Please help me educate myself!

[coffee]

Please recommend to me the recordings that you believe are the most important in classical music. Periodically I'll buy the most recommended ones, trusting the collective judgement of this forum community.

For practicality's sake, please recommend particular recordings rather than box sets... though if I can find the particular recording that you recommend in a box set, I might go in that direction.

I've been listening a few years but the truth is that I'm basically a newbie to classical music. Please don't bother trying to tailor your recommendations to my taste (I like everything I've heard from Gregorian Chant to spectralism and new complexity); my goal is to educate myself ASAP. Instead, please tell me what recordings you love most, or what recordings you think are the most important for me to know well. When you agree with someone's recommendation, please say so because I will be counting up how many recommendations each recording gets and listening to the most recommended ones.

I know that it is a bit personal for each of you, that there isn't an objectively correct answer, but I appreciate all of your input and advice. I absolutely promise to listen to all of the recordings that the community highly recommends.*

To anyone who contributes: I thank you so much for your help!

*Spotify and iTunes music aren't available in my country, and I don't listen to pirated music on youtube, so if I don't already own a highly recommended recording, I will buy it as soon as I can.

Here is the most recent tally - if you agree with any of these recommendations, please let me know so that I can prioritize it more highly, and if there is anything missing that you'd like to recommend, please let me know about that too! Please! 

3 recommendations:

2 recommendations each:
- Beethoven: Symphonies, etc. - Harnoncourt (Warner) - Wanderer, Jay F
- Elgar: Cello Concerto, etc. - Du Pre, Baker, Barbirolli (EMI) - Daverz, North Star
- Janacek: Glagolitic Mass, Taras Bulba - Ancerl (Supraphon) - Daverz, North Star
- Ligeti: Atmospheres, Lontano, etc. - Nott - North Star, EigenUser
- Ligeti: Piano Etudes, etc. - Aimard (Sony) - North Star, EigenUser
- Mozart: Symphonies #38-41 - Mackerras (Linn) - Jay F, North Star
- Prokofiev, Ravel: Piano Concertos - Argerich, Abbado (DG) - Daverz, North Star
- Schumann: Piano Concerto, etc. - Moravec, Neumann (Supraphon) - Daverz, North Star
- Stravinsky: 3 Greek Ballets - Craft (Naxos) - North Star, EigenUser
- Verdi: Otello - Chung - marvinbrown, mc ukrneal
- Wagner: Parsifal - Knappertsbusch - marvinbrown, North Star

