Classical Best Versions
What Is The Very Best Version?
In a catalogue that lists over 200 recordings of Vivaldi's "The Four Seasons", and even 60 versions of Orff's "Carmina Burana", which is the very best?
With the help of Gramophone, Penguin Stereo Guide, BBC Music, and our own ears, we have put together the definitive guide to the popular classics.
Here are a selection of recommended recordings that should find a place in everyone's collection.
Displaying items 41 to 60 of 186
HEUBERGER / LEHAR / MILLOCKER / SIECZYNSKI / SUPPE / etc
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Elisabeth Schwarzkopf - Operetta Arias Elisabeth Schwarzkopf (soprano) / Philharmonia Orchestra / Otto Ackermann [ EMI Great Recordings of the Century / CD - released 24/Jun/1999 ] Rosette (Highest Rating) - Penguin Stereo Guide |
LAWES / BLOW / WILSON / CAMPION / ECCLES / etc
Classical Kirkby - Orpheus and Corinna Emma Kirkby (soprano) Anthony Rooley (theorbo-lute) [ BIS / CD - released 1/Sep/2002 ] "These are delightful songs, superbly sung with delicate, tactful accompaniments played on the theorbo-lute by Anthony Rooley" Rod Bliss (Sunday Times) |
HILDEGARD von BINGEN
A Feather on the Breath of God Emma Kirkby (soprano) / Gothic Voices [ Hyperion / CD - released 1/Sep/2010 ] "These hymns and sequences, most expertly performed and recorded, have excited much acclaim - and rightly so. A lovely CD" Penguin Guide |
GEORG FRIDERIC HANDEL
Handel: Sacred Cantatas Emma Kirkby (soprano) / London Baroque. Medlam [ BIS / CD - released 1/Oct/2013 ] Rosette (highest rating) Penguin Stereo Guide |
ALFRED SCHNITTKE / ARVO PART
Schnittke / Pärt: Choral Works Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir, Kaspars Putniņš [ BIS SACD / Hybrid SACD - released 15/Dec/2017 ] "This work has been waiting for choirs able to do this, because the technical challenges are not the most important thing about this music" Gramophone Award WINNER 2018 - Choral |
FRANZ SCHMIDT
Schmidt - Complete Symphonies Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra, Paavo Järvi [ Deutsche Grammophon / 3 CD - released 5/Feb/2021 ] GRAMOPHONE Award WINNER 2021 - Orchestral BBC Music Magazine Award Finalist 2021 - Orchestral |
J. S. BACH
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Bach, (J.S.): Alio Modo (keyboard works transcribed for viols) Fretwork [ Harmonia Mundi / CD - released 25/Dec/2005 ] "Fretwork play with a gorgeous simplicity of expression and deep musicality." - The Independent, UK |
BENJAMIN BRITTEN
Britten: War Requiem (plus Rehearsal sequences bonus) (Rec 1963) Galina Vishnevskaya (soprano) Peter Pears (tenor) Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (baritone) / London Symphony & chorus, Benjamin Britten, with Simon Preston [ Decca Originals / 2 CD - released 12/Mar/2006 ] 1001 Classical Recordings you must hear before you die (1951 - present). "This superb recording, definitive in so many ways, speaks to us as powerfully today as it ever did" (MusicWeb Bargain of the Month Sept 2006) |
J. S. BACH
Bach: Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin BWV1001-1006 Gidon Kremer (violin) [ ECM Records / 2 CD - released 1/Apr/2009 ] Gidon Kremer's second complete recording (made in 2001 and 2002) of the six sonatas and partitas for solo violin is a radically new interpretation of them, not only at the level of technical and musical detail but in terms of the expressive qualities... |
GEORG FRIDERIC HANDEL
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Handel: Dixit Dominus,HWV232. Gloria in excelsis Deo. (with Vivaldi - Gloria, RV589) Gillian Keith (soprano) / Monteverdi Choir, John Elliot Gardiner [ Philips / CD - released 2/May/2002 ] "The acoustic is lavish, indeed thoroughly Baroque. The disc as a whole offers an excellent illustration of what that much-discussed word actually means in musical terms." - International Record Review (Jan 2002) |
