Your Top 50 Favorite Classical Recordings Of All-Time

Started by Mirror Image, June 18, 2022, 08:05:49 PM

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TheGSMoeller

Quote from: Mirror Image on June 27, 2022, 06:28:04 PM
Cool list, Greg. 8)

Thanks, John!
You have some brilliant recordings in your list, a few from yours are/were close to making mine.

Mirror Image

Quote from: TheGSMoeller on June 27, 2022, 07:01:07 PM
Thanks, John!
You have some brilliant recordings in your list, a few from yours are/were close to making mine.

Very nice. 8) Looking forward to seeing your next list!

Madiel

Righto, here's the 30 I came up with by trawling through my collection looking for things I particularly treasure. There are a couple of 'boxes' in there that I haven't attempted to revert to their original recordings if I know them in box form. But also a couple of albums that I've "extracted" from the box. The order is pretty random.

Lord knows why Amazon puts their logo on only certain images, but whatever...





















I am now working on a discography of the works of Vagn Holmboe. Please visit and also contribute!

Mirror Image

Nice, Madiel! I love several of these recordings.

MusicTurner

#24
Quote from: Mirror Image on June 28, 2022, 06:31:36 AM
Nice, Madiel! I love several of these recordings.

+1 ... 9 of them I know pretty well, they're in my collection too.

Mirror Image


TheGSMoeller

Quote from: Madiel on June 28, 2022, 04:12:48 AM
Righto, here's the 30 I came up with by trawling through my collection looking for things I particularly treasure. There are a couple of 'boxes' in there that I haven't attempted to revert to their original recordings if I know them in box form. But also a couple of albums that I've "extracted" from the box. The order is pretty random.

Lord knows why Amazon puts their logo on only certain images, but whatever...



Nice list, Madiel. Love to see Harnoncourt's Dvorak getting some love, those are great.

classicalgeek

#27
Quote from: Mirror Image on June 20, 2022, 07:59:18 AM
I'm going to do my own list in separate posts and my list will correspond with my "Top 50" favorite composers list:

Nos. 1-20


Quote from: Mirror Image on June 20, 2022, 05:41:25 PM
Now for Nos. 21-50 (in correspondence with my "Top 50" favorite composers list):


I'm not surprised to find that you and I have some recordings in common, just as we did with composers! ;D There are others of your favorites that I really like: Honegger/Karajan, Hindemith/Blomstedt, Respighi/Simon, Walton/Previn, and that intense, passionate, white-hot Shostakovich 5 with Bernstein and the NYPO live from Tokyo - the only time Shosty 5 has made me tear up!

They don't necessarily match up with my favorite composers, but I came up with 30 to start:

So much great music, so little time...

Original compositions and orchestrations: https://www.youtube.com/@jmbrannigan

Mirror Image

Quote from: classicalgeek on June 29, 2022, 01:48:34 PM
I'm not surprised to find that you and I have some recordings in common, just as we did with composers! ;D There are others of your favorites that I really like: Honegger/Karajan, Hindemith/Blomstedt, Respighi/Simon, Walton/Previn, and that intense, passionate, white-hot Shostakovich 5 with Bernstein and the NYPO live from Tokyo - the only time Shosty 5 has made me tear up!

They don't necessarily match up with my favorite composers, but I came up with 30 to start:



Nice list of favorite recordings, James! Many of them could've very well made my list had I not followed my own favorite composers list to correspond with the favorite recordings list.

Lisztianwagner

Here's the first 30 recordings, in no particular order; I tried not to choose boxes, except when the only recordings I knew were actually from boxes, and when it was possible, I tried to extract them.







"Tradition is not the worship of ashes, but the preservation of fire." - Gustav Mahler

kyjo

Quote from: Lisztianwagner on July 02, 2022, 12:54:09 PM
Here's the first 30 recordings, in no particular order; I tried not to choose boxes, except when the only recordings I knew were actually from boxes, and when it was possible, I tried to extract them.







Not enough Karajan! :P
"Music is enough for a lifetime, but a lifetime is not enough for music" - Sergei Rachmaninoff

Lisztianwagner

"Tradition is not the worship of ashes, but the preservation of fire." - Gustav Mahler

Mirror Image

Quote from: Lisztianwagner on July 02, 2022, 12:54:09 PM
Here's the first 30 recordings, in no particular order; I tried not to choose boxes, except when the only recordings I knew were actually from boxes, and when it was possible, I tried to extract them.







