I thought I would take the time to share some of my favorite recordings since it’s a dreary day here in Milwaukee. Listening to music is one of my favorite activities. I enjoy it on many levels, such as: learning performance techniques particular to a given instrument(How does Herseth phrase the posthorn solo?), studying compositional ideas and concepts demonstrated by the composer(Was that a Phrygian half cadence?), or just sitting back and basking in the overall mood and emotion.
Here’s a short list off the top of my head. Feel free to share some of your favorites.
Holst: The Planets – James Levine/Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Mahler: Symphony No. 2 – Leonard Bernstein/New York Philharmonic
Mussorgsky/Ravel: Pictures at an Exhibition – Fritz Reiner/Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherezade – Fritz Reiner/Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Baroque Music for Trumpet – Wynton Marsalis
A Portrait – Chanticleer
Blue Wheat – Dale Warland Singers
The Blues and the Abstract Truth – Oliver Nelson
We Get Requests – Oscar Peterson Trio
It Might as Well Be Spring – Count Basie and Frank Sinatra
Nancy Wilson/Cannonball Adderley
John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman
Temptation – Holly Cole
Modern Cool – Patricia Barber