The 50 Greatest Recordings of All Time (per BBC Music Mag)

[Karl Henning]

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of all the usual suspects . . . .

[North Star]

The ones I've heard and like kind of list again. Ours would be better since we've heard and liked more. 
Have to like the Janacek inclusions, though!
E: And the Shostakovich Preludes & Fugues, and Lulu, the Bartók, and the Ravel PC in the Michelangeli disc... Heck, this is actually a very good list, despite the obvious Britishness.

[Brahmsian]

I fully expected the Wagner Solti Ring as nothing less than # 1.

However, I surprisingly found the list quite varied, in terms of composers, works, etc.  More varied than I would have expected.

[Brahmsian]

I'm not sure Casals is the right choice for 'best recording of all time' for Bach's Cello Suites.  Might be important for its 'historical value', but....

There are probably 50+ cellists with better recordings, and better sound.

[North Star]

I'm not sure Casals is the right choice for 'best recording of all time' for Bach's Cello Suites.  Might be important for its 'historical value', but....

There are probably 50+ cellists with better recordings, and better sound.

Yes, I thought many were chosen because they were old & English or on English labels.
And look at the text under the Mravinsky (DGG) release:

At the height of the Cold War, the Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra under its legendary principal conductor Evgeny Mravinsky visited Britain in September 1960, giving sensational concerts in Edinburgh and London which drew ecstatic responses from both press and public. ... Among the most notable sessions taped in Wembley Town Hall was Mravinsky's blazingly urgent account of Tchaikovsky's Fourth Symphony.

[Octave]

I don't know....someone new to classical music would have a great running start with this list.  Or someone who had a great collection that favored recent recordings or state-of-art HIP might have missed these.
I would pass this list on to an ambitious novice friend in a heartbeat.  What am I saying?  There are several here I have not yet heard!
The best thing about lists like these is that they generate more lists.

[The new erato]

I'm not sure Casals is the right choice for 'best recording of all time' for Bach's Cello Suites.  Might be important for its 'historical value', but....

There are probably 50+ cellists with better recordings, and better sound.

The sound of his grunting is unequalled, though.

[Brahmsian]

There are several here I have not yet heard!
The best thing about lists like these is that they generate more lists.

+1!  I think the only recording I own is the Wagner Ring.  I used to have the Casals' Cello Suites, but no longer do.

Lists and more lists.  That can never be a bad thing! 

[Octave]

I'm not sure Casals is the right choice for 'best recording of all time' for Bach's Cello Suites.  Might be important for its 'historical value', but....

There are probably 50+ cellists with better recordings, and better sound.

The sound of his grunting is unequalled, though.

Gritty to the max!

[Octave]

The best thing about lists like these is that they generate more lists.

I would love to see a flourishing of recent-member activity and veteran revision at the Personal Essentials Thread, for example:
http://www.good-music-guide.com/community/index.php/topic,17174.0.html
Though if you can help yourself, please don't erase old selections.
Another good thing about making one's own list is that one realizes such lists are hell to make, at least for the conscientious.  I am amazed they ever get made.*  Oh wait: critics.


*but glad!

[Daverz]

I have about 29 out of the 50.

A very anglocentric list.  Two Britten operas in the top 50? 

It's also a list of "classic" recordings that probably hasn't changed in 40 years.  I don't think this list serves new listeners all that well.  A list that rethought the recommendations for each of these works while taking into account the last 50 years of recorded music would, I hope, be much different.

Much of the list I take as just genuflection toward some sacred cows: the 1938 Walter Mahler 9, the Ferrier Das Lied, Brain's Mozart Concerti, Menuhin's Elgar.

And why waste a position in the list with the Stockhausen, something 99% of people are going to listen to once. 

Also, I don't think EMI does that great a job on many of the historical issues.  I've even heard complaints about that particular re-issue of Tosca.

[Brian]

Let's play "Spot the Bias"!

EMI recordings: 19 of 50 (38%)
Decca recordings: 12 of 50 (24%; L'Oiseau Lyre included)
Original albums by record companies not currently owned by Warner, Universal, or Sony: 5 of 50 (10%)

And most importantly:

Albums produced by a UK label,
OR featuring a UK lead artist,
OR featuring a UK ensemble:
36 of 50 (72%).

For that last one, I wasn't going to include the Mozart/Schubert album by Perahia and Lupu, until I clicked to expand and saw that the caption read, "Perahia was director of the Aldeburgh Festival in the 1980s..." Hey, if they want to co-opt him for their purposes, I'll let them.

In case you can't tell, I think this list (despite some very worthy choices! Like maybe 15 or so) is silly, absurd, narrow-minded, and fundamentally idiotic.

[Brian]

I don't think this list serves new listeners all that well.  A list that rethought the recommendations for each of these works while taking into account the last 50 years of recorded music would, I hope, be much different.

Melnikov's Shostakovich sticks out like a sore thumb. Mostly this list propounds the idea that old recordings are the greatest recordings simply because they are old. If you click the Harnoncourt Bach Mass, they freely admit in the caption that there have been a bunch of better recordings since.

[Daverz]

+1!  I think the only recording I own is the Wagner Ring.

That tells us more about your collecting habits than the list. 

I used to have the Casals' Cello Suites, but no longer do.

While I wouldn't make them a first choice, I think any fan of these works should at least hear these recordings (probably in a better transfer.) 

[Brahmsian]

That tells us more about your collecting habits than the list. 

While I wouldn't make them a first choice, I think any fan of these works should at least hear these recordings (probably in a better transfer.)

I'm perfectly comfortable with the collection I have, and won't lose any sleep over not having the other 49 BBC picks.

And I have heard the Casals Cello Suites many times, and am not in mourning over parting with them. 

[Parsifal]

Melnikov's Shostakovich sticks out like a sore thumb. Mostly this list propounds the idea that old recordings are the greatest recordings simply because they are old. If you click the Harnoncourt Bach Mass, they freely admit in the caption that there have been a bunch of better recordings since.

They don't say that and there haven't been.

[Brian]

I'm perfectly comfortable with the collection I have, and won't lose any sleep over not having the other 49 BBC picks.

And I have heard the Casals Cello Suites many times, and am not in mourning over parting with them. 

Carlos Kleiber's Beethoven and Brahms are essential, dude! I have 9/50. Might have a tenth and eleventh but CDCDCD means I don't remember.

[DavidW]

The list ignores evolution in performance style, audience expectation and sound quality.  It's dull as dishwater and would not want that to be the basis of my collection.

[Brian]

They don't say that and there haven't been.

To me

"It's not the most accurate rendition, but it oozes a pioneering spirit, paving the way for Gardiner, Herreweghe et al."
translates to
"Others are more accurate, but they weren't first."

[Karl Henning]

Personally, I should hate to ooze a pioneer spirit.

Don't want to sit next to anyone so oozing, either.