Respighi: Ancient Airs and Dances (CD review)

Also, Concerto all’antica. David Alongna, violin; Salvatore Di Vittorio, Chamber Orchestra of New York. Naxos 8.573901.

By John J. Puccio

Italian composer and violinist Ottorino Respighi (1879-1936) is probably best known for his trilogy of tone-poem suites The Pines, Fountains, and Festivals of Rome. However, coming close on their heels is his Ancient Airs and Dances, here presented on a Naxos CD by Maestro Salvatore Di Vittorio and the Chamber Orchestra of New York.

Respighi wrote three suites of Ancient Airs and Dances (1917, 1923, and 1931), the music freely adapted from original sixteenth-century pieces for lute. He based the first suite on various Renaissance works by Simone Molinaro, Vincenzo Galilei, and a few other anonymous composers. He based the second suite on works for lute, archlute, and viol by Fabritio Caroso, Jean-Baptiste Besard, Bernardo Gianoncelli, an anonymous composer, and an aria attributed to Marin Mersenne. The third suite Respighi based on lute and guitar works by Besard, Ludovico Roncalli, Santino Garsi da Parma, and a few other anonymous composers. This last suite differs from the previous ones in being slightly sadder than the others.

My own touchstone for these works has long been the 1958 stereo recording by Antal Dorati and the Philharmonia Hungarica, now on a remastered Mercury Living Presence CD (and before that on LP). While I would never suggest that in a field so subjective as music appreciation that there is any absolute “best” of anything, I’ve always found Dorati’s performance masterly, so any newcomer has a lot to look up to. Maestro Di Vittorio does a pretty good job of it, although his interpretations reflect perhaps more of a mock-historical perspective in these pieces than Dorati’s more Romantic approach. I say “mock-historical” because even though Respighi based these Ancient Airs and Dances on Baroque sources, he did intend them for today’s audiences, kind of old works made new. So, it does bring up the question of whether conductors should frame their performances in an ancient, historically informed style or in a manner that more conforms to contemporary standards. As Maestro Di Vittorio notes, “Respighi typically preferred combining pre-Classical melodic styles and musical forms (such as dance suites) with standard late 19th-century Romantic harmonies and textures.”

Whatever, the program begins with the Suite No. 1, which includes four brief dance sections. Di Vittorio then follows Suite No. 1 with Suite No. 3, again four brief dances. It was unclear to me why the conductor chose to present the suites out of chronological order except that Suite No. 2, which comes last on the agenda, is longer than the others, and maybe Di Vittorio wanted to end the Airs with the most substantial material. I dunno.

Probably the most striking things about Di Vittorio’s reading are the tempos. He tends to take the fast movements very quickly and the slower movements very slowly. By that, I mean that he follows one of the period-instrument practices, although not to extremes. The faster music is certainly vigorous and stimulating but without taxing one’s ears, while the slower sections have a sweet, lyrical, flowing quality about them. Nevertheless, the Dorati performances seem more refined to me, more elevated, more stately, more graceful. And with more uniform pacing, Dorati’s handling of the various movements seem to hold together better than in this newer recording.

Accompanying the Ancient Airs and Dances is an early (1908) piece by Respighi, the Concerto all’antica (old-fashioned or antique concert or simply “Concerto in an Ancient Style”). It’s a fairly lyrical work that again draws upon older musical styles for inspiration, even though Respighi admitted that he made up the whole thing himself as a joke for German critics. Maestro Di Vittorio uses the first printed critical edition of the score, published in 2019, making this a world-premiere recording of sorts. I can understand why Di Vittorio begins the program with this selection: It comes across as a proper and welcome complement to the Ancient Airs and Dances, with an especially lovely Adagio and excellent playing from violinist Davide Alogna.

Producers Salvatore Di Vittorio, Bill Siegmund, and Shanan Estreicher and engineer Bill Biegmund recorded the music at the Concert Hall, Adelphi University Performing Arts Center, New York in June 2019. The sound is a tad forward and bright, the upper midrange somewhat edgy at times. Otherwise, it’s good, modern sound, with plenty of clarity and even a little air around the instruments.

Incidentally, since I had the Dorati recording in another player, I couldn’t help notice the difference in sound. The sixty-year older Mercury remaster appeared warmer, smoother, and slightly wider. Just sayin’.

JJP

To listen to a brief excerpt from this album, click below:

Respighi: Orchestral Music (CD review)

Ancient Airs and Dances; The Birds; Brazilian Impressions; Fountains of Rome; Pines of Rome. Antal Dorati, Philharmonia Hungarica, London Symphony Orchestra, Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra. Newton Classics 8802048 (2-disc set).

With the major record companies releasing fewer and fewer new or reissued recordings, it's good to have a company like Newton Classics taking up the slack. They have been re-releasing older classic material from Decca, DG, EMI, Mercury, Philips, and the like in original sound and at a reasonable price. Such is the case here, with this two-disc, 2011 reissue of orchestral works by Italian composer Ottorino Respighi (1879-1936), which contains five of his best-known, most-popular pieces. While the performances and sound do vary somewhat in quality, with conductor Antal Dorati leading three different orchestras in three different recordings, it's hard to argue about the cost.

Disc one contains the best performances and the best sound in the set. However, it is also probably the least well known music. Respighi was primarily a composer of tone poems, little musical impressions, his work based largely on sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth-century forms and ideas. The first disc contains only one set of compositions, Respighi's complete Ancient Airs and Dances, three suites that he wrote in 1917, 1923, and 1932, based on various Renaissance works for lute by Vincenzo Galilei, Simone Molinaro, and others. Dorati recorded the suites in 1958 with the Philharmonia Hungarica for the Mercury label in their "Living Presence" series, and when Philips remastered most of the titles in the old Mercury series for CD in the Nineties, they thought so highly of Dorati's Ancient Airs and Dances, it was one of the first things they brought out.

So, here's the thing:  If you don't already own Dorati's performance of the Ancient Airs and Dances either on the regular CD or the later SACD, this is a chance to get the stereo version in a two-disc set for essentially the price of one disc. The interpretations are elegant, stately, gracious, and infectious, moving perhaps more slowly than some rival renditions, and not done on period instruments, but with the utmost feeling and attention to historical detail. The music is wonderfully melodic, rhapsodic even. Almost equally as important, the sound is smooth and warm yet entirely natural and realistic. In comparing this first disc to my older copy of the work on a reissued Philips/Mercury CD, I found no difference between them.  In other words, you're getting the best-possible mastering of the product.

Although disc two contains four more of Respighi's works, his most-popular material, I can't say I liked Dorati's performances in them anywhere nearly as much as I did in his Ancient Airs and Dances. The disc opens with Gli uccelli (The Birds), which the composer wrote in 1927. He based each segment of the work on Baroque music that imitated various birds. We get a "Prelude" based on music by Bernardo Pasquini, "La colomba" ("The Dove") on music by Jacques de Callot, "La gallina" ("The Hen") on Jean-Philippe Rameau, "L'Usignolo" ("The Nightengale") on an unknown writer, and "Il Cucu" ("The Cuckoo") on music by Bernardo Pasquini. These pieces are more festive and playful than the Ancient Airs and Dances, even if Dorati doesn't approach them in quite as lively a spirit or with as much charm as some of his competitors, like the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra (DG), Neville Marriner and the Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields (EMI), or Eugene Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra (Sony). Moreover, the 1957 Mercury sound with the London Symphony Orchestra is not quite as lustrous as that for the Philharmonia Hungarica. However, during the same recording sessions with the LSO, Dorati also did Respighi's Brazilian Impressions (1928), which come off with greater color and pizzazz.

The second disc ends with Respighi's big guns, the Fountains of Rome (1916) and the Pines of Rome (1924), both suites played by the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra and recorded by Mercury in 1960. Unfortunately, these are the least effective of Dorati's performances and the least well recorded. Frankly, compared to several other conductors in these works, they sound rather plodding. They don't seem as vigorous, as exhilarating, or as vivid as versions by Reiner (RCA), Muti (EMI), Batiz (Naxos), Lopez-Cobos (Telarc), Dutoit (Decca), or any number of others. Nor did I find the sound of Dorati and the Minneapolis Symphony as full-bodied, as smooth, as extended, or as powerful as the sound on some the other competing discs I mentioned, especially the superb old Reiner recording.

Nevertheless, as I say, when you're getting the second Dorati disc practically as a gift from Newton Classics, who can argue?

JJP

Recent Releases, No. 8 (CD Mini-reviews)

By Karl W. Nehriing

Concertos for Mallet Instruments. Alexis Alrich: Marimba Concerto; Karl Jenkins: La Folia; Ned Rorem: Mallet Concerto. Evelyn Glennie, percussion; Jean Thorel, City Chamber Orchestra of Hong Kong. NAXOS 8.574218.

Although this recording was only recently released, it was recorded back in 2013. I have no idea why it took so long to get released, but I am certainly glad that it did, for it is a delight. I would think that by now, most classical music lovers are familiar with the featured soloist. As the liner notes boldly assert, “Dame Evelyn Glennie is the first person in musical history to successfully create and sustain a career as a full-time solo percussionist. As an eclectic and innovative musician and composer, she is constantly redefining the goals and expectations of percussion.” Her influence can be seen here, as she gave the world premiere of the Alexis Aldrich (b. 1955) Marimba Concerto (as explained in a brief overview of the work by the composer herself), an energetic, extroverted work in three movements that is quite entertaining. She was the dedicatee of La Folia by Karl Jenkins (b. 1944), a more stately dance-rooted composition for  marimba and strings that builds in energy as it moves along. The final piece on the program, the Mallet Concerto by Ned Rorem (b. 1923), features Ms. Glennie on vibraphone and xylophone in addition to marimba. It is quite a colorful work with an ending movement titled “An Ending” that is aptly named for reasons beyond the obvious.

David Gompper: Cello Concerto; Double Bass Concerto; Moonburst. Timothy Gill, cello; Volkan Orhon, double bass; Emmanuel Siffert, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. NAXOS 8.559855.

Reading the booklet notes included in this release made me pause for a few moments to reflect on the truly international nature of today’s classical music landscape. American composer David Gompper (b. 1954) studied music in London, taught music in Nigeria, received his doctorate at the University of Michigan, taught for a year at the Moscow Conservatory as a Fulbright Scholar, and now serves as a professor at the University of Iowa, while Emmanuel Siffert is a Swiss conductor leading a British orchestra. The program includes three recent Gompper compositions, leading off with his two-movement Cello Concerto (2019), the first moment of which is intense - and nervous sounding, with some vigorous playing by Gill. The second movement is much different in mood, unsettled and skittish, seemingly directed more inward than the more extroverted first movement. Not a lyrical piece, but not without some appeal, at least for those with an interest in contemporary music. The concluding Double Bass Concerto (2018) is less successful, at least to these ears. Orhon is clearly a master of his instrument, but he seems to be fighting against chaos. Perhaps that was what Gompper intended, but it does not make for an appealing musical experience. The final piece on this CD, Moonburst (2018), is more successful, evoking as it does a sense of darkness and apprehension. At times, the sound seemed to more than a hint of an edge in the upper midrange; as it turned out, a quick check of the back cover credits revealed an engineering team whose names I did not recognize. I shall be wary should I encounter them again.  

Occurrence: Daniel Bjarnason: Violin Concerto; Veronique Vaka: Lendh; Haukur Tómasson: in Seventh Heaven; Puriòur Jónsdóttir: Flutter; Magnús Blöndal Jóhansson: Adagio. Sono Luminus DSL-92243. Pekka Kuusisto, violin; Mario Caroli, flute; Daniel Bjarnason, Iceland Symphony Orchestra. SONO Luminus DSL-92243.

This is not just a mini-review, it is a mixed review, for I believe that I would not stand alone in finding the five compositions on this release to be quite a mixed bag in terms of their appeal, even as I respectfully acknowledge that your musical tastes may – and most likely are – different from mine. As Sly & The Family Stone sang, “different strokes for different folks.” In any event, Occurrence is the third in a series of recordings on the SONO Luminus label by the Iceland Symphony Orchestra that have been dedicated to highlighting the work of contemporary Icelandic composers, the first two being Recurrence and Concurrence (no, I have no idea why Occurrence was not the first title in the series, and I hope I am not turning into too much of an old pedant).

Of the five compositions on the disc (actually, discs – the library version I am reviewing incudes not only a standard CD but also a Blu-ray surround sound audio disc), I find two quite appealing, one amazingly appealing, one difficult and thorny but not without some appeal, and one that I have tried several times to “get” but find utterly unappealing. Unfortunately, the three appealing compositions are the short ones on the disc, combining for less than half the total 70:42 playing time. Leading off the program is composer/conductor Daniel Bjarnason’s Violin Concerto (23:41), an intense, tightly wound piece that is not immediately appealing but after several listens I came to at least respect for its concentrated energy. Next is Veronique Vaka’s  Lendh (11:36), a tone poem of great energy, its bass notes evoking the elemental geological forces underlying the fantastic Icelandic landscape and giving your woofers some cardio. Haukur Tómasson’s in Seventh Heaven (7:13) evokes a different realm, the sounds seeming to play and shimmer, continually changing while holding our attention. Next comes Puriòur Jónsdóttir’s Flutter (20:49), a concerto for flute that try as I might, I never could come to embrace. I will say this much for it, it contains some truly interesting sounds. Perhaps others will like it better than I; it is surely an interesting composition.