1 recommendation each:
- Bach: Brandenburg Concertos - Pinnock (DG/Archiv) - Jay F
- Bach: Cantatas 61, 122, 123, 182 - Milnes (Atma) - North Star
- Bach: Goldberg Variations - Schiff (Decca) - Jay F
- Bartok: Box Xet - Boulez (DG) - North Star
- Bartok: Concerto for Orchestra, etc. - Reiner (RCA) - EigenUser
- Beethoven: Piano Sonatas #8, 14, 21, 30 - Firkusny - mc ukrneal
- Beethoven: Piano Sonatas #21 "Waldstein," #26 "Les adieux," & #23 "Appassionata" - Gilels (DG) - Jay F
- Beethoven: Symphonies - Blomstedt - Daverz
- Beethoven: Symphony #9 - Karajan (DG) 1977 - Jay F
- Beethoven: Violin Sonatas - Cerovsek (Claves) - Wanderer
- Berlioz: L'enfance du Christ - Herreweghe (HM) - North Star
- Borodin: Symphony #2, etc. - Kubelik: Vienna - Daverz
- Brahms: Piano Concertos - Pollini (DG) - Wanderer
- Brahms: Symphony #1; Schumann: Symphony #1 - Karajan (DG) - Wanderer
- Brahms: Symphony #4 - Reiner: Royal Phil (Chesney) - Daverz
- British Light Classics (Hyperion) - mc ukrneal
- Britten: Serande - Bostridge, Rattle - North Star
- Bruckner: Symphony #3 - Harnoncourt (Teldec) - Wanderer
- Bruckner: Symphony #9 - Rattle (Warner) - Wanderer
- Copland: Appalachian Spring, etc. - Bernstein (Sony) - Daverz
- Copland, etc.: Latin American Fiesta - Bernstein (Sony) - Daverz
- Donizetti: Lucia di Lammermoor - Sutherland, Bonynge (Decca) - mc ukrneal
- Dvorak: Cello Concerto; Bruch: Kil Nidrei, etc. - Fournier (DG) - Daverz
- Dvorak: Symphonies 7-9 - Neumann (Supraphon) - Daverz
- Gershwin: Works for Piano & Orchestra - Siegel, Slatkin (Vox) - Daverz
- Holst: The Planets - Dutoit (Decca) - Daverz
- Ives: An American Journey - Tilson Thomas (RCA) - North Star
- Khachaturian: Masquerade Suite, etc. - Kondrashin (RCA) - Daverz
- Mahler: Symphony #1 - Bernstein: Concertgebouw (DG) - Jay F
- Mahler: Symphony #1; Strauss: Till Eulenspiegel - Ancerl (Supraphon) - Daverz
- Mahler: Symphony #5 - Bernstein: Vienna (DG) - Jay F
- Mendelssohn: Octet; Schubert: Piano Quintet, Octet - Vienna Oktett (Decca)
- Messiaen: Turangalila Symphony - Chung (DG) - EigenUser
- Monteverdi, etc.: Vespers, etc. - Alessandrini (naive) - North Star 
- Mozart: Le Nozze di Figaro - Solti (Decca) - mc ukrneal
- Mozart: Piano Concertos #9, 15, 22, 25, 27 - Brendel, Marriner (Decca) - Jay F
- Mozart: Piano Concertos #19, 20, 21, 23, 24 - Brendel, Marriner (Decca) - Jay F
- Mozart: Symphonies #38 & 41 - Jacobs (HM) - North Star
- Pärt: Tabula Rasa - Kremer (ECM) - North Star
- Prokofiev: Alexander Nevsky; Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition - Schippers - Daverz
- Rachmaninov: Vespers - Hillier (HM) - North Star
- Ravel: La Valse, etc. - Monteux (Philips) - Daverz
- Richafort: Requiem - Cinquecento (Hyperion) - North Star
- Schubert: Piano Quintet "Trout", SQ Death & the Maiden - Amadeus & Gilels (DG) - Jay F
- Schubert: Piano Trios - Beaux Arts Trio (Philips) - Jay F
- Schubert: String Quartets, String Quintet - Emerson, Rostropovich (DG) - Jay F
- Shostakovich: Cello Concerto, Symphony #1 - Rostropovich, Ormandy (Sony) - Daverz
- Sibelius, Prokofiev, Glazunov: Violin Concertos - Heifetz (RCA) - Daverz
- Stravinsky: Box Set - Boulez (DG) - North Star
- Stravinsky: Stuff - Stravinsky - jochanaan
- Stravinsky: Symphonies & Concertos - Grumiaux, Davis, Markevitch, etc. (Philips) - Daverz
- Tchaikovsky: The Nutcracker - Ormandy - Daverz
- Vaughan Williams: Symphony #5, etc. - Barbirolli - Daverz
- Vaughan Williams: Symphony #5, etc. - Handley - Daverz
- Wagner: Der Ring des Nibelungen - Böhm - marvinbrown
- Wagner: Der Ring des Nibelungen - Solti - marvinbrown
- Wagner: Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg - Karajan - marvinbrown
- Wagner: Tristan und Isolde - Böhm - marvinbrown
- Wagner: Orchestral Music - Karajan (EMI) - Daverz

[EigenUser]

Please recommend to me the recordings that you believe are the most important in classical music. Periodically I'll buy the most recommended ones, trusting the collective judgement of this forum community.

For practicality's sake, please recommend particular recordings rather than box sets... though if I can find the particular recording that you recommend in a box set, I might go in that direction.

