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 121 to 140 of 174
BEETHOVEN
Piano Works Vol. 1 (Includes the Pathatique Sonata) Ronald Brautigam (fortepiano) [ BIS / SACD - released 1/Sep/2004 ] "The playing is riveting. Brautigam draws out the "Pathetique" sonata's first-movement introduction with plenty of rhetorical emphasis yet keeps the dotted rhythms in sharp focus...Whether in SACD surround-sound or conventional two-channel stereo... |
EDVARD GREIG
Grieg: Peer Gynt / Symphonic Dance No.2 / In Autumn / etc. Ilse Hollweg (soprano) / Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Sir Thomas Beecham [ Warner Classics / CD - released 13/Feb/2012 ] "Beecham showed a very special feeling for this score and to hear (these excerpts) under his baton is a uniquely rewarding experience. Ilse Hollweg makes an excellent soloist." Rosette - Penguin Stereo Guide |
ERICH WOLFGANG KORNGOLD
Korngold: Violin Concerto / String Sextet Andrew Haverson (violin) / RTE Concert Orchestra, John Wilson (conductor) [ Chandos / CD - released 3/Apr/2020 ] "[The Sextet] gets an absolutely cracking performance here from key members of Wilson's newly reformed Sinfonia of London led by Haveron" Gramophone Editor's Choice May 2020 |
FAURÉ / POULENC / RAVEL / DEBUSSY
Chanson d'Amour Sabine Devieilhe (soprano), Alexandre Tharaud (piano) [ Erato Classics / CD - released 11/Sep/2020 ] GRAMOPHONE Award Nomination 2021 - Song BBC Music Award Nomination 2021 - Vocal |
LUDWIG van BEETHOVEN
Beethoven: Fidelio (compete opera recorded in 1962) Gottlob Frick, Christa Ludwig, Walter Berry, Ingeborg Hallstein / Philharmonia Orchestra & Chorus, Otto Klemperer [ Warner Classics the Home of Opera / 2 CD - released 1/Feb/2016 ] "Christa Ludwig, a mezzo rather than true soprano, brings dark colours to the role of Leonore, while tenor Jon Vickers is a superb Florestan." BBC Music Magazine, January 2012 |
W.A. MOZART
Flute Concertos Sharon Bezaly (flute) / Ostrobothnian Chamber Orchestra, Juha Kangas [ BIS SACD / SACD - released 1/Feb/2008 ] "I was immediately struck by the dynamic shading the conductor was extracting from the orchestra, each phrase sharply chiselled. A remarkable and fascinating achievement." (MusicWeb Oct 2005) |
PROKOFIEV / SCHUBERT / DUTILLEUX / JOLIVET
Masterworks for Flute and Piano Sharon Bezaly (flute) / Ronald Brautigam (piano) [ BIS SACD / Hybrid SACD - released 1/Jan/2006 ] "On the evidence of this sensational disc, it seems clear that Sharon Bezaly is a flutist virtually without peer in the world today. Here we have four genuine masterpieces that make a lovely program together, all really written for flute and piano,... |
GIUSEPPE VERDI
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Verdi: Macbeth (Complete Opera with libretto) Shirley Verrett, Piero Cappuccilli, Placido Domingo / Milan La Scala Chorus; Milan La Scala Orchestra / Claudio Abbado [ Deutsche Grammophon Originals / 2 CD Box Set - released 5/May/2000 ] 1001 Classical recordings you must hear before you die (1801-1850) - "scrupulously prepared, executed and recorded." (Gramophone) |
HANDEL
La Maga Abbandonata Simone Kermes / Maite Beaumont / Il Complesso Barocco / Alan Curtis [ Deutsche Harmonia Mundi / Hybrid SACD - released 2/May/2007 ] The two singers on this disc are outstanding. Simone Kermes, familiar to Handel lovers from Peter Neumann's impressive German recordings of Saul and Belshazzar, and who has recorded the title-role in Curtis's Deidamia, is a clean and focussed soprano... |
HANDEL
La Diva: Arias for Cuzzoni Simone Kermes (soprano) / Lautten Compagney / Wolfgang Katschner (conductor) [ Berlin Classics / CD - released 1/Apr/2009 ] This recording presents opera arias written for the brightest star soprano in Handel's London opera company, the Italian soprano Francesca Cuzzoni. These arias demonstrate the emotional and vocal range demanded by Handel's female characters,... |
