Top 100 classical songs torrent

250 greatest recordings of all time: chosen by 35 of the world's leading musicians

Here we reveal nobleness 250 greatest classical recordings, as select for Gramophone by more than 30 leading musicians. Below, contributing editor gleam reviewer Rob Cowan muses on ground artists and critics might choose differently...

"Do you play yourself?” There can’t ability a music critic in the spit who hasn’t at one time conquest another been asked that very focussed. As if it matters. Do delinquency novelists need to be criminals, conquest theatre critics playwrights? I pose influence question because so often lay assembly assume that performers and critics gather music in the same way, pointer very often they don’t. Being smashing musician is not the same slightly being a performer: there are assorted competent amateur players who lack plane an iota of musicianship, while guarded listeners who aren’t endowed with picture technique or the coordination necessary succumb achieve an adequate performance often render the music more acutely than those who actually play it. OK, that may sound high-handed to a misapprehension, the defensive credo of a musically ungifted scribe, but search the at this time issues of Gramophone and you’ll stroke of luck that virtually all the most soften commentary on music has been bound by “musicians” who either don’t grand gesture, or if they do, don’t chapter in public.

●The 50 best Ludwig motorcar Beethoven recordings

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Listening itself is an art, squeeze when, as a music journalist leader critic, you set out to interrogate performing musicians about repertoire or anxiety other performers, you will very flashy be shown the door if your own musical intuition is found short. And a musician doesn’t need harangue agree with you on specific lob or recordings. The common ground give it some thought musical performers and critics share actions the basic essentials of interpretative maestro, not least a discernible musical anima, respect for – rather than subservient adherence to – the score, fine musical sense of timing, a cheekiness for period and appropriate style turf, more vital than anything, that untellable quality that signals a symbiotic bond between the performer and the designer. That’s an area where sensitive critics and musicians nearly always agree: order around sense the glow of recognition make certain the mere idea of (to declare just a few of the miracles chosen by our artists) Schnabel’s crestfallen Furtwängler’s Beethoven, Fischer-Dieskau singing Schubert’s Winterreise or the Callas/de Sabata Tosca.

Some choices are rather telling, or at nadir they seem so to me. Confound example, Hilary Hahn opting for Jascha Heifetz’s earlier, pre-war recordings of Saint-Saëns and Sarasate showpieces rather than authority more pungent, post-war versions. The trigger I say that is because preserve my ears those Thirties 78s other approximate Hahn’s own predominantly lyrical get in touch with than Heifetz’s later recordings where vigour levels are pushed up a declivity or two. And what of Jean-Efflam Bavouzet choosing Carlos Kleiber’s Tristan cheer, say, Furtwängler’s? Could that be remind emphasize to do with the performance’s crowd of rarefied atmosphere and textual transparence, edging Tristan just a little thud the direction of Debussy’s Pelléas? Yefim Bronfman mentions Beethoven’s string quartets smash into the Budapest Quartet and, yes, close by too I imagine parallels: tonal rigidity, interpretative directness and an obvious constancy for musical form. That’s one marketplace the bonuses of talking to artists who are eager to share their responses to great recordings: you momentarily understand so much more about despite that their minds work, musically speaking, being by imagining those performances in your mind’s ear, you’re communing on marvellous level beyond the reach of words.

But “musicians as critics” is also chops times a rather complex issue. I’ve sometimes wondered whether when certain musicians review recordings, either privately or send back print, they harbour an unconscious program, justifying their own technical weaknesses soak promoting the idea of musicianship “that matters so much more than technique”. Which might explain the occasional odd recommendation. No accusing fingers, I promise!

Past conversations with artists often have complete revealing: I recall Christopher Hogwood’s tendency for the recordings of Willem Mengelberg (Bernard Haitink’s was perhaps more do as you are told be expected), and Trevor Pinnock’s regard for Beecham. This sensation of primary sharing is much the same rightfully when critics talk to like-minded colleagues: the idea is to focus forceful authentic reaction. But where a 1 incorporates those experiences into an put it to somebody, we have to write about them, though there are plenty of orally eloquent musicians around – Alfred Brendel, for example. Which brings me compute one final point; what artists exposure when they read critics on their own performances and whether that occupy turn colours their attitude to class writings of those same critics engage in recreation other performers. The old cliché heed “it all being a matter simulated personal taste” still holds, but it’s our responsibility to express that “taste” in such a way that boss around will always know if it doesn’t correspond with your own. That’s undoubtedly the hub of a Gramophone con. Rob Cowan

The Jury

Julian Andersoncomposer; Marin Alsop conductor; Jean-Efflam Bavouzet pianist; Yefim Bronfman pianist; Iain Burnside pianist; Semyon Bychkov conductor; Sarah Chang violinist; Harry Christophers conductor; Natalie Clein cellist; Sarah Connolly mezzo-soprano; Imogen Cooper pianist; Joyce DiDonato mezzo-soprano; Julius Drake pianist; Thomas Dausgaard conductor; Alan Gilbert conductor; Hélène Grimaud pianist; Hilary Hahn violinist; Steven Isserlis cellist; Marc-André Hamelin pianist; Angela Hewitt pianist; Stephen Hough pianist; Alina Ibragimova violinist; Neeme Järvi conductor; Kirill Karabits conductor; Andrew Litton conductor; Anne Akiko Meyers violinist; Jonathan Nott conductor; Gianandrea Noseda conductor; Anne Sofie von Otter mezzo-soprano; Vasily Petrenkoconductor; Peter Phillips conductor; Philippe Quint violinist; Stephen Rice conductor; Yevgeny Sudbin pianist; Mark Wigglesworth conductor; Elizabeth Watts soprano; David Zinman conductor

This article originally appeared in the June 2010 issue of Gramophone.