I've been listening a few years but the truth is that I'm basically a newbie to classical music. Please don't bother trying to tailor your recommendations to my taste (I like everything I've heard from Gregorian Chant to spectralism and new complexity); my goal is to educate myself ASAP. Instead, please tell me what recordings you love most, or what recordings you think are the most important for me to know well. When you agree with someone's recommendation, please say so because I will be counting up how many recommendations each recording gets and listening to the most recommended ones.

I know that it is a bit personal for each of you, that there isn't an objectively correct answer, but I appreciate all of your input and advice. I absolutely promise to listen to all of the recordings that the community highly recommends.*

To anyone who contributes: I thank you so much for your help!

*Spotify and iTunes music aren't available in my country, and I don't listen to pirated music on youtube, so if I don't already own a highly recommended recording, I will buy it as soon as I can.

Okay, here are two from the first half of the 20th-century.

The Bartok/Reiner is legendary. As for the piece, the "Concerto for Orchestra" (1942-ish) is complicated and interested, while still accessible. I bought the original LP just so I could frame it and hang it on my wall in college!
[asin]B000003FEJ[/asin]

Composed only a few years later, there is Chung's recording of another Serge Koussevitzky Boston Symphony orchestra commission -- Messiaen's monumental "Turangalila-Symphonie". While the ondes-Martinot could be a little bit louder in places, it is overall an outstanding rendition that Messaien considered to be the definitive recording.
[asin]B000001GF6[/asin]

[Jay F]

Though buying a box set can often be the least expensive way to buy a single recording, I'll go along with your request for individual discs. I think a beginning collection should include:

MAHLER: Symphonies. These two Bernstein recordings on DG (Deutsche Grammophon) are a good place to start: [asin]B000001GAC[/asin][asin]B000001G9F[/asin]

BEETHOVEN: Symphony #9. Here's is Herbert von Karajan's 1977 recording of Symphony #9, which I like more than any other version. [asin]B000LC4B3E[/asin]

BEETHOVEN: Piano Sonatas. A couple of the most familiar ones, by Emil Gilels: [asin]B000001G79[/asin]

SCHUBERT: the Late String Quartets, and the String Quintet [asin]B0001ZWGI8[/asin]

SCHUBERT: Trout Quintet and Death and the Maiden [asin]B000001GXF[/asin]

SCHUBERT: Piano Trios [asin]B000EBD84U[/asin]

BACH: Goldberg Variations [asin]B000E6EGX2[/asin]

BACH: Brandenburg Concertos [asin]B0000057D8[/asin]

[coffee]

Thank you both so much! I appreciate your help very much.

I've recorded your recommendations here, let me know if you see any problems:

1 recommendation each:

- Bach: Brandenburg Concertos - Pinnock (DG/Archiv) - Jay F
- Bach: Goldberg Variations - Schiff (Decca) - Jay F
- Bartok: Concerto for Orchestra, etc. - Reiner (RCA) - EigenUser
- Beethoven: Piano Sonatas #21 "Waldstein," #26 "Les adieux," & #23 "Appassionata" - Gilels (DG) - Jay F
- Beethoven: Symphony #9 - Karajan (DG) 1977 - Jay F
- Mahler: Symphony #1 - Bernstein: Concertgebouw (DG) - Jay F
- Mahler: Symphony #5 - Bernstein: Vienna (DG) - Jay F
- Messiaen: Turangalila Symphony - Chung (DG) - EigenUser
- Schubert: Piano Quintet "Trout", SQ Death & the Maiden - Amadeus & Gilels (DG) - Jay F
- Schubert: Piano Trios - Beaux Arts Trio (Philips) - Jay F
- Schubert: String Quartets, String Quintet - Emerson, Rostropovich (DG) - Jay F

To everyone else: Please add your own recommendations! Second the ones you agree with! Thank you so much!

[mc ukrneal]

The best single disc of Beethoven I have ever heard:

In my opinion, this blows Gilels out of the water.

