Classical Music Forum banner

Your Desert Island Discs

482K views 275 replies 147 participants last post by  Neo Romanza 
#1 · (Edited)
When you saw the title of this thread, the first thing you probably thought was... are you serious? What are you smoking?

Well, nothing really. The superlatives have been worn out: the best, definitive, beautiful, legendary and most of all... the term 'desert island'.

What I have in mind is something a little different. This is not a subjective, "my desert island discs are better than yours" kind of thread. This is merely the thread to share some of your favorite recordings in order to help others expand their collections. They could be rare, they could be cheap, they could be out of print. They could even be Kleiber's Beethoven 5th. It could be anything, as you feel that it is worthy of sharing. If you feel that it is not, then please refrain. If you are just making a list of well-reputed recordings that really mean nothing to you personally, please refrain as well.

So... there's the common argument that we should never take other people's opinions seriously. Really? One of the main reasons I visit music forums is to help guide what I collect. More than half of the CDs I buy are forum-inspired and the majority of the rest is forum-confirmed. The bottom line is, you don't have to take any other opinions besides your own with more than a grain of salt, but you can, and this thread at least makes this resource available to you.

One person may like something that someone else may despise. We've covered this many times. And as far as this thread is concerned, criticizing the tastes of others is not appreciated. However, feel free to commend others for their choices.

A couple guidelines:

1) Don't think of it as a 'Top 10 of all time' thing.
2) Any recording, CD, box set, DVD, SACD, LP, etc. will work.
3) Try to limit your number of choices per post. It is hard to take someone's list seriously if they put down every mildly good recording they've ever heard.

It's your opinion, so enlighten us with your choices!
 
See less See more
#5 ·
Good idea!

I probably have quite a few things that I'd like to list, but I'll make sure they come in trickles :) Also, it's probably worth emphasising that, for this thread to be most useful, try to refrain from giving any random recording of your favourite pieces, and just try to consider the recordings on their own merit! :D

So, being a Brahms fanatic, that's where I'll start:

Ein Deutsches Requiem: absolutely, positively, Sir Simon Rattle and the Berliner Philharmoniker.

Hungarian Dances: all 21 dances for 4-hand piano (the original!) are best performed by James & Kathryn March.

Symphonies 1-4: always looking for new versions of these, I am still consistently impressed with Bernard Haitink, and he also gives a great performance of the Tragic Overture (London Symphony Orchestra)

I'll leave it there for now :)
 
#14 ·
Great idea for a thread, Air!
I think we can take this thread to another level if we participate in the spirit shown in this post:
So, being a Brahms fanatic, that's where I'll start:
What a resource this could become! Imagine if we could collate, in one place-

Elgarian- on Elgar
Tapkaara- on Sibelius
Artemis- on Schubert
Post Minimalist- on modern instrument Beethoven
Sorin- on period instrument Beethoven
haydnguy- on Haydn
Our Assistant Administrator- on Mendelssohn;)

apologies for all of the obvious omissions from this too brief list- but you get my drift--:)

So here follows my three-purchase recommendation for Wagner:


The best selling pure classical unit of all time!


At the time of this writing, this set is working its way out-of-print, and the price is going up.
Still, it's less than 4 dollars a disc, and it's STILL worth it.


Sir Georg's Chicago recording. Grammy-winner, Penguin Guide top-rated Meistersinger.
 
G
#6 ·
Mahler - Symphony No. 2 - Simon Rattle, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra
Elgar - Cockaigne Overture, Cello Concerto, Sea Songs - Jacqueline du Pre, Janet Baker, John Barbirolli, London Symphony Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra
Brahms - Piano Trios Nos. 1 & 2 - Suk, Katchen, Starker
Brahms - Ein Deutsches Requiem - Schwarzkopf, Fischer-Dieskau, Klemperer, Philharmonia Chorus & Orchestra
Beethoven - Symphony No. 9 - I like both Karajan's '62 recording, as well as Gardiner's recording.
 
