Top 10 Must-have Classical CD's

In indifferent order:
*Vivaldi, Cimento dell'Armonia (the "4 seasons" part)/I Musici, Philips
*Bach, Mass in B minor/ K Richter, Archiv (DG)
*BAch, Art of the Fugue, 8 canon, etc/ Musica Antiqua Koln-Goebbel, Archiv (DG)
{*Bach, Well-tempered Clavier/F. Gulda, Philips}
{*Mahler, 2nd Symphony/ O. Klemperer, EMI}
*Mahler 5th Symphony/ Barbirolli, EMI
*Beethoven, 9th Symphony/F Fricsay, DG dokumente
*Beethoven, Concerto for violin & Orch./D Oistrakh-Cluytens (1958), EMI.
{*Beethoven, 3rd Symphony/W. Furtwangler - Vienna Phil. '44), Dacapo (should available on other labels too).}
*Beethoven, Complete concerti for piano & orch/W. Backhaus, Decca.
*Brahms, 1st concerto for piano & orch/C Curzon-G. Szell, Decca
*Brahms, Concerto for violin & orch/D. Oistrakh-Konwitschny, DG dokumente
*Tchaikovski, Concerto for violin & Orch/D. Oistrakh (jubilee concert)-Rozdestvenski (sp?), Melodya (or whatever it's called nowadays)
*Rachmaninoff, 3rd concerto for piano & Orch/Horowitz (jubilee concert)-Ormandy, OR Horowitz-Reiner, both RCA ('78 & '51 resp).

Difficult to focus on 10 -- I must have left out the most important pieces! Cheers

Great idea Eddaytona!!

Anybody's 10 will reveal their tastes, more than anything else. I suggest you get ahold of Ted Libbey's book, "The NPR Guide to Building a Classical CD Collection." It's about 300, not 10, but it's a start!

Here are several my favorites:

Beethoven Sym# 5/7, Kleiber, Vienna Phil. DG
Beethoven Sym# 6/9, K. Beom, Vienna Phil. DG
Rachmaninoff, 3rd piano concerto Horowitz, RCA
Beethoven piano concerto #5 Horowitz
Bach Golden. Vari., Glen. Gould, SONY
Brahms Doulbe Concerto, Rostovoich/Oistrakh, EMI
Tchaikovski, Violin Concerto, Issac Heifitz, RCA
Chopin, Mazuka/Nocture A. Rubinstein, RCA
Bach uncomp. cello, Fournier(?), DG
Mahler #1/2 B. Walter, Columbia Phil.

I am sorry if spell name wrong (just can't remember so many non-English names).
Never hear Bauchaus, must be old and good.
If you can access good lp for Caslas (cello), they must be good too.
Gregm has a good list! (I like his list too)

Bomarc is 100% correct. It will reveal personal taste or NO taste when one cannot include Mozart in their recommendation.

Here are my favorites:

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
6. Tchaikovsky: 1812 Overture, Cincinnati & Erich Kunzel (Telarc/CD80041)
7. Brahms: Sym’s # 2 & 3 Columbia Symphony Orchestra, Bruno Walter, Sony SMK 64471
8. Mahler: Symphony no. 2 (Resurrection) Otto Kemperer EMI
9. Brahms, Ein deutsches Requiem (A German Requiem), Robert Shaw, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Chorus. Telarc CD-80092
10. Vaughan Williams: Symphonies # 7 & 8, Bakels / Bournemouth Symphony, Naxos (8.550737)

I'm not into classical, but my friend just turned me on to the disc Aaron Copland, The Populist. It is very well recorded, and I liked the music also.

Eldragon, I agree on Mozart. Mozart, Requiem; take any Bohm, Klemperer, even the old Karajan.
On taste, I beg to disagree slightly: Edd states he's new to the gendre so rather than "personal taste" I think that "impressive", "likely to hook", "representative" & similar are more appropriate words. Cheers

Thanks everone thus far.
As Gregm aptly notes: "I think that "impressive", "likely to hook", "representative" & similar are more appropriate words." is exactly what I am hoping for.

Of course taste always enters into these things. With a wide variety of responses as thus far I hope to get things staretd so that eventually I too will have my own tastes.

Again, thanks thus far,

All the best