Outstanding list, Ilaria! You and I share many common favorites for sure. 8)

Sergeant Rock

#33
BACH VIOLIN CONCERTO A MINOR BWV 1041 ACCARDO/ECO w/MUTTER
BACH BRANDENBURG CONCERTOS BRITTEN/ECO
BACH CANTATA #80 EIN FESTE BURG IST UNSER GOTT ROTZSCH/NEUES BACH COLL w/AUGER SCHREIER
BEETHOVEN PIANO SONATA #8 C MINOR OP.13 "PATHETIQUE" GILELS
BEETHOVEN STRING QUARTET #16 F MAJOR OP.135   EMERSON QUARTET
BEETHOVEN SYMPHONY #3 E FLAT "EROICA" BERNSTEIN/NEW YORK
BERG VIOLIN CONCERTO SINOPOLI/STAATSKAPELLE DRESDEN w/WATANABE
BERG 3 ORCHESTERSTÜCKE OP.6 LEVINE/MET ORCHESTRA
BERIO SINFONIA BOULEZ/O NAT DE FRA w/NEW SWINGLE SINGERS
BERLIOZ REQUIEM DAVIS/LSO
BRAHMS SYMPHONY #4 E MINOR KLEIBER/VIENNA PHIL
BRAHMS ACADEMIC FESTIVAL OVERTURE SZELL/CLEVELAND
BRAHMS STRING SEXTET #1 B FLAT OP.18 RAPHAEL
BRIAN SYMPHONY #1 D MINOR "GOTHIC" LENARD/CSR BRATISLAVA
BRIAN SYMPHONY #8 B FLAT MINOR GROVES/ROYAL LIVERPOOL
BRUCKNER SYMPHONY #0 D MINOR MAAZEL/SOBR
BRUCKNER SYMPHONY #3 D MINOR REV VERSION 1890 SCHALK SZELL/CLEVELAND
BRUCKNER SYMPHONY #3 D MINOR ORIG VERSION 1873 NOWAK TINTNER/ROYAL SCOT NAT O
BRUCKNER SYMPHONY #4 E FLAT 1ST DEF VERSION HAAS (EMI) KARAJAN/BERLIN PHIL
BRUCKNER SYMPHONY #5 B FLAT NOWAK DOHNÁNYI/CLEVELAND
BRUCKNER SYMPHONY #6 A MAJOR   KLEMPERER/NEW PHILH
BRUCKNER SYMPHONY #8 C MINOR REV VERSION 1890 NOWAK MAAZEL/BERLIN PHIL
BRUCKNER SYMPHONY #8 C MINOR REV VERSION 1890 NOWAK CELIBIDACHE/MUNICH PHIL
BRUCKNER SYMPHONY #9 D MINOR GIULINI/VIENNA PHIL
BRUCKNER TE DEUM   CELIBIDACHE/MUNICH PHIL
BUTTERWORTH GEORGE THE BANKS OF GREEN WILLOW HICKOX/LSO
DEBUSSY LA MER CELIBIDACHE/MUNICH PHIL
DEBUSSY NOCTURNES HAITINK/CONCERTGEBOUW
DVORAK COMPLETE SYMPHONIES ROWICKI/LSO
DVORAK SYMPHONY #7 D MINOR SZELL/CLEVELAND
DVORAK SYMPHONY #8 G MAJOR (DECCA) KARAJAN/VIENNA PHIL
DVORAK OTHELLO OVERTURE ROWICKI/LSO
ELGAR CELLO CONCERTO AND SEA PICTURES BARBIROLLI/LSO w/DU PRE AND BAKER
ELGAR SYMPHONY #1 A FLAT PREVIN/RPO
ELGAR SYMPHONY #2 E FLAT SINOPOLI/PHILH
ELGAR VIOLIN CONCERTO B MINOR SOLTI/LPO w/KYUNG-WHA CHUNG
FAURÉ PELLÉAS ET MÉLISANDE OZAWA7BOSTON
HAYDN PARIS SYMPHONIES FEY/HEIDELBERGER SINFONIKER
HAYDN LONDON SYMPHONIES NORRINGTON/RSO STUTTGART
HAYDN STRING QUARTETS OP.33 APPÓNYI QUARTET
IVES   SYMPHONY #2 (DG)   BERNSTEIN/NEW YORK
JANACEK SINFONIETTA SZELL/CLEVELAND
KORNGOLD SYMPHONY F SHARP PREVIN/LSO
LLOYD SYMPHONY #4 B MAJOR LLOYD/ALBANY SO
MAHLER COMPLETE SYMPHONIES CHAILLY/CONCERTGEBOUW
MAHLER SYMPHONY #2 C MINOR KAPLAN/VIENNA PHIL
MAHLER SYMPHONY #10 F SHARP MAJOR (COOKE II) LEVINE/PHILADELPHIA
MOZART SYMPHONY #25 G MINOR K.183   KLEMPERER/PHILH
MOZART DIE ZAUBERFLÖTE KLEMPERER/PHILH
NIELSEN SYMPHONY #3 BERNSTEIN
SCHNITTKE FAUST CANTATA "SEID NÜCHTERN UND WACHET" DePREIST/MALMÖ SO
SIBELIUS SYMPHONY #2 D MAJOR (LIVE TOKYO 1970) SZELL/CLEVELAND
SIBELIUS SYMPHONY #5 E FLAT RATTLE/PHILH
SIBELIUS KULLERVO OP.7 (LSO LIVE) DAVIS/LSO
VAUGHAN WILLIAMS   COMPLETE SYMPHONIES (EMI)   BOULT/LPO
WAGNER   DER RING DES NIBELUNGEN KARAJAN/BERLIN PHIL
VARIOUS NEW YEARS CONCERT IN VIENNA 1987 KARAJAN/VIENNA PHIL w/BATTLE