The program concludes with Magnús Blöndal Jóhansson’s Adagio (7:19), which brings about a complete change of mood. It is reflective, elegiac, and emotionally resonant. As this is such an amazingly appealing piece, please allow me a few more sentences (thus stretching the concept of “mini-review” until it snaps, thus sayeth the pedant). According to the liner notes, Jóhansson (1925-2005) was one of the first modernists of Icelandic music, composing in 1950 the first Icelandic 12-tone work. “By the 1970s, Jóhansson’s career was in decline. After the death of his wife , he fought a long and demeaning battle with alcoholism and composed nothing between 1972 and 1980. He returned with the stunningly simple Adagio for strings, celeste, and percussion in 1980.” Stunningly simple, but also stunningly beautiful. The engineering (I will admit to getting a kick out of seeing that it was mixed and mastered using Legacy Audio speakers – see my brief bio below) is excellent, as are the liner notes. Recommended to those with a curiosity about or appreciation for contemporary music.

Reich: Music for Two or More Pianos; Eight Lines (for ensemble); Vermont Counterpoint (for flutes and tape); New York Counterpoint (for clarinets and tape); City Life (for ensemble). Jörg Schweinbenz, piano; Anne Parisot, Delphine Roche, flutes; Andrea Nagy, clarinets; Klaus Simon, piano, conductor, Holst-Sinfonietta. NAXOS 8.559682.

American composer Steve Reich (b. 1936) is classified as a “minimalist” composer. His best-known composition, Music for 18 Musicians, is probably the best-known of the minimalist genre, and if you have never heard it, I would strongly advise seeking it out. There are several recordings to choose from; from among them, I would suggest you start with the one on ECM, which was originally released as an LP (now available on CD and streaming formats) in 1978 and caused quite a ripple of excitement. This generously filled (73:24) new release from Naxos includes compositions from a wide swath of Reich’s career, from Music for Two or More Pianos from 1964 to City Life from 1995. All of the selections are clearly minimalist in that they employ simple chord structures, rhythmic patterns that revolve around a discernible driving pulse, and an abundance of energy. The earliest piece, for pianos, is the most abstract-sounding, but after something of a slow start, it picks up energy as it as it moves along. Reich’s compositions and these spirited performers project an undeniable feeling of life-affirming joy, a sense of sheer exuberance, and an expression of gratitude for the ability to create, perform, and enjoy the sounds of music and integrate them with the with the rhythms of life. This is a disc well worth an audition even if you have listened to a Philip Glass recording or two in the past and concluded that minimalism was not for you…

Respighi: Concerto all’antica; Ancient Airs and Dances for Lute. Davide Alogna, violin; Salvatore di Vittorio, Chamber Orchestra of New York. NAXOS 8.573901.

This recording incudes both the unfamiliar and the familiar. In fact, the Concerto all’antica, originally composed way back in 1908, receives here its world premiere recording; by way of contrast, except for the Roman trilogy (Pines, Fountains, and Festivals), the Ancient Airs and Dances are probably Respighi’s most oft-recorded compositions. According to the liner notes, “the concerto was first referred to as a “Concerto in an Ancient Style by an anonymous composer, revised and orchestrated by Ottorino Respighi, [and] was probably performed in its reduction for violin and piano. Of course, the anonymous composer was Respighi himself and he admitted later that he composed the concerto as a joke for German critics.” As it turns out, the score languished for many decades, finally being published as Concerto all’antica in 1990, and being performed here in its first printed critical edition published in 2019 by conductor Salvatore Di Vittorio. At just over a half-hour in duration, it is a substantial composition, one that falls easily upon the ears and is quite enjoyable. Also quite enjoyable – but fans of Respighi already know this – are the Ancient Airs and Dances, which are presented here in quite enjoyable performances, bringing the total timing on this disc to more than 80 minutes. No skimping here! Although when I want to hear the Dances I would more likely pull out either the venerable Dorati recording on Mercury Living Presence or the López Cobos on Telarc, the inclusion of the charming Concerto all’antica on this new NAXOS release makes it well worth recommending to dedicated Respighi fans. (See also John’s review: https://classicalcandor.blogspot.com/search?q=Respighi+Ancient)

Schnittke: Works for Violin and Piano. Includes Suite in the Old Style; Polka; Tango; Sonata for Violin and Piano No. 1; Madrigal in memoriam Oleg Kagan; Congratulatory Rondo; Silent Night. Daniel Hope, violin; Alexey Botvinov, piano. Deutsche Grammophon 483 9234.

In his liner note essay, violinist Daniel Hope tells how he first encountered and fell in love with the music of Russian composer Alfred Schnittke (1934-1998) back in 1989 when as a teenager he heard a fellow student play Schnittke’s Violin Sonata No. 1. As he recalls, “from the moment I heard it, I wanted more than anything to play this music. The violinist was playing from a hand-copied score, barely legible, and I remember approaching him after the concert and pleading with him to let me copy the parts. That evening began my ‘love affair’ with Alfred Schnittke’s music.” The now-mature Hope’s performance of the Sonata is the centerpiece of this collection, and it shows that his love has not dimmed over the years. From the lighter feeling of the various dance pieces to the searing intensity of the solo violin performance of the Madrigal in memoriam Oleg Kagan, Hope brings an expressive, communicative touch to this music that may well cause you to fall in love with it, too. Schnittke’s arrangement of Silent Night, which closes the program, is haunting, beautiful, and thought-provoking. Throughout the album, Hope is well supported by pianist Alexey Botvinov, who sadly enough becomes a forgotten figure in the otherwise splendid liner notes – no photo, no mention. If you enjoy violin music, this is a recording you really ought to audition, for it is a treasure. 

Weinberg: String Quartets, Vol. 1 Nos. 2, 5, and 6. Arcadia Quartet. Chandos CHAN 20158.

This will be more of a true mini-review, not at all as a reflection on the quality of the music; in fact, this Chandos release is so excellent that I want to cut right to the chase and point out just how excellent it is. Having favorably reviewed (here and here) some previous music by Weinberg (1919-1996) and having enjoyed other recordings of his music in the past, I looked forward to auditioning this new Chandos recording of some of his string quartets. For one thing, I knew that the Polish Weinberg and the Russian Shostakovich became close friends and shared musical ideas with one another, so as an ardent admirer of the l Shostakovich’s quartets I was especially eager to hear Weinberg’s. From the first few notes of Weinberg’s Quartet No. 2, I was sold. (I should point out that he wrote this before meeting Shostakovich; in fact, the liner notes speculate that he showed the music to the Shostakovich, who then used some of the ideas in his own Quartet No. 2). All three string quartets included in this release are impressive examples of the genre. They are on the serious side, at times brooding, but never mawkish or sentimental. When they sing, it is a serious song; when they reflect, it is deep reflection. Still, this is not forbidding music, nor standoffish music; rather, it is music that draws the listener in, both emotionally and intellectually. It is music that both encourages and rewards repeat listening. The sound quality is also warm and inviting, without edge up high or boom down low. Informative liner notes that include some engaging historical photos complete this highly recommendable package. I look forward to future volumes with eager anticipation.   

Bonus Recommendations:

The Musical Human: Michael Spitzer. Bloomsbury Publishing, ISBN 978-1-63557-624-5.

This is a big (400 pp.), ambitious book that might be a bit much for many classical music fans, but it offers a fascinating take on music and life that is well worth taking a look at. Spitzer divides the book into three parts; if nothing else, I would suggest that classical music lovers would do well to take a dive into Part One (Life), a manageable and focused 132 pages offering some keen insights into our current musical universe. On page 41, for example, we learn that “a preference for consonances gets locked in at age nine, while non-Western children develop a taste for (to our ears) irregular tunings and greater dissonance. A centrepiece of Western harmony is octave equivalence, as when children and adult men sing the same melody an octave apart (that is, singing eight notes up the scale brings you back to the same note, but an octave higher). Playing an octave slightly out of tune creates acoustic interference beats that sound hideous to Western ears, but quite palatable to people in Bali. In Bulgaria, it is common for choruses to sing in parallel minor seconds (a semitone apart): one culture’s noise is another culture’s spice.” In Part One, Spitzer goes on to discuss topics as the roles that music plays in our lives, the myth of the “musical genius,” the state of music education, the role of the conductor, and how music is akin to religion. And what of the rest of the book – Parts Two (History), with sections titled “Ice, Sand, Savannah and Forest,” “The Tuning of the West,” Superpowers,” and “Endgames,” and Three (Evolution), with sections titled “Animal,” Human,” “Machine,” and “Eleven Lessons on Music’s Nature?” I will leave you with this little teaser from near the end of Part One: “Music’s oceanic quality allies it with religion. Indeed a key strand of Parts 2 and 3 of this book is that music and religion sprang to life at the same time.” 

Finally, for another take on the universality of music, you might want to take a look at this recent article on the subject from Nautilus magazine.

KWN

Respighi: Roman Trilogy (CD review)

Roman Festivals; Fountains of Rome; Pines of Rome. JoAnn Falletta, Buffalo Philharmonic. Naxos 8.574013.

Here's an interesting observation to begin: In this day and age when due to financial concerns most of the world's great orchestras find it difficult to produce many recordings (and when they do, they're most often live performances), the Buffalo Philharmonic under the guidance of conductor JoAnn Falletta continues to turn out a stream of excellent performances with the Naxos label. What have they discovered up there in Buffalo that most everybody else is missing? I dunno. But we should not look a gift horse (or buffalo) in the mouth; we're lucky that Ms. Falletta and the Buffalo Philharmonic are as good as they are.

Anyway, the Italian composer, violinist, and musicologist Ottorino Respighi (1879-1936) is probably best known today for his trio of lavishly orchestrated tone poems describing various famous places in Italy, the three works on this disc now known as the "Roman Trilogy." Of course, he wrote quite a lot more, but these three pieces so overshadow the others, the lesser works tend to get forgotten.

Even though Respighi wrote the Fountains of Rome first (1917), Ms. Falletta has chosen to open the agenda with the Feste roman ("Roman Festivals") the last of the trilogy, which Respighi wrote in 1928. For me these are the least-successful parts of the trilogy. Respighi appears to have been trying to outdo himself in the work, and the music becomes more than a little hectic and bombastic as a result. I can only assume Ms. Falletta begins the show with it because it's so brash, and it acts as a sort of overture or curtain-raiser. The music is about as loud and forward as it can be, yet even so Ms. Falletta finds her way to make it all seem more meaningful than it really is, being especially careful to cultivate a refined attitude throughout.

Next, we get the Fountains of Rome (1916), the work that started it all and containing some of the more festive, colorful, and descriptive of the tone poems. Each of the four movements describes a celebrated fountain in Rome, the music, as in the other works, playing without a break. We hear noises of the country, noises of the city, noises of mystical creatures, and noises of crowds, among many other things, the music finally fading away into silence as night falls.

JoAnn Falletta

Ms. Falletta carefully draws out the morning beauty of the opening "Fountain of Valle Guilia at Dawn." It's never too rushed and the contrasts in light and shadow are nicely accentuated. The "Triton Fountain" fairly bursts forth, although, again, not overly dramatically so. Ms. Falletta contains herself, never vulgarizing the music and, thus, making it all the more effective. She takes "The Trivi Fountain at Midday" at a triumphant gait, and she manages the closing "Villa Medici Fountain at Sunset" in a solemn yet stately manner.

The disc's program ends with possibly Respighi's most-popular work, the Pines of Rome ((1924). It opens with a big splash of color in "The Pines of the Villa Borghese," which Ms. Falletta treats in suitably bright, flamboyant fashion, while never trivializing or debasing it. The second movement, "Pines Near a Catacomb," is initially bleak until Respighi opens it up to a more sincere melancholy and finally a kind of regal dirge. Ms. Falletta maintains each of the varying moods without the piece sounding routine or overstaying its welcome. After that, she makes the third movement, the "Juniculum" pines, with its song of the nightingale, as sweetly appealing as any I've heard, the atmosphere easygoing and composed. It is a prelude, really, to the big finale, the "Pines of the Appian Way," maybe the single most-famous thing Respighi ever wrote. The march of ancient Roman soldiers as they return home in triumph along the Appian Way interrupts the tranquility of Nature and the chirping of birds (yes, Respighi left instructions for real bird sounds here). Ms. Falletta maintains a strong control of the march tempo as the steps of the soldiers get increasingly more pronounced and more insistent. It's a splendid production all the way around.

Producer and engineer Tim Handley recorded the music at Kleinhans Music Hall, Buffalo, New York in May and June 2018. Starting with the "Roman Festivals" was not only a good curtain raiser, it was a good way to show off the disc's sound. This is one of the most well-rounded sounding recordings I think I've ever heard from Naxos. The sound is well spread out across the speakers; and it's very dynamic and wide ranging. There is a solid bass response present that most engineers are content to dampen for fear, I suppose, of offending some listeners (or blowing up their speakers or earbuds). Although the sound gets a little muddled in the loudest passages, the impact, depth, and clarity are impressive. This is sound worthy of Respighi's music.

JJP

To listen to a brief excerpt from this album, click below:

Respighi: Roman Trilogy (CD review)

Pines, Fountains, and Festivals of Rome. Riccardo Muti, the Philadelphia Orchestra. EMI 50999 0 97988 2 3.

