Essential Releases

[Steve]

While not my eariest experience with classical music, my encounter with Tchaikovsky's 1st Piano Concerto, was probably the event which ignited my passion for it. Might I reccomend that you really try and select pieces from throughout the repotoire. You never know what you will be attracted too! Being a Baroque fan, I would reccomend some very foundational Bach works, paricularily Gould's take on the English Variations, French Suites, and the Goldberg Variations. Of course, more information on your proclivities and tastes would help considerably with the reccomendations.

Perhaps choral music?

[Maciek]

Don't you mean the English Suites?

[RebLem]

Here are just a few issues of major works on which I think there is a widespread, though never unanimous, consensus as to what the greatest interpretation is:

1.  Beethoven Piano Concerti 1-5--Fleisher/Szell/Cleveland Orch.
2.  Franck: Sym in D Minor--Monteux/Chicago Sym.
3.  Brahms: Piano Concerto 2--Richter/Leinsdorf/Chicago Sym.
4.  Strauss: Also Sprach Zarathustra--Reiner/Chicago Sym.
5.  Bartok: Concerto for Orchestra |Music for Strings, Percussion, and Celesta--Reiner/Chicago Sym.

You might want to start with these.

[Don]

Lebrecht's list looks as good as any other I've seen (except for my own, of course).

On the other hand, he has no entry for Bach's WTC, but one for Shostakovich's Op. 87 Preludes and Fugues.  When he wrote that one up, I would have thought a light bulb would go on in his head about the Bach.

[Mark]

Is it worth tossing the 1965 LSO/Barbirolli/Du Pre Dvorak Cello Concerto into the ring at this stage? Whether or not you consider Du Pre's emotionally intense reading 'definitive' (whatever that means), you have to admit it's a classic recording.

[George]

Is it worth tossing the 1965 LSO/Barbirolli/Du Pre Dvorak Cello Concerto into the ring at this stage? Whether or not you consider Du Pre's emotionally intense reading 'definitive' (whatever that means), you have to admit it's a classic recording.

Yes! 

[Bunny]

What about the 20 worst CDs that Lebrecht promised, that would be more interesting than the top 100. Anyway the only MUSIC I don't have (other than the Hyperion complete Schubert) is Goldschmidt's Der Gewaltige Hahnrei so I'll get that one.

And how do you put Zinman's Beethoven cycle up there. There are probably at least 10 that I would take over him.

You have to buy the book to get that list.

[George]

You have to buy the book to get that list.

Someone must have it.

Let's pull together on this one. 

[Kullervo]

[RebLem]

While it really is a matter of opinion which performances are the best, people of taste have reached plurality consensus on a few incontrovertably great works and performances, among them:

1. Fritz Reiner and the Chicago Symphony for virtually anything they recorded by Strauss and Bartok.

2. The Pierre Monteux recording of the Franck D Minor Symphony with the Chicago Symphony.

3. The Sviatoslav Richter/Erich Leinsdorf recording of the Brahms Piano Concerto 2 with the Chiicago Symphony.

4. The Leon Fliesher/George Szell/Cleveland Orchestra set of the Beethoven Piano Concerti.

5. The Rafael Kubelik/Berlin Phil set of the Dvorak Symphonies.

6. The Robert Casadeus/George Szell/Cleveland Orchestra recording so Mozart Piano Concerti.

7. The Annie Fischer set of the Beethoven Piano Sonatas.

[Anne]

One recording that I enjoyed when I was first trying to learn/like classical music was Dennis Brain playing Mozart Horn Concertos 1 - 4.  It is available on Emi's Great Recordings of the Century with Herbert von Karajan conducting the Philharmonia Orchestra.

http://www.amazon.com/Mozart-Horn-Concertos-Nos-1-4/dp/B00000GCAD/ref=sr_1_2/104-6944379-3143911?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1183237064&sr=1-2

[Anne]

Here is another beautiful recording:

Max Bruch's "Violin Concerto" # 1 played by Jascha Heifetz (world's foremost violin player IMO) and conducted by Sir Malcolm Sargent.

The disc also includes Bruch's "Scottish Fantasy" and Vieuxtemps' "Violin Concerto" # 5 in A minor.

http://www.amazon.com/Bruch-Concertos-Scottish-Vieuxtemps-Concerto/dp/B000003EOY/ref=pd_ecc_rvi_1/104-6944379-3143911?ie=UTF8&qid=1183251614&sr=1-9

[Larry Rinkel]

Don't you mean the English Suites?

No, he means the Goldberg Suite.