Sarge









the phone rings and somebody says,
"hey, they made a movie about
Mahler, you ought to go see it.
he was as f*cked-up as you are."
                               --Charles Bukowski, "Mahler"

Mirror Image

Quote from: Sergeant Rock on July 03, 2022, 02:21:55 PM
BACH VIOLIN CONCERTO A MINOR BWV 1041 ACCARDO/ECO w/MUTTER
BACH BRANDENBURG CONCERTOS BRITTEN/ECO
BACH CANTATA #80 EIN FESTE BURG IST UNSER GOTT ROTZSCH/NEUES BACH COLL w/AUGER SCHREIER
BEETHOVEN PIANO SONATA #8 C MINOR OP.13 "PATHETIQUE" GILELS
BEETHOVEN STRING QUARTET #16 F MAJOR OP.135   EMERSON QUARTET
BEETHOVEN SYMPHONY #3 E FLAT "EROICA" BERNSTEIN/NEW YORK
BERG VIOLIN CONCERTO SINOPOLI/STAATSKAPELLE DRESDEN w/WATANABE
BERG 3 ORCHESTERSTÜCKE OP.6 LEVINE/MET ORCHESTRA
BERIO SINFONIA BOULEZ/O NAT DE FRA w/NEW SWINGLE SINGERS
BERLIOZ REQUIEM DAVIS/LSO
BRAHMS SYMPHONY #4 E MINOR KLEIBER/VIENNA PHIL
BRAHMS ACADEMIC FESTIVAL OVERTURE SZELL/CLEVELAND
BRAHMS STRING SEXTET #1 B FLAT OP.18 RAPHAEL
BRIAN SYMPHONY #1 D MINOR "GOTHIC" LENARD/CSR BRATISLAVA
BRIAN SYMPHONY #8 B FLAT MINOR GROVES/ROYAL LIVERPOOL
BRUCKNER SYMPHONY #0 D MINOR MAAZEL/SOBR
BRUCKNER SYMPHONY #3 D MINOR REV VERSION 1890 SCHALK SZELL/CLEVELAND
BRUCKNER SYMPHONY #3 D MINOR ORIG VERSION 1873 NOWAK TINTNER/ROYAL SCOT NAT O
BRUCKNER SYMPHONY #4 E FLAT 1ST DEF VERSION HAAS (EMI) KARAJAN/BERLIN PHIL
BRUCKNER SYMPHONY #5 B FLAT NOWAK DOHNÁNYI/CLEVELAND
BRUCKNER SYMPHONY #6 A MAJOR   KLEMPERER/NEW PHILH
BRUCKNER SYMPHONY #8 C MINOR REV VERSION 1890 NOWAK MAAZEL/BERLIN PHIL
BRUCKNER SYMPHONY #8 C MINOR REV VERSION 1890 NOWAK CELIBIDACHE/MUNICH PHIL
BRUCKNER SYMPHONY #9 D MINOR GIULINI/VIENNA PHIL
BRUCKNER TE DEUM   CELIBIDACHE/MUNICH PHIL
BUTTERWORTH GEORGE THE BANKS OF GREEN WILLOW HICKOX/LSO
DEBUSSY LA MER CELIBIDACHE/MUNICH PHIL
DEBUSSY NOCTURNES HAITINK/CONCERTGEBOUW
DVORAK COMPLETE SYMPHONIES ROWICKI/LSO
DVORAK SYMPHONY #7 D MINOR SZELL/CLEVELAND
DVORAK SYMPHONY #8 G MAJOR (DECCA) KARAJAN/VIENNA PHIL
DVORAK OTHELLO OVERTURE ROWICKI/LSO