Here is something that I love - light music. If you don't want the set, you can always find the first disc separately:
[asin]B000IB0DJE[/asin]

And I would be remiss not to include an opera. I include one of the funniest, with some of the most divine music ever conducted (be sure to read the libretto - quite funny):
[asin]B0000041OU[/asin]

[North Star]

For Bartók & Stravinsky, I'd recommend the Boulez boxes on Deutsche Grammophon.
I'd also recommend the Argerich DG Chamber box, for the Bartók Sonata for two pianos & percussion, and the two piano / piano-four-hands music (Prokofiev, Ravel, Brahms, Schubert, Rachmaninoff, Tchaikovsky). And Quatuor Mosaïques' complete Haydn string quartet box.
[asin]B006OGSRW2[/asin]
[asin]B001F1YC2K[/asin]
[asin]B008B3P4FO[/asin]
[asin]B0000029P0[/asin]
[asin]B00005Y34N[/asin]
[asin]B000AXZE3U[/asin]
[asin]B004IXP5YG[/asin]
[asin]B001716ISY[/asin]
[asin]B0008JEKCW[/asin]
[asin]B00005UED6[/asin]
[asin]B003TT733G[/asin]
The Per la Vergine Maria, Monteverdi & Vivaldi discs in here are all must-haves.
[asin]B00EO7XPXO[/asin]

[jochanaan]

For Stravinsky's music, you can do no better than the composer's own recordings.  There's The Rite of Spring, the Firebird complete ballet, the Firebird suite (recorded later, I believe), Petrushka, the Symphony of Psalms and Symphony in C, and many others that I haven't heard yet.

[Daverz]

An Amazon list I made some time ago still seems pretty good:

http://www.amazon.com/Classical-Entry-Points/lm/R30BGC6G3KITN2/ref=cm_lm_byauthor_title_full

[Jay F]

MOZART: Piano Concertos [asin]B000004194[/asin] [asin]B0000041AB[/asin]

MOZART: Symphonies [asin]B0011J2R0K[/asin]

[EigenUser]

For Bartók & Stravinsky, I'd recommend the Boulez boxes on Deutsche Grammophon.
I'd also recommend the Argerich DG Chamber box, for the Bartók Sonata for two pianos & percussion, and the two piano / piano-four-hands music (Prokofiev, Ravel, Brahms, Schubert, Rachmaninoff, Tchaikovsky). And Quatuor Mosaïques' complete Haydn string quartet box.
[asin]B0000029P0[/asin]
[asin]B00005Y34N[/asin]
[asin]B0008JEKCW[/asin]

I second these. Ligeti is amazing, and "Agon" is Stravinsky's best, I think (or at least, my favorite). Not that I don't like the others -- I just don't know them.

[coffee]

Whew! Thank you so much! I'm catching up!

Here are the recommendations of North Star and mc ukrneal, please let me know if I've made any errors (I won't promise to listen to box sets but I definitely do appreciate them as recommendations) -

- Bach: Cantatas 61, 122, 123, 182 - Milnes (Atma) - North Star
- Bartok: Box Xet - Boulez (DG) - North Star
- Beethoven: Piano Sonatas #8, 14, 21, 30 - Firkusny - mc ukrneal
- Berlioz: L'enfance du Christ - Herreweghe (HM) - North Star
- British Light Classics (Hyperion) - mc ukrneal
- Britten: Serande - Bostridge, Rattle - North Star
- Ives: An American Journey - Tilson Thomas (RCA) - North Star
- Ligeti: Atmospheres, Lontano, etc. - Nott - North Star
- Ligeti: Piano Etudes, etc. - Aimard (Sony) - North Star
- Monteverdi, etc.: Vespers, etc. - Alessandrini (naive) - North Star 
- Mozart: Le Nozze di Figaro - Solti (Decca) - mc ukrneal
- Mozart: Symphonies #38 & 41 - Jacobs (HM) - North Star
- Pärt: Tabula Rasa - Kremer (ECM) - North Star
- Rachmaninov: Vespers - Hillier (HM) - North Star
- Richafort: Requiem - Cinquecento (Hyperion) - North Star
- Stravinsky: Box Set - Boulez (DG) - North Star
- Stravinsky: 3 Greek Ballets - Craft (Naxos) - North Star

[coffee]

For Stravinsky's music, you can do no better than the composer's own recordings.  There's The Rite of Spring, the Firebird complete ballet, the Firebird suite (recorded later, I believe), Petrushka, the Symphony of Psalms and Symphony in C, and many others that I haven't heard yet.

