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 61 to 80 of 225
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) |
JOHANNES BRAHMS
Brahms: Symphonies (complete) / Overtures / Hungarian Dances / etc Gewandhausorchester, Riccardo Chailly [ Decca / 3 CD Box Set - released 1/Nov/2013 ] BBC Music Magazine Awards 2014 Orchestral WINNER / GRAMOPHONE MAGAZINE AWARD WINNER 2014 - Orchestral |
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... |
BARTOK / BEETHOVEN / BRAHMS / BUSONI / JANACEK / MESSIAEN / PROKOFIEV / etc
Violin Sonatas Gidon Kremer (violin) with Martha Argerich, Valery Afanassiev and Oleg Maisenberg [ DG Collector's Edition / 8 CD - released 9/Oct/2003 ] The present set includes the complete Beethoven and Brahms Sonatas, as well as the two well-known Schumann Sonatas, plus Sonatas by Richard Strauss, Busoni, Bartok, Janacek, Prokofiev, and Messiaen's Theme and Variations - restoring many recordings... |
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... |
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 |
LUDWIG van BEETHOVEN
Beethoven: Complete sonatas for violin and piano (plus free 'making of' DVD) Isabelle Faust (violin) Alexander Melnikov (piano) [ Harmonia Mundi / 4 CD Box Set - released 1/Sep/2009 ] Gramophone Awards 2010: WINNER: Chamber - "The combination of the two fires a laser between the staves...A marvellous set." Gramophone Magazine |
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... |
BELA BARTOK
Bartok: Violin Concertos Isabelle Faust (violin) / Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Daniel Harding [ Harmonia Mundi / CD - released 29/Jul/2013 ] BBC Music Magazine Awards 2014 Concerto Finalist / GRAMOPHONE MAGAZINE AWARD NOMINATION 2014 |
FREDERIC CHOPIN
Chopin: Scherzi, Preludes & Piano Sonata No. 2 Ivo Pogorelich (piano) [ Deutsche Grammophon Duo / 2 CD - released 15/Mar/2012 ] "Second to none in sheer keyboard brilliance … everything he does is always done with princely authority." (Gramophone) |
KRZYSZTOF PENDERECKI
Penderecki: A Polish Requiem Izabela Klosinska (soprano) Ryszard Minkiewicz (tenor) Piotr Nowacki (bass) Jadwiga Rappe (alto) / Warsaw Philharmonic Choir & Orchestra / Antoni Wit [ Naxos / 2 CD - released 14/Dec/2004 ] "Performed with fervour. This disc is now the top recommendation." - MusicWeb April 2005 |
EDWARD ELGAR
Elgar: Cello Concerto / Sea Pictures / Overture: Cockaigne Jacqueline Du Pre (cello) Dame Janet Baker (mezzo) / London Symphony Orchestra, Sir John Barbirolli [ Warner Classics Original Jacket Reissues / CD - released 22/Aug/2015 ] GRAMOPHONE MAGAZINE 100 GREATEST RECORDINGS OF ALL TIME |
BARBER / KORNGOLD / WALTON
Barber / Korngold / Walton: Violin Concertos James Ehnes (violin) / Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, Bramwell Tovey [ ONYX / CD - released 1/Feb/2007 ] Rosette Recording - Penguin Stereo Guide - "A fine violinist excels himself in an outstanding trio of romantic concertos" (Gramophone) |
MAURICE RAVEL
Ravel: Jeux de Miroirs Javier Perianes (piano) / Orchestre de Paris, Josep Pons [ Harmonia Mundi / CD - released 29/Nov/2019 ] "I loved this disc. The music is wonderful; within this programme we experience Ravel as poet, sophisticate, wit and, always, as the master craftsman." MusicWeb Recommended Feb 2020 |