ELGAR CELLO CONCERTO AND SEA PICTURES BARBIROLLI/LSO w/DU PRE AND BAKER
ELGAR SYMPHONY #1 A FLAT PREVIN/RPO
ELGAR SYMPHONY #2 E FLAT SINOPOLI/PHILH
ELGAR VIOLIN CONCERTO B MINOR SOLTI/LPO w/KYUNG-WHA CHUNG
FAURÉ PELLÉAS ET MÉLISANDE OZAWA7BOSTON
HAYDN PARIS SYMPHONIES FEY/HEIDELBERGER SINFONIKER
HAYDN LONDON SYMPHONIES NORRINGTON/RSO STUTTGART
HAYDN STRING QUARTETS OP.33 APPÓNYI QUARTET
IVES   SYMPHONY #2 (DG)   BERNSTEIN/NEW YORK
JANACEK SINFONIETTA SZELL/CLEVELAND
KORNGOLD SYMPHONY F SHARP PREVIN/LSO
LLOYD SYMPHONY #4 B MAJOR LLOYD/ALBANY SO
MAHLER COMPLETE SYMPHONIES CHAILLY/CONCERTGEBOUW
MAHLER SYMPHONY #2 C MINOR KAPLAN/VIENNA PHIL
MAHLER SYMPHONY #10 F SHARP MAJOR (COOKE II) LEVINE/PHILADELPHIA
MOZART SYMPHONY #25 G MINOR K.183   KLEMPERER/PHILH
MOZART DIE ZAUBERFLÖTE KLEMPERER/PHILH
NIELSEN SYMPHONY #3 BERNSTEIN
SCHNITTKE FAUST CANTATA "SEID NÜCHTERN UND WACHET" DePREIST/MALMÖ SO
SIBELIUS SYMPHONY #2 D MAJOR (LIVE TOKYO 1970) SZELL/CLEVELAND
SIBELIUS SYMPHONY #5 E FLAT RATTLE/PHILH
SIBELIUS KULLERVO OP.7 (LSO LIVE) DAVIS/LSO
VAUGHAN WILLIAMS   COMPLETE SYMPHONIES (EMI)   BOULT/LPO
WAGNER   DER RING DES NIBELUNGEN KARAJAN/BERLIN PHIL
VARIOUS NEW YEARS CONCERT IN VIENNA 1987 KARAJAN/VIENNA PHIL w/BATTLE

Sarge

Great stuff, Sarge! Good to see you posting again.

LKB

Quote from: Mirror Image on July 03, 2022, 07:01:24 PM
Great stuff, Sarge! Good to see you posting again.

Agreed, an interesting list with a few agreeable surprises.
Mit Flügeln, die ich mir errungen...

coffee

I might try to put one of these together just for fun, but fifty is a lot and I'm not sure I remember which recordings I've heard that well....

Perhaps I'll add more as I think of them.

It must be autobiographical in a sense.

-- Knonos Quartet: Black Angels. This was one of my first classical CDs, back in high school when I first decided I wanted to get into cultural stuff. This fascinated me as it was so different than what I'd expected. The main works on it, Crumb's Black Angels and Shostakovich's 8th string quartet, are still among my favorites.

