It's been a while since I posted, but this turn of events brings me out
of silence!

My list of essential Sinopoli (a conductor who I've always admired
and sought out in every repertoire) would be as follows, in order
of recommended acquisition:

1) Salome with Cheryl Studer--shows Sinopoli's at times manic conducting
style at its absolute best.  The cast is incredible, the recorded sound
without a doubt the best available, and the orchestral playing flawless.

2) Poem of Ecstacy and Symphony No 3 of Scriabin (with the NYPO)--I don't
think this is still available, but search it out.  The best of his
non-vocal music recordings (as requested by Dave)

3) Mussorgsky Pictures/Night on Bald Mountain, Ravel Valses nobles...
(also with the NYPO)--the best performance of Ravel's orchestration
of Pictures that I have heard.  The energy that runs through the whole
performance is incredible.  The other two pieces are also very good, but
Pictures is the reason to get this disc.

4) Of the Mahler symphony recordings, my order of preference would be 5, 8,
3, then 1.  Those are what I've heard--anxious to hear his 2 and 6.  Not
your typical Mahler (a good quality, I think), but they hold my interest
throughout.

5) Respighi Roman Trilogy--another outstanding NYPO recording.

6) Brahms' German Requiem--for some reason I find this performance magnetic
in every way.  I even like Lucia Popp's singing on it--a singer I usually
shy away from.  Wolfgang Brendel is also great.  I think the Czech PO's
unique sound gives this piece a very nostalgiac sound unique to this
recording.

7) Verdi's Nabucco--see above comments about Salome

8) Wagner's Siegfried Idyll--available on a "Sinopoli Conducts" compilation
from DG (with the Schubert Unfinished, Mahler Adagietto, and Wagner
Meistersinger Overture) this is another piece I seem to have numerous
recordings of--this is one of the three I reach for most often.

9) Strauss Josephs Legende--the only recording I've heard of this piece,
but DAMN!  it's hot!

10) Verdi's Rigoletto (on Philips)--on a Philips Duo, who can resist? A
typically excellent opera recording.

11) Elgar Enigma Variations and Cello Concerto (with Maisky)--some find
this overly 'schmaltzy' but I find it absorbing in every minute.

12) Sibelius Violin Concerto (with Shaham)--a very special recording, not
my favorite, but one I return to again and again when I need an overtly
romantic reading of the work.

13) Schoenberg's Chamber Symphony No 1 (with Manzoni's Messe for piano and
orchestra--Pollini performing)--A fascinating disc containing a piece by
Manzoni, an underrated Italian master whose influence can be heard in just
about all of the the younger generation of Italians (Sciarrino, Perezzani,
etc...) and my favorite performance of the Schoenberg.

I think just about all of his recordings have at least some worth--they
at least offer a new approach to some warhorses and also explore some
less-recorded territory.  I'm anxious for his Bruckner 5!  I've heard the
8th symphony and wasn't entirely convinced, but the 5th is, to me, as close
to a polar opposite as you can get.

I hope I haven't left any essentials out!

Cheers,

Marcus Maroney
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