Do you want me to consider this a recommendation for the "Stravinsky Conducts Stravinsky" box set, or particular individual recordings?

[coffee]

An Amazon list I made some time ago still seems pretty good:

http://www.amazon.com/Classical-Entry-Points/lm/R30BGC6G3KITN2/ref=cm_lm_byauthor_title_full

I'm sorry it took me a long time to add this. My computer locked up and I had to restart! But thank you very much for these recommendations. Here's what I've got:

- Beethoven: Symphonies - Blomstedt - Daverz
- Borodin: Symphony #2, etc. - Kubelik: Vienna - Daverz
- Brahms: Symphony #4 - Reiner: Royal Phil (Chesney) - Daverz
- Copland: Appalachian Spring, etc. - Bernstein (Sony) - Daverz
- Copland, etc.: Latin American Fiesta - Bernstein (Sony) - Daverz
- Dvorak: Cello Concerto; Bruch: Kil Nidrei, etc. - Fournier (DG) - Daverz
- Dvorak: Symphonies 7-9 - Neumann (Supraphon) - Daverz
- Elgar: Cello Concerto, etc. - Du Pre, Baker, Barbirolli (EMI) - Daverz
- Gershwin: Works for Piano & Orchestra - Siegel, Slatkin (Vox) - Daverz
- Holst: The Planets - Dutoit (Decca) - Daverz
- Janacek: Glagolitic Mass, Taras Bulba - Ancerl (Supraphon) - Daverz
- Khachaturian: Masquerade Suite, etc. - Kondrashin (RCA) - Daverz
- Mahler: Symphony #1; Strauss: Till Eulenspiegel - Ancerl (Supraphon) - Daverz
- Mendelssohn: Octet; Schubert: Piano Quintet, Octet - Vienna Oktett (Decca)
- Prokofiev: Alexander Nevsky; Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition - Schippers - Daverz
- Prokofiev, Ravel: Piano Concertos - Argerich, Abbado (DG) - Daverz
- Ravel: La Valse, etc. - Monteux (Philips) - Daverz
- Schumann: Piano Concerto, etc. - Moravec, Neumann (Supraphon) - Daverz
- Shostakovich: Cello Concerto, Symphony #1 - Rostropovich, Ormandy (Sony) - Daverz
- Sibelius, Prokofiev, Glazunov: Violin Concertos - Heifetz (RCA) - Daverz
- Stravinsky: Symphonies & Concertos - Grumiaux, Davis, Markevitch, etc. (Philips) - Daverz
- Tchaikovsky: The Nutcracker - Ormandy - Daverz
- Vaughan Williams: Symphony #5, etc. - Barbirolli - Daverz
- Vaughan Williams: Symphony #5, etc. - Handley - Daverz
- Wagner: Orchestral Music - Karajan (EMI) - Daverz

[coffee]

MOZART: Piano Concertos

MOZART: Symphonies

Thank you so much! I have added these.

[coffee]

I second these. Ligeti is amazing, and "Agon" is Stravinsky's best, I think (or at least, my favorite). Not that I don't like the others -- I just don't know them.

Thank you very much! Now that some things have been seconded, we're really starting to get somewhere!

[coffee]

Ok, friends, I once again thank everyone so much for your recommendations.

Please, feel free to add as many more as you'd like - whether they're your favorites, or just things you think I should hear in the course of my education, or whatever.