Italian musician, teacher, and composer Ottorino Respighi (1879-1936) wrote his Roman Trilogy after studying with Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, which may have been where he got the idea for creating such pictorial material. Riccardo Muti and his Philadelphia Orchestra offer up excellent interpretations of all three parts of the Trilogy, the Fountains, Pines, and Festivals of Rome. Perhaps they are not quite so distinctive as those of Fritz Reiner in his old Chicago Symphony recording of the Fountains and Pines (RCA or JVC) nor as smoothly sophisticated as those of Charles Dutoit and his Montreal Symphony (Decca), but they are quite well characterized, nevertheless.

Although Respighi wrote the Fountains of Rome first (1917), it's the Pines of Rome (1924) that opens the disc, possibly because it's the most-popular work Respighi ever composed. The Pines opens with a big splash of color in "The Pines of the Villa Borghese," which Muti treats in appropriately bright, splashy fashion. The fact is, Muti's accounts of the three scores are among the best, most vivid you'll find. Then the second movement, "Pines Near a Catacomb," is initially gloomy until Muti opens the music up to a sincere melancholy, longing, and finally regal dirge. After that, Muti makes the third movement, "del Giancolo" pines, with its song of the nightingale, as lovely as I've heard, the tone relaxed and serene. It is a prelude, really, to the big finale, the "Pines of the Appian Way," possibly the single most-famous thing Respighi ever created. The march of ancient Roman soldiers as they return home along the Appian Way interrupts the tranquility of Nature and the chirping birds. Here, Muti captures the mounting urgency of the music, moment by moment, pretty well until it reaches a fevered climax, and Muti pulls out all the stops.

The Fountains of Rome are more festive and, for me, more colorful and descriptive than the Pines of Rome. Each of the four movements describes a celebrated fountain in Rome, the music, as in the other works, playing without a break. We hear noises of the country, noises of the city, noises of mystical creatures, and noises of crowds, among many other things, the music finally fading away into silence as night falls. In the Fountains, Muti is even more expressive than he was in the Pines. I love the way he flirts with Respighi's flashes of light and shadow throughout, and in the "Trevi al meriggio" fountain, Muti is at his best.

The Roman Festivals (1929) are for me (and probably many other listeners) the least-successful parts of the Trilogy. Respighi appears to have been trying to top himself in the work, and the music becomes somewhat hectic and bombastic as a result. At least Muti doesn't vulgarize the score, but there's not a lot he can do with it in any case.

EMI recorded the music at Memorial Hall, Fairmount Park, Philadelphia, in November of 1984. The engineers appear to give us on this 2011 reissue a transfer made for their first CD release of the material back in 1985. I could hear no differences in direct comparisons. Still, there's nothing wrong with that, since the sound is fairly decent. There is a forward quality in the upper midrange, however, that results in a certain degree of shrillness at times; it may or may not distract one from the performances, and in any case it comes and goes. The celebrated Philadelphia strings provide a velvety sheen, yet the sound does not seem so well upholstered as from some other recordings of this music. There's a slightly lean tendency to the EMI Philadelphia sound most of the time, with a wide range, solid impact, and reasonably deep bass. Still, it's not as impressive sonically as the Reiner disc I alluded to earlier, recorded, amazingly, in 1959.

JJP

Respighi: La Boutique Fantasque (SACD review)

Also, Gli Uccelli, suite. Marzio Conti, Orchestre Sinfonica del Teatro Massimo di Palermo. CPO 777 295-2.

People probably know Italian composer, conductor, and musical scholar Ottorino Respighi (1879-1936) best for his suites of tone poems, things like The Pines, Fountains, and Festivals of Rome, the Ancient Airs and Dances, and the Brazilian Impressions. Despite the popularity of his music, however, or perhaps because of it, many critics have disdained his work, calling it too lightweight, too immature, too bombastic, too theatrical, or some such rubbish. The fact is, his music perfectly describes moments or people or animals or events in ways to which almost any listener can relate. It's what good music is about.

First up on this disc is the ballet La Boutique Fantasque (The Magic Toy Shop), which Respighi wrote for a 1919 première by Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes. The composer based much of the music on pieces previously written for piano by fellow countryman Gioachino Rossini. There is plenty of showy color in its forty-five minutes of running time as it tells the semi-comical story of two can-can dolls in a toy shop who come to life and refuse to have a pair of customers separate them. The music is as much fun as the story.

Maestro Marzio Conti and the Orchestra of the Teatro Massimo play the melodies in a most-delightful manner, never trying to make more of it than what there is. It's when conductors try to take Respighi's tunes too seriously, too weightily, that things begin to sound rather ponderous and overwrought. Here, Conti keeps the mood light and lets the music charm one in a natural, unforced way. The slower interludes, like the "Dance Cosaque" and the "Valse Lente," are fluid and airy, and the faster sections, like the "Tarantella" and "Galop," are vigorous and bracing.

Now, I'm not suggesting that La Boutique Fantasque is either high art or trifling cotton candy for the ears. It is neither. It is simply breezy ballet music meant to do nothing more than entertain, which it does with unqualified ease.

Accompanying La Boutique Fantasque is the little suite Gli Uccelli (The Birds). Again, Respighi uses music previously written by others to describe four kinds of birds: the dove, the hen, the nightingale, and the cuckoo. They are mostly whimsical representations of these feathered friends, meant to evoke a smile. Originally, Respighi intended them for a small ensemble, and while it may appear at first as if the Teatro Massimo Orchestra is a trifle too large a group to do justice to the delicacy of some of the music, Conti and his players bring it off nicely (although I admit to a small preference for the recording by the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra in this work).

CPO recorded both pieces in July, 2007, at the Teatro Massimo, Palermo, Italy, in multichannel SACD surround. Maybe that's why there is a very slightly foggy sound to the midrange when playing back the disc in its hybrid two-channel mode. Even so, it's hardly a noticeable or objectionable qualm, and the rest of the spectrum is exemplary, with crisp, sparkling highs, decent bass, and a wide front-channel spread. Add in some strong dynamics, good percussion work, a modest stage depth, and only the faintest background noise, and the result is a big, open, most-pleasing sonic landscape.

A closing note: I tried, unsuccessfully it seems, to read the booklet comments on Respighi and his works, but I found it pretty tough sledding. Maybe if you try, you'll have better luck than I did understanding just what the author was getting at.

JJP

Respighi: Pines of Rome (CD review)

Also, Fountains of Rome, Festivals of Roman. Col. Lowell E. Graham, the U.S. Air Force Band. Klavier K 11182.

This is a disc of contrasts: On the one hand we have very familiar music, Respighi's Pines, Fountains, and Festivals of Rome; on the other hand, we find the music in unique transcriptions for wind band by Lawrence Odom. The result is to hear something old made new again.

The odd thing is that after listening for a few minutes, you don't even notice the strings missing, the music actually lending itself so nicely to a wind band. Moreover, maestro Lowell E. Graham and his U.S. Air Force Band never try to overdramatize the programmatic content of the pieces, so the composer's intentions come across in a fairly straightforward manner.

Italian composer and musician Ottorino Respighi (1879-1936) wrote his Roman Trilogy after studying with Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, probably where he got the idea of picturesque program material. Although he wrote the Fountains of Rome first (1917), the disc begins with the Pines of Rome (1924), possibly because this piece is the most-popular work Respighi ever composed. The Pines opens with a big splash of color in "The Pines of the Villa Borghese." Then the second movement, "Pines Near a Catacomb," is appropriately somber, even gloomy. The third movement, with its song of the nightingale, is a prelude, really, to the big finale, the "Pines of the Appian Way," which is probably the single most-famous thing Respighi created. We hear the march of ancient Roman soldiers as they return home victorious in battle once again, the music mounting in urgency moment by moment until it reaches a fevered climax. Graham makes the most of it, as do the audio engineers.

The Fountains of Rome are altogether more festive and, for me, more vivid and distinctive than the Pines. Each of the four movements describes a celebrated fountain in the city, the music playing without a break. We hear noises of the country, noises of the city, noises of mystical creatures, and noises of crowds, among many other things, the music finally fading away into silence as night falls.

The Roman Festivals (1929) seem to me the least-successful parts of the trilogy. Respighi appears to have been trying to top himself in the work, and the music becomes rather hectic and bombastic at times. Still, Graham holds it together pretty well, making it more of a single piece than we sometimes hear.

Recorded in 1997 and originally released in 2002, Klavier now makes the Roman Trilogy available on this 2010 disc, taken from the 24-bit digital master. The first thing one notices about the sound is that it can be somewhat bright and forward in places like the opening of the Pines of Rome. I suppose we should expect that from a wind band, yet the bulk of the midrange is fluid and smooth, so if you can make it through the more raucous sections like those opening flurries, the sound is quite good. Although the "Catacombs" might have benefitted from a deeper bass, the disc makes up for it in the "Pines of the Appian Way" and in the big low-end thumps of the Roman Festivals. Like most wind recordings, this one is generally warm and mellow, with some nicely articulated highs.

JJP

Respighi: Pines and Fountains of Rome (HQCD review)

Charles Munch, New Philharmonia Orchestra. HDTT HQCD268.

Listeners today probably know Maestro Charles Munch best for his RCA recordings with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, which he led from 1949 to 1962. Regardless, he made numerous recordings with other orchestras, among them several for Decca in the late Sixties. HDTT (High Definition Tape Transfers) remastered the present disc from a Decca/London Phase-4 recording Munch made with the New Philharmonia Orchestra in 1967. Munch was as good as ever, but the Phase-4 processing brings with it its usual advantages and disadvantages.

The HDTT remaster contains two of Italian musician, teacher, and composer Ottorino Respighi’s (1879-1936) most-celebrated works, the Pines and Fountains of Rome. Respighi wrote them as a part of his Roman Trilogy after studying with Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, which may have been where he got the idea for creating his pictorial material. Munch’s way with them is perhaps not so distinctive as that of Fritz Reiner in his Chicago Symphony recording (RCA or JVC) nor as smoothly sophisticated as that of Charles Dutoit and the Montreal Symphony (Decca), but the performances are vigorous and colorful, nevertheless.

Although Respighi wrote the Fountains of Rome first (1917), the Pines of Rome (1924) starts the program, possibly because it’s the most-popular work Respighi ever composed. Munch opens “The Pines of the Villa Borghese” with a huge splash of color, which sounds rather fierce but soon enough settles into an appropriately solemn but never gloomy tone for “The Pines Near a Catacomb.” After that, the third-movement “Pines of the Janiculum” (a hill in Rome, once the center of the Janus cult) remains in Munch’s hands a peaceful nocturne, beautifully serene and complete with its familiar nightingale at the end. Respighi’s big finale, “The Pines of the Appian Way,” may be the single most-famous thing Respighi ever wrote. The movement provides the scene for ancient Roman soldiers returning to Rome along the Appian Way, the sounds of their marching footsteps interrupting the stillness of the setting. Munch develops it nicely, building a reasonably strong sense of drama and excitement until the music reaches its climax. The performance is perhaps not so graphic or high-powered as those of Riccardo Muti (EMI) or the aforementioned Reiner, but it’s effective, nonetheless.

The Fountains of Rome sounds more festive to me than the Pines, more colorful, more descriptive, and less ostentatious. Each of the four movements describes a well-known fountain in Rome. As we progress through a day in the city, we hear noises of the country, noises of the city, noises of mystical creatures, and noises of crowds, among many other things, the music at last receding into silence as night falls.

The town awakes with “The Fountain of Valle Giulia at Dawn,” one of Munch’s best spots in the program. There is an appealingly quiet yet cheery feeling about it. “The Triton Fountain in the Morning” energizes the town and the listener, Munch giving it an extra brilliance. “The Trevi Fountain at Noon” is just as grand and impressive as we expect it to be. Then, “The Fountain of the Villa Medici at Sunset” completes the show, with Munch communicating the sun going down with utmost tranquility and only a tinge of melancholy as the day closes.

The Decca engineers recorded the music at Kingsway Hall in 1967, utilizing their controversial Phase-4 recording process. Decca started using Phase-4 in 1961, a system that took multi-miking to the extreme and directed signals to ten and twenty-channel consoles before being mixed down to two-channel stereo. In terms of classical orchestral music, the sonic results ranged from flat, bright, and compartmentalized to spectacularly clear and dynamic (although often in a gimmicky, “hi-fi” manner, with whole sections of the orchestra coming to life and then fading away, occasionally provoking a hole-in-the-middle effect). Because the folks at HDTT work from original, commercially available tapes and LPs, neither adding nor subtracting anything (except in the case of a little discreet noise reduction), their remastering of the Pines and Fountains illustrates most of the benefits and liabilities of the process.

Let me put it this way: Listeners will either love or hate the sound of the album. There’s not a lot of room for opinions in between. Let’s start with the disc’s high points: As with HDTT’s other remasterings, this one retains the original recording’s wide dynamic range and impact. There is also very low distortion involved, with clean transients throughout. And the all-important midrange displays a commendable naturalness, smoothness, warmth, and transparency.

