Brahms and Tchaikovsky

My recommendation for Brahms 3 & 4 Sym. in good sound:

Dresden Staatskapelle/Kurt Sanderling/Eurodisc (BMG Classics) - economical choice as well as this is a complete set of 1 - 4 on 3 disks for a paltry sum of $13 and performances are stupendous on all 4 sym, only negative being Sym. 3 is split across disk 2 and 3.

Tchaikovsky PC #1:

Sviatoslav Richter/Karel Ancerl/Czech PO/Supraphon - decent sound in mono, but no other performance comes close, certainly not Argerich. BTW, because CPO toiled under the iron curtain for so long,few westerners know their sound, but rest assured, they are a world class orchestra.

Emil Gilels/Fritz Reiner/CSO/RCA Living Stereo - if you must have a stereo recording, this is the one to get. Argerich/Abbado/BPO/DG is also supposed to be quite good, but haven't heard it.

Tchaikovsky PC 2 & 3:

Mikhail Pletnev/Vladimir Fedoseyev/Philharmonia/Virgin - not to everyone's taste, but I like it quite a bit. Perhaps not romantic enough for some taste.

Igor Zhukov/BMG/Melodiya (74321496122) 2CDs
Tchaikovsky Complete music for Piano and Orchestra -
haven't heard this myself, but people whose opinions I respect tell me Zhukov's PC 2 is the definitive version.

I do own the Argerich/Kondrashin/Phillips, which I bought for Rachmaninoff PC 3. You are quite right that her performance is incindiary. However, for my taste, she sacrifices too much of the music for her admittedly awesome technical virtuosity.

IMHO, both Richter and Gilels use their virtuosity in support of the music, bringing out the emotional essence of this piece, especially Richter whose performance of the 3rd movement is hauntingly beautiful.

Don't let the fact that a recording is in mono dissuade you from listening to it. Richter's performance, especially, needs to be heard and is in very good sound. In fact, the piano on Richter's CD sound more like the real thing compared to Argerich's, which sounds distant and slightly tinny.

Yes, both of Horowitz/Toscanini CDs are pretty dismal sounding, but performance wise, Horowitz eclipses Argerich in the pyrotechnics (the 1943 slightly more so than 1941).

Both readily available at Tower and I assume other establishments.