-- Takemitsu: From Me Flows What You Call Time + Walton: Symphony #1 (issued by the BBC Music magazine). I'm not submitting this as a "great" recording, a judgment I'm in no position to make anyway (the Nexus recording would be the one to get for the Takemitsu work, and I could not even guess what might be a great recording of Walton's symphony), but again it's important to me as one of my first classical CDs. The Takemitsu work fascinated and mystified me, and gradually I came to love it. One of the pleasures I've enjoyed in my 20ish years of online discussion is finding other people who also love this work.

-- Mirabile Mysterium: Sacred Music of Rudolphine Prague by Duodena Cantitans on Supraphon. Another idiosyncratic choice, but this was my introduction to "early music" although I didn't realize that "early music" was a thing for quite a few more years. It's almost laughable how long it was before I found out that Luython, Handl-Gallus, Monte, and Regnart were actually pretty big deals in their time rather than just some no-names dug out of the dustbin of history. Again, maybe not a great recording, but I'm fortunate that it found its way to me.

-- Golijov: The Dreams and Prayers of Isaac the Blind by David Krakauer with Kronos Quartet. Another one of my first CDs, bought because I trusted KQ after my experience with Black Angels. I enjoyed this work almost from the beginning, but eventually I came to really love it. I've never heard another work by Golijov that affected me so much.

-- Marie Keyrouz: Chant Byzantin. Another one that fell into my hands at the right moment. This wasn't pure enough for some hardcore "more Orthodox than the Patriarch" types that I knew, and they were thrilled that I'd take this disgusting monstrosity away from them lest they have to pollute their garbage with it. (Perhaps I exaggerate, but not as much as you might think.) I loved it instantly. I hope there isn't a heaven ("to die, to sleep, no more, 'tis a consummation devoutly to be wished"), but if there is, I expect it sounds something like this.

-- Savina Yannatou Sings Manos Hadjidakis. If I haven't already been risking offense at stretching the definition of classical music so far, this will probably do it. You can call it pop music if you want and I won't argue. Anyway, I got it at a classical CD store and Hadjidakis (best know for his music for Zorba the Greek) would probably count as a classical composer by any reasonable definition. I had this a number of years without appreciating it, and then one night I woke up in the middle of the night and it was playing (I used to sleep with music on) and I listened to it for several minutes wondering what this beautiful, enchanting music was. I finally had to get out of bed to find out. From that moment on, this has been a favorite.

-- Mozart's Requiem, Karajan, the 1961 recording unremastered. Probably better put in a "normal" classical recording before going too much further. Don't want to lose my bona fides. And yet I cannot help flaunting my horrible taste. This was my first recording of this work, and though I now understand why it isn't more popular, well, it imprinted on my mind as the way I want this work to sound.

-- Chopin's Nocturnes, Rubinstein 1960s. Another case of imprinting, but this time at least some other people share my feelings!

-- Brahms's Ein deutsches Requiem by Klemperer (EMI). Sometimes I think I want the "Denn alles Fleisch" from this recording played at my funeral, but I'm not sure anyone who would come to my funeral will want to sit there that long.

-- Albeniz: Echoes of Spain by John Williams. I'll never understand why this music -- Suite española in particular -- isn't more popular.

-- Albeniz: Iberia; Granados: Goyescas -- Larrocha's 1970s recordings on Decca. I like all of Larrocha's recordings (her 1980s recording might also crack my top 50) but I think this is my favorite. Iberia is another work that I would've expected to be more popular.

-- Reich: Music for 18 Musicians, the famous ECM recording. This was an eye-opener for me and apparently for a lot of people. Reich eventually became one of my favorite composers.

-- Starker Plays Kodaly. Again, how is the sonata for solo cello not more popular?

-- Nono: Coma und ola de fuerza y luz (etc) by Pollini on DG. This was my intro to Nono, who has become one of my favorite composers.

-- Bach: Cantata 82 (Ich habe genug) on Hans Hotter's EMI Great Artists of the Century album. Forget all this HIPPI stuff, this is how 82 is supposed to sound. Don't mess with me on this. I'll fight you.