Be that as it may, there are downsides. The top end is pretty hot, especially noticeable at the beginning of “The Pines of the Villa Borghese,” which highlights every high-end percussion instrument in the orchestra. That said, the highs are quite clean, so while they may sound forward or bright, they are not harsh or grating. We also hear a sectioning-off of the sound, at times one or the other speaker falling almost silent. The Decca engineers didn’t appear to treat the center of the orchestra too well, either. In addition, and somewhat surprising, Decca’s engineers failed to capture all the bass they could have and made no attempt to replicate any sense of orchestral depth.

Finally, there are only some forty-odd minutes of content on the disc, which may seem short measure. Keep in mind, however, that that’s all Decca provided on the original recording, so it’s all HDTT provide as well. Besides, it may be a blessing in disguise not getting the most-common coupling, the third part of the trilogy, The Roman Festivals, they’re such bombastic pieces.

For further information about the various formats, configurations, and prices of HDTT products, you can visit their Web site at http://www.highdeftapetransfers.com/storefront.php.

To hear a brief excerpt from this album, click here:


JJP

Serenata: A Bouquet of Favorites for Strings (CD review)

Antonio Janigro, I Solisti di Zagreb. Vanguard Classics SVC-142.

If you laid all the albums of string music in the world end to end, some hot new group would try to rerecord all of them. No need to rerecord this collection, though. It contains some splendid music, almost every short favorite for strings you can name. The amazing thing is that Vanguard Classics recorded them so long ago, 1957 and 1962. The recordings were good in their day and they're good now, even if some listeners may not appreciate all of the interpretations.

Every performance is as lively and energetic as you'd expect from this conductor and ensemble, Antonio Janigro and I Solisti di Zagreb, and from the repertoire represented. The program starts with a zesty rendition of Albinoni's Concerto a cinque in B-flat Major, with sonics of startling presence. The Super Bit Map remastering has not only clarified the sound, it has eliminated most of the background noise between the notes. However, it has not removed all of the noise accompanying the notes, so what we get can sound slightly rough or fuzzy at times.

Antonio Janigro

The recordings themselves are a bit forward and bright, anyway, and the result is a little disconcerting at first. But one soon adjusts. The first nine tracks come from 1957 and actually sound the best of the lot; the later 1962 tracks display a fraction more static and low-end rumble.

Following Albinoni, there are Boccherini's familiar Minuet and Haydn's equally famous Serenade, requisite numbers in these kind of collections and pieces I continually mistake for one another. Janigro and his group do up both of them lovingly. The centerpiece of the album is Mozart's Eine kleine Nachtmusik, performed with as much verve as one could want. If it doesn't come across quite as smoothly Marriner's or as effortlessly as Boskovsky's, it's close.

Also on hand are Respighi's Ancient Airs and Dances Suite No. 3; Paradis's Sicilienne; Vaughan Williams's Fantasia on "Greensleeves," especially moving; Pergolesi's Concertino in G; Sibelius's Valse Triste; and, finally, a rather quick-paced version of Barber's Adagio for Strings that I had heard before from Janigro on an all-Barber anthology. This last one may be a matter of taste; Stokowski and Toscanini took it at about seven minutes; Janigro does it in six, although it doesn't sound particularly hurried, just a little too straightforward for my taste. I think, perhaps, the conductor was better in early music.

Overall, though, this is a fine collection of music, very well played. The audio, if not turned up too loudly, can sound superb as well. The collector will have most of these pieces already in his or her music library, but still a warmly recommended disc.

JJP

To listen to a brief excerpt from this album, click below:

Violin Lullabies (CD review)

Featuring works by Brahms, Gershwin, Ravel, Schubert, Strauss, and many more. Rachel Barton Pine, violin; Matthew Hagle, piano. Cedille CDR 90000 139.

Who doesn’t like a lullaby? Everybody likes a lullaby. For many of us, it was the first music we ever heard. Lullabies are so popular that almost every classical composer of the last few hundred (nay, perhaps few thousand) years wrote some of them. Violinist Rachel Barton Pine and piano accompanist Matthew Hagle have chosen over two dozen examples of the genre for performance on the present disc. The playing is beautiful and the music relaxing, all of it inspirational in its way.

Ms. Pine explains in a booklet note that while the repertoire for the album had been in the back of her mind for quite some time, the birth of her first child actually inspired the program, which she plays on a 1742 “ex-Soldat” Guarneri del Gesu, Cremona.

While I admit that I’m not overly fond of albums containing bits and pieces of things, I can easily make an exception with this one. I also admit that the older I get (which is beginning to verge on ancient), the more sentimental I become. Thus, the Brahms Wiegenlied (“Cradle Song”), possibly the most-famous lullaby ever written, that opens the program practically brought tears to my eyes. It’s positively lovely, with committed, heartfelt playing from Ms. Pine, whose own child must certainly be lucky to have so talented a mother to play these things for her now and throughout her life. Ms. Pine says that some of these lullabies are part of a bedtime routine for her child, which she sings to the baby every day, often joined by her husband an octave lower. The cover and inlay photos, incidentally, are those of Sylvia Pine, age two weeks.

Bits and pieces notwithstanding, I think I could listen to this stuff all day. Also called berceuse in French and wiegenlied in German, there is more variety in the lullaby or cradlesong than you might suppose. Ms. Pine’s collection illustrates the point with as many variations of the theme as possible in a seventy-nine minute album. She describes them as “short and elegant” pieces, and surely they are, most them composed for violin and piano.

Of course, I have my favorites on the disc. The aforementioned Brahms, for sure; an even more wistful one by Amy Beach; a Scottish-inflected one by Ludwig Schwab; a rendition of Gershwin’s “Summertime” that never sounded more soulful; a particularly endearing piece by Faure; a more austere one by Sibelius; a jaunty number from Pauline Viardot-Garcia; and a mystically Romantic one by twentieth-century composer Alan Hovhaness that fits right at home with the composers of the nineteenth century.

Then, too, you’ll not mistake Stravinsky’s lullaby from the Firebird for anything but Stravinsky. And there is Schubert, as you would expect producing one of the most melodious lullabies of all, as is the Schumann that follows it. Over a dozen more complement these selections, each of them a perfect little gem from the likes of Respighi, Falla, Grieg, Reger, Richard Strauss, and more.

Obviously, the violinist in such material must be completely in tune with the mood of these pieces and must display an emotional sensitivity to go with it. Ms. Pine has the credentials, the virtuosity, and the temperament to offer up this music as a part of herself. One couldn’t ask for greater versatility in a performer.

Cedille founder, producer, and president James Ginsburg and ace engineer Bill Maylone made the album in 2012 at the Fay and Daniel Levin Performance Studio, 98.7 WFMT, Chicago, Illinois. What they got for their trouble is one of the most realistic violin sounds I’ve found. You can hear every nuance of the bowing, every rasp, every stroke, every quiver, every detail. The piano is fine, too, although it is well in the background providing a soft accompaniment.

You may access additional lullabies from Rachel Barton Pine and Matthew Hagle at iTunes:  https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/funf-lieder-op.-49-no.-4-wiegenlied/id634009865?i=634010273&ign-mpt=uo%3D4

To listen to a brief excerpt from this album, click here:

JJP

The Basic Classical Collection on Compact Disc (Recommended Recordings)

By John J. Puccio

The following recommendations are personal favorites of mine derived from many years of listening and comparing. I tried to base the suggestions on both performance and sound, so most of them are stereo recordings. If you don't see your own personal favorites among my listed items, it's either because I've never heard them or because I've heard them and didn't care for them all that much.

Naturally, I'll update the list as new and interesting recordings come my way, and I always welcome comments and suggestions.

For beginners in the classical field, I have indicated with an asterisk (*) those works a person might best begin with.

ADAM, Adolphe (1803-1856)

Giselle:

Martinon/Paris Conserv. O. (HDTT)

Fistoulari/LSO (Mercury)

Bonynge/Royal Opera House, Covent Garden (Decca)

ALBINONI, Tommaso (1671-1750)

Adagio in g-minor:

Camerata Bern (Novalis)

Marriner/ASMF (EMI)

I Musici (Philips)

I Solisti Italiani (Denon)

BACH, Johann Sebastian (1685-1750)

Toccata and Fugue in D:

Ledger (EMI)

Otto (Denon)

*Brandenburg Concertos:
        Pinnock/European Brandenburg Ensemble (Avie)

Marriner/ASMF (Philips)
        Lamon/Tafelmusik Baroque O. (Tafelmusik or Sony)
Pinnock/English Concert (DG Archiv)
Freiburg Baroque Orchestra (Harmonia Mundi)

        Savall/Les Concert des Nations (Astree)

Sorrell/Apollo's Fire (Avie)
        Leonhardt Ensemble (Sony/SEON)
Leppard/ECO (Philips)

*Orchestral Suites:

Savall/Les Concert des Nations (AliaVox or Astree)

Marriner/ASMF (Decca)

Koopman/Amsterdam Baroque O. (DHM)

Pearlman/Boston Baroque O. (Telarc)

Kuijken/La Petite Bande (DHM)

        Leppard/ECO (Philips)
        Clark/Consort of London (Brilliant Classics)

Violin Concertos:

Kuijken/La Petite Bande (DHM)
Menuhin/Bath Festival O. (Hi-Q or EMI)

Grumiaux/New Philh. O. (Philips)
Meyers/ECO (eOne)

Hahn/Kahane/LACO (DG)
Zehetmair/Amsterdam Bach Soloists (Brilliant Classics)

The Musical Offering:

Ensemble Sonniere (Virgin)

Linde-Consort (EMI)

Magnificat:

Gardiner/English Baroque Ensemble (Philips)
Kuijken/La Petite Bande (Virgin)

Pickett/New Decca Consort (L'Oiseau-Lyre)

Parrott/Taverner Players (EMI)

Suzuki/Bach Coll. (BIS)

BARTOK, Bela (1881-1945)

*Concerto for Orchestra:

Reiner/CSO (RCA or RCA/JVC)

Solti/CSO or LSO (Decca)

Fischer/Budapest Festival O. (Philips)

Rattle/CBSO (EMI)

Music for Strings, Percussion and Orchestra:
        Reiner/CSO (RCA)

Ormandy/Philad. O. (EMI)

Piano Concertos:

Kocsis/Fischer/Budapest O. (Philips)

Kovacevich/Davis/BBC SO (Philips)

Ashkenazy/Solti/LPO (Decca)

Pollini/Abbado/CSO (DG)

Violin Concertos Nos. 1 & 2:

Chung/Solti/CSO/LPO (Decca)

BEETHOVEN, Ludwig van (1770-1827)

Overtures:

Jochum/Bamberg SO (RCA)

Davis/Bavarian RSO (Sony)

Masur/Gewandhaus O. (Philips)

Zinman/Tonhalle O. Zurich (Arte Nova)

Karajan/Berlin Philharmonic (DG)

Piano Sonatas:

Kempff (DG)

Brendel (Philips)
        Brawn (MSR)

Egmont, Incidental Music:

Szell/Lorengar/LSO (Decca)

Piano Concertos Nos. 1-5:

Kovacevich/Davis/LSO (Philips)

        Bezuidenhout/Heras-Casado/Freiburg Baroque O. (Harmonia Mundi)

Perahia/Haitink/Concertgebouw O. (Sony)

Piano Concerto No. 1:

       Richter/Munch/Boston Symphony O. (HDTT, JVC, or RCA)

       Bezuidenhout/Heras-Casado/Freiburg Baroque O. (Harmonia Mundi)

Piano Concerto No. 4:

        Bezuidenhout/Heras-Casado/Freiburg Baroque O. (Harmonia Mundi)

*Piano Concerto No. 5, "Emperor":

Kovacevich/Davis/LSO (Philips)

        Bezuidenhout/Heras-Casado/Freiburg Baroque O. (Harmonia Mundi)
        Serkin/Ozawa/Boston Symphony O. (FIM or Telarc)
        Ashkenazy/Solti/CSO (Decca)
        Brendel/Rattle/VPO (Philips)

Gilels/Philh. O. (EMI)

Kempff/Leitner/Berlin Philharmonic (DG)

Arrau/Davis/Dresden Staatskapelle (Philips)

Guy/Jordan/French Radio PO (Naive)

*Violin Concerto:
        Heifetz/Munch/BSO (RCA)
        Ehnes/Manze/Royal Liverpool PO (Onyx)

        Shaham/Jacobsen/The Knights (Canary Classics)

Perlman/Giulini/Philh. O. (EMI)
        Szeryng/Haitink/Concertgebouw O. (Philips)

        Repin/Muti/VPO (DG)

Kremer/Harnoncourt/COE (Teldec)

Grumiaux/Davis/Concertgebouw O. (Pentatone)
        Barton Pine/Serebrier/Royal Phil. O. (Cedille)
        Tetzlaff/Zinman/Tonhalle O. Zurich (Arte Nova or Brilliant Classics)

Triple Concerto:

Rostropovich/Oistrakh/Richter/Karajan/Berlin Philharmonic (Hi-Q or EMI)
        Schiff/Hoelscher/Zacharias/Masur/Gewandhaus O. (EMI)

Symphony No. 1:

        Savall/Le Concert des Nations (AliaVox)

        Herreweghe/Royal Flemish PO (Pentatone)

        Bohm/VPO (DG)

        Forck/Akademie fur Alte Musik Berlin (Harmonia Mundi)

Marriner/ASMF (Pentatone)

Zinman/Tonhalle O. Zurich (Arte Nova)

Norrington/LCP (Virgin)

