The Well-Tempered Ear

More classical music gift-giving guides: What are the best Bach, Schumann and contemporary American recordings, and Mozart’s greatest hits? But don’t forget that the music is always more important than the performer.

By Jacob Stockinger

This is the last shopping weekend before Christmas.

I will have some more suggestions, especially local ones but also one that apply anywhere, next week.

But in the meantime, I thought these round-ups might help:

ITEM: Here are the Best Bach new releases from NPR’s blog Deceptive Cadence:

http://www.npr.org/blogs/deceptivecadence/2010/12/13/131857912/the-best-j-s-bach-releases-of-2010

ITEM: Here are the Top 10 works of Mozart according to BBC listeners:

http://www.gramophone.co.uk/classical-music-news/bbc-radio-3-listeners-vote-for-their-mozart-top-ten

ITEM: If your taste or the gift recipient’s taste runs to current classical music, here is NPR’s list of Best Contemporary American music releases, which includes the Piano Trios of  Daron Hagen (below) who composed the Frank Lloyd Wright-inspired opera “Shining Brow” for the Madison Opera:

http://www.npr.org/blogs/deceptivecadence/2010/12/15/132064778/5-best-american-contemporary-classical-albums?ps=cprs

ITEM: Here are the Top 10 Classical albums from The Washington Post’s renowned critic, Anne Midgette (below), formerly of the New York Times:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/12/17/AR2010121702920.html

ITEM: As we close out the Schumann Year (200^th birthday), here is a round-up of great Schumann recordings by critics of The new York Times. But if you can’t find a specific performance, remember The Ear’s Rule: THE MUSIC IS ALWAYS MORE IMPORTANT THAN THE PERFORMER.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/17/arts/music/17schumann.html