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 198
CAMILLE SAINT-SAENS
Saint-Saëns: Organ Symphony / Carnival of the Animals Martha Argerich (piano) Antonio Pappano (piano) Daniele Rossi (organ) / Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia [ Warner Classics / CD - released 25/Sep/2017 ] Martha Argerich and Antonio Pappano (as pianist rather than conductor) lead the fun in Saint-Saëns' Carnival of the Animals with Members of the Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia. |
SERGEI PROKOFIEV
Prokofiev: Piano Concerto no 3 (coupled with Ravel-Piano Concerto in G) Martha Argerich (piano) / Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Claudio Abbado [ Deutsche Grammophon The Originals / CD - released 5/May/2000 ] "all done with the most engaging reckless abandon." (Gramophone) |
BRAHMS
Clarinet Works (Incls sonatas & trio) Martin Frost (clarinet) / Roland Pantinen (piano) / Torleif Thedaen (cello) [ BIS SACD / Hybrid SACD - released 1/Oct/2005 ] "Martin Fröst is as fine a clarinetist as anyone alive today, and he teams up with two equally superb colleagues in presenting exceptional performances of these three chestnuts of the chamber-music-with-winds repertoire...if you're looking for... |
WEBER
Clarinet Concertos Martin Frost (clarinet) / Tapiola Sinfonietta / Jean-Jacques Kantorow [ BIS SACD / Hybrid SACD - released 1/Oct/2013 ] "This is an absolutely wonderful disc in every way. Weber's clarinet music is delightful, and it's hard to imagine it being better played or recorded. Martin Fröst has such a supple, liquid timbre that at times you could almost swear there were words... |
LUDWIG van BEETHOVEN
Beethoven: The Late Piano Sonatas Maurizio Pollini (piano) [ Deutsche Grammophon The Originals / 2 CD - released 6/Jul/2004 ] "Pollini's recordings of the late sonatas, which won the 1977 Gramophone critic's award for instrumental music, contain playing of the highest mastery." - Penguin Stereo Guide |
TCHAIKOVSKY / SHOSTAKOVICH / PAGANINI / SIBELIUS / BACH / MENDELSSOHN / BARTOK / etc
The Art of Midori Midori (violin) / Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Israel Philharmonic, with Robert McDonald (piano) [ Sony Classical / 10 CD Box Set - released 26/May/2017 ] "A very grand performance, full of swaggering confidence and interpretative panache..Strongly recommended for anyone fancying this coupling." (Gramophone on the Tchaikosvky/Shostakovich) |
PYOTR Il'yich TCHAIKOVSKY
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Great Pianists of the 20th Century - Mikhail Pletnev Mikhail Pletnev (piano) / The Philharmonia, Vladimir Fedoseyev [ BMG Philips EMI / 2 CD - released 20/Jan/2018 ] "Admirers of this pianist will count this Double an outstanding bargain." *** Three Stars Penguin Stereo Guide |
PYOTR ILYICH TCHAIKOSVKY
Tchaikovsky: 1812 Overture, Capriccio Italien (with Beethoven-Wellington's Victory) Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra / London Symphony Orchestra / Antal Dorati [ Mercury Originals / CD - released 14/Jun/2007 ] "This most famous of all Mercury records was one of the most successful classical LPs of all time, selling some two million copies in the analogue era. Remastered for CD, it sounds even more spectacular than it ever did in its vinyl format, vividly... |
W. A. MOZART
Mozart: The Piano Sonatas (Complete) Mitsuko Uchida (piano) [ Philips / 5 CD Box Set - released 2/Dec/2001 ] 1001 Classical recordings to hear before you die - "In a relatively short time Mitsuko Uchida's outstanding recordings of the complete Mozart piano sonatas have come to be regarded as among the "must have" classics of recorded music" Penguin Guide |
ANTONIO VIVALDI
Vivaldi: Four Seasons / La Notte / Concerto in Re minore per Viola d'amore & Lute Monica Huggett (viola d'amore) Jakob Lindberg (lute) Clas Pehrsson (recorder) / Drottningholm Baroque Ensemble [ BIS / CD - released 1/Oct/2013 ] "This performance comes out on top of every other recording I have listened to...The Drottningholm Baroque Ensemble produces tremendous rhythmic drive, conjuring up real excitement" (Classic CD) |