Symphony No. 2:

        Savall/Le Concert des Nations (AliaVox)

Marriner/ASMF (Pentatone)

        Bohm/VPO (DG)
        Forck/Akademie fur Alte Musik Berlin (Harmonia Mundi)

Norrington/LCP (Virgin)

Zinman/Tonhalle O. Zurich (Arte Nova)

Jochum/Concertgebouw O. (Philips)

Beecham/RPO (EMI)

*Symphony No. 3, "Eroica":

  Barbirolli/BBC SO (Dutton Labs or HDTT)

Klemperer/Philh. O. (EMI)

Savall/Le Concert des Nations (AliaVox)

Bohm/VPO (DG)
        Bernstein/New York Philharmonic (Sony)
        Jochum/LSO (EMI)
        Manze/Helsingborg Symphony O. (Harmonia Mundi)

Herreweghe/Royal Flemish PO (Pentatone)

Zinman/Tonhalle O. Zurich (Arte Nova)

Symphony No. 4:
McGegan/Philharmonia Baroque O. (PBP)

Jochum/Concertgebouw O. (Philips)

Bohm/VPO (DG)

        Savall/Le Concert des Nations (AliaVox)

Norrington/LCP (Virgin)

Klemperer/Philh. O. (EMI)

*Symphony No. 5:

Kleiber/VPO (K2HD or DG)

Reiner/CSO (JVC or RCA)

        Savall/Le Concert des Nations (AliaVox)
        Szell/Cleveland O. (Sony)

Bohm/VPO (DG)

Rattle/VPO (EMI)

*Symphony No. 6, "Pastoral":

Bohm/VPO (DG)

Walter/Columbia SO (Sony)

        Reiner/CSO (JVC or HDTT or RCA)

        Klemperer/Philh. O. (EMI)

        Savall/Le Concert des Nations (AliaVox)

Jochum/LSO (EMI)

Jochum/Concertgebouw O. (Philips)

*Symphony No. 7:

Reiner/CSO (RCA/JVC)

        Savall/Le Concert des Nations (AliaVox)

Davis/Royal Phil. O. (EMI)

        Von der Goltz/Freiburg Baroque O. (Harmonia Mundi)
        McGegan/Philharmonia Baroque O. (PBP)

Kleiber/VPO (K2HD or DG)

        Bohm/VPO (DG)
        Zinman/Tonhalle O. Zurich (Arte Nova)
        Bernstein/New York Philharmonic (Sony)

Symphony No. 8:

        Savall/Le Concert des Nations (AliaVox)

        Bohm/VPO (DG)

Norrington/LCP (Virgin)

Zinman/Tonhalle O. Zurich (Arte Nova)

Jochum/Concertgebouw O. (Philips)

*Symphony No. 9, "Choral":
        Schmidt-Isserstedt/VPO (HDTT)
        Jochum/LSO (EMI)

Jochum/Concertgebouw O. (Philips/Belart)

Solti/CSO (Decca)

Bohm/VPO/1972 (DG)

Zinman/Tonhalle O. Zurich (Arte Nova)

Mackerras/RLPO (EMI)

Wand/NGRSO (RCA)

Gardiner/ORR (DG Archiv)

Szell/Cleveland O. (Sony)

Karajan/Berlin Philharmonic (DG)

Wellington's Victory:

Dorati/LSO (Mercury)

Kunzel/Cinn. Pops (Telarc)

Fidelio:

Ludwig/Klemperer/Philh. O. (EMI)

BERLIOZ, Hector (1803-1869)

Overtures:

Davis/Staatskapelle Dresden (RCA)

Previn/LSO (EMI)

Harold in Italy:

Bernstein/French National O. (EMI)

Gardiner/ORR (Philips)

Davis/LSO (Philips)

Dutoit/Montreal SO (Decca)

*Symphonie fantastique:

Beecham/French National Radio O. (EMI)
        Bernstein/French National O. (Hi-Q or EMI)

Davis/Concertgebouw O. (Philips or Pentatone)
        Munch/Boston SO (JVC or HDTT)
        Martinon/O. l'ORTF (EMI)

Stokowski/New Philh. O. (Decca)

        Norrington/LCP (EMI)
        Gardiner/ORR (Philips)

Romeo and Juliet:

Davis/VPO or LSO (Philips)

BIZET, Georges (1838-1875)

*Carmen:

De los Angeles/Gedda/Beecham/French RO (EMI)
        Horne/McCracken/Berstein/Met. Opera O. (Pentatone)

Gheorghiu/Alagna/Plasson/Toulouse Captitole O. (EMI)

        Troyanos/Domingo/Solti/LPO (Decca)

*Carmen/L'Arlesienne suites:

Beecham/French RO (EMI)

Paray/Detroit SO (Mercury)

Dutoit/Montreal SO (Decca)

Symphony in C:

Haitink/Concertgebouw O. (Philips)

Beecham/French Nat'l O. (EMI)

Marriner/ASMF (Decca)

BLOCH, Ernest (1880-1959)

Schelomo:

Rostropovich/Karajan/Berlin Philharmonic (EMI)


BORODIN, Alexander (1833-1887)
                                                          
Quartet No. 2:
        Borodin Quartet (Decca)
        Wolf-Quartett (NCA)
Prince Igor, orchestral excerpts:
        Beecham/RPO (EMI)
        Solti/LSO (FIM or Decca)
        Shaw/Atlanta SO (Telarc)
Symphony No. 2:
        Martinon/LSO (Decca)
        Ashkenazy/RPO (Decca)

BRAHMS, Johannes (1833-1897)

Hungarian Dances:

Masur/Gewandhaus O. (Philips)

*Piano Concerto No. 1:

Curzon/Szell/LSO (HDTT or Decca)

Kovacevich/Sawallisch/LPO (EMI)
        Kovacevich/C. Davis/LSO (Newton Classics)

        Schiff/OAE (ECM New Series)

Gilels/Jochum/Berlin Philharmonic (DG)

*Piano Concerto No. 2:
        Kovacevich/C. Davis/LSO (Newton Classics)

        Schiff/OAE (ECM New Series)

Gilels/Jochum/Berlin Philharmonic (DG)

Pollini/Abbado/VPO (DG)
        Richter/Leinsdorf/Chicago SO (RCA)

*Violin Concerto:

Chung/Rattle/VPO (EMI)

Szeryng/Haitink/Concertgebouw O. (Philips)

Perlman/Giulini/CSO (EMI)

Heifetz/Reiner/CSO (RCA)

Double Concerto:

Oistrakh/Rostropovich/Szell/Cleveland O. (EMI)

Serenades Nos. 1 & 2:

Haitink/Concertgebouw O. (Philips)
        Kertesz/LSO (Decca)

        McGegan/Philharmonia Baroque O. (PBP)
Chailly/Gewandhaus O. (Decca)

Variations on a Theme by Haydn:

Haitink/Concertgebouw O. (Philips)

Symphonies 1-4:

Klemperer/Philh. O. (EMI)
        Mackerras/Scottish CO (Telarc)

Boult/LPO/LSO (EMI or Disky)

Kertesz/VPO (Decca)

*Symphony No. 1:

Klemperer/Philh. O. (EMI)

Boult/LPO (EMI)

Abbado/Berlin Philharmonic (DG)

Jochum/LPO (EMI)

Dorati/LSO (Mercury)

*Symphony No. 2:

Boult/LPO (EMI)

Klemperer/Philh. O. (EMI)

Abbado/Berlin Philharmonic (DG)

Szell/Cleveland SO (Sony)

*Symphony No. 3:

Klemperer/Philh. O. (EMI)

Boult/LSO (EMI)

Haitink/BSO (Philips)

Walter/Columbia SO (Sony)

*Symphony No. 4:

Klemperer/Philh. O. (EMI)
        Blomstedt/Gewandhaus O. (Decca)

        Walter/Columbia SO (HDTT or Sony)
        Kleiber/VPO (DG)
        Reiner/RPO (HDTT or Chesky)

Abbado/Berlin Philharmonic (DG)
        Boult/LPO (EMI)

A German Requiem:

Klemperer/Philh. O. (EMI)

BRITTEN, Benjamin (1913-1976)

Spring Symphony:

Previn/LSO (EMI)
Four Sea Interludes and Passacaglia:
        Previn/LSO (EMI)
        Stern/Kansas City Symphony (Reference Recordings) 

*Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra:

Britten/LSO (Decca or Decca/JVC)
        Hickox/Bournemouth SO (Chandos)

        Stern/Kansas City Symphony (Reference Recordings)

BRUCH, Max (1838-1920)

Violin Concerto No. 1:

Perlman/Previn/LSO (ARC or EMI)

Heifetz/Sargent/New Symphony O. London (RCA)
        McDuffie/Swensen/Scottish CO (Telarc)

Chung/Tennstedt/LPO (EMI)
        Braunstein/Marin/Bamberg SO (Tudor)

Lin/Slatkin/CSO (Sony)
Scottish Fantasy:
        Heifetz/Sargent/New Symphony O. London (RCA)
        Benedetti/Macdonald/BBC Scottish Symphony O. (Decca)
        Perlman/Lopez-Cobos/New Philh. O. (EMI)
        Braunstein/Marin/Bamberg SO (Tudor)
        Oistrakh/Horenstein/LSO (FIM or Decca)
        McDuffie/Swensen/Scottish CO (Telarc)

BRUCKNER, Anton (1824-1896)

Symphony No. 3:
        Schuricht/VPO (HDTT)
*Symphony No. 4, "Romantic":

Klemperer/Philh. O. (EMI)

Bohm/VPO (Decca )

Jochum/Berlin Philharmonic (HDTT or DG)

Jochum/Dresden Staatskapelle (EMI)

Wand/Berlin Philharmonic (RCA)
        Karajan/Berlin Philharmonic (DG)

Tintner/RSNO (Naxos)

Symphony No. 5:

Welser-Most/LPO (EMI)

Haitink/Concertgebouw O. (Philips)

Sinopoli/Dresden (DG)

Symphony No. 6:

Klemperer/Philh. O. (EMI)

Symphony No. 7:

Haitink/Concertgebouw O. (Philips)

Blomstedt/Dresden Staatskapelle (Denon)

Chailly/Berlin RSO (Decca)

Symphony No. 8:

Haitink/Concertgebouw O. (Philips)

Karajan/VPO (DG)

Wand/NDRSO (RCA)

Symphony No. 9:

Jochum/Dresden Staatskapelle (EMI)

Walter/Columbia SO (Sony)

Haitink/Concertgebouw O. (Philips)

Karajan/Berlin Philharmonic (DG)

CHABRIER, Emanuel (1841-1894)

*Espana, etc.:
        Argenta/LSO (FIM, HDTT, or Decca)

        Paray/Detroit Symphony O. (Mercury)

Jordan/French Nat'l O. (Erato)

Jacquillat/Paris O. (EMI-Pathe)

CHOPIN, Frederic (1810-1849)

*Piano Concerto No. 1:

Pollini/Kletzki/Philh. O. (EMI)

Argerich/Dutoit/Montreal SO (EMI)
        Rubinstein/Skrowaczewski/New Symphony O. of London (RCA)
        Fliter/Markl/Scottish Chamber O. (Linn)

Li/A. Davis/Philh. O. (DG)

Piano Concerto No. 2:

Argerich/Dutoit/Montreal SO (EMI)

Etudes:

Pollini (DG)
        Perahia (Sony)
        Andnes (Virgin)
        Lisitsa (Decca)

*Nocturnes:
        Rubinstein (RCA)

Pollini (DG)
        Sheng (Piano Classics)

Polonaises:

Pollini (DG)
        Rubinstein (RCA)
        Ashkenazy (Decca)
Preludes:
        Ashkenazy (Decca)
        Pollini (DG)
        Fliter (Linn)

*Waltzes:

Rubinstein (RCA)

COPLAND, Aaron (1900-1990)

Appalachian Spring, original version:

Copland/Chamber Ens. (Sony)

Schenck/Atlantic Sinf. (Koch)

Appalachian Spring, complete:

Tilson Thomas/San Francisco SO (RCA)

Slatkin/St. Louis SO (EMI)

*Appalachian Spring, suite:
        Copland/LSO (Sony)
        Bernstein/NYPO (HDTT or Sony)

Dorati/Detroit SO (Decca)
        Bernstein/LAPO (DG)
        Bernard/Park Avenue Chamber Symphony (Recursive Classics)

Billy the Kid:

Copland/LSO (Sony)

Bernstein/NYPO (Sony)
        Slatkin/Detroit Symphony (Naxos)

Tilson Thomas/San Francisco SO (RCA)

Dorati/Minn. SO (Mercury)

Fanfare for the Common Man:

Copland/LSO (Sony)

Dorati/Detroit SO (Decca)

*Rodeo:

Bernstein/NYPO (Sony)

Copland/LSO (Sony)

Tilson Thomas/San Francisco SO (RCA)

Third Symphony:

Bernstein/NYPO (DG)

Levi/Atlanta SO (Telarc)

DEBUSSY, Claude (1862-1918)

Orchestral music:

Martinon/O. l'ORTF (EMI)

Haitink/Concertgebouw O. (Philips)

Simon/Philh. O. (Cala)

*Prelude a l'apres-midi d'un faune:

Martinon/O. L'ORTF (EMI)

Previn/LSO (EMI)

