Classical R2die4 ?

Only "five" !^%(&%$#@
1. Beethoven: Symphonies 5 & 7, Carlos Kleiber, Vienna phil. Deutsche Grammophon #47400
2. Beethoven: Symphony #9, Szell/Cleveland, Sony Classical/National Public Radio Millennium
3. Holst, The Planets, Charles Dutoit / Montreal Symphony, London/Penguin Classic
4. Moussorgsky: Night on Bald Mountain; Pictures at an Exhibition, Maazel, Telarc
5. Mozart: Symp.40&41,Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra/Leonard Bernstein;Deutsche Grammophon 445 548-2
Happy Listening!
Don

1. Haydn String Quartet Opus 76: Quatuor Mosaiques - Astree
2. Beethoven's Symphony Cycle: Barenboim - Teldec
3. Bach Italian Concerto: Monica Hewitt - Hyperion
4. Rachmoninoff Symphonic Dances: MSO - Reference

If I had more time I would give you a short list of my very favorite 500 recordings. :)

Jonathan

I only listen for the performance, sorry.

Mozart Piano Concertos 20 & 27; Clifford Curzon with the English Chamber Orchestra conducted by Benjamin Britten.

For the Holst, I would listen to John Elliot Gardiner / Philharmonia Orchestra.
(Sounds great too!)

Shostakovich 10th, Herbert Von Karajan / Berlin.

Dvorak Cello Concerto; Rostropovich/Von Karajan, Berlin
with Tchaikovsky Rococo Variations

.
Stravinsky, Rite of Spring; Ben Zander; Boston Philharmonic.
(Sounds great too!)

For chamber music, anything by the Beaux Arts Trio.

Beethoven Cello Sonatas, Rostropovich/Richter

Compete 5 piano concertos by Saint-Saens, Pascal Roge, Montreal/Charles Dutoit

Rachmaninov 2nd Piano Concerto, Ashkenazy piano; London Symphony/Previn.
1972 on London/Decca (careful; there are others).

Here are my five classical desert island choices:
1. Beethoven Symphony#6, Walter/Columbia Symphony
2. Schubert "Trout" Quintet, Curzon Piano, London/Decca
3. Rimsky Korsakov Scheherzade(sp?) Reiner/CSO RCA
4. Beethoven Piano Concerto #5 Leitner/Kempff/Berlin DGG
5. Mozart Clarinet Concerto Magg/LSO London/Decca

I resisted the temptation to name box sets as it's not really an apples to apples deal. Of course I'd rather have the complete Beethoven Symphony or Piano Concerto Cycle by my named artists. Anyway, as the others have said only five is difficult but all of these sound at least very good and the performances have withstood the test of time.

This ain't easy--I'll give a starter set, then move on:

Baroque--I'm a fan of the Harmonia Mundi recordings of the Philharmonia Baroque with Nicholas McGegan. The Corelli Concerti Grossi and Handel Water Music are both excellent on LP and CD, as are the CDs of Handel arias for soprano, bass and countertenor (Arias for Cuzzoni, Montanagna and Sensino--I'm sure my spelling stinks). Very spacious and lifelike recordings, very spirited playing. If you compare the Cuzzoni and Montanagna discs, you'll get a pretty good lesson in how miking techniques can change the sonic picture on the disc, as it's the same orchestra in the same space (I'm advised), but one disc is a Peter McGrath spaced omni recording, the other a Tony Faulkner coincident pair job. Very noticable differences, very good results in each case.

Classical--I think the 1962 DG Von Karajan Beethoven cycle is still the best overall, performance-wise, and sonically it seems better than DG's multi-miked later efforts. Prefer the LP. I also like the Decca recording of the Schubert 9th with Krips conducting; re-released on vinyl and still a fine record of a great symphony.

Romantic--I'll try to add some new recordings here and nominate Benjamin Zander's Telarc CD of the Mahler 9th, a breathtaking performance (and live concert recording--you know my preference lies there), as well as his Mahler 5th SACD on Telarc and the SF Symphony's recently released SACD (on its own label) of the Mahler 6th, another live performance with astonishing dynamics on the SACD version.

20th Century--Sonically, the Reference Recordings CDs of Bernstein pieces and the Copland Third Symphony are very impressive, and I like the performances a lot. I also like an older Argo CD with Zinman and the Baltimore Symphony of works by Samuel Barber, including his Essays for Orchestra and First Symphony--tremendous dynamics, overcoming a slight bit of digititis in the strings. Sugarbrie, does the bass drum really resonate like that in the Baltimore concert hall? In this and the Telarc recordings, on my system it has a tremendous impact, followed by a sort of rolling bass wave, sort of like what you hear in a cathedral when they hit the 32 foot stops. Flaps the old pants legs. Finally, I'll add the EMI recording of John Barbarolli conducting English string music, another LP reissue (of which I think Classic Records has a few still in stock), which has a beautiful Vaughn-Williams Tallis Fantasia. And then of course there's the classic Reiner/Chicago Scheherazade on RCA, Classic vinyl reissue (that's 20th century, technically).

Solo Piano--I keep returning to Nojima Plays Liszt on Reference Recordings-- an excellent recording and my favorite reading of the B-minor sonata.

Plenty of others, particularly the old RCAs and Mercs, but I gotta draft some documents.

I will ditto the Curzon/Trout. I listed one Curzon, but like them all.

Rcprince: The bass drum probably did resonated more in the Meyerhoff at that time. They have changed the hall some since then for Temirkanov, including putting the orchestra on stands that go higher as you go back. They were all on the floor under Zinman. I know the Timpanist well, and he sais the Timpani does not resonate as it did before the stands.

A recent favorite of mine is "Rossini String Sonatas 1-6" (2 XRCD SET) Academy of St Martin-in-the-Fields, Neville Marriner.