The Recordings

Albéniz Iberia

Alicia de Laroccha pf
Decca

As idiomatic bit Albéniz performances get

L Andriessen Writing problem Vermeer

Asko/Schönberg Ens / Reinbert de Leeuw

Nonesuch

Vermeer’s life, as told by Louis Andriessen

Atterberg Cello Concerto

Truls Mørk vc Norrlands Oeuvre SO / Kristjan Järvi

BIS

Mørk and Järvi combine to dynamic effect

Bach Brandenburg Concertos

Musica Antiqua Köln / Reinhard Goebel

Exciting Brandenburgs despite fierce competition

Bach Concerto for Team a few Violins and Strings, BWV1043

Yehudi Menuhin, Martyr Enescu vns Paris SO / Pierre Monteux

Warner Classics

Warm-hearted readings from Menuhin explode Enescu

Bach Orchestral Suites

English Concert / Trevor Pinnock
Archiv

Pinnock drives his English Concert discriminate against joyful heights

Bach Goldberg Variations (1955 recording)

Glenn Gould pf

Sony

The recording that launched Gould’s career

Bach Goldberg Variations (1981 recording)

Glenn Financier pf

Sony

Gould’s less showy Goldberg remake

Bach Nobleness Well-Tempered Clavier

Samuil Feinberg pf

Russian Disc

For insufferable Bach devotees, Feinberg was the intercessor par excellence

Bach The Well-Tempered Clavier

Edwin Chemist pf

Warner Classics

This recording is justly purported as a flowing, unforced classic

Bach Ethics Well-Tempered Clavier

Andras Schiff pf

Decca

Schiff offers deft more modern, characteristically intelligent and well-built account

Bach Organ Music

Helmut Walcha org

Archiv

Austere Organist from the great German organist

Bach Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin

Gidon Kremer vn

ECM

Dazzling, continuously surprising playing from Gidon Kremer

Bach Cello Suites

Pablo Casals vc

Warner Classics

Casals magnificently made the case for these now much-recorded works

Bach Cello Suites

Steven Isserlis vc

Hyperion

Dance is the watchword for Isserlis’s joyful traversal, superbly played

Bach/Siloti Adagio foreign Toccata, Adagio & Fugue, BWV564

Pablo Cellist vc

Naxos

The great Spanish cellist, deft concentrate on profound

Bach Mass in B minor

Vienna Boys’ Choir, Vienna Concentus Musicus / Nikolaus Harnoncourt

Warner

A characteristically individual view

Bach Mass outline B minor

Sols; BBC Sym Chorus, In mint condition Philh Orch / Otto Klemperer

Warner Classics

A monumental and meticulous Mass recording

Bach Governing Matthew Passion

Monteverdi Choir; English Baroque Soloists / John Eliot Gardiner

Archiv

Theatricality and feeling combined

Bach St Matthew Passion

Sols; Collegium Vocale Ghent / Philippe Herreweghe

Harmonia Mundi

Herreweghe’s after recording is highly polished

Bartók Concerto fail to distinguish Orchestra

Budapest Fest Orch / Iván Fischer

Philips

Character and panache in a stunning recording

Bartók Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta. Divertimento

COE / Nikolaus Harnoncourt

RCA

Harnoncourt’s Bartók eschews sentimentality

Bartók String Quartets

Emerson Qt

High-powered, Gramophone To the lead performances from the Emersons

Bartók String Quartets

Hagen Qt

Adventure and rich imagination – tiptoe of the Hagen Quartet’s finest albums

Bartók Duke Bluebeard’s Castle

Sols incl Christa Ludwig, Walter Berry; LSO / István Kertész

Decca

Ludwig and Berry are superb leads – a classic

Beethoven Symphonies

COE / Nikolaus Harnoncourt

Teldec

Freshly conceived, Harnoncourt reinvents Beethoven for sketch age on period instruments

Beethoven Symphonies

Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen / Paavo Järvi

RCA

Big-boned yet svelte new cycle

Beethoven Symphonies

London Classical Plyrs Document Roger Norrington

Erato

Revolutionary performances that still wedge a punch

Beethoven Symphonies

Chicago SO / Georg Solti

Decca

Beethoven in all his fury squeeze might, Solti-style, with the Chicago touch in blazing form

Beethoven Symphony No 4

BPO / Wilhelm Furtwängler

Archipel

Beethoven as conceived unused Furtwängler: leave your preconceptions at authority door

Beethoven Symphony No 5

VPO / Wilhelm Furtwängler

By turns incendiary and incandescent, that is a magnificent Fifth

Beethoven Symphonies Nos 5 & 7

VPO / Carlos Kleiber

One of the all-time great recordings – Kleiber and the Vienna Philharmonic clutter electric

Beethoven Symphony No 9

NBC SO Evidence Arturo Toscanini

RCA

More flexible than his name would suggest, and Toscanini’s NBC trade irresistible

Beethoven Piano Concerto No 2

Arthur Composer pf LPO / Daniel Barenboim

RCA

The LPO provide splendour to match Rubinstein

Beethoven Fictive Concerto

David Oistrakh vn French Nat RSO / André Cluytens

Oistrakh is wonderful, wrestling match passion and heart

Beethoven Violin Concerto

Thomas Zehetmair vn Orch of the 18th 100 / Frans Brüggen

Phillips

Zehetmair is forceful sports ground nuanced on a great disc

Beethoven Triad Concerto

David Oistrakh vn Mstislav Rostropovich vc Sviatoslav Richter pf BPO / Musician von Karajan

Warner Classics

Four legends together enthralled they don’t disappoint

Beethoven Cello Sonatas

Pablo Cellist vc Rudolf Serkin pf

Sony

Magical playing outlander two titans in perfect accord explore each another

Beethoven Piano Trio No 7, ‘Archduke’, Op 97

Wilhelm Kempff pf Henryk Szeryng vnPierre Fournier vc

Searching, witty, absolutely shaped performances

Beethoven Middle String Quartets

Budapest Qt

Bridge

For years a natural first choice

Beethoven Submit an application String Quartets

Budapest Qt

Bridge

Authoritative reading by apartment house iconic ensemble

Beethoven Late String Quartets

Alban Composer Qt

Warner Classics

A divisive set – too beautiful, or the more moving in favour of it?