Karajan/Berlin Philharmonic (DG)

Haitink/Concertgebouw O. (Philips)

Images:

Haitink/Concertgebouw O. (Philips)

Argenta/O. Suisse Romande (Classic CD)

Previn/LSO (EMI)

Martinon/O. l'ORTF (EMI)
        Gatti/French National O. (Sony)

*La Mer:
        Stokowski/LSO (HDTT or Decca)

        Martinon/O. l'ORTF (EMI)
Reiner/CSO (HDTT or RCA)
        Karajan/Berlin Philharmonic (DG)

        Previn/LSO (EMI)

        Simon/Philh. O. (Cala)
        Gatti/French National O. (Sony)

Nocturnes:

Haitink/Concertgebouw O. (Philips)

Martinon/O. l'ORTF (EMI)
        Giulini/Philh. O. (EMI)

Misc. piano music:

Kocsis (Philips)

Roge (Decca)

Michelangeli (DG)

Ciccolini (EMI)

DELIBES, Leo (1836-1891)

Coppela and Sylvia, highlights:

Mari/Paris Opera O. (EMI)

Coppela, complete
        Mari/Paris Opera O. (EMI)

Dorati/Minneapolis SO (Mercury)

Bonynge/Nat'l PO (Decca)

Sylvia, complete:
        Mari/Paris Opera O. (EMI)

Bonynge/New Philh. O. (Decca)

Fistoulari/LSO (Mercury)

DELIUS, Frederick (1862-1934)

Orchestral music:

Beecham/RPO (EMI)

Barbirolli/LSO/Halle O. (EMI)

Del Mar/Bournemouth Sinf. (Chandos)

D'INDY, Vincent (1851-1931)

Symphony on a French Mountain Air:
        Henriot-Schweitzer/Munch/Boston Symphony O. (HDTT or RCA)
        Ciccolini/Baudo/Paris O. (EMI)
        Thibaudet/Dutoit/Montreal Symphony O. (Decca)

DONIZETTI, Gaetano (1797-1848)

L'Elisir d'Amore:

Sutherland/Pavarotti/Bonynge/ECO (Decca)

La Fille du Regiment:

Sutherland/Pavarotti/Bonynge/ROH, CG (Decca)

Lucia di Lammermoor:

Sutherland/Pavarotti/Bonynge/ROH, CG (Decca)

DUKAS, Paul (1865-1935)

*The Sorcerer's Apprentice:

Jacquillat/Paris O. (EMI-Pathe)

Previn/LSO (EMI)
        Albrecht/Strasbourg PO (Pentatone)

Jordan/SRO (Warner)

DVORAK, Antonin (1841-1904)

Overtures and Symphonic Poems:

Harnoncout/Concertgebouw O. (Warner)

Kertesz/LSO (Decca)

Kubelik/Bavarian RSO (DG)

        Rattle/Berlin Philharmonic (EMI)
String Quartet No. 12 "American"
         Quartetto Italiano (Philips)

Serenade for Strings:
        Myssyk/Appassionata Chamber O. (Fidelio)
        Chung/VPO (DG)

Leppard/ECO (Philips)

Violin Concerto:

Perlman/Barenboim/LPO (EMI)
        Mutter/Honeck/Berlin Philharmonic (DG)
        Barton Pine/Abrams/RSNO (Avie)

*Cello Concerto:

Starker/Dorati/LSO (Mercury)
Gendron/Haitink/LPO (HDTT)

Wallfisch/Mackerras/LSO (Chandos)

Rostropovich/Karajan/Berlin Philharmonic (HDTT or DG)
        Fournier/Szell/BPO (HDTT or DG)

Ma/Masur/New York Philharmonic (Sony)

Slavonic Dances:

Neumann/Czech PO (Teldec)

Szell/Cleveland O. (Sony)

Symphonies Nos. 1-9:

Kertesz/LSO (Decca)

Symphony No. 5:

Jansons/Oslo PO (EMI)

Symphony No. 7:

Pesek/Royal Liverpool PO (Virgin)

Davis/Concertgebouw O. (Philips)

Kertesz/LSO (Decca)

Jansons/Oslo PO (EMI)

*Symphony No. 8:

Barbirolli/Halle O. (EMI)

Pesek/Royal Liverpool PO (Virgin)

Davis/Concertgebouw O. (Philips)

Kertesz/LSO (HDTT or Decca)

Kubelik/Berlin Philharmonic (DG)
        Serebrier/Bournemouth SO (Warner Classics)

*Symphony No. 9, "New World":

Kertesz/LSO (Decca)
        Kertesz/VPO (HDTT)

Reiner/CSO (RCA or RCA/JVC)
        Dorati/New Philh. O. (HDTT)

Macal/LPO (EMI)

Neumann/Czech PO (Denon)

Kubelik/Berlin Philharmonic (DG)

Kempe/BBC SO (BBC)

        Alsop/Baltimore SO (Naxos)

ELGAR, Sir Edward (1857-1934)

Violin Concerto:

Kennedy/Rattle/CBSO (EMI)
        Barton Pine/Litton/BBC SO (Avie)
Cello Concerto:

Du Pre/Barbirolli/LSO (EMI)

Enigma Variations:

Barbirolli/Philh. O. (EMI)

Boult/LPO (EMI)

Jochum/LSO (DG)

*Pomp and Circumstance marches:

Boult/LPO (EMI)

Barbirolli/Philh. O. (EMI)

Introduction and Allegro for Strings:

Barbirolli/Sinfonia of Decca (EMI)

Symphony No. 1:

Boult/LPO (EMI)

Handley/LPO (EMI)

Previn/RPO (Philips)

Symphony No. 2:

Boult/LPO (EMI)

Handley/LPO (EMI)

Downes/BBC PO (Naxos)

ENESCO, Georges (1881-1955)

*Roumanian Rhapsody No. 1:

Stokowski/RCA Victor SO (RCA or RCA/JVC)

Dorati/LSO (Mercury)

Mata/Dallas SO (RCA)

FALLA, Manuel de (1876-1946)

Nights in the Gardens of Spain:

Soriano/Burgos/Philh. O. (EMI)

Larrocha/de Burgos/LPO (Decca)
        Loriod/Rosenthal/L'Opera de Paris (HDTT)

The Three-Cornered Hat:

Ansermet/O. Suisse Romande (FIM, HDTT, or Decca)

Dutoit/Montreal SO (Decca)

El amor brujo:

Dutoit/Montreal SO (Decca)

Burgos/New Philh. O. (FIM or Decca)
        Rosenthal/L'Opera de Paris (HDTT)

FAURE, Gabriel (1845-1924)

Requiem:

Willcocks/New Philh. O. (EMI)

Rutter/London Sinfonia (Collegium)

Herreweghe/Musique OE (Harmonia Mundi)

FRANCK, Cesar (1822-1890)

Symphony in D:

Beecham/FNRO (EMI)

Monteux/CSO (RCA)

Dutoit/Montreal SO (Decca)

Janowski/SRO (Telarc)


GERSHWIN, George (1898-1937)
                     
*An American in Paris:
        Bernstein/New York Philharmonic (Sony)

        Previn/Pittsburgh SO (Philips)
        Previn/LSO (EMI)
        Fiedler/Boston Pops (RCA)
Piano Concerto in F:
        Wild/Fiedler/Boston Pops (RCA)
        Previn/Kostelanetz O. (Sony)
        Previn/LSO (EMI)
        Nakamatsu/Tyzik/Rochester PO (Harmonia Mundi)
*Rhapsody in Blue:
        Bernstein/Columbia SO (Sony)
        Previn/LSO (EMI)

        Biegel/Adrian Symphony O. (Naturally Sharp Records)
        Fiedler/Boston Pops (RCA)
        Gershwin/Tilson Thomas/Columbia Jazz Band (Sony)
        Tyzik/Rochester PO (Harmonia Mundi)
Porgy and Bess, complete:
        White/Maazel/Cleveland O. (Decca)
Porgy and Bess, orch. suite:
        Previn/LSO (EMI)

GOUNOD, Charles (1818-1893)

Faust:

Gedda/Cluytens/Paris Opera O. (EMI)

Leech/Plasson/Toulouse O. (EMI)

Hadley/Rizzi/Welsh Nat'l Opera (Teldec)

Ballet music from "Faust":

Paray/Detroit SO (Mercury)

GRIEG, Edvard (1843-1907)

Peer Gynt, complete:

Dreier/LSO (Unicorn)

Peer Gynt, highlights:

Fjeldstad/LSO (Classic CD)

Beecham/RPO (Hi-Q or EMI)

*Peer Gynt, suites 1 & 2:

Leppard/ECO (Pentatone or Philips)

Piano Concerto in A:

Kovacevich/Davis/BBC SO (Philips or Newton Classics)

Lupu/Previn/LSO (FIM or Decca)

Andsnes/Jansons/Berlin Philharmonic (EMI)

GROFE, Ferde (1892-1972)

*Grand Canyon Suite:
Bernstein/New York Philharmonic (Sony)

Dorati/Detroit SO (Decca)

Kunzel/Cincinnati Pops O. (Telarc)

HANDEL, George Frideric (1685-1759)

Royal Fireworks Music (original version):

Pinnock/Eng. Concert (DG Archiv)

*Royal Fireworks Music (w/ strings):

Pinnock/Eng. Concert (DG Archiv)
        Lamon/Tafelmusik Baroque O. (Tafelmusik or Sony)
        Orpheus CO (DG)

Savall/Les Concert des Nations (Astree)

Pearlman/Boston Baroque (Telarc)

*Water Music, complete:

McGegan/Philharmonia Baroque O. (Harmonia Mundi)

        Pinnock/Eng. Concert (DG Archiv)
        Orpheus CO (DG)
        Lamon/Tafelmusik Baroque O. (Sony)

Savall/Les Concert des Nations (Astree)

Pearlman/Boston Baroque (Telarc)
Messiah, complete:

        Ohrwall/Swedish RSO (FIM or Proprius)

Christie/Les Arts Florissants (Harmonia Mundi)

Pinnock/Eng. Concert (DG Archiv)

Gardiner/English Baroque Soloists (Philips)

Davis/LSO (Philips)

*Messiah, highlights:

Pearlman/Boston Baroque (Telarc)

HAYDN, Joseph (1732-1809)

String Quartets:
        Kodaly Quartet (Naxos)
        Takacs Quartet (Decca)
        Quartetto Italiano (Philips and Decca)
        Endellion String Quartet (Warner)
Cello Concertos:
        DuPre/Barenboim/ECO (Warner)
        Ceccato/Gli Incogniti (Harmonia Mundi)
        Warner/Drostan Hall Camerata Chicago (Cedille)
        Croise/Mussakhan/Eurasian Soloists (Avie)

*Trumpet Concerto in E:

Berinbaum/Somary/ECO (Vanguard)

Hardenberger/Marriner/ASMF (Philips)

Schwarz/Y CO (Delos)

Marsalis/Leppard/Nat'l PO (Sony)

Symphony No. 45, "Farewell":

Orpheus CO (DG)

Paris Symphonies, Nos. 82-87:

Bruggen/O. of the 18th Century (Philips)

Symphony No. 88:

Klemperer/Philh. O. (EMI)

*Symphony No. 94, "Surprise":

Jochum/LPO (DG)

Beecham/RPO (EMI)

Symphony No. 96, "Miracle":

Jochum/LPO (DG)

Beecham/RPO (EMI)

Kuijken/La Petite Bande (DHM)

Davis/Concertgebouw O. (Philips)

*Symphony No. 100, "Military":

Jochum/LPO (DG)

Kuijken/La Petite Bande (DHM)

Beecham/RPO (EMI)

Mackerras/O. of St. Luke's (Telarc)

Davis/Concertgebouw O. (Philips)

*Symphony No. 101, "Clock":

Klemperer/Philh. O. (EMI)

Beecham/RPO (EMI)

Kuijken/La Petite Bande (DHM)

Jochum/LPO (DG)

*Symphony No. 103, "Drum Roll":

Kuijken/La Petite Bande (DHM)

Jochum/LPO (DG)

Mackerras/O. of St. Luke's (Telarc)

Beecham/RPO (EMI)

*Symphony No. 104, "London":

Beecham/RPO (EMI)

Klemperer/Philh. O. (EMI)

        Kuijken/La Petite Bande (DHM)

Jochum/LPO (DG)

Davis/Concertgebouw O. (Philips)


HINDEMITH, Paul (1895-1964)

Symphony "Mathis der Maler":

Blomstedt/SFSO (Decca)

Horenstein/LSO (Chandos)

Sawallisch/Philad. O. (EMI)

HOLST, Gustav (1874-1934)

*The Planets:

Previn/LSO (Hi-Q or EMI)

Boult/LPO (EMI)

Dutoit/Montreal SO (Decca)

HUMPERDINCK, Engelbert (1854-1921)

Hansel und Gretel, complete:

        Schwarzkopf/Karajan/Phil. O. (EMI, mono)
        Von Otter/Tate/BRSO (EMI)
        Larmore/Runnicles/BRSO (Teldec)
        Cotrubas/Pritchard/Gurzenich O. (Sony)
        Murray/C. Davis/Staatskapelle Dresden (Philips)
        Moffo/Eichhorn/Munich Radio SO (RCA)

IVES, Charles (1874-1954)