Also, please confirm other people's recommendations when you agree with them. That too is very helpful for me.

I appreciate the work you guys have done for me and I hope you will do more, and that many other people will contribute as well!

[North Star]

- Elgar: Cello Concerto, etc. - Du Pre, Baker, Barbirolli (EMI) - Daverz
- Janacek: Glagolitic Mass, Taras Bulba - Ancerl (Supraphon) - Daverz
- Prokofiev, Ravel: Piano Concertos - Argerich, Abbado (DG) - Daverrz
- Schumann: Piano Concerto, etc. - Moravec, Neumann (Supraphon) - Daverz

I second these and the Mackerras Mozart 38-41

[coffee]

I second these and the Mackerras Mozart 38-41

Ok, thank you so much!

[marvinbrown]

Please recommend to me the recordings that you believe are the most important in classical music. Periodically I'll buy the most recommended ones, trusting the collective judgement of this forum community.

For practicality's sake, please recommend particular recordings rather than box sets... though if I can find the particular recording that you recommend in a box set, I might go in that direction.

I've been listening a few years but the truth is that I'm basically a newbie to classical music. Please don't bother trying to tailor your recommendations to my taste (I like everything I've heard from Gregorian Chant to spectralism and new complexity); my goal is to educate myself ASAP. Instead, please tell me what recordings you love most, or what recordings you think are the most important for me to know well. When you agree with someone's recommendation, please say so because I will be counting up how many recommendations each recording gets and listening to the most recommended ones.

I know that it is a bit personal for each of you, that there isn't an objectively correct answer, but I appreciate all of your input and advice. I absolutely promise to listen to all of the recordings that the community highly recommends.*

To anyone who contributes: I thank you so much for your help!

*Spotify and iTunes music aren't available in my country, and I don't listen to pirated music on youtube, so if I don't already own a highly recommended recording, I will buy it as soon as I can.

Here is the most recent tally (I'm not caught up yet):

2 recommendations each:
- Elgar: Cello Concerto, etc. - Du Pre, Baker, Barbirolli (EMI) - Daverz, North Star
- Janacek: Glagolitic Mass, Taras Bulba - Ancerl (Supraphon) - Daverz, North Star
- Ligeti: Atmospheres, Lontano, etc. - Nott - North Star, EigenUser
- Ligeti: Piano Etudes, etc. - Aimard (Sony) - North Star, EigenUser
- Mozart: Symphonies #38-41 - Mackerras (Linn) - Jay F, North Star
- Prokofiev, Ravel: Piano Concertos - Argerich, Abbado (DG) - Daverz, North Star
- Schumann: Piano Concerto, etc. - Moravec, Neumann (Supraphon) - Daverz, North Star
- Stravinsky: 3 Greek Ballets - Craft (Naxos) - North Star, EigenUser