#7 ·
the brahms violin sonatas played by Suk and Katchen - that is SO beautiful eventho I am not a huge brahms fan.

harnoncourt's beethoven's 9th. it is cheap, it is not perhaps legendary (tho from a terrific set) but it is so exciting

bach violin concertos played by manze, podger and AAM. this is so good ! it is how baroque music should sound imo.

bruch violin concerto played by janine jansen. SO passionate. i have heard this work so many times and yet this recording was so fresh and thrilling to me.

there are more... this aint easy... i will be back ;)
 
#8 · (Edited)
A very interesting topic, to be sure! My picks would be:

Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 1 & 3; Nos. 2 & 6 (Yehudi Menuhin conducts Sinfonia Varsovia, Live, WARNER APEX)

Beethoven: Violin Concerto & Romances (Frans Brüggen conducts Orchestra Of The 18th Century, Thomas Zehetmair -- soloist, PHILIPS)

Bartók: Complete String Quartets (Hagen Quartett, DGG)

Bartók: Bluebeard's Castle (István Kertész conducts London Symphony Orchestra, Christa Ludwig & Walter Berry -- soloists, DECCA)

Duparc: Mélodies (François Le Roux & Danielle Borst -- soloists, Jeff Cohen -- piano, REM)

Fauré: La Chanson d'Ève & other songs (Janet Baker -- soloist, Geoffrey Parsons -- piano, HYPERION)

Schubert: The Hyperion Schubert Edition, Vol. 25 Die schöne Müllerin (Ian Bostridge -- soloist, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau -- reader, Graham Johnson -- piano, HYPERION)

Britten: The Red Cockatoo & other songs (Ian Bostridge -- soloist, Graham Johnson -- piano, HYPERION)

Bach: Complete Cello Suites (Jean-Guihen Queyras, HARMONIA MUNDI)

Guqin of the Guangling School (Cheng Gong-liang, HUGO)

----

In general, I am not a enthusiast of symphonic music. Of all the genres, I love art song the most.

----

My collection is small and I am not in a hurry to expand it at the moment, but I have to say that this forum educated me a lot about the things I didn't know. My greatest discovery up till now is Lully's Cadmus et Hermione, originally suggested by Elgarian in the thread "Opera on DVD".
 
#10 ·
Bach: Goldberg Variations (Masaaki Suzuki)
Bernstein: Candide (Bernstein conducts the LSO)
Mahler: Symphony No. 3 (Levine/CSO)
Mahler: Symphony No. 10 (Levine/Philadelphia)
Sibelius: The Wood-Nymph (Vanska/Lahti)
Wagner: Das Rheingold (Solti/VPO)
 
#11 ·
Pictures:

Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 1 & 3; Nos. 2 & 6 (Yehudi Menuhin conducts Sinfonia Varsovia, Live, WARNER APEX)



Beethoven: Violin Concerto & Romances (Frans Brüggen conducts Orchestra Of The 18th Century, Thomas Zehetmair -- soloist, PHILIPS)



Bartók: Complete String Quartets (Hagen Quartett, DGG)



Bartók: Bluebeard's Castle (István Kertész conducts London Symphony Orchestra, Christa Ludwig & Walter Berry -- soloists, DECCA)

 
#12 ·
Duparc: Mélodies (François Le Roux & Danielle Borst -- soloists, Jeff Cohen -- piano, REM)



Fauré: La Chanson d'Ève & other songs (Janet Baker -- soloist, Geoffrey Parsons -- piano, HYPERION)



Schubert: The Hyperion Schubert Edition, Vol. 25 Die schöne Müllerin (Ian Bostridge -- soloist, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau -- reader, Graham Johnson -- piano, HYPERION)



Britten: The Red Cockatoo & other songs (Ian Bostridge -- soloist, Graham Johnson -- piano, HYPERION)



Bach: Complete Cello Suites (Jean-Guihen Queyras, HARMONIA MUNDI)



Guqin of the Guangling School (Cheng Gong-liang, HUGO)