CARL ORFF
Orff: Carmina Burana Gundula Janowitz, Gerhard Stolze, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau / Berlin Opera, Eugen Jochum [ Deutsche Grammophon Originals / CD - released 1/Jan/2001 ] "Jochum's 1968 recording of Carmina Burana has never sounded better than it does in this reissue in DG's 'Originals' series. The recording has a wide dynamic range and when the music blazes it has real spedour and excitement." (Penguin Stereo Guide) |
W. A. MOZART
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Mozart: Don Giovanni, K527 (Complete opera) Hakan Hagegard, Gilles Cachemaille, Arleen Auger, Della Jones / Drottningholm Court Theatre, Arnold Ostman [ Double Decca / 2 CD - released 1/Aug/2007 ] "Even those who have never been to Drottningholm and experienced Arnold Ostman's Mozart in the flesh will know exactly what it is that makes his recorded performances live." (Gramophone) |
RALPH VAUGHAN WILLIAMS
Vaughan Williams: Symphony No 1 'A Sea Symphony' Katherine Broderick (soprano) Roderick Williams (baritone) / Halle Choir, Youth Choir & Orchestra, Sir Mark Elder [ Halle / CD - released 6/Nov/2015 ] "The superbly honed choral and orchestral contribution surely testifies to many hours of painstaking preparation." (Gramophone Award Nomination 2016 - Orchestral) |
J. S. BACH
Bach: Mass in B minor Hannah Morrison (sop) Meg Bragle (alto) Esther Brazil (mezzo) Peter Davoren (ten) Alex Ashworth (bass) / English Baroque Soloists, John Eliot Gardiner [ Soli Deo Gloria / 2 CD - released 22/Dec/2015 ] "Thirty years since his pioneering first version, Gardiner returns to re-record the mighty Mass in B minor; the impressive result draws on all his great knowledge and experience of Bach's music." Gramophone Award Nomination 2016 - Baroque Vocal |
RAVEL
Miroirs (with Schumann-Kreisleriana) Herbert Schuch (piano) [ Oehms / CD - released 1/Jun/2006 ] "Herbert Schuch is a 27 year old Romanian whose recording debut is of an intimidating mastery and stylistic assurance." Editor's Choice Gramophone June 2006 |
CARLO GESUALDO
Gesualdo: Tenebrae The Hilliard Ensemble [ ECM Records / 2 CD - released 1/Apr/2009 ] Vocal ensemble performance doesn't get any more technically polished or musically affecting than this offering from the Hilliard Ensemble--an example of what happens when a group of individual singers performs as a spiritual entity. Of course, the... |
FRANZ SCHUBERT
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Complete Schubert Edition: Die Schone Mullerin Ian Bostridge (tenor) Graham Johnson (piano) Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (reader) [ Hyperion 30 / CD - released 1/Oct/2010 ] GRAMOPHONE AWARD WINNER - PENGUIN GUIDE ROSETTE - GRAMOPHONE EDITOR'S CHOICE / CRITICS' CHOICE |
PAGANINI
Violin Concerto No 1 / La Campanella / Moses Fantasy for violin & piano Ilya Gringolts (violin) / Lahti Symphony Orchestra / Osmo Vanska with Irina Ryumina (piano) [ BIS / CD - released 1/Mar/1999 ] Rosette Recording (Highest Award) Penguin Stereo Guide |
W. A. MOZART
Mozart: Complete Violin Concertos Isabelle Faust (violin) / Il Giardino Armonico, Giovanni Antonini [ Harmonia Mundi / 2 CD - released 20/Nov/2016 ] "her sound growing out of the corporate entity to glitter, coax, snarl and soar as required…[a] thought-provoking and eminently enjoyable cycle" Gramophone Award WINNER 2017 - RECORDING OF THE YEAR |
BEETHOVEN / ALBAN BERG
Beethoven / Berg: Violin Concertos Isabelle Faust (violin) / Orchestra Mozart / Claudio Abbado [ Harmonia Mundi / CD - released 1/Mar/2012 ] "The Beethoven and Berg Violin Concertos aren't commonly paired on disc. However, in this case it seems like an inspired piece of programme planning. Outstanding performances of both concertos, then; I'll want to return to them often." (Gramophone... |