-- Rzewski: The People United Will Never Be Defeated by Drury with Quilpayun. I'm not saying Drury's performance is the best, but I like it as much as anyone else's that I've heard. This is my favorite recording of this work because it includes a recording of the original song as well.

-- Tallis: Spem in Alium by the Tallis Scholars. I hate to be this amateurish, but this really is my favorite recording of one of my favorite works.

-- Cage: Music of Changes by Henck on Wergo. Makes me sick to think you can steal this on youtube now. I won't admit what I had to do to get an acquaintance of mine to sell this to me.

-- Zelenka's Trio Sonatas by Holliger on ECM. This opened my eyes to the possibility that I was missing out on a lot of "Baroque beyond Bach," and boy was I!

-- Biber's Missa Christi Resurgentis by Manze. Speaking of which, from that fanfare on, boy oh boy.

-- Bruch's first violin concerto and Scottish Fantasy by Rosand. If you're going to play this music, you might as well pour in all the sugar you've got. Again, I'm not actually in any position to judge it technically, but to me no other recording of this music that I've heard has such pleasingly intense sweetness.

-- Kodaly: Hary Janos, Kertesz and Ustinov. I know that at least some listeners find Ustinov's performance here annoying, but I really enjoy it, and I suspect that I most enjoy precisely the elements that more serious listeners find most annoying.

-- Rzewski: Pocket Symphony, Les Moutons de Panurge, and above all his amazing work Coming Together by eighth blackbird. This is when I realized Rzewski is no one-hit wonder. I bought this because of the cover as a joke for a friend of mine who's nicknamed both Fred and Bright Sheep.

-- Janacek: Piano Works by Firkusny. Just some music I really enjoy.

-- Perotin by the Hilliard Ensemble. I'm not prepared to endorse this in any way except to say that I personally really liked it right away.

-- Weill: Die Dreigroschenoper with Lotte Lenya. For the love of Apollo, people, I do not understand why this music isn't more popular! Her recording of the Seven Deadly Sins might make the top 50 too.

-- Feldman: Three Voices for Joan LaBarbara. I am not Feldman's most enthusiastic fan, but I'm in the top ten percent, and this is my favorite recording of his music.

-- Glass: Aguas da Amazonia. I don't love Glass in general, but this one does it for me.

-- Allegri & Palestrina by The Sixteen. I love Allegri's Miserere inordinately, perhaps too much for any recording to satisfy me consistently, but this one is my favorite.

-- Canteloube: Chants d'Auvergne by Victoria de los Angeles.

-- Brahms's piano trios by Katchen, Suk, and Starker. More imprinting, I guess.

-- Shostakovich's first violin and cello concertos with Oistrakh and Rostropovich.

-- Part: Tabula Rasa, etc. by Kremer on ECM. This would've been much higher on my list once upon a time. I still enjoy it in the right mood.

-- Purcell's King Arthur by Pinnock.

-- Stockhausen's Helicopter Quartet by Arditti Quartet and, of course, some helicopters. I first heard of this work because some really classy wags were making fun of it, but when I actually heard it, I immediately liked it. It's a fantastic idea and Stockhausen made it sound really good.

-- Bach's Goldberg Variations by Staier on Harmonia Mundi. I like this so much more than any piano version I've ever heard. You might challenge me based on something I might've said about Hotter, and I would have no idea what you're talking about.

-- Borodin, Glazunov, Arensky by the Nash Ensemble.

-- Dohnanyi & Kodaly's string quartets by Guarneri Quartet.

I feel I'm getting a bit careless here and I'm running out of spots, so I'm going to slow down and think about it some more....


Liberty for the wolf is death for the lamb.

foxandpeng

Quote from: coffee on July 03, 2022, 11:54:50 PM
I might try to put one of these together just for fun, but fifty is a lot and I'm not sure I remember which recordings I've heard that well....

Perhaps I'll add more as I think of them.

It must be autobiographical in a sense.

-- Knonos Quartet: Black Angels. This was one of my first classical CDs, back in high school when I first decided I wanted to get into cultural stuff. This fascinated me as it was so different than what I'd expected. The main works on it, Crumb's Black Angels and Shostakovich's 8th string quartet, are still among my favorites.