 
#13 · (Edited)
Bach: Mass in B Minor (Gardiner/Archiv)
Bach: The Well-Tempered Clavier (Fischer/EMI)
Mozart: Le Nozze di Figaro (Bohm/DG)
Schubert: Piano Sonata No. 21, D. 960 (Richter/Praga)
Schumann: Piano Concerto & Quintet (Serkin/Sony)
Brahms: The Piano Concertos; Fantasia (Gilels/DG)
Mahler: Symphony No. 2 (Mehta/Decca)
Ravel: Daphnis et Chloe (Dutoit/Decca)
Prokofiev: Piano Concerto No. 3; Ravel: Piano Concerto, Gaspard (Argerich/DG)
Ligeti: Etudes; Musica Ricercata (Aimard/Sony)
 
#15 · (Edited)
Yay, I get to be a Brahms-man! :D

At Air's request, I'm just reiterating the ones I said on the first page so that I can include album covers, and I've added an extra one for now as well:

Ein Deutsches Requiem:
View attachment 837
Sir Simon Rattle and the Berliner Philharmoniker.
Also take a look at the 1955 edition of Rudolf Kempe with the BPO for an older but still moving recording.

Hungarian Dances:
View attachment 838
James & Kathryn March (all 21 dances for 4-hand piano - the original version).

Symphonies 1-4:
View attachment 839
Bernard Haitink and the London Symphony Orchestra.

Klavierstucke:
View attachment 840
Peter Rosel - 5 CDs of Brahms's music for piano solo (Sonatas 1-3, Scherzo Op. 4, Ballades Op. 10, Variations on an Original Theme/Theme by Schumann/Theme by Handel/Theme by Paganini, Rhapsodies Op. 79 and Klavierstucke Op. 76, 116 117, 118 & 119). While there are no doubt some better performances of some of these individual works that I might touch upon, this 5 CD set is unrivalled as a comprehensive modern set of Brahms's piano music.

That's all for now! :)
 
#16 ·
Should I assume I'll be nominated Mahler person (next to Handlebar, of course)? If so...


Symphony No. 2
Bernstein/New York PO (DG)


Symphony No. 3
Levine/Chicago


Symphony No. 6
Levine/Boston SO


Symphony No. 8
Ozawa/Boston SO


Das Lied von der Erde
Fritz Reiner/Chicago SO


Symphony No. 10
Levine/Philadelphia

These are my all-time favorite Mahler recordings.
 
#17 ·
Following CTP's suggestion, here are my Elgar recommendations, though I think they may seem a bit unadventurous and tame. I don't claim to be an Elgar expert - only to have enjoyed a long love affair with his music. I don't rush out and buy every available recording of the major works because by and large I'm happy with the selection I've accumulated over the years. I'm approaching this with the idea that, if I were to lose my entire Elgar collection and had to replace the essentials quickly, what would I do?

First, I'd buy this cheap box set:



Barbirolli is a fine Elgar interpreter and here is a collection of the major orchestral works that will last a lifetime of listening. You get the two symphonies, Enigma Variations, Falstaff, Serenade for Strings, Introduction and Allegro, Cockaigne, and two classic 'for all time' recordings: Janet Baker singing the Sea Pictures, and du Pre's playing the cello concerto. There are other good boxes - Andrew Davis's, for instance - but this is the one, if I can only have one.

To get the major choral works, I'd choose this companion box by that other great Elgarian, Boult:



This will give you notable recordings of Gerontius, The Kingdom, and The Apostles. It's true that by doing this you miss out on Janet Baker's famous portrayal of the angel (in Gerontius) by not choosing the recording she made with Barbirolli; but Boult's Gerontius is a very haunting, 'spiritual' version for all that. You also get the recording of Boult's delightful spoken 'introduction' to Elgar's choral works - invaluable for anyone approaching them for the first time.

You're well on track with these two boxes, but there are still some essentials missing. Half the problem can be solved at a stroke, with this wonderful 2CD set, which I couldn't possibly manage without:



You get all three major chamber works (string quartet, piano quintet, violin sonata) which contain the very essence of late Elgar; and a fine performance of the violin concerto by Hugh Bean. This recording of the violin concerto has been one of my most treasured and inexhaustible musical companions.

