Beethoven and the Capet Quartet

The Capet Quartet playing Beethoven's String Quartet No. 14 in C-Sharp minor, Op. 131 and String Quartet No. 15 in A minor, Op. 132. Recorded in 1927-28. [click here to download]

Schubert and the Busch Quartet

The Busch Quartet playing Schubert's String Quartet No. 14 in D minor, 'Death and the Maiden,' D 810, and the String Quartet No. 15 in G major, D 887. Recorded in 1937 and 1940 respectively. [click here to download]

Debussy, Ravel and the Capet Quartet

The Capet Quartet playing Debussy's (1862-1918) String Quartet in G minor, Op.10 (1893) and Maurice Ravel's (1875-1937) String Quartet in F major (1903). Recorded in 1927-28 for Columbia Records. The inclusion of the photograph above is somewhat dubious, as the players featured on the recording were in a later configuration of the quartet. Cellist Marcel Casadesus had died fighting in WWI.
[click here to download]

Vogel als Prophet

Five interpretations of Vogel als Prophet from Robert Schumann's (1810-1856) Waldszenen, Op. 82. (1848-49).

Alfred Cortot, 1948

Clara Haskil, 1954

Sviatoslav Richter, 1957

Wilhelm Kempff, 1972

Claudio Arrau, 1972

Beethoven and Wilhelm Kempff

Kempff playing four of Beethoven's late Piano Sonatas, No. 25 in G major op. 79 (1809), No. 26 in E flat major op. 81 "Les Adieux" (1809-10), No. 27 in E minor op. 90 (1814). Kempff recorded three complete cycles of Beethoven's 32 piano sonatas in three eras of recording technology: on shellac between 1926 and 1945, on both shellac and mono LPs between 1951-1956, and in stereo in the '60s. These mono recordings were made in 1951. [click here to download]

Schubert and Artur Schnabel

Artur Schnabel (1882-1951) playing both sets of Schubert's Impromptus D. 899, Op. 90 and D. 935, Op. 142 and the Allegretto D. 915 in C minor. [click here to download]

Beethoven and the Flonzaley Quartet

The Flonzaley Quartet playing Beethoven's String Quartet in E-Flat (Op.127), and in F (Op. 135). Recorded in 1926. [click here to download]

The Hollywood String Quartet

The Hollywood String Quartet playing Schoenberg's (1874-1951) Verklärte Nacht, Op. 4 for string sextet (1899) and Schubert's (1797-1828) String Quintet in C major, D. 956 (1828). The ensemble was augmented by an extra viola and cello for the Schoenberg, and an extra cello for the Schubert. Recorded in 1950-1951, Hollywood, CA. [click here to download]

Franz Schubert and Andreas Staier

Andreas Staier playing Schubert's Sonata in A minor op. 42 D 845 (1825) and Klavierstücke op. ph. D946 (1828) on a contemporary Viennese fortepiano made by Johann Fritz ca. 1825.
[click here to download]

Mozart, Beethoven and Clara Haskil

Haskil playing Mozart's Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No. 19 in F major (Mozart's cadenzas), K.459 and Beethoven's Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No. 3 in C minor, op. 37, with Henry Swoboda conducting the Winterthur Symphony Orchestra. Recorded in 1950. [click here to download]

Mozart and Clara Haskil

My love Clara Haskil playing Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 20 in D minor, K. 466 with Henry Swoboda conducting the Winterthur Symphony Orchestra. Also included are 11 Scarlatti sonatas played and recorded in 1950 [click here to download].

Beethoven and Mitsuko Uchida

Beethoven's Piano Sonata no. 30 in E major, Op. 109, no. 31 in A Flat major, and no. 32 in C minor, written in 1821-1822, and played by the great Mitsuko Uchida [click here to download].

Vladimir Horowitz

Vladimir Horowitz (1903-1989) performing a selection of Chopin Etudes and Mazurkas, and a scherzo, with Liszt's Funerailles No. 7, and the Sonata in B minor, recorded 1932-36 at Abbey Road Studios, London [click here to download].

Beethoven and Wilhelm Kempff

Beethoven's Piano Sonatas No. 1 op. 2 in F minor (1795) and No. 2 op. 2 in A major (1795) played by Wilhelm Kempff and recorded in 1951 [click here to download].

Helmut Lachenmann

Helmut Lachenmann's (1935) Gran Torso (1971) for string quartet and Salut für Caudwell (1977) for two guitars played by the Berner Streichquartett and Wilhelm Bruck and Theodor Ross, respectively [click here to download]. Decent interview here. Do a crossword puzzle and listen to Salut für Caudwell through headphones.

