The one recording you believe everyone should own

[Franco]

I am only interested in GREAT recordings.  If it is not GREAT then who needs it?

[DarkAngel]

The very best Bruckner 8th (live studio 1974) along with nearly the best Schubert 9th available (live 1979, much better than DG set performance) 2CD set currently oop and very expensive used......for reasons just mentioned

[PerfectWagnerite]

I think I have recommended this recording of the Leningrad in the past but the accolades surrounding it are all true. If you have not heard it you have not heard this work, to use an old cliche:

[Daverz]

The Elgar CD mainly for Janet Baker's Sea Pictures.  I haven't heard a recording to rival it, though I believe Elgar had a true contralto in mind rather than a mezzo.  And yes, I prefer the more colorful Neumann Vixen over the Mackerras.  But be careful; there's a recording of an older Neumann recording in inferior sound floating about.



I blow hot and cold on the Serenade.  Sometimes I can't abide it, and sometimes I find it the most beautiful
music I've ever heard.  There's an older mono recording that some prefer, but this stereo is also a classic sonically.



Ignore the fact that the cover of the Bartok set has the current personnel.  This is the 1963 set.  The Talich Slavonic Dances from the 50s is a great example of Czech style and sound.



The Beecham disc is inexplicably out of print.  The Tashi disc has never gone out of print.

[Teresa]

Sorry, IMHO there is NO one recording I believe everyone should own, even my absolute favorite.  Everyone's tastes are different.

I usually play a few recordings for visitors and get a feel for what they like, and then let them pick from my collection what to listen to next.

[Daverz]

Wet blanket!

[RJR]

If we're going to go with Miles Davis then I choose Something Else, with Cannonball Adderley, Hank Jones, et al.

[czgirb]

After reading this thread, I found others recommend John Coltrane, Miles Davis, etc,. For me:
If it comers to Classical, I choose .... Bach - St. Matthew Passion - Karl Richter 1959 DGG
It its come to Jazz, I choose ........... Miles Davis - Kind of Blue
If it comes to Rock, I choose ........... Def Leppard: Hysteria
If it comes to Metal, I choose .......... Metallica: ... and Justice for All

[Tapio Dmitriyevich]

The Elgar CD mainly for Janet Baker's Sea Pictures.

No mention of THE ONE AND ONLY Cello conc./interpretation? This clearly is a case of blasphemy! GMG religious court, please!

My choice is only for sentimental reasons... Probably not useful for most people.

[chung]

Just for a bit of fun - what CD from your collection should be an absolute no brainer for someone building a collection? It must be an absolute personal gem, and one you would be willing to give to someone if they could only hear one piece of music in their entire life.

Please only recommend one, otherwise the fun is spoiled! Though I think we can and ought to accept cycles.

For me:

At this very moment, I'd choose this as THE CD for someone else's collection:


At this very moment, I'd choose this as THE cycle for someone else's collection:

[Clever Hans]

Roll die. WEEEEEEEE


or

or

or

or

or

[snyprrr]

I second the Bartok/Reiner as the SINGLE disc to try people on.

[DavidRoss]

Goodness!  When I first saw this I thought "Michel" had returned!  Hope he's recovered fully from his accident and has found better ways to occupy himself.

Welcome, Chung!  The Reiner disc is a classic, alright!

Heck, it's impossible to come up with one work--or even to decide on the genre!--that everyone should own, let alone one recording of it.  That Takacs late quartets set comes as close as any, I suppose.     

[mjwal]

This stunning collage by Marcel Faust "charts" the decline of a society into crazed hysteria & violence. It is worth getting up a bit of German to follow some of the subtleties - but the popular music of the Weimar republic is riveting in any case, with great songs by Eisler, Holländer & Co; the one Wagner excerpt makes a horrifying impact in the context (basically anticipating all modern productions of the Ring). The record (I also have the original LP, shorter than the full version on CD) has never been especially popular in the Federal Republic and was long unavailable - too painful, I suppose.

[Scarpia]

I don't think there is one disc everyone should own, but I am happy to name one disc everyone should hear (they have my blessing to sell it if they don't like it).  That would Nikolaus Harnoncourt's recordings of the Late Mozart Symphonies, made with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. 

It was probably 1982 and I was at J&R music world shopping for LPs when I saw the recording of Symphony No 38.  I had heard Harnoncourt's recordings of Bach, but was astonished to see he was conducting Mozart with a Modern orchestra.  When I brought it home and listened to it I was astonished.  Mozart with blaring brass and pounding drums, not the prissy, polite Mozart of Neville Marriner.  The next day I was back at J&R getting the other recordings from the series, and I vividly remember riding the train back with several of the LPs in the bag, anxious to get them on the turntable.

Since then a number of conductors have recorded Mozart Symphonies with the brio that Harnoncourt brought to those works, but Harnoncourt was the first that I knew of.

[Daverz]

I second the Bartok/Reiner as the SINGLE disc to try people on.

I dunno.  I think it's overrated.  The Reiner CfO was my introduction to the work, but I think there are better recordings now.

[RJR]

If I could only save one CD from my burning house, this would be it

I attended a concert of Britten's War Requiem in Paris in 1976, at Saint-Denis Church. Great venue for a great piece of music.

[Taneyev]

Tchaikovsky trio op.50 by Gilels-Kogan-Rostropovich,live. IMO the best recording of that magnificent work, and one of the best chamber recordings of all time.

[TheGSMoeller]

My first thoughts were that Kleiber Beethoven 5 and 7, and the Boulez sonatas with Jumppanen is an intriguing choice. 

By these criteria, I would pick my favorite CD, and hope that any one of the three works on it would appeal to a listener.  I do think that everyone should have one version of each of these pieces in his or her library, even if on another recording, but this is an excellent trio, all composed at roughly the same time.



Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra
Riccardo Chailly, conductor

Mosolov: Iron Foundry (1928)
Varèse: Arcana (1925-27)
Prokofiev: Symphony No. 3 (1928)

--Bruce

Just came across this thread, interesting concept...but was thrilled to see this! That's a real good disc, Bruce, great choice.
Of course you did post this 5 years ago, may not be your favorite anymore, but it's nice to see this recording get some love.

[Mirror Image]

What a marvelous thread idea! Thanks for reviving this, Greg.

Anyway, I'm not sure if my suggestion would "do it" for anyone into classical music but one recording I believe everyone should own is this one:



This may be an unconventional choice and it may be a choice many may just flat-out disagree with BUT I think it's one of the most magnificent recordings I've ever heard of ANY genre. All of the works have a passion and thirst for all the great things life has to offer. Those that have an ear for music must hear this recording.