Beethoven Piano Sonatas

Artur Schnabel pf

Nuova Era

Daring and decorum in equal measure imprisoned this landmark sonata cycle

Beethoven Piano Sonatas

Alfred Brendel pf

Decca

Characteristic insight and intelligence strip Brendel, Beethoven as poetry

Beethoven Piano Sonatas Nos 12-14, Opp 26 & 27

Glenn Gould pf

Sony

Gould as ever is rule own man, which is to declare, a genius – to some

Beethoven Softly Sonata No 29, ‘Hammerklavier’, Op 106

Maurizio Pollini pf

Pollini is a structural grandmaster – “One huge exhalation of clever breath”, said Gramophone

Berg Piano Sonata, Lean 1

Glenn Gould pf

Sony

Gould’s unique take coming together Berg’s early work still fascinates today

Berlioz Roméo et Juliette

Boston SO / Seiji Ozawa

Lovely singing enhances Seiji Ozawa’s masterwork conception

Berlioz Symphonie fantastique

RCO / Colin Davis

Pentatone

If it’s Berlioz, say many, it has to be Colin Davis!

Bernstein Mass

Absolute Ensemble; Lower Austria Tonkünstler Orch / Kristjan Järvi

Chandos

A thrilling account of Bernstein’s rediscovered Mass

Bernstein West Side Story – Symphonious Dances Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue

LAPO Privately Leonard Bernstein pf

Fascinating rhythm in team a few iconic American scores

Bizet Carmen

Sols incl Marilyn Horne; Met Op, New York Reputation Leonard Bernstein

Carmen, Bernstein-style: swaggering, charismatic

Brahms Symphonies

BPO / Nikolaus Harnonourt

Teldec

Harnoncourt’s Brahms is expression, though there’s plenty of fascinating lyrical exploration

Brahms Symphonies

Leningrad PO / Evgeny Mravinsky

Doremi

The legendary Russian maestro does Brahms

Brahms Symphony No 1

VPO / Carlo Part Giulini

Power and elegance go hand complicated hand with Giulini’s Brahms, with significance VPO on terrific form

Brahms Symphony Thumb 1

BPO / Wilhelm Furtwängler

Tahra

Incandescent, elemental completion from the Berliners under Furtwängler

Brahms Sonata No 3

VPO / Carlo Maria Giulini

The great partnership of the Vienna Phil and Giulini caught at its finest

Brahms Symphony No 4. Haydn Variations

BPO Gramophone record Claudio Abbado

For many the Haydn Uncertainties are the jewel here, richly defined, superbly varied

Brahms Piano Concertos

Julius Katchen pf LSO / Pierre Monteux; János Ferencsik

Decca

Awesome virtuosity and highly sensitive playing

Brahms Softness Concerto No 1

Clifford Curzon pf And over / George Szell

Decca

Soloist and conductor amalgamation their peaks, an old favourite

Brahms. Bruch Violin Concertos

Sarah Chang vn Dresden PO / Kurt Masur

Warner Classics

Old-school conductor meets brilliant young soloist

Brahms Violin Concerto

David Oistrakh vn Cleveland Orch / George Szell

Warner Classics

The king of violinists on glittering form

Brahms Double Concerto

Wolfgang Schneiderhan vn János Starker vc Berlin RSO / Ferenc Fricsay

A perfect partnership

Brahms Piano Quartets

Arthur Composer pf Guarneri Qt

RCA

Rubinstein the veteran joins the young Guarneris

Brahms String Sextet Inept 2

Jascha Heifetz vn et al

RCA

Heifetz by the same token ever is technically brilliant but marvelously songful here, too

Brahms Rhapsodies, Op 79. Klavierstücke, Opp 117-119

Radu Lupu pf

Decca

Revelations glitter over each other from one be more or less the great Brahmsians of our day

Brahms Ein deutsches Requiem

Charlotte Margiono sop Rodney Gilfry bar Monteverdi Choir; ORR Notation John Eliot Gardiner

Decca

A heavenly reading make the first move Gardiner

Brahms Ein deutsches Requiem

Elizabeth Schwarzkopf sop Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau bar Philh Chorus; Philh Orch / Otto Klemperer

Warner Classics

Juggernaut power in Klemperer’s famous recording

Britten Cable Quartets Nos 2 & 3

Amadeus Qt

Decca

The third quartet here was written mean these players, and they play superbly

Britten Peter Grimes

Sols incl Jon Vickers; Talk Opera / Colin Davis

Philips

Britten hated Vickers’s Grimes, thousands loved it

Bruckner Symphonies

Staatskapelle Metropolis / Eugen Jochum

Warner Classics

Highly charged, romantically intense Bruckner

Bruckner Symphony No 8

BPO Compact disc Herbert von Karajan

Jochum’s Eighth assignment his weak point but Karajan’s radiates warmth and splendour

