BBC Music Magazine - Favourite cover CDs

[LaurieWatt]

Last year there was a thread about the BBC Music Magazine concerning their threat to cardboard mount the cover CD's. That was all sorted, no doubt thanks to the R3Forum!

I have not seen any thread about our favourite cover CD's over the years as there have been some amazingly good ones. I wonder what we have all liked. A few that immediately come to mind:

R Strauss - Alpine Symphony with the BBC Welsh (as they were then I think) conducted by Maris Jansons. A fine performance of wonderful daring!
A lot of fine Shostakovich - Cheryomushki, Symphonies 2, 4, 5, 11 and 15 (11th with Karabits and BSO)
Wonderful Wagner from the 1994 Proms with Dame Anne Evans
Vaughan Williams - Sea Symphony with Leonard Slatkin and the BBCSO
Some wonderful historic material with Sir Adrian Boult
Osmo Vanska's early Beethoven recordings - much his best in my view
Harry Christophers with Mozart's arrangement of the Messiah

and with those I have barely scratched the surface!

[Barbirollians]

Last year there was a thread about the BBC Music Magazine concerning their threat to cardboard mount the cover CD's. That was all sorted, no doubt thanks to the R3Forum!

I have not seen any thread about our favourite cover CD's over the years as there have been some amazingly good ones. I wonder what we have all liked. A few that immediately come to mind:

R Strauss - Alpine Symphony with the BBC Welsh (as they were then I think) conducted by Maris Jansons. A fine performance of wonderful daring!
A lot of fine Shostakovich - Cheryomushki, Symphonies 2, 4, 5, 11 and 15 (11th with Karabits and BSO)
Wonderful Wagner from the 1994 Proms with Dame Anne Evans
Vaughan Williams - Sea Symphony with Leonard Slatkin and the BBCSO
Some wonderful historic material with Sir Adrian Boult
Osmo Vanska's early Beethoven recordings - much his best in my view
Harry Christophers with Mozart's arrangement of the Messiah

and with those I have barely scratched the surface!

Brahms Concerto Menuhin /Boult from 1943

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

For a moment I thought that the images on the covers of the CD cases was meant!

Lots of them - in addition to Laurie's list: RVW symphonies 5 (with the Mass) and 9; Delius Sea Drift etc; Schumann Piano Quintet etc; Berlioz Te Deum etc; Haydn Symphonies (Hogwood); Mahler #7 ...

[Bryn]

Lots of very fine discs, but standing proud for me is that of a Cooke et al performing version of the sketches for Mahler's Tenth, recorded at a concert in Nottingham by the BBC NOW conducted by Mark Wigglesworth.

[Nick Armstrong]

Mackerras / BBC Phil Mahler 6





... 74'52" of excellence!

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Lots of very fine discs, but standing proud for me is that of a Cooke et al performing version of the sketches for Mahler's Tenth, recorded at a concert in Nottingham by the BBC NOW conducted by Mark Wigglesworth.

[Beef Oven!]

Lots of very fine discs, but standing proud for me is that of a Cooke et al performing version of the sketches for Mahler's Tenth, recorded at a concert in Nottingham by the BBC NOW conducted by Mark Wigglesworth.

[Petrushka]

Many of my favourites have already been mentioned above but a few that haven't:

Messiaen: Turangalila BBC NOW/Fischer
Shostakovich: Symphony No 5 BBC NOW/Otaka (edit: just spotted this in Laurie's list but it can stand another mention. An outstanding disc indeed).
Walton: Symphony No 1 BBC NOW/Otaka
Bach: Motets BBC Singers/Cleobury
Lutoslawski: Concerto for Orchestra BBC SO/Lutoslawski (the Bartok coupling is no great shakes though)
Walton: Belshazzar's Feast/RVW Tallis Fantasia BBC SO/Davis
Tippett; Symphonies 2 & 4 BBC SO/Tippett
Mahler: Symphony No 1 BBC SO/Honeck

The sign of an outstanding BBC MM CD is that it joins the ranks on my shelves instead of being shunted into a siding ready to be sent to the charity shop.

[Bryn]

Back in the good old days when a stall in the local market here sold over-run copies of BBCMM for £1 each, a special cover disc for me was identifiable by my buying multiple copies to give to friends. The aforementioned Mahler 10, plus Turangalila, Mahler 6, Janacek Glagolitic Mass & Sinfonietta spring to mind.

[Old Grumpy]

Must admit, although I subscribe to the magazine, I rarely even take the plastic cover off the discs. One of my (looming on the horizon, but not here yet) retirement projects is to listen to them all (I still have them all, from when my subscription began). It looks like I will be in for some serious listening pleasure.


OG

[pastoralguy]

Brahms Concerto Menuhin /Boult from 1943

[EdgeleyRob]

Brahms Concerto Menuhin /Boult from 1943

Very spooky,just been listening to this.

I like

Elgar,Falstaff,Brabbins.
Walton, Belshazzar's Feast,Davis.
Elgar,Cello Concerto,Lloyd Symphony No 9,Carr,Tortelier,Lloyd.
RVW,Symphony No 9,Parry,Elegy for Brahms,Davis.
Beethven,Haydn,Shostakovich Quartets,Jerusalem Qt.

[pastoralguy]

Easy. The most recent of the great Ida Haendel playing the Brahms and Britten concertos!

[Pianoman]

Mackerras / BBC Phil Mahler 6

... 74'52" of excellence!

Completely agree - only just realised I had this on my shelves, but it will quickly become a favourite methinks..

[Pulcinella]

For a moment I thought that the images on the covers of the CD cases was meant!

Lots of them - in addition to Laurie's list: RVW symphonies 5 (with the Mass) and 9; Delius Sea Drift etc; Schumann Piano Quintet etc; Berlioz Te Deum etc; Haydn Symphonies (Hogwood); Mahler #7 ...

Too bad (in my opinion, of course, but I suspect that of others too) that the RVW Mass is 'performed' by the dreaded BBC Singers.

Many good and useful CDs for me though, especially of some mainstream repertoire that is outside my usual period(s) of interest and that I might not otherwise have in my collection. I too have them all from the very first.