When I studied art at UC Davis, a visiting professor, announced a coming telephone call from John Cage. He reserved an auditorium and invited everyone to listen in. After half an hour or so, the impatience was palpable; yet a sizeable section of the audience got exactly what they expected: Nothing.

Then the visiting professor started explaining himself, how the whole essence of the evening’s event was to not hear the phone call from Mr Cage. The waiting… I too like some of John Cage’s music and thoughts. But some of it seems to be “posing”, “imposing” or “imposter”. And I think the wannabe “conceptual artist”, however much or little inspired by John Cage, was dealing in… (Well, I don’t want to say the word.)

John Cage has, for instance, done some fascinating stuff with Meredith Monk – a boundary breaker in her own right. But I find myself far more drawn to Arvo Pärt.

Best regards,
ArcticStones

Here is a list of 20 recordings that should belong in anyone’s collection (roughly chronologically, by composer). Although they don’t necessarily contradict what most critics say, they remain my own choices – recordings to which I have devoted years of thoughtful listening. The list could easily be two or even three times as long, but I have limited myself to what’s here for now, even if it means excluding many recordings that people shouldn’t be without. I hope you’ll forgive the concentration of recordings devoted to music of the trinity, Bach, Mozart & Beethoven. I hope someone benefits from it!

J.S. Bach: Cello Suites [Pablo Casals; Naxos]
J.S. Bach: Goldberg Variations [Glenn Gould; Sony, either 1955 or 1981]
J.S. Bach: Well-Tempered Clavier [Andras Schiff; Decca]
J.S. Bach: Mass in B Minor [Gardiner; Archiv]

Joseph Haydn: Piano Sonatas [Hamelin; Hyperion]

Mozart: Symphonies 35-41 [Böhm; DG]
Mozart: Late Piano Concertos [Perahia; Sony *or* Uchida; Philips]
Mozart: String Quartets 14-19 “Haydn Quartets” [Alban Berg Quartet; EMI]

Beethoven: Piano Concertos 4 & 5 [Claudio Arrau; Philips, bargain reissue on Eloquence]
Beethoven: Piano Sonatas – Waldstein; Les Adieux; Appassionata, [Emil Gilels; DG]
Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 5 & 7 [Carlos Kleiber; DG]
Beethoven: Missa Solemnis [Klemperer; EMI]

Schubert: Piano Sonatas D958 & D960 [Sviatoslav Richter; Regis]
Schubert: Trout Quintet & String Quartet 14 [Gilels & Amadeus Quartet; DG]

Chopin: Nocturnes [Artur Rubinstein; RCA]

Brahms: Piano Concertos [Gilels; DG *or* Fleisher; Decca]

Debussy: Preludes Books 1 & 2 [Walter Gieseking; EMI]

Mahler: Das Lied von der Erde [Ferier; Decca]

Rachmaninov: Piano Concert No. 3; Piano Sonata No. 2 [Martha Argerich; Philips]
Rachmaninov & Ravel: Piano Concerto 4 & 1 [Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli; EMI]