Just two more essential recommendations to go. First, this wonderful recording:



You're buying this, not for the Coronation Ode, which you can easily do without, but for The Spirit of England, which is Elgar's most inexplicably undervalued masterpiece. This half-hour recording, conducted by Alexander Gibson and sung with tremendous power and sensitivity by Teresa Cahill and chorus, carries with it all the anguish, strength and hope implicit in the human condition in the face of severest adversity. It's one of the two or three recordings (of music by any composer) that I simply couldn't manage without. Don't be tempted by other versions. This is the one to get.

Finally, to give the lie to the notion that Elgar was burnt out in later life, you really do need a recording of the magnificent third symphony (reconstructed by Anthony Payne):



And there you have it - the essential Elgar for under £50. Of course, instead of these, you could get even better value by buying this:



This 30 CD set includes some (not all) of the recordings I've mentioned and is incredible value for money; but it might be overfacing and, indeed, overkill, for anyone other than an Elgar devotee like myself.

[And here, now, having got this far and about to sign off, I find that I haven't included any of the great man's own recordings of his work! I'd recommend the recording he made with Beatrice Harrison, of the cello concerto. It pops up in various guises on various labels. Naxos currently offer one, for instance.]
 
#18 ·
[And here, now, having got this far and about to sign off, I find that I haven't included any of the great man's own recordings of his work! I'd recommend the recording he made with Beatrice Harrison, of the cello concerto. It pops up in various guises on various labels. Naxos currently offer one, for instance.]
Or how about Yehudi Menuhin's glorious violin concerto? That remains my only recording of that work, and it's one of my favorite violin concerti. Though I figure I may well follow your recommendation at some point, when I start looking to Elgar again (I often find myself following Britten's point of view; Elgar can be a little too heart-on-sleeve for my taste).
 
#21 · (Edited)
(In today´s mood):
1. Bruckner 8.Symphony / Haitink, Philips (his first digital recording though, not the others)
2. Pettersson: 2.Violin Cto /Haendel, Blomstedt; the Hoelscher/Daugsgaard is an incoherent disaster. If you don´t know this music, the very grim conflicts of the first half are softened later)
3. Messiaen: des Canyons ... /M.Constant, erato (slightly the best recording, I think ... perhaps ...)
4. Händel: Messiah /Karl Richter
5. Prokofieff: Piano Concerti 4+5 /Krainev,Kitayenko
6. Medtner: Piano Cto 3 /Ponti,Cao
7. Schnittke: Viola Cto /Bashmet
8. Mahler: 10.Symphony / Rattle, or Wigglesworth
9. Mozart: Die Entführung / Solti
10. Bach: Das Wohltemperierte I-II/ Feinberg
 
#23 · (Edited)
Some of my favourites:

1. Piazzolla - Songs, tangos, Maria de Buenos Aires Suite (Versus Ens., Maria Rey-Joly, Enrique Moratalla, Horacio Ferrer) Naxos

2. Varese - Arcana, Offrandes, Integrales, Deserts (Polish NRSO/Lyndon-Gee) Naxos

3. Carter - String Quartets Nos. 1 & 5 (Pacifica Q) Naxos

4. Lutoslawski & Dutilleux - Cello Concertos (Rostropovich/Orch. de Paris/Lutoslawski/Baudo) EMI

5. Liszt - Sonata in B Minor, Funerailles, & works by Chopin, Schumann, Debussy (Horowitz) EMI

6. Janacek - Glagolitic Mass, Diary of the One who Disappeared (Haefliger/Lear/Crass/others/Bavarian RSO & Ch./Kubelik) DG

7. Bartok - Piano Concertos 1 - 3 (Anton Dikov, piano/Sofia PO/Manolov) Festival

8. Schnittke - Piano Quintet, Stille Musik, String Trio (Australian Festival of Chamber Music Ensemble) Naxos

9. Walton - Henry V arr. Palmer (Plummer/ASMF & Ch./Marriner) Chandos

10. Frank Martin - Petite Symphonie Concertante, 6 Monologues from Everyman, Mass for Double Choir, etc. (ASMF/Marriner/Stockholm Ch. Choir/Jose van Dam/others) EMI

