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 1 to 20 of 226
ENESCU
String Quartets Nos 1 & 2 Ad Libitum Quartet [ Naxos / CD - released 1/May/2001 ] 2001 GRAMOPHONE AWARD FINALIST - Chamber |
ERIK SATIE
Satie: Gymnopedies and other piano works Aldo Ciccolini (piano) [ Warner Classics Original Jacket Reissues / EMI / CD - released 20/Apr/2015 ] "No more committed or convincing champion of this music could be found than Ciccolini, who equally well conveys, for example, the tenderness of the fifth Gnossienne, the pre-Poulenc pert humour and charm of the Morceaux en forme de poire and the... |
DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Shostakovich: The preludes and fugues Alexander Melnikov (piano) [ Harmonia Mundi / 2 CD - released 10/Apr/2015 ] "Melnikov unquestionably gives an impression of freshness and daring, as if he's discovering the music for the first time." (BBC Music Award WINNER 2011 - Instrumental) |
DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH
Shostakovich: Piano Concertos nos.1 & 2 / Sonata for violin and piano op.134 Alexander Melnikov (piano) / Mahler Chamber Orchestra, Teodor Currentzis, with Isabelle Faust (violin) [ Harmonia Mundi / CD - released 20/Feb/2012 ] "He makes his case well. The First Concerto is all rampaging dissonances and erotic regret; the Second (1957) masks nerve-racking syncopations beneath its surface brilliance...[the sonata] a compelling performance in which logic and rhetoric combine... |
ALBENIZ / GRANADOS
Albeniz: Iberia, Navarra / Granados: Goyescas Alicia de Larrocha (piano) [ Double Decca / 2 CD - released 11/Sep/2001 ] 1001 Classical recordings you must hear before you die (1901-1950) - "Alicia de larrocha plays with full-blooded temperament and fire. The recording is excellent and the Decca reissue makes a formidable bargain" ROSETTE - Penguin Stereo Guide |
W. A. MOZART
Mozart: Violin Sonatas Vol 1 Alina Ibragimova (violin), Cédric Tiberghien (piano) [ Hyperion / 2 CD - released 1/Apr/2016 ] "It is difficult to imagine [these sonatas] better played" (Five Stars BBC Music) |
DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH
Shostakovich: Violin Concertos Nos 1 & 2 Alina Ibragimova (violin), State Academic Symphony Orchestra of Russia 'Evgeny Svetlanov', Vladimir Jurowski (conductor) [ Hyperion / CD - released 5/Jun/2020 ] GRAMOPHONE Award WINNER 2021 - Concerto BBC Music Award Nomination 2021 - Concerto |
JOHANNES BRAHMS / ANTONIN DVORAK / JOSEPH HAYDN
String Quartets: Brahms Nos.1-3; Dvořák No.12 'American'; Haydn Op.76/3 'Emperor' Amadeus Quartet [ Alto / CD - released 17/Feb/2023 ] "I'm struck afresh by the power, precision and sheer puissance of their music-making … The Brahms quartet recordings remain 'outstanding'; affectionate but free of affection, considered yet vitally spontaneous" [Dvořák]: "strongly conceived, full of... |
J. S. BACH
Bach: Partitas BWV825-BWV830 Andras Schiff (piano) [ ECM Records / 2 CD - released 1/Apr/2009 ] MARBECKS STAFF PICK: CD OF THE YEAR 2009 MUSICWEB UK RECORDING OF THE MONTH "Schiff's…unashamedly and masterfully pianistic, contrasting sustained tone and light staccato teasing out fragmentary motifs." BBC Music |
J. S. BACH
Bach: Well-Tempered Clavier Books 1 & 2 Andras Schiff (piano) [ ECM New Series / 4 CD Box Set - released 20/Sep/2012 ] GRAMOPHONE AWARD FINALIST 2013: Instrumental |
![Biber: Sonates du Rosaire [Rosary Sonatas] cover](https://images.marbecks.co.nz/_thumbnails/10118/10118031.jpg)
HEINRICH IGNAZ FRANZ von BIBER