Bela Bartok and Joseph Szigeti

A favorite recording of Beethoven's Violin Sonata No. 9 in A Major, Op. 47, the "Kreutzer," played by Josepf Szigeti and Bela Bartok and recorded on 4/13/40 at the Library of Congress, Washington, DC. Also included are Bartok's Rhapsody No. 1 for Violin and Piano, Second Sonata for Violin and Piano, and Debussy's Sonata for Violin and Piano [click here to download].

Franz Schubert and Ingrid Haebler

Both sets of Schubert's Impromptus (D. 899 and D. 935, composed in 1827) played by a fellow Viennese, the great Ingrid Haebler [click here to download]. I was on the island of Santorini about eight years ago and there I met an older Israeli man and his wife. After the necessary exchange of platitudes concerning the beauty of Santorini, we began to talk about music, eventually settling on classical music. At that stage, I was a devout 'contemporary classical' enthusiast with profound, but only occasional, experiences with Bach and some Beethoven--particularly the latter's cello sonatas (the first classical record I ever bought was the great Casals and Rudolf Serkin recording on Columbia). As our conversation progressed, I made my case for the continued relevance and unfair neglect of the living--Milton Babbitt, Xenakis, Carter--for the dead. My Israeli companion would have none of it, and retorted that he liked the "Three Bs" : Bach, Beethoven, and Bubert. I'm just reaching his level of wisdom.

Domenico Scarlatti and Wanda Landowska

Wanda Landowska's wild performances of a number of Domenico Scarlatti's (1685-1787) 555 Sonatas for harpsichord, recorded in Paris in 1934, 1939, and 1940 [click here to download]. On track 22 (recorded 3/8-9/40) at 2'00" and 2'41" one can hear the ineffective rumble of artillery in an attempt to halt the Nazi invasion of France. The Germans would enter Paris on June, 14 1940, forcing Landowska to flee to the greener pastures of Lakeville, Connecticut. Here is a clip of Landowska and admirers, including a testimony from the late Bill Buckley.

Robert Schumann and Pablo Casals

Pablo Casals playing Robert Schumann's (1810-1856) Cello Concerto in A minor, Piano Trio No. 1 in D minor, and my favorite Fünf Stücke in Volkston (five pieces in a folk style) [click here to download]. With Eugene Ormandy conducting the Prades Festival Orchestra, Mieczyslaw Horszowski, piano, Alexander Schneider, violin, and Leopold Mannes, piano, respectively. If you listen closely to the Fünf Stücke you can hear Casals grunting on several occasions, particularly just before the start of a phrase, or as a guttural accent at the end of one. Casals's vocal accompaniment is most audible in the third and fourth movements.

Frédéric Chopin and William Kapell

Twenty-nine of Chopin's (1810-49) mazurkas recorded by William Kapell in the early '50s [click here to download].

Mozart and Ferenc Fricsay

Mozart's Mass in C minor, K427, first performed in 1783. Ferenc Fricsay conducting the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra [click here to download]. Here is the text and translation.
Although I agree with the assessment of Ernest Boehm of Des Plaines, Illinois, I take issue with some of his spelling and grammar. Please enjoy his review of Fricsay's recording courtesy of amazon.com:

I am a fan of Mozart Masses, even though I am an athiest they are so beautiful in sound and construction. Mozart's use of soloist and choir are stunning. My favorite piece of music ever, the one which still send shivers down my spine every time I hear it, is the Kyrie. It starts with the choir singing kyrie elleison and then is followed by mezzo-saprano then the tenor then the base resounds Christi followed by this high pitched saprano answering Christi Elleison. I have yet hear one phrase in music that shares this purity of genius. The whole mass is beatiful.

Charles-Valentin Alkan

Several absurd piano works from Charles-Valentin Alkan (1813-1888)[click here to download], played by another hyphenated three-namer, the great Marc-André Hamelin. Extraordinary, sometimes horrible music. As the story goes, the erudite Alkan was crushed to death by an overflowing bookcase. Surely a noble way to go.

1-4. Grande Sonate 'Les Quatre Ages.' 5-8. Sonatine. 9. Barcarolle. 10. Le Festin D'Esope.

Franz Schubert and the Busch Quartet

Franz Schubert's Quartet No. 14 in D Minor, the "Death and the Maiden," and Piano Trio in E Flat [click here to download], played by the Busch Quartet and a trio of the Busch brothers with Rudolf Serkin recorded in Oct. 1936 and Oct. 1935 respectively. In Oct. 1935 Mussolini's Italy invaded Ethiopia using mustard gas on both military and civilian targets in flagrant violation of the 1925 Geneva Protocol on chemical warfare.

Arvo Pärt

This record was once a guilty pleasure, but as I've entered my third fucking decade the guilt has subsided. Arvo Pärt's Fratres, Tabula Rasa, and Symphony No. 3, played by Gil Shaham and Adele Anthony, with Neeme Järvi leading the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra [click here to download].