11. Elena Kats-Chernin - Wild Swans concert suite, Piano Concerto No. 2, Mythic (Munro/Tasmanian SO/Rudner) ABC classics

12. Peter Sculthorpe - Sun Music I-IV, Irkanda IV, Piano Concerto, Small Town (Fogg/Melbourne SO/Hopkins/others) ABC classics
 
#25 ·
2. Varese - Arcana, Offrandes, Integrales, Deserts (Polish NRSO/Lyndon-Gee) Naxos

5. Liszt - Sonata in B Minor, Funerailles, & works by Chopin, Schumann, Debussy (Horowitz) EMI
The Varese is one of my favorite discs too. The complete version of Deserts is mind-blowing. On the Horowitz disc, how do you like the performance of Schumann's 2nd Piano Sonata?

5. Prokofieff: Piano Concerti 4+5 /Krainev,Kitayenko
6. Medtner: Piano Cto 3 /Ponti,Cao
These are on my wish-list definitely. I've been looking more at Kitajenko's set of symphonies, reputedly excellent, as are his set of piano concerti with Krainev. That is, after I acquire the Berman/Gutierrez set with Jarvi conducting.

Yay, I get to be a Brahms-man! :D
So since you skipped the piano concerti, can I assume you agree with me on my choice of Gilels? :D

Bartók: Bluebeard's Castle (István Kertész conducts London Symphony Orchestra, Christa Ludwig & Walter Berry -- soloists, DECCA)

Duparc: Mélodies (François Le Roux & Danielle Borst -- soloists, Jeff Cohen -- piano, REM).
I've been pondering Kertész's Bluebeard for awhile now. Duparc also sounds interesting, you wrote a very informative paragraph on his vocal works awhile ago.:)

Tchaikovsky's piano trio op.50, Gilels, Kogan, Rostropovich live.
'What a trio of giants' to use an overused term! I assume you mean from this 5CD set? I'll definitely have to check this out as well.
 
#24 ·
Bruckner's 7th/Karajan/Wiener Ph/DG

Mahler's 6th/Abaddo/Chicago Sy/DG

Mussorgsky's Boris Godunov/Melik-Pashaev/Petrov et al./Bolshoi Theater Orch/(old USSR label.. the 4 discs that contain this opera are the only vinyls I keep)...

Too many more to mention... these are some of the first ones in my mind but I could add a lot (certainly my favorite, Bach, probably I'd choose Karajan's Mass in B minor/DG)
 
#27 ·
Lets just say I am a long way off from defining a desert island disc collection for myself and won't come anywhere close until I have amassed a sizeable collection of opera recordings. The trouble with me is that I find myself opting for the DVD a lot of time, despite the obvious benefits of having the audio recordings that I can rip and add to my MP3 playlists and whatnot.
 
#28 ·
I'll be back with some more Brahms in the near future, but I had to add this to my list so far:

View attachment 868
Verdi: Requiem (Georg Solti conducting the Wiener Philharmoniker, with Joan Sutherland, Marilyn Horne, Luciano Pavarotti and Martti Talvela).

The reason I add this is because not only is it one of my favourite works, but Antonio Pappano's recording with the Orchestra e Coro dell'Accademia di Saint Cecilia has received a lot of good press in recent months. I have listened to the Pappano, and it is truly a great recording, but I then compared it to my Solti and realised just how flawless the Solti is. Not only that, but you would not believe that it is digitally remastered from 1968! The quality of the sound is simply superb, and I'm never much of a fan of obviously old recordings, so you can trust me on it! It's one of those all-time must-have recordings.
 
#29 ·
Hey! People should keep posting here (but not ridiculous amounts because that spoils it!) - I like browsing this thread when I feel like listening to something new or searching for better recordings :p

As promised, I'm back with a bit of Brahms!

Brahms: Piano Concertos No. 1 & 2

View attachment 880

Bernard Haitink and Vladimir Ashkenazy, with the Royal Concertgebouw and Wiener Philharmoniker.

