Yes, I had the same feeling. The ordering was pretty arbitrary and picking among some composers (Brahms, Chopin, Scriabin, Webern, etc) was especially difficult, and I felt like it'd be imporssible to represent what I like about Bach or Beethoven, for instance, in a single work. "Erwartung" was the only one that I'd say was impulsive, because I've listened to that one twice in the last few days and was utterly taken aback both times, though I'm not sure I really do prefer it to his string quartets or something. A few of your choices surprised me. I wouldn't have thought that Debussy opera was your number one.

Yes I have. The violin concerto is on a shortlist of my favorite Brahms compositions (the Neuveu and Oistrakh recordings are stellar), and the 4th symphony and second piano concerto are also magnificent. I still like him mostly as a composer of chamber music, and mostly listen to that part of his oeuvre, but those works are indeed experiences.

Have you heard Faure's string quartet? It's a marvellous piece, very ethereal and wistful in the same way as late Brahms chamber pieces. Unfortunately I'm not aware of a recording by the Alban Berg or La Salle Quartet or anyone like that, but even in the resolutely mediocre account that the Dante Quartet give, the beauty of the work is very comprehensible.

What do you think of Brahms's Handel variations?

I only listened to them on the Levy set, but the other night I put them on headphones in bed before I went to sleep and just sort of followed along with them variation by variation reading an explication of the music on my phone and I was nearly as impressed as with Beethoven's Diabelli Variations. As with that work, it's hard to place it in his oeuvre overall (ie. it's big time different than the way he deals with motifs and thematic development in his chamber music and symphonies, and is neither rollicking nor serene the way his later miniatures are), but it's some fascinatingly rigorous music-making and I can't imagine anyone performing it too much better than Levy does. The fugal finale is an incredibly satisfying listen.

Also you ought to hear this, it's pretty top shit here on rym and the performances are indeed of the enchanting variety.

Yeah, she's really good on those concertos, that's probably my favorite recording of the Brahms piece, which is one of my favorite works by Brahms. The release with her and Neveu is more intimate, it's just violin sonata-style recordings of mostly ethnic nationalist romantic composers. Very charming, and she really makes the instrument weep and wail.

I like Bach. The Cello Suites and Violin Sonatas/Partitas are gorgeous, and his keyboard works are of course masterful. I think the WTC is my favorite of them, Richter's live set is stunning (idk if you've only heard the studio one but the live one is quite a bit better), and I just listened to the Fischer one the other day, which is fabulous. The Art of Fugue is probably my favorite piece of his, and I could use getting more familiar with the Musical Offering. I notice you've taken a great shine to his big choral religious works, I definitely need to reevaluate those. I think I listened to them without really understanding them at all.

I don't think it's the scale. I listened to Gardiner's version the other day (I've been listening to mass settings on Sunday to try and explore that side of music-writing) and I was a lot more impressed than I was the first time. I downloaded some Brahms and Beethoven recordings by Klemperer, and I like his Mahler a lot, so I might as well sample his Bach. Xenakis's reviews make them sound very intriguing. I'd probably get more out of something that just romanticizes the music than something that delineates the architecture of the pieces, although obviously that's important with Bach.

Sounds interesting, I may check it out. There are a few WTCs I want to hear. And yes, the update is atrocious. I particularly hate having to click the "show all" thing. Why the hell would I want to do that? Anyway. And yeah, the live WTC by Richter is more romantic and has more extreme dynamics and flourishes, rubato, etc, and his tone production is better imo.

Also, when do you usually listen to operas? As with something like mahler symphony or something of that nature I ideally like to listen to them on a walk or something without distractions, but they're generally quite long for that.

Listening to that Debussy opera I did read synopses for each act/scene and it was very easy to follow. The main reward is of course in the music but the plot's quite interesting too and the performances are pretty emotionally gripping. Still, as much spare time as I do have I rarely have the time to just sit in bed listening to an opera for hours at a time so I don't foresee listening to too much Wagner.

Maybe "romanticize" was the wrong term. I guess I'm just thinking that an older recording by an old school conductor like Klemperer would tend to bring the music together into a massive movement of sound rather than try and individuate the parts of the musical whole, or something like that.

Also, do you remember where you found this and this?

Thanks for the tip. I'll look into it next time I'm going through those symphonies. Right now my main composer is Bach. 6 Partitas is probably my favorite album atm, would recommend.