Best of the Best

Posted by mwblogger

April 3, 2009

I don’t know about you, but I tend to shy from anything called “Greatest Hits” or “Best Of” because, as a somewhat snobby purchaser of and listener to music, I feel I should go in for full statements—especially in pop music. I am that person that buys two records because he likes two songs (and, full disclosure, often only ever listens to those two songs—but please don’t tell anyone that). Classical music is different because, until lately, composers tended not to think in terms of “albums.” But still I persist, resisting re-packaging for some reason.

So when I got a whole box of “Greatest Hits” I thought I’d mature, be that person who is open, and started just glancing at the package to see what was contained within (a rare step for the likes of me). I started with Copland because I know him well, and was pretty amazed to see the lineup: Michael Tilson Thomas doing the famous Fanfare for the Common Man, Leonard Bernstein leading the New York Philharmonic in the “Hoe Down” portion of Rodeo (!), the amazing and wholly underrated Leo Smit playing the sweet, small piano work Down a Country Lane (his tour through all of Copland’s piano music is worth investigating), The Lincoln Portrait narrated by Carl Sandburg (the poet and also Lincoln’s biographer) and Copland himself leading the Boston Symphony Orchestra in “The Promise of Living” from his opera The Tender Land.

I mean, wow. Seriously. That says it all.

Proceeding to Debussy, there’s just one legendary recording after another: Charles Munch leading the Boston Symphony Orchestra in both Prélude à l’après-midi d’un Faune and La Mer, Paul Crossley playing piano preludes, and Pierre Boulez leading the New Philharmonia Orchestra in one of the Trios Nocturnes. The Gershwin entry has Ormandy leading the Philadelphia Orchestra in bits of Porgy and Bess, André Watts playing songs at the piano (such as “S’Wonderful” and “The Man I Love”) and Michael Tilson Thomas at the helm of the Rhapsody in Blue.

Back in time a little further, the Chopin disc features equally world class performers like Emanuel Ax, John Browning, and Rudolf Serkin; Rachmaninoff also has Mr. Ax, plus Yefim Bronfman, cellist Janos Starker, and the composer himself (!); Beethoven has the Cleveland Orchestra with George Szell, the New York Philharmonic with Leonard Bernstein, Rudolf Serkin, the Guarneri Quartet and the Boston Symphony Orchestra with Charles Munch; and Bach has E. Power Biggs, Peter Serkin, James Galway, Hilary Hahn, Eugene Ormandy, Esa-Pekka Salonen, the Philadelphia Orchestra and the Los Angeles Philharmonic.

I just don’t think you can get better than this.

So consider my snobbishness a thing of the past as I listen to these records, one delicious thing after another, rather than doing what I’d ordinarily do (which is to dig through thousands of discs to find these recordings). Some are old friends, some are new to me, but each record is carefully designed and gorgeously performed by some of the greatest musicians of the recorded age. Once again, I am proven wrong. And once again, I love my job!

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