-- Takemitsu: From Me Flows What You Call Time + Walton: Symphony #1 (issued by the BBC Music magazine). I'm not submitting this as a "great" recording, a judgment I'm in no position to make anyway (the Nexus recording would be the one to get for the Takemitsu work, and I could not even guess what might be a great recording of Walton's symphony), but again it's important to me as one of my first classical CDs. The Takemitsu work fascinated and mystified me, and gradually I came to love it. One of the pleasures I've enjoyed in my 20ish years of online discussion is finding other people who also love this work.

-- Mirabile Mysterium: Sacred Music of Rudolphine Prague by Duodena Cantitans on Supraphon. Another idiosyncratic choice, but this was my introduction to "early music" although I didn't realize that "early music" was a thing for quite a few more years. It's almost laughable how long it was before I found out that Luython, Handl-Gallus, Monte, and Regnart were actually pretty big deals in their time rather than just some no-names dug out of the dustbin of history. Again, maybe not a great recording, but I'm fortunate that it found its way to me.

-- Golijov: The Dreams and Prayers of Isaac the Blind by David Krakauer with Kronos Quartet. Another one of my first CDs, bought because I trusted KQ after my experience with Black Angels. I enjoyed this work almost from the beginning, but eventually I came to really love it. I've never heard another work by Golijov that affected me so much.

-- Marie Keyrouz: Chant Byzantin. Another one that fell into my hands at the right moment. This wasn't pure enough for some hardcore "more Orthodox than the Patriarch" types that I knew, and they were thrilled that I'd take this disgusting monstrosity away from them lest they have to pollute their garbage with it. (Perhaps I exaggerate, but not as much as you might think.) I loved it instantly. I hope there isn't a heaven ("to die, to sleep, no more, 'tis a consummation devoutly to be wished"), but if there is, I expect it sounds something like this.

-- Savina Yannatou Sings Manos Hadjidakis. If I haven't already been risking offense at stretching the definition of classical music so far, this will probably do it. You can call it pop music if you want and I won't argue. Anyway, I got it at a classical CD store and Hadjidakis (best know for his music for Zorba the Greek) would probably count as a classical composer by any reasonable definition. I had this a number of years without appreciating it, and then one night I woke up in the middle of the night and it was playing (I used to sleep with music on) and I listened to it for several minutes wondering what this beautiful, enchanting music was. I finally had to get out of bed to find out. From that moment on, this has been a favorite.

-- Mozart's Requiem, Karajan, the 1961 recording unremastered. Probably better put in a "normal" classical recording before going too much further. Don't want to lose my bona fides. And yet I cannot help flaunting my horrible taste. This was my first recording of this work, and though I now understand why it isn't more popular, well, it imprinted on my mind as the way I want this work to sound.

-- Chopin's Nocturnes, Rubinstein 1960s. Another case of imprinting, but this time at least some other people share my feelings!

-- Brahms's Ein deutsches Requiem by Klemperer (EMI). Sometimes I think I want the "Denn alles Fleisch" from this recording played at my funeral, but I'm not sure anyone who would come to my funeral will want to sit there that long.

-- Albeniz: Echoes of Spain by John Williams. I'll never understand why this music -- Suite española in particular -- isn't more popular.

-- Albeniz: Iberia; Granados: Goyescas -- Larrocha's 1970s recordings on Decca. I like all of Larrocha's recordings (her 1980s recording might also crack my top 50) but I think this is my favorite. Iberia is another work that I would've expected to be more popular.

-- Reich: Music for 18 Musicians, the famous ECM recording. This was an eye-opener for me and apparently for a lot of people. Reich eventually became one of my favorite composers.

-- Starker Plays Kodaly. Again, how is the sonata for solo cello not more popular?

-- Nono: Coma und ola de fuerza y luz (etc) by Pollini on DG. This was my intro to Nono, who has become one of my favorite composers.

-- Bach: Cantata 82 (Ich habe genug) on Hans Hotter's EMI Great Artists of the Century album. Forget all this HIPPI stuff, this is how 82 is supposed to sound. Don't mess with me on this. I'll fight you.

-- Rzewski: The People United Will Never Be Defeated by Drury with Quilpayun. I'm not saying Drury's performance is the best, but I like it as much as anyone else's that I've heard. This is my favorite recording of this work because it includes a recording of the original song as well.

-- Tallis: Spem in Alium by the Tallis Scholars. I hate to be this amateurish, but this really is my favorite recording of one of my favorite works.