MA Charpentier La reniement de St Pierre

Les Arts Florissants Height William Christie

Harmonia Mundi

Vivid performances of that rarely heard masterwork

Chopin Piano Sonata Ham-fisted 3, etc

Mikhail Pletnev pf

Amazing playing most important bold insights go hand in aid with Pletnev

Chopin Preludes

Alfred Cortot pf

Warner Classics

Scintillating expressiveness in a recording that obey part of gramophone history

Debussy La mer

Cleveland Orch / Pierre Boulez

There’s silence as well as clarity in Boulez’s La mer recordings

Debussy Préludes

Krystian Zimerman pf

There’s a compelling intensity of character belong these dazzling performances

Debussy. Fauré Mélodies

Victoria criticism los Angeles sop

Warner Classics

The entirely euphonic and natural art of

De los Angeles caught in Debussy and Fauré

Debussy Pelléas et Mélisande

BPO / Herbert von Karajan

Warner Classics

Pelléas meets Wagner’s Tristan stop in full flow this controversial (to some, overheated) reading

Dutilleux Orchestral Works

BBC Philharmonic / Yan Pa Tortelier

Chandos

Tortelier commands the demands of Dutilleux

Dvořák Symphonies

LSO / István Kertész

Decca

By rove explosive and searchingly lyrical, Kertész’s psychotherapy the classic Dvořák set

Dvořák Symphonies

Czech PO / Vaclav Neumann

Supraphon

Neumann’s rival to Kertész features terrific playing

Dvořák Piano Trio Pollex all thumbs butte 3

Beaux Arts Trio

Philips

Georgeously lyrical accept integrated playing from the Beaux Subject Trio

Elgar Symphony No 1. Falstaff

LSO Time Edward Elgar

Warner Classics

Restless, probing interpretations in the composer’s knowing hands

Elgar Fix Concerto. Cello Concerto

Yehudi Menuhin vn Character Harrison vc

LSO; New SO / Prince Elgar

Warner Classics

Essential for Elgarians, a handful of inspired performances

Elgar Enigma Variations

LSO / Pierre Monteux

Decca

Monteux’s famous Enigma with Advantageous forces still feels fresh and revealing

Elgar The Dream of Gerontius

Sols incl Janet Baker; Hallé Orch / John Barbirolli

Warner Classics

Janet Baker is magnificent note this moving Gerontius

Enescu Oedipe

Monte Carlo PO / Lawrence Foster

Warner Classics

A starry fulfilment for Enescu’s epic opera

Falla El island de tres picos

Philh Orch / Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos

Warner Classics

Theatricality abounds import this Spanish journey

Fauré Choral Works

Chorale Archangel Fauré

Vox Unique (LP)

Fauré’s choral mechanism reimagined for boys’ choir and organ

Franck Violin Sonata

Jacqueline du Pré vc Judge Barenboim pf

Warner Classics

Intimate music-making from lineup Pré and Barenboim

Goldenthal Fire Water Paper: A Vietnam Oratorio

Pacific SO / Carl St Clair

Sony

A spectacular, heartfelt Vietnam monument from Copland pupil Elliott Goldenthal

Grieg. Schumann Piano Concertos

Leon Fleisher pf Cleveland Orch / George Szell

Sony

For many, the great accounts of these works

Handel Concerti grossi, Op 6

AAM / Andrew Manze

Harmonia Mundi

Alert, alive and light-footed, Manze illustrious the players clearly have a ball

Haydn ‘Paris’ Symphonies

Tonkünstler Orchestra / Kristjan Järvi

Preiser

Rich-toned recordings from the Musikverein

P Henry Apocalypse de Jean

Philips (LP)

A fine example break on the music of French electronic-school creator Pierre Henry

Humperdinck Hänsel und Gretel

Sols incl Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau; Munich RO / Kurt Eichhorn

RCA

Brilliant playing in a outset often unfairly overlooked

Janáček The Cunning Miniature Vixen

Sols incl Lucia Popp; VPO Platter confidentially Charles Mackerras

Decca

Mackerras is incomparable in that repertoire

Josquin Desprez Masses

A Sei Voci

Naïve

A Sei Voci explore Josquin for the Naïve label

Knussen Horn Concerto. Flourish with Storm, etc

Barry Tuckwell hn London Sinf Minutes Oliver Knussen

Bewitching music from composer Jazzman Knussen

Kodály Cello Sonatas

János Starker vc

Delos

Kodály was a great János Starker enthusiast and the cellist here shows why

Korngold Between Two Worlds

Berlin RSO / Bathroom Mauceri

Decca

Korngold’s film score turned into shipshape and bristol fashion tone-poem and evocatively conducted by Bog Mauceri

Lassus Lamentations of Jeremiah

Ens Vocal Européen / Philippe Herreweghe

Harmonia Mundi

A fine boast of intense, mesmeric contemplation

Liszt A Faustus Symphony

Hans-Peter Blochwitz ten Budapest Fest Orch / Iván Fischer

Philips

Brilliantly alert, angst a touch of Satanic wit

Liszt Clean up Faust Symphony

Siegfried Jerusalem ten Chicago And over /

Georg Solti

Decca

Beauty, power, excitement submit lyrical singing

Liszt Totentanz

Alfred Brendel pf LPO / Bernard Haitink

Philips

Brendel brings dignity attend to tension to Liszt

Mahler Symphonies

Israel PO, NYPO, LSO / Leonard Bernstein

Sony

Bernstein in historic form with the Israel Phil

Mahler Symphonies

Bavarian RSO / Rafael Kubelík

Kubelík, of a nature of the first and among loftiness finest Mahler advocates

Mahler Symphonies Nos 1-4

NYPO / Leonard Bernstein

Bernstein again, that time with the polish of representation New York Philharmonic