Symphony No. 1:

Tilson Thomas/CSO (Sony)

Symphony No. 2:

Bernstein/New York Philharmonic (DG)

Symphony No. 3:

Bernstein/New York Philharmonic (Sony)
Symphony No. 4:
        Tilson Thomas/CSO (Sony)

Three Places in New England:

Hanson/Eastman-Rochester O. (Mercury)
        Tilson Thomas/SFSO (RCA)

Holidays Symphony:

Tilson Thomas/Concertgebouw O. (Sony)

The Unanswered Question:

Bernstein/New York Philharmonic (DG)

Tilson Thomas/SFSO (RCA)

JANACEK, Leos (1854-1928)

Sinfonietta and Taras Bulba:

Mackerras/VPO (Decca)

Neumann/Czech PO (Supraphon)

KHACHATURIAN, Aram (1903-1978)

Gayaneh and Spartacus, excerpts:

Khachaturian/LPO (EMI)
        Svetlanov/Bolshoi Theatre O. (Brilliant Classics)

Violin Concerto:
        Kogan/Monteux/Boston SO (RCA)

Oistrakh/Khachaturian/MRSO (Mobile Fidelity)

KODALY, Zoltan (1882-1967)

Hary Janos, suite:
        Kertesz/LSO (HDTT or Decca)

Tennstedt/LPO (EMI)

Dorati/Phil. Hung. (Decca)

Szell/Cleveland O. (Sony)

LEHAR, Franz (1870-1948)

*The Merry Widow:

Schwarzkopf/Matacic/Philh. O. (EMI)

Studer/Gardiner/VPO (DG)

Waltzes:

Boskovsky/J. Strauss O. (EMI)

LISZT, Franz (1811-1886)

Les Preludes:

Kunzel/Cinn. Pops (Telarc)

Solti/LPO (Decca)

*Symphonic poems:

Haitink/Concertgebouw O. (Philips)

Halasz/Polish NRSO (Naxos)

Masur/Gewandhaus O. (EMI)

Solti/LPO/Paris O. (Decca)

*Piano Concerto No. 1:

Richter/Kondrashin/LSO (HDTT or Philips)

Brendel/Haitink/LPO (Philips)
        Pennario/Leibowitz/LSO (HDTT)

Zimerman/Ozawa/BSO (DG)
        Nebolsin/Petrenko/Royal Liverpool PO (Naxos)

*Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 for Orchestra:

Stokowski/RCA Victor SO (RCA or RCA/JVC)

Hungarian Rhapsodies for Orchestra, complete:

Dorati/LSO (Mercury)

Boskovsky/LSO and Philh. Hungarica (EMI)

Hungarian Rhapsodies for Piano:

Cziffra (EMI)

Szidon (DG)

Sonata in B minor:

Richter (Philips)

Nojima (Reference Recordings)

Misc. piano music:

Bolet (Decca)

MAHLER, Gustav (1860-1911)

*Symphony No. 1, "Titan":

 Solti/LSO (HDTT or Decca)
        Mackerras/RLPO (EMI)

Horenstein/LSO (Unicorn)

Solti/Chicago SO (Decca)
        Kubelik/BRSO (DG)

Bernstein/Concertgebouw O. (DG)

Haitink/Berlin Philharmonic (Philips)

Tennstedt/LPO (EMI)
        Luisi/Vienna Symphony (WS)

Symphony No. 2, "Resurrection":

Klemperer/Philh. O. (EMI)

Rattle/CBSO (EMI)

Symphony No. 3:

Horenstein/LSO (Unicorn)
        Bernstein/New York Philharmonic (Sony)
        Rattle/CBSO (EMI)
        Abbado/VPO (DG)

*Symphony No. 4:

Haitink/Concertgebouw O. (Philips)

Szell/Cleveland O. (HDTT or Sony)

Reiner/CSO (RCA or RCA/JVC)

Klemperer/Philh. O. (EMI)

Roth/Les Siecles (Harmonia Mundi)

Symphony No. 5:

Barbirolli/New Philh. O. (EMI)
        Tennstedt/LPO (EMI)

Symphony No. 6, "Tragic":

Barbirolli/New Philh. O. (EMI)

Haitink/Berlin Philharmonic (Philips)

Symphony No. 7:

Haitink/Concertgebouw O. (Philips)
        Abbado/CSO (DG)
        Tilson Thomas/LSO (RCA)

Solti/CSO (Decca)
        Vanska/Minnesota O. (BIS)

Inbal/Frankfurt RSO (Denon)

Symphony No. 8 "Symphony of a Thousand":

Solti/CSO (Decca)

Tennstedt/LPO (EMI)

*Symphony No. 9:

Barbirolli/Berlin Philharmonic (EMI or HDTT)
        Haitink/Concertgebouw O. (Philips)

Klemperer/New Philh. O. (HDTT or EMI)

Walter/Columbia SO (HDTT or Sony)
        Abbado/Berlin Philharmonic (DG)
        Bernstein/Berlin Philharmonic (DG)  

Symphony No. 10:

Rattle/Berlin PO (EMI)

Das Lied von der Erde:

Klemperer/Philh. O. (EMI)

Haitink/Concertgebouw O. (Philips)

Des Knaben Wunderhorn:

Schwarzkopf/Fischer-Dieskau/Szell/LSO (EMI)

MASSENET, Jules (1842-1912)

Le Cid, ballet music:

Fremaux/CBSO (EMI or Klavier)

MENDELSSOHN, Felix (1809-1847)

Octet for Strings:
        ASMF (Decca)
*Violin Concerto in E:

Perlman/Previn/LSO (ARC or EMI)

Heifetz/Munch/BSO (RCA or RCA/JVC)

        Zukerman/Bernstein/New York Philharmonic (Sony)
        Szeryng/Haitink/Concertgebouw O. (Philips)

Chee-Yun/Lopez-Cobos/LPO (Denon)
        Swensen/Scottish CO (Linn)

Chung/Dutoit/Montreal SO (Decca)
        Barton Pine/Mueller/Gottinger Symphony O. (Cedille)

Symphonies Nos. 1-5:

Abbado/LSO (DG)

*Symphony No. 3, "Scottish":

Maag/LSO (HDTT or Decca)

Haitink/Concertgebouw O. (Philips)

Abbado/LSO (HDTT or Decca)
        Abbado/LSO (DG)
        Swensen/Scottish CO (Linn)

Blomstedt/SFSO (Decca)
        Bernstein/New York Philharmonic (Sony)

Norrington/LCP (EMI)

*Symphony No. 4, "Italian":

Klemperer/Philh. O. (EMI)

Munch/BSO (JVC, United Classics, or RCA)
        Abbado/LSO (HDTT or Decca)

Abbado/LSO (DG)

Blomstedt/SFSO (Decca)
        Bernstein/New York Philharmonic (Sony)

Sinopoli/Philh. O. (DG)

*A Midsummer Night's Dream:
        Previn/LSO (JVC or EMI)

Klemperer/Philh. O. (EMI)

Maag/LSO (HDTT or Decca)

        Fischer/Budapest Festival O. (Channel Classics)

MOZART, Wolfgang Amadeus (1756-1791)

Overtures:

Marriner/ASMF (EMI)

        Weill/Tafelmusik (Sony)

Divertimenti:

Marriner/ASMF (FIM)

Clarinet Concerto:
        Kam/Haydn Philharmonic (Berlin Classics)
        Neidich/Orpheus CO (DG)

Brymer/Beecham/RPO (EMI)

Flute and Harp Concerto:

Rampal/Laskine/Paillard CO (Erato)

*Horn Concertos:

Brain/Karajan/Philh. O. (EMI, mono)

Greer/McGegan/Philharmonia Baroque O. (Harmonia Mundi)
        Civil/Klemperer/Philh. O. (EMI or Testament)
        Eastop/Halstead/Hanover Band (Hyperion)
        Koster/Weil/Tafelmusik (Sony or Newton Classics)

Tuckwell/ECO (Decca)

Ruske/Mackerras/Scottish CO (Telarc)
Piano Concerto No. 17:

        Andsnes/NCO (EMI)
  Perahia/ECO (Sony)
        Bezuidenhout/Mullejans/Freiburg Baroque O. (Harmonia Mundi)
Piano Concerto No. 18:
        Tan/McGegan/Philharmonia Baroque O. (Harmonia Mundi)
        Brautigam/Willens/Kolner Akademie (BIS)
Piano Concerto No. 19:
        Tan/McGegan/Philharmonia Baroque O. (Harmonia Mundi)
*Piano Concerto No. 20:
        Curzon/Britten/ECO (Decca)
        Barenboim/ECO (Hi-Q or EMI)
        Kissin/Kremerata Baltica (EMI)
        Andsnes/NCO (EMI)
  Perahia/ECO (Sony)
*Piano Concerto No. 21:
        Kovacevich/C. Davis/LSO (Philips)
Piano Concerto No. 22:
        Bezuidenhout/Mullejans/Freiburg Baroque O. (Harmonia Mundi)
        Barenboim/ECO (EMI)
        Barenboim/Kubelik/Bavarian RSO (BR Klassics)
  Perahia/ECO (Sony)
  Brautigam/Willens/Kolner Akademie (BIS)
Piano Concerto No. 23:
        Barenboim/ECO (Hi-Q or EMI)
  Barenboim/Kubelik/Bavarian RSO (BR Klassics)
Piano Concerto No. 24:
        Perahia/ECO (Sony)
Piano Concerto No. 25:
        Kovacevich/C. Davis/LSO (Philips)
  Ashkenazy/Philh. O. (Decca)
Piano Concerto No. 27:
        Curzon/Britten/ECO (Decca)
        Kissin/Kremerata Baltica (EMI)
        Ashkenazy/Philh. O. (Decca)
Sinfonia concertante:
        St. Johns/The Knights (Ancalagon)
        Barton Pine/Marriner/ASMF (Avie)
        Oistrakhs/Kondrashin/Moscow PO (FIM or Decca)
Violin Concertos, complete:
        Barton Pine/Marriner/ASMF (Avie)

        Skride/Aadland/Swedish Chamber Orchestra (Orfeo)
Violin Concerto No. 1:
        Mutter/LPO (DG or JVC)
Violin Concerto No. 2:
        Mutter/Muti/Philh. O. (EMI)
        Mutter/LPO (DG or JVC)
        Grumiaux/C. Davis/LSO (Philips)
Violin Concerto No. 3:
        Mutter/Karajan/Berlin Philharmonic (DG)
        St. John/The Knights (Ancalagon)
        Oistrakh/Philharmonia O. (EMI)
        Grumiaux/C. Davis/LSO (Philips)
Violin Concerto No. 4:
        Mutter/Muti/Philh. O. (EMI)
        Mutter/LPO (DG or JVC)
        Grumiaux/C. Davis/LSO (Philips)
Violin Concerto No. 5:
        Mutter/Karajan/Berlin Philharmonic (DG)
        Grumiaux/C. Davis/LSO (Philips)

Serenade No. 7, "Haffner":

Maier/Collegium Aureum (RCA)

Serenade No. 8:

Boskovsky/VME (Decca)

Serenade No 9, "Posthorn":

Maier/Collegium Aureum (RCA)

*Serenade No. 13, "Eine kleine Nachtmusik":

Boskovsky/VME (Decca)

Weill/Tafelmusik (Sony)

Orpheus CO (DG)

Marriner/ASMF (EMI)

Symphonies Nos. 1-25:

Mackerras/Prague CO (Telarc)
        Marriner/ASMF (Philips)
Late Symphonies:
        Barenboim/ECO (EMI)
        Bernstein/VPO (DG)
        Klemperer/Philharmonia O. (EMI)

Symphony No. 25:

Klemperer/Philh. O. (EMI)
  Barenboim/ECO (EMI)

Symphony No. 29:

Krivine/Sinfonia Varsovia (Denon)

Barenboim/ECO (EMI)

Symphony No. 31:

Barenboim/ECO (EMI)

Bruggen/O. of the 18th Cent. (Philips)

*Symphony No. 35, "Haffner":

Barenboim/ECO (EMI)

Klemperer/Philh. O. (EMI)

        Bernstein/VPO (DG)

Bruggen/O. of the 18th Cent. (Philips)

Symphony No. 36, "Linz":

Klemperer/Philh. O. (EMI)

Barenboim/ECO (EMI)

Bernstein/VPO (DG)

Mackerras/Prague CO (Telarc)

Davis/Dresden Staatskapelle (Philips)

Symphony No. 38, "Prague":

Klemperer/Philh. O. (EMI)

Barenboim/ECO (EMI)

Bernstein/VPO (DG)

*Symphony No. 39:

Davis/Dresden Staatskapelle (Philips)

Barenboim/ECO (EMI)

Bernstein/VPO (DG)

*Symphony No. 40:

Klemperer/Philh. O. (EMI)

Barenboim/ECO (EMI)

Orpheus CO (DG)
        Walter/Columbia Symphony (Sony)

Bernstein/VPO (DG)

Menuhin/Sinfonia Varsovia (Virgin)

Bohm/VPO (DG)

*Symphony No. 41, "Jupiter":

Jochum/Boston SO (DG)

        Klemperer/Philh. O. (EMI)
        Barenboim/ECO (EMI)
        Jacobs/Freiburg Baroque O. (Harmonia Mundi)