This is truly a great set if you want a stunning performance of the pair of concertos. I'm always impressed with the way that Haitink conducts Brahms, and Ashkenazy's playing is both powerful and lyrical in the right places without taking it to extremes. The highlight of the disc is really the Second Piano Concerto, though the First is almost as good. If you don't mind listening to a slightly older recording and want to sample another great version of the First, you should look for Leon Fleisher, George Szell and the Cleveland Orchestra.

Also, as it's been on my mind, I thought I'd throw in some Tchaikovsky! :D

Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 4

View attachment 881

Gennadi Rozhdestvensky with the London Symphony Orchestra.

Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 5

View attachment 882

Vasily Petrenko with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic.

Tchaikovsky: Manfred Symphony

View attachment 883

Vasily Petrenko with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic.

Rozhdestvensky gives a performance of the 4th that is utterly devastating in the extreme - it's almost unbeatable. There are obviously a myriad of recordings of the 5th, Petrenko's being as good as any other, with the bonus of a great recorded sound, but another splendid version is Mariss Janson's with the Oslo Phiharmonic.

However, if you were only allowed to have one Tchaikovsky symphony and only one recording of it, then you must get Petrenko's Manfred Symphony!!! It's the best performance of it that I've ever heard and it's one of my all-time favourite symphonies. GET IT NOW! :p
 
#34 ·
Hey! People should keep posting here (but not ridiculous amounts because that spoils it!) - I like browsing this thread when I feel like listening to something new or searching for better recordings :p
Definitely!

As promised, I'm back with a bit of Brahms!
That's good... but Ashkenazy for the piano concerti? Why bother with him when we have pianists like Gilels, Rubinstein, Curzon, and Fleisher :confused: I'm a little curious, that's it.
 
#30 ·
These would be my desert island picks:

Incredibly moving performance of one of the greatest choral works of all time:



My favorite rendition of the Passacaglia. Biggs' choice of stops is superb:



Gergiev's Firebird recording still blows me away:



And these Boulez recordings of Stravinsky and Debussy are still my faves:


 
#32 ·
I don't know how to post album covers, but these are some recordings I really like:

Brahms: Piano Concerto #1: Zimerman/Bernstein/Vienna Philharmonic (DGG)
Barber: Complete songs (Secrets of the Old) Studer/Hampson/Browning (DGG)
Mahler: Symphony #5: Solti, CSO (London)
Rachmaninov: Symphony #1: Ashkenazy/LSO (London)
Brahms: The 4 Symphonies/Tragic and Academic Festival Overtures: Solti/CSO (London)
Copland: Symphony #3: Bernstein/NYPhil (DGG)
Strauss: Four Last Songs: Janowitz/Von Karajan/Berlin Phil (DGG)
Albeniz: Iberia: deLaRoccha (London)

Tom
 
#33 ·
Shostakovich (Violin Concerto No.1)/Prokofiev (Violin Concerto No.2) - Repin/Nagano (Erato)
Bartok (Complete String Quartets) - Vegh String Quartet (Naive)
Bartok (Concerto for Orchestra, Music for Strings, Percussion & Celesta) - Reiner (RCA, Living Stereo)
Brahms (Symphony No.4) - C. Kleiber (DG)
Beethoven (Symphonies Nos. 5&7) - C. Kleiber (DG)
Beethoven (Late String Quartets) - Lindsay String Quartet (ASV)
Shostakovich (Symphony No.8) - Previn (EMI)
Vaughan Williams (Symphony No.4) - Bernstein (Sony)
Ravel (Daphnis et Chloe) - Monteaux (DECCA)
Schubert (Arpeggione Sonata) - Rostropovich/Britten (DECCA)
Walton (Cello Concerto) - Piatigorsky/Munch (RCA)
Bruckner (Symphony No.9) - Giulini (DG)
Sibelius (Violin Concerto) - Heifetz/Hendl (RCA)
Mahler (Symphony No.3) - Horenstein (Unicorn)
 
Top