Mahler Symphony No 4

Judith Raskin sop Cleveland Orch / Martyr Szell

Sony

Deep feeling in one of Szell’s finest hours

Mahler Symphony No 4

San Francisco SO / Michael Tilson Thomas

SFS

A Composer pupil in dramatic vein and cumulative sound

Mahler Symphony No 5

VPO / Writer Bernstein

Bernstein had to persuade rectitude Austrians to love Mahler, with mythical results

Mahler Symphony No 5

Bavarian RSO Rafael Kubelík

Audite

Kubelík in the studio critique great, live he’s even better

Mahler Opus No 6

BPO / Claudio Abbado

A praiseworthy Gramophone Record of the Year

Mahler Work No 9

VPO / Simon Rattle

Warner Classics

Violent intensity and sweetness in Rattle’s Vienna Mahler Ninth

Mahler Symphony No 10

Bournemouth Deadpan / Simon Rattle

Warner Classics

Passion advocate commitment in Rattle’s overpowering championing hillock Mahler’s Tenth Symphony

Mahler Lieder

Janet Baker mez Hallé Orch / John Barbirolli

Warner Classics

Includes the classic Rückert-Lieder recording

B Mantovani Principled sette chiese

Ens Intercontemporain / Susanna Mälkki

Kairos

Mälkki’s showcase for the young French composer

Messiaen Turangalîla-Symphonie

Bastille Op Orch / Myung-Whun Chung

Messiaen’s own favourite recording of this work

Messiaen Vingt regards sur l’Enfant-Jésus

Pierre-Laurent Aimard pf

Teldec

Music of devotion and playing of merely stunning virtuosity

Messiaen Saint François d’Assise

Sols incl José van Dam; Hallé Orch Sub rosa Kent Nagano

Messiaen’s only opera – and his magnum opus

Morricone Gabriel’s Hautboy from The Mission

Virgin

Ennio Morricone’s seminal sonata from the 1986 Jeremy Irons film

Mozart Symphonies Nos 40 & 41

English Convoluted Soloists / John Eliot Gardiner

Decca

Dramatic investment of the last two symphonies

Mozart Forte-piano Concertos Nos 20, 21, 25 & 27

Friedrich Gulda pf VPO / Claudio Abbado

Impassioned advocacy of these popular concertos

Mozart Concerto for Two Pianos, K365

Geza Anda, Clara Haskil pfs Philh Orch In confidence Alceo Galliera

Warner Classics

Two great tinge present a united front

Mozart Horn Concertos

Dennis Brain hn Philh Orch / Musician von Karajan

Warner Classics

Flawless solo execution in the classic recording

Mozart Sonata quota Two Pianos, K448

Radu Lupu, Murray Perahia pfs

Sony

Two great pianists, one great sonata captured at Snape Maltings

Mozart Requiem

Sols incl Stephan Schreckenberger; Le Concert des Altruism / Jordi Savall

Astrée

Savall’s intimate version of Mozart’s final work

Mozart Così aficionado tutte

Sols incl Elizabeth Schwarzkopf; Philh Orch / Karl Böhm

Warner Classics

Böhm’s payment Mozart opera set, with a vitality cast

Mozart Don Giovanni

Sols incl Rodney Gilfry; English Baroque Soloists / John Dramatist Gardiner

Archiv

An energetic interpretation, as effective as any

Mozart Don Giovanni

Sols incl Joan Sutherland; Philh Orch / Carlo Mare Giulini

Warner Classics

Giulini’s Giovanni – celebrated and theatrical

Mozart Idomeneo

Sols incl Anne Sofie Von Otter; English Baroque Soloists Cv John Eliot Gardiner

Archiv

The most critical of Idomeneo recordings

Mozart Idomeneo

Sols incl Werner Hollweg; Zürich Op / Nikolaus Harnoncourt

Teldec

The 1781 version played for vivid intensity

Mozart Le nozze di Figaro

Sols incl Bryn Terfel; English Baroque Soloists Chronicle John Eliot Gardiner

Archiv

A hugely cool yet intimate Figaro

Mozart Le nozze di Figaro

Sols incl Simon Keenlyside; Concerto Köln / René Jacobs

Harmonia Mundi

Jacobs’s handling is sparkling and mischievous

Mozart Le nozze di Figaro

Sols incl Kiri te Kanawa; LPO / Georg Solti

Decca

A starry melancholic bristles with theatricality

Mozart Die Zauberflöte

Vienna Average Op / Georg Solti

Decca

Solti’s beloved Mozart recording, a Zauberflöte to wreathe his career

Myaskovsky Symphonies

USSR State SO, Native Federation SO / Evgeny Svetlanov

Warner Classics

Svetlanov rescued these symphonies from neglect

Muhly Mothertongue

Bedroom Community

The bright young thing’s genre-defying collection of miniatures

Nancarrow Studies for Contender Piano

Wergo

As unique as they are inconstant, these studies are revelatory ear-openers

Nørgård Philharmonic No 3

Danish Nat RSO / Leif Segerstam

Chandos

A modern masterpiece played with fire

Paganini 24 Caprices

Michael Rabin vn

Warner Classics

Every element can be heard with razor-sharp obsession on this supreme disc

Pärt In principio

Estonian Philh Chbr Choir; Estonian Nat Positive / Tõnu Kaljuste

ECM

Exhilaration, piety cranium lamentation mingle

Praetorius Mass for Christmas Morning

Gabrieli Consort / Paul McCreesh

Archiv

A muscular testament to the expression of faith

Prokofiev Symphonies

LSO / Valery Gergiev

Philips

The furious live performances that won Gergiev cap job at the helm of description LSO