IVES / TIPPETT / POULENC / BARBER / STRAVINSKY
A la Gloire de Dieu The Sixteen / BBC Philharmonic Orchestra / Harry Christophers [ Coro / CD - released 14/Jul/2003 ] BEST VERSION EVER OF THE "SYMPHONY OF PSALMS" "The Sixteen give a deeply committed and technically brilliant reading of this extremely difficult repertoire." - Gramophone. |
J. S. BACH
Lutheran Masses Volume 1 The Sixteen Harry Christophers [ Coro / CD - released 1/Nov/2013 ] Following a series of concerts at London's newest music venue, Kings Place, Harry Christophers and The Sixteen recorded two new CDs of the Masses. Each volume also features a Cantata. The fact that The Sixteen has not performed or recorded such a... |
GIACOMO PUCCINI
Puccini: Turandot (Complete Opera) Sondra Radvanovsky, Jonas Kaufmann, Ermonela Jaho, Michele Pertusi / Orchestra e Coro dell'Accadmia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Antonio Pappano [ Warner Classics / 2 CD - released 10/Mar/2023 ] "A Turandot for the ages? This recording holds its own against venerable competition and, in the original Alfano completion, is unique." Gramophone Award Finalist 2023 - Opera |
SHOSTAKOVICH
String Quartets 4, 6 & 8 St Petersburg String Quartet [ Hyperion / CD - released 15/Nov/2000 ] 'These are among the great interpretations that have been placed on disc' (Fanfare). |
JOHANNES BRAHMS
Brahms: The Final Piano Pieces Stephen Hough (piano) [ Hyperion / CD - released 31/Jan/2020 ] "'One of the finest accounts of Brahms's late piano works on record, one that stands head and shoulders above most contenders in an ever-growing catalogue." Gramophone Awards 2020 Short List - Instrumental |
FEDERICO MOMPOU
Mompou: Piano Works Stephen Hough (piano) [ Hyperion / CD - released 19/Sep/2003 ] 1001 Classical recordings you must hear before you die (1901-1950) - Rosette (Highest Rating) Penguin Stereo Guide - GRAMOPHONE EDITOR'S CHOICE |
FELIX MENDELSSOHN
Mendelssohn: Piano Concerto No 1 & No 2 / Capriccio Brillant in B minor Op 22; Rondo Brillant in E flat major Op 29 ; etc (The Romantic Piano Concerto Stephen Hough (piano) City of Birmingham Symphony / Lawrence Foster [ Hyperion Romantic Piano Concerto Vol 17 / CD - released 15/Apr/2003 ] 1001 Classical recordings to hear before you die (1801-1850) - 'The soft, stylish arpeggios that open the first work on the disc announce immediately that something special is on the way. Hough is now clearly first recommendation in the concertos'... |
CAMILLE SAINT-SAENS
Saint-Saens: Piano Concertos Nos 1-5 / Africa Fantasie for piano and orchestra Stephen Hough (piano) / City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Sakari Oramo [ Hyperion Romantic Piano Concertos Vol 27 / 2 CD - released 16/Sep/2001 ] 1001 Classical recordings you must hear before you die (1851-1900) -- "This seems to me a spiffing set and pleasurable discoveries and rediscoveries await." (Gramophone) |
SERGEI RACHMANINOV
Rachmaninov: Piano Concertos Nos 1 - 4 / Rhapsody on a theme of Paganini Stephen Hough (piano) / Dallas Symphony Orchestra. Andrew Litton [ Hyperion / 2 CD - released 1/Nov/2010 ] "His thorough knowledge of the Romantic repertoire makes him an ideal advocate for this music and Andrew Litton is the ideal partner, especially with his fine Dallas orchestra." - Editor's Choice Gramophone Magazine (Awards Issue 2004) |
JOHANN NEPOMUK HUMMEL
Hummel: Piano Concertos Nos 2 & 3 Stephen Hough (piano) / English Chamber Orchestra / Bryden Thomson [ Chandos Classics / CD - released 10/May/2004 ] "In Stephen Hough's virtuosic hands, the coruscating final coda of the A minor Concerto is one of the most exciting things I've heard for years. Bravo!" - Lionel Salter (Gramophone) |
