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 101 to 120 of 246
SAMUEL BARBER / WILLIAM WALTON
Barber / Walton: Violin Concertos (with Bloch's Baal Shem) Joshua Bell (violin) / Baltimore Symphony / David Zinman [ Decca Originals / CD - released 20/Aug/2006 ] 1998 Gramophone Concerto Winner - "Bell's passionate playing in the Barber, full of tender poetry, is well matched by the excellent orchestra, ripely and brilliantly recorded." |
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 |
TCHAIKOVSKY
The Nutcracker (Complete ballet on one CD) The Kirov Orchestra / Valery Gergiev [ Philips / CD - released 15/Apr/2003 ] 1001 Classical recordings you must hear before you die (1851-1900) - "Philips has somehow crammed more than 81 minutes of superb sound onto this disc, making it a remarkable bargain. Very highly recommended!" |
J.S. BACH
Cantatas Nos BWV179, BWV199 & BWV113 Kozena, Towers, Padmore, Loges / English Baroque Soloists / John Eliot Gardiner [ DG Archiv / CD - released 21/Oct/2000 ] A live performance of Bach's Cantatas for the 11th Sunday after Trinity. Features Magdalena Kozena's stunning performance of BWV199 "Mein Herze schwimmt in Blut" |
JOHANNES BRAHMS
Brahms: 3 Violin Sonatas Krysia Osostowicz (violin) Susan Tomes (piano) [ Hyperion Helios / CD - released 26/May/2008 ] 'Subtle enough to suggest that for both artists these performances were a revelatory voyage of discovery' (Gramophone) |
FRANZ LISZT
Liszt: Piano Concertos Nos 1 & 2 / Totentanz Krystian Zimerman (piano) / Boston Symphony Orchestra / Seiji Ozawa [ Deutsche Grammophon / CD - released 2/Jan/2002 ] Rosette (Highest Rating) Penguin Stereo Guide |
MAURICE RAVEL
Ravel: The Piano Concertos / Valses nobles et sentimentales (orchestral version) Krystian Zimerman (piano) Cleveland Orchestra / London Symphony / Pierre Boulez [ Deutsche Grammophon / CD - released 20/Jul/2001 ] 1999 Gramophone Award Winner: Concerto - A Penguin Stereo Guide Rosette recording |
MAX BRUCH
Bruch: Violin Concerto / Scottish Fantasy Kyung-Wha Chung (violin) / Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Rudolf Kempe [ Decca Virtuoso / CD - released 27/Oct/2011 ] "Kyung-Wha Chung is a formidable player. She has a bold attack which springs from absolute security of intonation...the sound of the lyrical passages especially is consistently bright and rich, tonally integrated from top to bottom and of a really... |
SIBELIUS
Rondo of the Waves: The Oceanides, Op.73 / Coronation March / Porilaisten marssi / etc Lahti Symphony Orchestra conducted by Osmo Vanska [ BIS / CD - released 1/Mar/2003 ] GRAMOPHONE AWARD WINNER 2003 - Orchestral |
SIBELIUS
Tone Poems: En Saga, The Dryad, Pohjola's Daughter, Night Ride and Sunrise Lahti Symphony Orchestra conducted by Osmo Vanska [ BIS / CD - released 1/Apr/2002 ] 1001 Classical recordings you must hear before you die (1901-1950) - This is a very appealing collection of Sibelius favourites and rarities." (Editor's Choice Gramophone Magazine Sept 2002) |
J. S. BACH
Musical Offering (Musikalisches Opfer) BWV1079 Le Concert des Nations, Jordi Savall [ Alia Vox / CD - released 30/Dec/2005 ] "One is occasionally fortunate enough to come across a new recording of a great work, and a personal favourite, that is so good that all other recordings pale in comparison. A recording that is not only played and recorded impeccably, but also one... |
LUDWIG van BEETHOVEN
Beethoven: Symphony No. 3 in E flat major, Op. 55 'Eroica' / Coriolan Overture, Op. 62 Le Concert des Nations, Jordi Savall [ Alia Vox SACD / Hybrid SACD - released 25/May/2016 ] "the end-result has been amongst the most impressive demonstrations of believable surround-sound I have heard." Recording of the Month MusicWeb (May 2016) |
EDWARD GRIEG
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Grieg: Lyric Pieces Leif Ove Andsnes (piano) [ EMI / Warner Classics / CD - released 3/Mar/2002 ] GRAMOPHONE AWARD WINNER 2002 - Instrumental |
HAYDN
Piano Sonatas Nos 24, 30, 32, 33 & 34 Leif Ove Andsnes (piano) [ EMI Music / CD - released 11/Jan/2002 ] Rosette (Highest Rating) Penguin Stereo Guide |
SIBELIUS
Violin Concerto (Original & Final Versions) Leonidas Kavakos (violin) / Lahti Symphony Orchestra / Osmo Vanska [ BIS / CD - released 1/Oct/2013 ] "This disc offers an invaluable insight into the workings of Sibelius's mind.." (Gramophone) |