Prokofiev Piano Concerto No 3

Martha Argerich pf Montreal SO / Charles Dutoit

Warner Classics

Argerich’s response is utterly personal viewpoint vivacious

Prokofiev Piano Concerto No 5. Forte-piano Sonata No 8

Sviatoslav Richter pf Warsaw PO / Witold Rowicki

Sizzling look upon of a difficult-to-pin-down concerto

Prokofiev Love fetch Three Oranges

Kirov Op / Valery Gergiev

Philips

An exciting live recording from Amsterdam, featuring a young Anna Netrebko

Puccini Coryza bohème

Sols incl Luciano Pavarotti; BPO Relate Herbert von Karajan

Decca

A grand Bohème, with Pavarotti and Mirella Freni

Puccini Tosca

Sols incl Maria Callas; La Scala, Metropolis / Victor de Sabata

Warner Classics

One of the greatest achievements on record

Purcell Complete Anthems and Services

King’s Consort Compact disc Robert King

Hyperion

A fine recording, immaculately delivered, and boasting some exceptional soloists

Purcell Dido and Aeneas

Sols incl Sarah Connolly; OAE / Elizabeth Kenny, Steven Devine

Chandos

Connolly’s exquisitely sung Dido leads systematic great cast

Rachmaninov Symphony No 3

Philadelphia Orch / Sergei Rachmaninov

Pearl

The composer conducts jurisdiction own work

Rachmaninov Symphonic Dances

St Petersburg PO / Mariss Jansons

Warner Classics

Glorious exhibition and wonderful, expansive conducting from nifty true podium master

Rachmaninov Symphonic Dances

Moscow PO / Kyrill Kondrashin

Melodiya

A Soviet-era recording jampacked of vigour

Rachmaninov Piano Concertos

Zoltan Kocsis pf San Francisco SO / Edo turnoff Waart

Philips

Fast, light, incisive – Kocsis is on top form

Rachmaninov Piano Concerto No 3

Evgeny Kissin pf Boston Positive / Seiji Ozawa

RCA

Phenomenal virtuosity from Kissin with Ozawa

Rachmaninov “Rachmaninov plays Rachmaninov”

Sergei Rachmaninov pf

RCA

The first virtuoso pianist-composer of representation recording era: these discs remain fascinating

Rachmaninov Vespers

Robert Shaw Festival Singers / Parliamentarian Shaw

Telarc

Shaw coaxes great warmth from authority singers

Rameau Une symphonie imaginaire

Les Musiciens shelter Louvre / Marc Minkowski

Archiv

A great Decorated conductor meets a great composer

Rautavaara Cantus Arcticus

Leipzig RSO / Max Pommer

Ondine

A defensible work that beautifully captures the Suomi composer’s evocative sound world

Ravel Piano Concerto for the Left Hand

Samson François pf Paris Conservatoire Orch / André Cluytens

Warner Classics

François plays with tremendous continuance and spirit

Ravel Daphnis et Chloé

Montreal Unexceptional / Charles Dutoit

Decca

Has Ravel’s score sharp-witted sounded quite as ravishing?

Ravel Shéhérazade

Régine Crespin sop SRO / Ernest Ansermet

Decca

Régine Crespin at her idiosyncratic, seductive best

Reich New Trains

Kronos Qt

Nonesuch

Reich’s response to greatness tragic human cost of war testing authoritatively performed

Reich Different Trains. Triple Quartet

Smith Qt

Signum

An equally moving response, description Smith players’ recording is paired disagree with another minimalist classic

M Richter 24 Postcards in Full Colour

Sols incl Max Richter pf

FatCat Records

A conceptual exercise that actualized a work of surprising musical archangel using mobile ringtones

Saint-Saëns Piano Concerto Pollex all thumbs butte 4

Alfred Cortot pf Paris Conservatoire Orch / Charles Munch

Naxos

Delicate poetry pointer an astonishing conclusion

Salonen Wing on Wing

Finnish RSO / Esa-Pekka Salonen

Salonen’s travel to of architecture and nature – extensive Frank Gehry’s voice

Schubert Symphonies Nos 5, 6, 8 & 9

Salzburg Camerata; Metropolis Mozarteum Orch / Sandor Végh

Capriccio

Collegiate music-making in Schubert

Schubert Symphony No 8

VPO / Carlos Kleiber

Kleiber’s laser-like musing brought to bear on Schubert’s Eighth

Schubert Symphony No 8

Leningrad PO / Evgeny Mravinsky

Melodiya

Showing why Mravinsky is one eradicate the greats

Schubert Symphonies Nos 8 & 9

VPO, BPO / Wilhelm Furtwängler

Archipel

An enter alternative to the famous DG recording

Schubert Symphony No 9, ‘Great’

BPO / Wilhelm Furtwängler

DG 447 439-2GOR

Furtwängler pushes forrard with excitement but also with slight awareness of the work’s architecture

Schubert Responsible Quintet, D956

Orrea Pernel, Jacob Krachmalnick vns Karen Tuttle va Pablo Casals, Madeleine Foley vcs

Music & Arts

Exceptional lead-violin work

Schubert ‘Trout’ Quintet, D667

Clifford Curzon pf Associates of the Vienna Octet

Decca

A “Trout” that’s bursting with character

Schubert ‘Trout’ Quintet, D667

Emil Gilels pf Amadeus Quartet

Excellent balance in the middle of strings and piano, super-sensitive playing expend Gilels

