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 81 to 100 of 231
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) |
SERGEI PROKOFIEV / MAURICE RAVEL / FREDERIC CHOPIN
Prokofiev: Piano Sonata No 6 / Ravel: Gaspard de la Nuit / Chopin: Sonata No 2 Ivo Pogorelich (piano) [ Deutsche Grammophon Originals / CD - released 20/Mar/2003 ] "Pogorelich's Gaspard is out of the ordinary. In Le Gibet, we are made conscious of the pianist's refinement of tone and colour first, and Ravel's poetic vision afterwards, But for all that, this is piano playing of astonishing quality." Rosette Peng |
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) |
SCHUMANN / SCHUBERT / BRAHMS
Janet Baker sings Lieder Janet Baker (mezzo-soprano) / Martin Isepp (piano) [ Regis Records / CD - released 18/Oct/2005 ] "Janet Baker's range of expression.. runs the whole gamut from joyful golden tone colour of courtship to the agony of bereavement ..Martin Isepp a highly sensitive and and supportive partner.." - Penguin Guide Rosette |
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 |
MESSIAEN
Turangalila-symphonie Jean-Yves Thibaudet (piano) / Takashi Harada (ondes martenot) / Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra / Riccardo Chailly [ Decca 20C / CD - released 20/Mar/2013 ] "Chailly gets jiggy with it, in a performance that's interested in the carnal desire underpinning Messiaen's piece. It may be over the top for some tastes, but the orchestral playing is unbelievably powerful and hardcore. Vividly recorded, too."... |
DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH
Shostakovich: String Quartets No. 1, 4, 6, 8, 9 & 11 Jerusalem Quartet [ Harmonia Mundi Gold / 2 CD - released 1/Feb/2013 ] BBC AWARD WINNER 2008 - Best Chamber recording - 'This is challenging, unpredictable Shostakovich which always convinces even when the approach is new. The Jerusalem Quartet's tonal range is daunting too.' (BBC) |
J. S. BACH
Bach: Cantatas Vol 1: BWV7, 30, 167; BWV20, 39, 75 Joanne Lunn, Gillian Keith, Wilke te Brummelstroete, Paul Agnew. Monteverdi Choir. English Baroque Soloists. John Eliot Gardiner [ Soli Deo Gloria / 2 CD - released 10/Feb/2005 ] Cantatas For the Feast of St John the Baptist and the First Sunday after Trinity. "The first steps on this Bach pilgrimage lift the heart for the journey to come." Recording of the Month Gramophone Magazine (March 2005) WINNER BEST BAROQUE VOCAL... |
J. S. BACH
Bach: Cantatas Vol 10: BWV48, BWV5, BWV90 & BWV56; BWV79, BWV192 & BWV80 Joanne Lunn / William Towers / James Gilchrist / Peter Harvey / Monteverdi Choir / English Baroque Soloists / John Eliot Gardiner [ Soli Deo Gloria / 2 CD - released 20/Sep/2005 ] "This is the winner by any count." Recording of the Month Gramophone Magazine (Jan 2006) |
BERLIOZ / BOITO / VERDI
Requiem / Prologue to Mefistofele / Te Deum John Aler, tenor, Robert Shaw Chorale. Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. Robert Shaw [ Telarc Classics / 2 CD - released 7/Mar/2004 ] "The performance on this recording is about as satisfying as one can imagine, and the recording itself is simply breathtaking." —Stereophile |
HEINRICH IGNAZ FRANZ von BIBER
Biber: The Mystery Sonatas John Holloway / Davitt Moroney / Tragicomedia [ Virgin Veritas / 2 CD - released 2/Sep/2002 ] "Holloway's performance stands well against the competition and not least for the imaginative support he gets from his colourful continuo group." (Penguin Guide Rosette Recording) |
FRANZ LISZT
Liszt: Piano Works (Includes Fantasia on Hungarian Folk Themes & Mephisto Waltz No.1) ( nine CD set!) Jorge Bolet (piano) [ Decca Budget Boxes / 9 CD Box Set - released 26/May/2001 ] All Bolet's solo Liszt recordings in one box at a special price |
GEORG FRIDERIC HANDEL
Handel: Agrippina (complete opera) Joyce DiDonato, Elsa Benoit, Biagio Pizzuti, Franco Fagioli, Andrea Mastroni, Jakub Józef Orliński / l Pomo d'Oro, Maxim Emelyanychev [ Erato Classics / 3 CD - released 31/Jan/2020 ] "With DiDonato nonpareil in the title-role and a uniformly strong cast, this now becomes a first choice for Handel's Venetian masterpiece." Gramophone Awards 2020 WINNER - Opera |
BEETHOVEN
Early Cantatas, Opferlied & Meeresstille Judith Howarth, Janice Watson, Jean Rigby, John Mark Ainsley, Jose Van Dam / Corydon Singers & Orchestra, Matthew Best [ Hyperion Helios / CD - released 28/Aug/2014 ] 'Arguably Beethoven's first major masterpiece … superb performance, at once fresh and incisive and deeply moving' - PENGUIN GUIDE ROSETTE |
SAMUEL BARBER
Barber: Knoxville: Summer of 1915, Op 24 / Toccata Festiva, Op 24 Karina Gauvin (soprano) Thomas Trotter (organ) / Royal Scottish National Orchestra / Marin Alsop [ Naxos American Classics / CD - released 20/May/2004 ] "A Knoxville performance to treasure as this essential Barber series reaches a new high point" Gramophone Magazine Recording of the Month (June 2004) |
BEETHOVEN
Piano Trios Op.1 No.3 & B flat major 'Archduke' Kempf Trio [ BIS / SACD - released 1/Jul/2004 ] "...make room for pianist Freddy Kempf and his cohorts, whose individual and collective agility dazzles the ear and serves the composer well...Certainly this release bodes well for a complete Beethoven cycle from the Kempf trio, and represents its... |
PURCELL
Dido and Aeneas / Indian Queen (complete operas) Catherine Bott, Emma Kirkby, John Mark Ainsley, David Thomas / Chorus and Orchestra of The Academy of Ancient Music / Christopher Hogwood [ Decca Operas / 2 CD - released 22/Apr/2012 ] 1001 Classical recordings you must hear before you die (pre 1700) - "Key to the whole opera is the casting of Dido herself - and no singer surpasses Catherine Bott's poignant acceptance of death in the famous 'Lament'" (GP 1001 Classical recordings) |
NIKOLAI RIMSKY-KORSAKOV
Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherazade (with Borodin - In the Steppes of Central Asia & Balakirev - Islamey) Kirov Orchestra, Valery Gergiev [ Decca Records / CD - released 25/Oct/2002 ] Critic's Choice - Gramophone Magazine 2002 |
