Stravaganza, 12 Violin Concertos (Rachel Podger). Channel Classics; SACD/Digital. <sa-cd.net> <findhdmusic.com> QQ rating: 9.46; sa-cd.net recommended: 123 out of 129; Price: $$$
  • Wagner: Die Walküre (Fisch). Melba; SACD. <sa-cd.net> sa-cd.net recommended: 20 out of 21; Price: $$$
  • Walton: Symphony #1 (Davis). LSO Live; SACD. <sa-cd.net> sa-cd.net recommended: 11 out of 20; Price: $
  • West Side Story (Bernstein). Deutsche Grammophon; SACD. <sa-cd.net> sa-cd.net recommended: 23 out of 26; Price: $$$
Can you further recommend any of these titles? What do you think of them? Do you have other recommendations? Let’s keep the conversation going!
:51banana:

-Grendel

Originally posted 6/1/2015
 
I absolutely love Previn's Planets in Quad on DTS CD :)

image.jpg
 
I'm very much a Prog Rock fan, and I've been doing the same when I stating thinking about the classical music my father used to listen to.

Have a look at, https://www.quadraphonicquad.com/forums/showthread.php?20318-Discussion-with-Thomas-Mowrey

The Pentatone 4.0 SACDs of the DG Quads

I've only the Belioz Symphonie Fantastique, good discrete quad, I've a couple more of the series in the post.

I prefer the 'more modern' composers in general, love Janacek's Sinfonietta
 
Here are the titles that received one recommendation. Most of them mentioned a specific release, but for those that didn't, I provided one based on a balance of sa-cd.net ratings, availability on multiple formats, and affordability:..............................................................................................................
Can you further recommend any of these titles? What do you think of them? Do you have other recommendations? Let’s keep the conversation going!
:51banana:

-Grendel

Originally posted 6/1/2015
This part of your listings bothers me because it is based on getting only one recommendation. Many are quite ordinary or worse and, often, inferior to other recordings of the same piece. I know this is subjective and personal, so I add IMHO.
 
I'd suggest checking out some of the Classical titles from Channel Classics, Pentatone, Challenge Classics and Cobra Records. They have a number of original DSD Recordings that are very good.
 

Brilliant! That thread (and the sa-cd.net discussion it refers to) is excellent, thanks. I enjoyed reading about the early days of quad and some of the good stuff from Thomas Mowrey and the recent PentaTone SACDs. I've added the specific recommendations from that thread and your post to my ever-more-ridiculous spreadsheet; I'll update my post sometime in the next few days.

fredblue: Thanks for the Holst suggestions! I have to say, as a total classical newbie who has never heard The Planets before (though a copy is on its way), I find something irresistibly compelling about that title. How cool is it for a symphony to be based on a planetary theme?!

-Grendel
 
This part of your listings bothers me because it is based on getting only one recommendation. Many are quite ordinary or worse and, often, inferior to other recordings of the same piece. I know this is subjective and personal, so I add IMHO.

That's a fair point; I guess I saw my role as more of a collector of all recommendations, rather than an arbiter of the best (for which I am certainly not qualified). Perhaps I should revise that section's title to read "Other Recommendations Under Discussion" to better capture how this is very much an ongoing conversation? It would be tremendously helpful if you (and/or other members with high levels of experience with the classical genre) could point out which recordings aren't worth a recommendation or have better alternatives.

Thanks!
-Grendel
 
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Regardless of the quick comments on original post - I applaud Grendel for pulling together a LOT of information......the whole idea is to get others interested in classical music..and this might do it. Good job my man.
 
Speaking of Classical Music in Surround Sound, here's a mini-review of the new Mahler 9th Symphony on Channel Classics played at The Show Newport this weekend on the new Merging Technologies NADAC DAC in Multichannel DSD from Stereophile Magazine:

"A bit of the 3rd movement of Mahler Symphony 9, as performed by Iván Fischer and the Budapest Festival Orchestra on a new Channel Classics Records recording was especially impressive for the air surrounding the orchestra, and the manner in which the system clearly conveyed the composer's emotional turmoil. Brass sounded especially convincing. So was the bass . . . until we turned up the volume and the fixtures in the room began rattling."

Mahler 9 - 36115 - 500w.jpg

http://www.stereophile.com/content/show-day-one-discoveries
https://channelclassics.nativedsd.com/albums/mahler-symphony-no-9-in-d-major
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MJnpbhadKcc
 
Well done indeed, Grendel!

It's great to hear that you're getting into Classical in surround. And wow, all those threads and information you put together are fantastic. Bravo! I'll definitely be sharing my thoughts and feelings on this subject here.
 
image.jpg

Kalevi Aho: Symphony No. 12 - Storgårds (Conductor)

This 5.0 recording is amazingly discrete in the surround channels. Two orchestras are used in this performance... a large orchestra in front and a chamber orchestra in the back. The performance is excellent.
Check out Geohominid's review for a full description of the music...http://sa-cd.net/showtitle/5344

I wish BIS would produce more fully immersive surround SACDs like this one.

Recommended!
 
My favourites are the following:
1 - Rachmaninov - Piano Concertos nos 2 & 3, Konstantin Scherbakov. Naxos 5.110013 - if paying attention you will recognize several melodies that have been lifted for other songs, notably Eric Carmen's "All By Myself"
2 - Shostakovich Symphony number 10, Bonn Beethoven orchestra conducted by Roman Kolman. MDG 937 1201-5
3 - Shostakovich symphonies 5 & 9, as above, MDG 937 1202-5
All DVD-A
 
This was in the 2 Pentatone Classsical SACDs that were waiting when I got back. I like the one's I've got so far.

Pentatone_Quad_Classsical.jpg
 
Berlioz - Symphonie Fantastique 4.0 SACD
Guiliani, Castelnuovo-Tedesco & Villa-Lobos - Guitar Concertos 4.0 SACD
Ravel - Orchestral Works 4.0 SACD

All of these are well very recorded and transferred to SACD, but they are 40+ year old recordings, so have that as a 'limitation'. My seating arrangement is as the 'recommended' (rears at 110deg pointing in etc.), and this worked well for me for the Quad, it feels like you're sitting amongst the orchestra (so not ambience in the rears). The musicianship and production is good as you'd expect (the Berlioz & Ravel are Thomas Mowrey, Guiliani et al is Rudolf Werner).

I didn't know any of the musical pieces when I bought them. The Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique & Giuliani's Guitar Concerto No.1 musically didn't hit with me as much as Ravel's Orchestral Works, or the Concertos for Guitar by Castelnuovo-Tedesco & Villa-Lobos. My favourite was definitely the Ravel, I found it melodic and 'soaring', very 'uplifting', including 'Le tombeau de Couperin' in memory of his friends killed in the first world war. I have found is that in general I do prefer composers of the late 19th Century to early 20th Century, I can't explain why! Which fits with my like of the Ravel (1875-1937), Castelnuovo-Tedesco (1895-1968) & Villa-Lobos (1897-1959).

I'd recommend them, I'll be getting more in the series to expand my musical horizons.
 
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