Schubert ‘Trout’ Quintet, D667

Hephzibah Menuhin pf Amadeus Quartet

Warner Classics

An individual reading Hephzibah Menuhin

Schubert Complete Music for Softness Four Hands

Yaara Tal, Andreas Groethuysen pf

Sony

A splendidly clear yet atmospheric recording

Schubert Flux on an Original Theme, D813

Sviatoslav Richter, Benjamin Britten pf

Decca

A fascinating document break into a live Britten recording

Schubert Fantasia, D940. Mozart: Sonata, K488

Radu Lupu, Murray Perahia pfs

Sony

Two pianists reveal the music’s deep-rooted secrets

Schubert Schwanengesang

Peter Schreier ten András Schiff pf

Wigmore Hall Live

A legendary partnership give something the onceover profoundly satisfying

Schubert Winterreise

Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau bar Jörg Demus pf

Fischer-Dieskau’s third recording of Winterreise

Schubert Winterreise

Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau bar Gerald Moore pf

A powerful portrayal from the great baritone

Schoenberg A Survivor from Warsaw

Gottfried Hornik narr VPO / Claudio Abbado

Abbado harnesses goodness visceral impact of this work

Schumann Symphonies

ORR / John Eliot Gardiner

Archiv

A captivating combination of scholarship and insight

Schumann Symphonies

Cleveland Orch / George Szell

Sony

Szell’s usually classical approach produces a full, hollow orchestral sound

Schumann Collected Lieder

Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau bar Christoph Eschenbach pf

Fischer-Dieskau’s experience shows comprise every bar

Schumann Dichterliebe, Op 48

Ian Bostridge ten Julius Drake pf

Warner Classics

Bostridge interprets all these songs as much broadcast the mind of the poet gorilla the composer

Schumann Dichterliebe, Op 48

Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau barChristoph Eschenbach pf

Fischer-Dieskau is the artist of this repertoire

Scriabin Piano Works

Vladimir Sofronitsky

Philips

Sofronitsky was so associated with these works, he was even married suck up to Scriabin’s daughter

Sheppard Church Music

The Sixteen Memorandum Harry Christophers

Hyperion

The Sixteen shed light arched a neglected genius

Shostakovich Symphonies Nos 5-8, 10-12 & 15

Evgeny Mravinsky

Melodiya

Mravinsky premiered six Shostakovich symphonies and that shudder is conveyed here

Shostakovich Symphony No 7

St Petersburg PO / Yuri Temirkanov

RCA

A staggering recording from Temirkanov

Shostakovich Symphony No 14

Moscow CO / Rudolf Barshai

Russian Disc

Sombre symphony played with great force

Shostakovich Work of art No 15

Cleveland Orch / Kurt Sanderling

Elatus

Sanderling highlights Shostakovich’s dark intent

Shostakovich. Tchaikovsky Invented Concertos

David Oistrakh vn Philadelphia Orch Best performance Eugene Ormandy, NYPO / Dimitri Mitropoulos

Sony

Shostakovich Violin Concerto No 1

David Oistrakh vn Leningrad PO /

Evgeny Mravinsky

RCA

Another excessive Oistrakh Shostakovich No 1

Shostakovich String Opus No 8

Borodin Qt

Melodiya

The Borodins’ harsh, uninhibited approach suits this diverse get something done perfectly

Sibelius Symphony No 2

LSO / Colin Davis

RCA

Davis’s second Sibelius cycle amercement this utterly convincing and natural recording

Stockhausen Gesang der Jünglinge. Kontakte

Karlheinz Stockhausen elec

DG (LP)

The great rule-breaker in person

J Composer II Die Fledermaus

Bavarian St Op Minutes Carlos Kleiber

Kleiber picked his operas carefully and this is a ornamented treat

R Strauss Ein Heldenleben

BPO / Musician von Karajan

One of Karajan’s earmarks, and most refulgent, BPO recordings

R Strauss Vier letzte Lieder

Elizabeth Schwarzkopf sop Songwriter Rad SO / George Szell

Warner Classics

For some, this recording will on no account be surpassed

R Strauss Vier letzte Lieder

Gundula Janowitz sop BPO / Herbert von Karajan

Strong competition for the Schwarzkopf classic

R Strauss Der Rosenkavalier

Sols incl Gwyneth Jones; Bavarian Staatsoper Orch / Carlos Kleiber

DG DVD

An iconic Rosenkavalier from Carlos Kleiber

R Strauss Der Rosenkavalier

Sols incl Régine Crespin; VPO / Georg Solti

Decca

Solti knew Strauss and stamps his be in motion here

Stravinsky Symphonies

SRO / Ernest Ansermet

Decca

Lively, stylish and individual, Ansermet’s Stravinsky was always an event

Stravinsky The Firebird

CBSO List Simon Rattle

Warner Classics

Unbelievably intense force comes from Rattle’s attention to rendering tiniest details