Biber: Sonates du Rosaire [Rosary Sonatas] Andrew Manze (violin), Richard Egarr (organ) [ Harmonia Mundi Gold / 2 CD - released 17/Jun/2016 ] 1001 Classical recordings you must hear before you die (pre 1700) - "Andrew Manze offers stylish and unfussy readings that mix reverence and whimsy in equal parts." New York Times: The Best Classical CD's of 2004 |
J.S. BACH
Goldberg Variations Andras Schiff (piano) [ ECM Records / CD - released 5/Oct/2003 ] ""Great" is not a word to be used casually when it comes to CDs, but no other term does justice. Lucidity, elegance and strength are all here and exquisitely balanced. The definitive Goldberg? As far as I'm concerned, yes." Ann Picard, Independent... |
C.P.E. BACH
Bach (C.P.E.): Cello Concertos, Symphonies Anner Bylsma (cello) / Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment / Gustav Leonhardt [ Erato Veritas / 2 CD - released 5/Jul/2000 ] [Cello Concertos Wq.170-2] 'It is difficult to imagine a better partnership to provide authentic versions of these three fine works.' Penguin Guide |
FELIX MENDELSSOHN / MAX BRUCH
Mendelssohn: Violin Concerto / Bruch: Violin Concerto No 1 Anne-Sophie Mutter (violin) / Berlin Philharmonic, Herbert von Karajan [ Deutsche Grammophon The Originals / CD - released 1/Apr/2002 ] "Anne-Sophie Mutter's approach communicates vividly to the listener, creating the feeling of hearing the work anew" Penguin Guide to Compact Discs) |
W. A. MOZART
Mozart: Clarinet Concerto in A major, K622 / Oboe Concerto In C major, K314 Anthony Pay (clarinet) Michel Piguet (oboe) / The Academy of Ancient Music / Christopher Hogwood [ Decca / CD - released 9/Mar/2007 ] "Anthony Pay's basset clarinet adds wonderfully oily low notes and his playing has all the range, clarity and vigour needed to bring this well-known work to new life." (KC) |
FRANZ SCHUBERT
Solo Piano Works: Sonata In E Major D157 / Sonata In G Major D894 / etc Arcadi Volodos (piano) [ Sony Classics / CD - released 18/Mar/2002 ] 1001 Classical recordings to hear before you die (1801-1850) - Gramophone Magazine - Recording of the month (June 2002) |
TERRY RILEY
In C Ars Nova Copenhagen / Percurama Percussion Ensemble / Paul Hillier [ DaCapo / CD - released 1/Mar/2007 ] Terry Riley's 1964 masterpiece "In C" is probably the first masterpiece of US minimalism. From Paul Hillier of Hilliard Ensemble reknown comes a new version of this semi-improvised piece performed by mallet percussion and voices. |
J.S. BACH
Violin Sonatas and Partitas Arthur Grumiaux (violin) Egida Giordani Sartori (harpsichord) [ Philips Originals / 2 CD - released 15/Apr/2006 ] 1001 Recordings to hear before you die - "Grumiaux comes closer than any other violinist I have heard to an ideal performance ..There is a kind of honesty to Bach's intentions here...that I find deeply impressive and often very exciting." Gramophone |
SERGEI RACHMANINOV
Rachmaninov: Piano Concerto No 4 (with Ravel - Piano Concerto in G) Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli (Piano) / Philharmonia Orchestra, Ettore Gracis [ Warner Classics Original Jacket Reissues / CD - released 20/Apr/2015 ] 1001 Classical recordings you must hear before you die (1901-1950) 50 GREATEST RECORDINGS OF ALL TIME (No 18) - BBC MUSIC |
MUSSORGSKY
Pictures at an Exhibition (orch Ravel) / Night on Bald Mountain / Introduction to Khovanshchina Atlanta Symphony Orchestra / Yoel Levi [ Telarc Classics / CD - released 3/Nov/2004 ] In this blockbuster all-Moussorgsky release, Levi and Atlanta prove "…a performance where throughout the conductor makes the most of the colour, and brilliant orchestral effects of Ravel's inspired score, revealing much that often gets unheard…the... |