MAURICE RAVEL
Ravel: Bolero / La Valse / Rapsodie Espagnole / Ma Mere l'Oye / Daphnis et Chloe Montreal Symphony Orchestra, Charles Dutoit [ Double Decca / 2 CD - released 12/Jul/2000 ] "Anyone beginning a Ravel collection, or coming fresh to most of this repertoire and willing to duplicate, will find this Double Decca unbeatable value" A Rosette recording - Penguin Stereo Guide |
GUSTAV HOLST
Holst: The Planets Montreal Symphony Orchestra / Charles Dutoit [ Decca Records / CD - released 10/Aug/2007 ] 1001 Classical recordings you must hear before you die (1901-1950) - "an highly successful version, both rich and brilliant, and recorded with an opulence to outshine almost all rivals. *** Three Stars. Penguin Stereo. |
PYOTR ILYICH TCHAIKOVSKY
Tchaikovsky: Rococo Variations (with Dvorak - Cello Concerto) Mstislav Rostropovich (cello) / Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra / Herbert von Karajan [ Deutsche Grammophon The Originals / CD - released 1/Jan/2001 ] "the intensity of lyrical feeling and the spontaneity of the partnership between Karajan and Rostropovich ensures the position of their disc at the top of recommendations for this peer among nineteenth century cello concertos." Rosette. Penguin... |
FREDERIC CHOPIN
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Chopin: Etudes: Op. 25 & Op. 10 Murray Perahia (piano) [ Sony Music / CD - released 2/Dec/2002 ] Gramophone Magazine Award Finalist 2003 - Recording of the Month (Gramophone November 2002) |
W. A. MOZART
Mozart: Sonata in D Major for Two Pianos / etc (with Schubert - Fantasia in F minor for two pianos) Murray Perahia (piano) Radu Lupu (piano) [ Sony Originals / CD - released 20/Jul/2011 ] 1001 Classical recordings to hear before you die (1801-1850) - "The performance of Lupu and Perahia is full of haunting poetry, with each of these highly individual artists challenging the other in imagination." (*** Three Stars. Penguin Stereo Guide) |
LUDWIG van BEETHOVEN
Beethoven: The Five Piano Concertos (3 CDs ) Murray Perahia (piano) / Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Bernard Haitink [ Sony Music / 3 CD - released 12/Jul/2007 ] "Perahia, with Haitink a deeply sympathetic partner, gives masterly performances, as close to the heart of the music as any. The sound is full and well balanced...well worth it." (Penguin Stereo Guide) |
VERDI
Rigoletto (Complete Opera recorded in 1985) Neil Shicoff, Renata Bruson, Edita Gruberova / Santa Cecilia Acad. / Sinopoli [ Decca Grand Opera / 2 CD - released 20/Jun/2012 ] American tenor Neil Shicoff as the Duke heads up a starry cast which also includes one of the great Italian Verdi baritones as Rigoletto, Renato Bruson |
GERSHWIN / GROFE / HAYDN / BEETHOVEN / STRAVINSKY / BERNSTEIN / MAHLER
This is Leonard Bernstein: His Greatest Recordings Rudolf Serkin, Lukas Foss (pianos), Original Broadway Cast, Dietrich Fischer Dieskau (baritone) / New York Philharmonic Orchestra, Leonard Bernstein [ Sony Classical / 16 CD Box Set - released 1/Nov/2009 ] This special edition collects the conductor-composer's 15 most celebrated original albums from the 1950s and 60s on 16 CDs. The best selection of his benchmark recordings as a conductor, composer and pianist. |
DOUGLAS LILBURN
Lilburn: The Three Symphonies New Zealand Symphony Orchestra / James Judd [ Naxos / CD - released 2/May/2002 ] "There's a freshness and enthusiasm in Judd's readings, and he takes care with the music, observing every detail. Throughout all three symphonies there is a greater breadth and warmth of emotion than we've heard before." - Sunday Star Times (May 2002 |
BIZET
L'Arlesienne & Carmen Suites / Symphony in C / La Jolie fille de Perth Orchestre Symphonique de Montreal / Charles Dutoit [ Double Decca / 2 CD - released 8/Sep/2003 ] "With playing that is both elegant and vivid, and with superb, demonstration-worthy sound, Dutoit's polished yet affectionate coupling of the L'Arlesienne and Carmen suites make a clear first choice." (Penguin Guide) |