-- Cage: Music of Changes by Henck on Wergo. Makes me sick to think you can steal this on youtube now. I won't admit what I had to do to get an acquaintance of mine to sell this to me.

-- Zelenka's Trio Sonatas by Holliger on ECM. This opened my eyes to the possibility that I was missing out on a lot of "Baroque beyond Bach," and boy was I!

-- Biber's Missa Christi Resurgentis by Manze. Speaking of which, from that fanfare on, boy oh boy.

-- Bruch's first violin concerto and Scottish Fantasy by Rosand. If you're going to play this music, you might as well pour in all the sugar you've got. Again, I'm not actually in any position to judge it technically, but to me no other recording of this music that I've heard has such pleasingly intense sweetness.

-- Kodaly: Hary Janos, Kertesz and Ustinov. I know that at least some listeners find Ustinov's performance here annoying, but I really enjoy it, and I suspect that I most enjoy precisely the elements that more serious listeners find most annoying.

-- Rzewski: Pocket Symphony, Les Moutons de Panurge, and above all his amazing work Coming Together by eighth blackbird. This is when I realized Rzewski is no one-hit wonder. I bought this because of the cover as a joke for a friend of mine who's nicknamed both Fred and Bright Sheep.

-- Janacek: Piano Works by Firkusny. Just some music I really enjoy.

-- Perotin by the Hilliard Ensemble. I'm not prepared to endorse this in any way except to say that I personally really liked it right away.

-- Weill: Die Dreigroschenoper with Lotte Lenya. For the love of Apollo, people, I do not understand why this music isn't more popular! Her recording of the Seven Deadly Sins might make the top 50 too.

-- Feldman: Three Voices for Joan LaBarbara. I am not Feldman's most enthusiastic fan, but I'm in the top ten percent, and this is my favorite recording of his music.

-- Glass: Aguas da Amazonia. I don't love Glass in general, but this one does it for me.

-- Allegri & Palestrina by The Sixteen. I love Allegri's Miserere inordinately, perhaps too much for any recording to satisfy me consistently, but this one is my favorite.

-- Canteloube: Chants d'Auvergne by Victoria de los Angeles.

-- Brahms's piano trios by Katchen, Suk, and Starker. More imprinting, I guess.

-- Shostakovich's first violin and cello concertos with Oistrakh and Rostropovich.

-- Part: Tabula Rasa, etc. by Kremer on ECM. This would've been much higher on my list once upon a time. I still enjoy it in the right mood.

-- Purcell's King Arthur by Pinnock.

-- Stockhausen's Helicopter Quartet by Arditti Quartet and, of course, some helicopters. I first heard of this work because some really classy wags were making fun of it, but when I actually heard it, I immediately liked it. It's a fantastic idea and Stockhausen made it sound really good.

-- Bach's Goldberg Variations by Staier on Harmonia Mundi. I like this so much more than any piano version I've ever heard. You might challenge me based on something I might've said about Hotter, and I would have no idea what you're talking about.

-- Borodin, Glazunov, Arensky by the Nash Ensemble.

-- Dohnanyi & Kodaly's string quartets by Guarneri Quartet.

I feel I'm getting a bit careless here and I'm running out of spots, so I'm going to slow down and think about it some more....

I'm unfamiliar with the majority of these. Also an interesting read because of your reasons for choosing them  :)
"A quiet secluded life in the country, with the possibility of being useful to people ... then work which one hopes may be of some use; then rest, nature, books, music, love for one's neighbour — such is my idea of happiness"

Tolstoy

DavidW


DavidW

Quote from: coffee on July 03, 2022, 11:54:50 PM
-- Brahms's Ein deutsches Requiem by Klemperer (EMI). Sometimes I think I want the "Denn alles Fleisch" from this recording played at my funeral, but I'm not sure anyone who would come to my funeral will want to sit there that long.

What a fantastic recording!

Quote-- Bach: Cantata 82 (Ich habe genug) on Hans Hotter's EMI Great Artists of the Century album. Forget all this HIPPI stuff, this is how 82 is supposed to sound. Don't mess with me on this. I'll fight you.

Yes that is one for the ages, good to see I'm not alone in loving that recording.  Hotter really delivers an exceptional performance.