Buying some i'mclassical cds where to start?

[LaVonne]

I'm starting to play some simple classical pieces and would like to expand my listening. I generally listen to Jethro, Grissman, Thile, Mike Marshall.

What 4 or 5 classical CDs would you recommend to get started.

Thanks
LaVonne

Sorry for the type in the subject. Couldn't edit the title.

[Plamen Ivanov]

Check this thread out! Enjoy!

Welcome to the world of classical mandolin and good luck!

Best,
Plamen

[Mark Levesque]

On EMusic there is some great stuff:
<a href="http://www.emusic.com/search.html?mode=cx&QT=mandolin&x=16&y=6and" target="_blank">

&lt;a href="http://www.emusic.com/search.....&y=6and</a>"

http://www.emusic.com/search.html?mode=ca&QT=mandoline

http://www.emusic.com/album....95.html

http://www.emusic.com/album....73.html

http://www.emusic.com/album....45.html

http://www.emusic.com/album....19.html

and
http://www.emusic.com/artist/Dorina-.../11722169.html

[Alex Fields]

Are you asking just about classical mandolin music or about classical music in general?

[Jim Garber]

I generally listen to Jethro, Grissman, Thile, Mike Marshall.

I never knew Jethro to play any classical however the other three have certainly toyed with it... and then some.

Among my favorites: Piccola Musica by Gertrud Weyhofen, Con Espressione by Alison Stephens. Kaze by Carlo Aonzo just came out recently.

Jim

[Eugene]

In addition to those I'd listed at the link Plamen provided and all the other fine recordings listed here, the new solo CD by Sebastiaan de Grebber, Fantasia Romantica, is certainly worth considering. #For mandolin orchestra stuff, look into the many CDs by the orchestra "Città di Brescia", mostly on the label Nuova Era but with a recent ragtime effort on Naxos. Also in orchestral vein is Het Consort. #Check out Alison Stephens new disc of Calace's mandolin concertos on Naxos. #I'm also really fond of Alison's Duo Mandala disc. #For mandolin-guitar duos, seek out Aonzo's Kaze disc, Duetto Giocondo, Duo Capriccioso, Zigiotti & Merlante, Ahlert & Schwab, Tewes & Bagger, etc. #There is so much more. #Feel free to check back in after you've begun shopping.

[surfcow]

Well, if you are a computer geek, you are genetically predisposed to Bach. Even if you don't know it yet.

Two recommendations:
Yo-Yo Ma: Cello Suites - Inspired by Bach
Nathan Milstein: J.S. Bach - Sonaten & Partiten

Also: Andres Segovia and Glenn Gould

Learn a few pieces. They are like catalogs of technique. The longer you play them, the more layers you find in them. You will find the pieces influencing your playing in surprising ways. Honestly, like reprogramming your brain.

Best of all, you just don't outgrow Bach.

enjoy,

=brian

[Eugene]

Interesting spin, Brian. #I tend to think of Bach almost as the direct opposite of your hypothesis, as pure (dare I say techniqueless?) music to transcend technique rather than "catalogs of technique." #That, in part, is why so many musicians on so many different instruments with such diverse techniques so plastically adapt Bach to their own instruments. #There is no mandolin duo-style technique or tremolo called for in any Bach score.

That said, for a little mandolin content, the de Grebber disc I'd mentioned above has the whole of the first unaccompanied violin sonata played on solo mandolin and Het Consort's Omaggio a Luigi Embergher features the whole of the Brandenburg Concerto No.3, BWV 1048 on mandolin orchestra. #Here's a recent effort on modern Neapolitan mandolin that I enjoy:

Frati, Dorina & Piera Dadomo. 2006. Johann Sebastian Bach for Mandolin & Guitar. Dynamic, CDS 514.

...and here's one to feature the 3rd French suite, BWV 814 on barockmandoline and lute:

Duetto Giocondo. 2000. Baroque Music for Mandolin & Lute. Koch, 3-6594-2.

For Bach plucked (guitar or lute) but without mandolin content, even more than Segovia, I might recommend:

Bogdanovic, Dusan (guitar) & Elaine Comparone (harpsichord). 1992. Bach with Pluck! Johann Sebastian Bach: The Six Trio Sonatas, BWV 525-530. ESS.A.Y, CD1023.

Bream, Julian. 1965/1990. Baroque Guitar. RCA, 60494-2-RV.
(Contains the lute suite BWV 996, little Prelude BWV 999, and fugue BWV 1000.)

Russell, David. 1989. Passacaille. GHA, 126.006.
(Contains the suite BWV 1034.)

Smith, Hopkinson. 1987. Johann Sebastian Bach: L'Oevre de Luth. Astree/Auvidis, E 7721.

Yama####a Kazuhito. 1993. J.S. Bach: The Complete Suites for Solo Cello, BWV.1007-1012 [Guitar Version]. Crown Classics, CRCC-8003~4.

Yama####a Kazuhito. 1994. J.S. Bach: The Complete Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin, BWV.1001-1006 [Guitar Version]. Crown Classics, CRCC-8001~2.

Yelverton, William. 1993. Harpsichord Music on Guitar. Arioso, NR 19476.
(Contains the French suite BWV 817.)

There are so many, many more guitar and lute (and even some mandolin) recordings of transcriptions of Bach's music.

For a bit of actual designated mandolin music contemporary (or nearly contemporary) to Bach, click here.

[surfcow]

Eugene,

Thought provoking reply. Never thought of it that way. (Self-taught = missing a lot.) Don't have the vocabulary to express this very well. I learn these cool techniques: hammer ons, pull offs, cross picking, tremelo, shifting, arpegios, etc, etc. Other things I don't even have words for. In the the different genres I dabble in, I see limited opportunity to use some of these. But in Bach, I seem to find more and more opportunity to do so. Also what I call "compositional techniques" like polyphony and especially counterpoint.

The Gigue from the 1st Cello Suite comes to mind. For me, this is an amazing work, in part because it is so simple.

Thanks for the perspective and the links!

=brian