1 recommendation each:
- Bach: Brandenburg Concertos - Pinnock (DG/Archiv) - Jay F
- Bach: Cantatas 61, 122, 123, 182 - Milnes (Atma) - North Star
- Bach: Goldberg Variations - Schiff (Decca) - Jay F
- Bartok: Box Xet - Boulez (DG) - North Star
- Bartok: Concerto for Orchestra, etc. - Reiner (RCA) - EigenUser
- Beethoven: Piano Sonatas #8, 14, 21, 30 - Firkusny - mc ukrneal
- Beethoven: Piano Sonatas #21 "Waldstein," #26 "Les adieux," & #23 "Appassionata" - Gilels (DG) - Jay F
- Beethoven: Symphonies - Blomstedt - Daverz
- Beethoven: Symphony #9 - Karajan (DG) 1977 - Jay F
- Berlioz: L'enfance du Christ - Herreweghe (HM) - North Star
- Borodin: Symphony #2, etc. - Kubelik: Vienna - Daverz
- Brahms: Symphony #4 - Reiner: Royal Phil (Chesney) - Daverz
- British Light Classics (Hyperion) - mc ukrneal
- Britten: Serande - Bostridge, Rattle - North Star
- Copland: Appalachian Spring, etc. - Bernstein (Sony) - Daverz
- Copland, etc.: Latin American Fiesta - Bernstein (Sony) - Daverz
- Dvorak: Cello Concerto; Bruch: Kil Nidrei, etc. - Fournier (DG) - Daverz
- Dvorak: Symphonies 7-9 - Neumann (Supraphon) - Daverz
- Gershwin: Works for Piano & Orchestra - Siegel, Slatkin (Vox) - Daverz
- Holst: The Planets - Dutoit (Decca) - Daverz
- Ives: An American Journey - Tilson Thomas (RCA) - North Star
- Khachaturian: Masquerade Suite, etc. - Kondrashin (RCA) - Daverz
- Mahler: Symphony #1 - Bernstein: Concertgebouw (DG) - Jay F
- Mahler: Symphony #1; Strauss: Till Eulenspiegel - Ancerl (Supraphon) - Daverz
- Mahler: Symphony #5 - Bernstein: Vienna (DG) - Jay F
- Mendelssohn: Octet; Schubert: Piano Quintet, Octet - Vienna Oktett (Decca)
- Messiaen: Turangalila Symphony - Chung (DG) - EigenUser
- Monteverdi, etc.: Vespers, etc. - Alessandrini (naive) - North Star 
- Mozart: Le Nozze di Figaro - Solti (Decca) - mc ukrneal
- Mozart: Piano Concertos #9, 15, 22, 25, 27 - Brendel, Marriner (Decca) - Jay F
- Mozart: Piano Concertos #19, 20, 21, 23, 24 - Brendel, Marriner (Decca) - Jay F
- Mozart: Symphonies #38 & 41 - Jacobs (HM) - North Star
- Pärt: Tabula Rasa - Kremer (ECM) - North Star
- Prokofiev: Alexander Nevsky; Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition - Schippers - Daverz
- Rachmaninov: Vespers - Hillier (HM) - North Star
- Ravel: La Valse, etc. - Monteux (Philips) - Daverz
- Richafort: Requiem - Cinquecento (Hyperion) - North Star
- Schubert: Piano Quintet "Trout", SQ Death & the Maiden - Amadeus & Gilels (DG) - Jay F
- Schubert: Piano Trios - Beaux Arts Trio (Philips) - Jay F
- Schubert: String Quartets, String Quintet - Emerson, Rostropovich (DG) - Jay F
- Shostakovich: Cello Concerto, Symphony #1 - Rostropovich, Ormandy (Sony) - Daverz
- Sibelius, Prokofiev, Glazunov: Violin Concertos - Heifetz (RCA) - Daverz
- Stravinsky: Box Set - Boulez (DG) - North Star
- Stravinsky: Stuff - Stravinsky - jochanaan
- Stravinsky: Symphonies & Concertos - Grumiaux, Davis, Markevitch, etc. (Philips) - Daverz
- Tchaikovsky: The Nutcracker - Ormandy - Daverz
- Vaughan Williams: Symphony #5, etc. - Barbirolli - Daverz
- Vaughan Williams: Symphony #5, etc. - Handley - Daverz
- Wagner: Orchestral Music - Karajan (EMI) - Daverz

  Nice collection...but at the risk of preaching you really need some opera masterpieces in there.  No don't worry I am not going to push you to buy any Wagner, not yet anyway  . In fact I shall only recommend one opera to you now.  THIS:

  [asin]B000001GLM[/asin]

  BUY THIS, it is one fo the BEST if not THE BEST opera Verdi ever composed!

  marvin



 

[coffee]

  Nice collection...but at the risk of preaching you really need some opera masterpieces in there.  No don't worry I am not going to push you to buy any Wagner, not yet anyway  . In fact I shall only recommend one opera to you now.  THIS:


  BUY THIS, it is one fo the BEST if not THE BEST opera Verdi ever composed!

  marvin

Thank you! And by all means, push Wagner!

What are your favorite Wagner recordings?