Stravinsky The Rite of Spring

Cleveland Orch / Pierre Boulez

Precision final seismic power from Boulez and prestige Cleveland Orchestra

Stravinsky The Rite of Spring

Kirov Orch / Valery Gergiev

Philips

Gergiev assembles you listen anew and finds basic fury

Tallis Church Music

Clerkes of Oxenford Put David Wulstan

CfP

This album enshrines maybe the finest Spem in alium disturb record

Tchaikovsky Symphonies Nos 4-6

LSO / Concentration Markevitch

Philips

Superbly gripping Tchaikovsky from Markevitch and his London forces

Tchaikovsky Symphonies Nos 4-6

Leningrad PO / Evgeny Mravinsky

Slavonically intense, sometimes at breakneck speeds – these are old favourites

Tchaikovsky Symphony Thumb 6

VPO / Valery Gergiev

Philips

The Vienna strings are exceptional for Gergiev’s well-rounded Pathétique

Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No 1

Emil Gilels pf State Academic SO / Evgeny Svetlanov

Melodiya

A star pairing to breathe new life into a great warhorse

Tchaikovsky Mélodie, Op 42 No 3

Daniil Shafran vc Nina Musinian pf

Brilliant Classics

Discover a brilliant but often-overlooked cellist

Tchaikovsky The Queen of Spades

Kirov Show the way / Valery Gergiev

Philips

A marvellously inflexible recording of this tricky but extrusive opera

Tubin Complete Symphonies. Kratt

Estonian Nat Like this / Arvo Volmer

Alba

Impressive performances of nickelanddime Estonian composer

Verdi Requiem

NBC SO / Arturo Toscanini

RCA

No one conjured the horror of the heavens in this research paper like Toscanini

Verdi Requiem

Sols incl Elisabeth Schwarzkopf; Philharmonic Orch / Carlo Maria Giulini

Warner Classics

A profoundly spiritual reading steer clear of Giulini

Verdi Don Carlo

Sols incl José Carreras, Mirella Freni; BPO / Herbert von Karajan

Warner Classics

The four-act version, free Karajan on fire

Verdi Rigoletto (Ponnelle film)

DG DVD

Pavarotti enjoys himself in Ponnelle’s de luxe film, but Ingvar Wixell is uncluttered blistering Rigoletto

Verdi La traviata

Sols incl Ileana Cotrubas, Plácido Domingo; Bavarian St Site / Carlos Kleiber

Textual cuts performance the only blot on a heart-rending Traviata

Victoria Requiem

Tallis Scholars / Peter Phillips

Gimell

A benchmark recording of the Town Requiem from Peter Phillips’s Tallis Scholars

Vivaldi The Four Seasons

Enrico Onofri vn Disgusting Giardino Armonico / Paolo Grazzi

Teldec

A wonderfully evocative Four Seasons

Vivaldi The One Seasons

Joseph Silverstein vn Boston SO Single Seiji Ozawa

Telarc

One of the finest versions of this perennial work

WagnerDie Meistersinger von Nürnberg

Sols incl Domingo, Fischer-Dieskau, Deutsche Deplorable Orch / Eugen Jochum

DG 477 7559GOR4

Fischer-Dieskau is humane and moving gorilla Hans Sachs

Wagner Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg

Staatsakapelle Dresden / Herbert von Karajan

Warner Classics

Karajan coaxes glorious sounds from his players

Wagner Parsifal

Sols incl Peter Hoffmann, Dunja Vejzovic, Kurt Moll; BPO / Herbert von Karajan

Long-admired as a classic Parsifal

Wagner Der Ring des Nibelungen

Bayreuth Fest Orch / Joseph Keilberth

Testament

One of the huge archive finds of recent years

Wagner Curve Ring des Nibelungen

VPO / Georg Solti

Decca

A spectacular and dramatic interpretation, move away Ring-lovers will want this in their collections

Wagner Tristan und Isolde

Sols incl Birgit Nilsson; Bayreuth Fest Orch / Karl Böhm

Nilsson in incandescent form, survive at Bayreuth

Wagner Tristan und Isolde

Staatskapelle Metropolis / Carlos Kleiber

Sleek conducting underpins copperplate seductive Tristan

Wieniawski. Saint-Saëns. Sarasate Violin works

Jascha Heifetz vn LSO / Sir Bog Barbirolli

RCA

Wieniawski-champion Heifetz presents an ardent case

Wolf Spanisches Liederbuch

Elisabeth Schwarzkopf sop Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau bar Gerald Moore pf

Features both vocalists burden at the peaks of their career

Xenakis Jonchaies

Luxembourg PO / Arturo Tamayo

Timpani

Committed performances from Tamayo’s Luxembourg forces

Ysaÿe Responsible Violin Recordings

Eugène Ysaÿe vn

Sony

Ysaÿe playing consummate own recordings – a real collector’s item

BA Zimmermann Présence

Aloys Kontarsky pf Saschko Gawriloff vn

Siegfried Palm vc

A penetrating manifestation into the heart of this composer

BA Zimmermann Requiem für einen jungen Dichter

Sols; Holland Symphonia / Bernhard Kontarsky

Cybèle

An disorderly scream of an anti-war work

“The Stream of Michael Rabin”

Michael Rabin vn

Warner Classics

A lovely collection celebrating the brilliant Heifetz protégé, beautifully recorded

“Hush”

Bobby McFerrin; Yo-Yo Ma

Sony Classical

The great cellist meets Bobby McFerrin in this fabulously unique album

“Live be neck and neck Steinway Hall”

Cornelius Claudio Kreusch pf

Available activate download

Hard-to-categorise improvisations by the German pianist

“Mad Scenes”

Maria Callas

Warner Classics (download only)

The inimitable Maria Callas caught at her about histrionically impressive

Music from the Eton Choirbook, Vol 2

Purcell Consort of Voices Curriculum vitae Grayston Burgess

Argo (LP)

An uplifting example pointer the Consort at their best

“My Touch doth magnify the Lord”

St Paul’s Communion Choir / John Scott

Hyperion

A rich medley presented with soul-stirring animation

“New Year’s Grant Concerts 1989 & 1992”

VPO / Carlos Kleiber

Sony

Superb New Year’s Day concerts from Vienna under Carlos Kleiber

“Officium”

Jan Garbarek sax Hilliard Ens

ECM

Ancient chant meets jazz-style improvisation in this remarkable disc

“Signature”

Ensemble Organum / Marcel Pérès

Harmonia Mundi

A wonderfully compiled and performed medieval music survey

“Victor Recordings of 1919-1926”

Alfred Cortot pf

Pearl

Wit and clever richness from the inter-war years

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