        Walter/Columbia Symphony (Sony)

Beecham/RPO (EMI)
        Bernstein/VPO (DG)

Bohm/VPO (DG)

Davis/Dresden Staatskapelle (Philips)

Pinnock/English Concert (Archiv)

Cosi fan tutte:

Schwarzkopf/Bohm/Philh. O. (EMI)

Lott/Mackerras/SCO (Telarc)

Don Giovanni:

Wachter/Giulini/Philh. O. (EMI)

Marriage of Figaro:

Wachter/Giulini/Phil. O. (EMI)

Die Zauberflote (The Magic Flute):

Gedda/Klemperer/Philh. O. (EMI)

Heilmann/Ziesak/Solti/VPO (Decca)

Johnson/Argenta/Norrington/LCP (EMI)

Requiem:

P. Neumann/Collegium Cartusianum (EMI)

Higginbottom/O. of the Age of Enlightenment (Novum)

Gardiner/English Baroque Soloists (Philips)

Herreweghe/O. Champs Elysees (Harmonia Mundi)

 C. Davis/LSO (LSO)
        Davis/BBC SO (Philips)
        Giulini/Philharmonia O. (EMI)

MUSSORGSKY, Modest (1839-1881)

*Night on the Bare Mountain:

Solti/LSO; Rimsky-Korsakov arr. (FIM or Decca)

Jones/LPO; original version (Philips)
        Ansermet/O. Suisse Romande (Decca)
        Maazel/Cleveland O. (FIM or Telarc)

Kunzel/Cinn. Pops; Stokowski arr. (Telarc)
        Serebrier/Bournemouth SO; Stokowski arr. (Naxos)

*Pictures at an Exhibition:

Reiner/CSO (RCA/JVC)
        Muti/Philad. O. (EMI)
Ansermet/O. Suisse Romande (Decca)
Maazel/Cleveland O. (FIM or Telarc)
        Markevitch/Gewandhaus Orchestra (Brilliant Classics)

NIELSEN, Carl (1865-1931)

Symphonies Nos. 1-6:

Blomstedt/SFSO (Decca)

Bernstein/Ormandy/New York Philharmonic/Philad. O. (Sony)

Berglund/Royal Danish O. (RCA)

OFFENBACH, Jacques (1819-1880)

Overtures:

Marriner/Philh. O. (Philips)

Fremaux/CBSO (Klavier)

*Gaite Parisienne (arr. Rosenthal):

Fiedler/Boston Pops (RCA or RCA/JVC)

Rosenthal/Monte Carlo PO (EMI)

Previn/Pittsburgh SO (Philips)

Dutoit/Montreal SO (Decca)

Orpheus in the Underworld:

Mesple/Plasson/Toulouse O. (EMI)

Tales of Hoffmann:

Domingo/Bonynge/Suisse RO (Decca)

ORFF, Carl (1895-1982)

*Carmina Burana:

Previn/LSO (Hi-Q or EMI)

Blomstedt/SFSO (Decca)
        Ormandy/Phild. O. (Sony)

Jochum/German Opera O. (HDTT or DG)

PACHELBEL, Johann (1653-1706)

*Canon & Gigue:

I Solisti Italiani (Denon)

Parrott/Taverner Players (Virgin)

Pinnock/Eng. Concert (DG Archiv)

PAGANINI, Niccolo (1782-1840)

*Violin Concerto No. 1:

Rabin/Goossens/Philh. O. (EMI)

Perlman/Foster/RPO (EMI)

Hahn/Oiji/Swedish RSO (DG)
        Accardo/Dutoit/LPO (DG)

PROKOFIEV, Serge (1891-1953)

Cinderella:

Previn/LSO (EMI)

Lieutenant Kije:
        Szell/Cleveland O. (Sony)

Handley/LPO (EMI)

Previn/LSO (EMI)

Reiner/CSO (RCA)

Tennstedt/LPO (EMI)
        Ashkenazy/Sydney Sym. (Exton)

*Peter and the Wolf:

Karloff/Rossi/Vienna St. Op. O. (Vanguard)
        Richardson/Sargent/LSO (Decca)

Previn/Previn/RPO (Telarc)

Romeo and Juliet, complete:

Previn/LSO (EMI)

Maazel/Cleveland O. (Decca)
        Ashkenazy/RPO (Decca)

Romeo and Juliet, excerpts:

Leinsdorf/LAPO (Sheffield)

Ermler/ROH, CG (Conifer)

Piano Concerto No. 3:

Argerich/Abbado/Berlin Philharmonic (DG)

Janis/Kondrashin/MPO (Mercury)

Cliburn/Hendl/CSO (RCA or HDTT)
Violin Concerto No. 2:

Heifetz/Munch/BSO (RCA or RCA/JVC)
        Jansen/Jurowski/LPO (Decca)

*Symphony No. 1, "Classical":

Marriner/ASMF (Decca)

Previn/LSO (EMI or Philips)

Abbado/COE (DG)
        Ashkenazy/Sydney Sym. (Exton)
Symphony No. 5:
        Karajan/Berlin Philharmonic (HDTT or DG)

Previn/LAPO (Philips)

Previn/LSO (EMI)

Rattle/CBSO (EMI)

Jarvi/Scottish Nat'l O. (Chandos)

Symphony No. 7:

Previn/LSO (EMI)

Alexander Nevsky:

Abbado/LSO (DG)

Previn/LSO (EMI)

PUCCINI, Giacomo (1858-1924)

*La Boheme:

Pavarotti/Freni/Karajan/Berlin Philharmonic (Decca)

Madama Butterfly:

Freni/Pavarotti/Karajan/VPO (Decca)

Scotto/Bergonzi/Barbirolli/Rome O. (EMI)

Tosca:

Callas/de Sabata/La Scala (EMI, mono)

Turandot:

Sutherland/Pavarotti/Mehta/LPO (Decca)

RACHMANINOV, Sergei (1873-1943)

Piano Concertos Nos. 1-4:

Ashkenazy/Previn/LSO (Decca)
        Lugansky/Oramo/CBSO (Warner)

Piano Concerto No. 1:

Janis/Kondrashin/MPO (Mercury)

*Piano Concerto No. 2:

Cliburn/Reiner/CSO (RCA)

Janis/Dorati/Minneapolis SO (Mercury)

Ashkenazy/Previn/LSO (Decca)

Wild/Horenstein/RPO (Chesky)

*Piano Concerto No. 3:

Argerich/Chailly/BRSO (Philips)

Horowitz/Ormandy/New York Philharmonic (RCA)
        Rachmaninov/Ormandy/Philadelphia O. (RCA, mono)
        Janis/Munch/BSO (HDTT or RCA)
        Janis/Dorati/LSO (Mercury)
        Andsnes/Pappano/LSO (EMI)     

Piano Concerto No. 4:

Michelangeli/Gracis/Philh. O. (EMI)

Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini:

Rubinstein/Reiner/CSO (RCA)

Ashkenazy/Previn/LSO (Decca)

Symphonic Dances:

Previn/LSO (EMI)

Oue/Minnesota O. (Reference Recordings)
        Petrenko/Royal Liverpool Philharmonic (Avie)

Symphony No. 1:

Ashkenazy/Concertgebouw O. (Decca)
        Pletnev/Russian National O. (DG)

*Symphony No. 2:

Previn/LSO (EMI)

Pletnev/Russian National O. (DG)
        Ormandy/Philad. O. (Sony)
        Ashkenazy/Concertgebouw O. (Decca)
        Svetlanov/Russian Federation SO (Warner)

Symphony No. 3:

Stokowski/NPO (EMI)

Previn/LSO (EMI)
        Ormandy/Philad. O. (Sony)

The Bells:

Previn/LSO (EMI)

RAVEL, Maurice (1875-1937)

*Orchestral music:

Dutoit/Montreal SO (Decca)
        Martinon/O. de Paris (EMI)
        Skrowaczewski/Minnesota SO (Mobile Fidelity or Vox)
        Cluytens/Paris Conservatoire O. (EMI)

Simon/Philharmonia O. (Cala)

*Bolero:
        Previn/LSO (Hi-Q or EMI)

Karajan/Berlin Philharmonic (DG)

Skrowaczewski/Minnesota SO (Mobile Fidelity or Vox)

Dutoit/Montreal SO (Decca)

Daphnis et Chloe, complete:

Dutoit/Montreal SO (Decca)
        Munch/Boston SO (RCA/JVC)

Monteux/LSO (Decca)

Schwarz/Seattle SO (Delos)

Daphnis et Chloe, Suite No. 2:
        Previn/LSO (Hi-Q or EMI)

Karajan/Berlin Philharmonic (DG)
        Bernard/Park Avenue Chamber Symphony (Recursive Classics)

Stokowski/LSO (Decca)

Simon/Philharmonia O. (Cala)

Piano Concerto in G major:

Michelangeli/Gracis/Philh. O. (EMI/Warner)

        Tiberghien/Roth/Les Siecles (Harmonia Mundi)

L'Enfant et les Sortileges:

Maazel/O. Nat'l de l'ORTF (DG)

RESPIGHI, Ottorino (1879-1936)

Ancient Airs and Dances, complete:

Dorati/Philh. Hungarica (Mercury)
        Lopez-Cobos/Lausanne CO (Telarc)

Ancient Airs and Dances/Botticelli Pictures:

Orpheus CO (DG)

*Pines and Fountains of Rome:

Reiner/CSO (RCA or RCA/JVC)

Dutoit/Montreal SO (Decca)

Muti/Philad. O. (EMI)
        Falletta/Buffalo Philharmonic (Naxos)

RIMSKY-KORSAKOV, Nikolai (1844-1908)

Capriccio espagnol:

Kondrashin/RCA SO (RCA or RCA/JVC)

Argenta/LSO (FIM or Decca)

        Boult/LPO (EMI)

Handley/Halle O. (EMI)

Russian Easter Overture:

Svetlanov/Philh. O. (Hyperion)

Handley/Halle O. (EMI)

*Scheherazade:

Reiner/CSO (JVC or RCA)

Beecham/RPO (HDTT or EMI)

Kondrashin/Concertgebouw O. (Philips)

Haitink/LPO (Philips)

Mackerras/LSO (Telarc)

Krivine/Philh. O. (Denon)

Symphony No. 2 "Antar":

Svetlanov/Russian St. SO (RCA)

Svetlanov/Philh. O. (Hyperion)

RODRIGO, Joaquin (b. 1902)

*Concierto de Aranjuez:
        Yepes/Argenta/Spanish National SO (HDTT)

A. Romero/Allessandro/SASO (Mercury)

P. Romero/Marriner/ASMF (Philips)

Bonell/Dutoit/Montreal SO (Decca)
        Williams/Fremaux/Philharmonia O. (Sony)

Conciertos Madrigal and Andaluz:

Los Romeros/Marriner/ASMF (Philips)

ROSSINI, Gioacchinio (1792-1868)

*Overtures:

Orpheus CO (DG)
        Reiner/CSO (HDTT or RCA)

Marriner/ASMF (Philips or Pentatone)
        Gamba/LSO (Decca or Decca/JVC)
Maag/Paris Conserv. O. (HDTT)
Goodman/Hanover Band (Newton Classics or RCA)
        Norrington/LCP (EMI)

        Giulini/Philh. O. (EMI)

Barber of Seville:

Callas/Gobbi/Galliera/Philh. O. (EMI)

SAINT-SAENS, Camille (1835-1921)

Danse macabre:

Jacquillat/O. of Paris (EMI-Pathe)

Martinon/Paris Cons. O. (Decca)

*Carnival of the Animals:

Previn/Pittsburgh SO (Philips)

Piano Concertos Nos. 2 & 5:

Collard/Previn/RPO (EMI)
        Hough/Oramo/CBSO (Hyperion)
        Chamayou/Krivine/French National Orchestra (Erato)

Symphonies Nos. 1-5:

Martinon/O. l'ORTF (EMI-Pathe)

*Symphony No. 3, "Organ":

Fremaux/CBSO (Klavier or EMI)

Munch/BSO (RCA or RCA/JVC)
        Martinon/Orchestre National de l'ORTF (EMI or Brilliant Classics)
        Stern/Kansas City Symphony (Reference Recordings)

Mester/Pasadena SO (Auricle)
Dutoit/Montreal SO (Decca)


SCHUBERT, Franz (1797-1828)

String Quintet in C:
        Lindsay Qt. (ASV)
Belcea Qt. (EMI)
String Quartet No. 14, "Death and the Maiden":
Quartetto Italiano (Philips or Decca)
Belcea Qt. (EMI)
*Piano Quintet in A, "Trout":
Beaux Arts Trio et al (Philips or Pentatone)
        Schiff/Hagen Qt. (Decca)
Curzon/Vienna Octet members (HDTT or Decca)
        Brendel et al (Philips)
        The Nash Ensemble (CRD)
        Immerseel/L'Archibudelli (Sony or Newton Classics)
Octet in F-major:
Hausmusik (EMI)
ASMF Chamber Ens. (Chandos)
Chilingirian Qt. et al (EMI)
Rosamunde:
       Masur/Gewandhaus O. (Philips)
Symphonies Nos. 1-9:
       Abbado/CO of Europe (DG)
*Symphony No. 5:
       Beecham/RPO (EMI)
Klemperer/Phil. O. (EMI)
Goodman/Hanover Band (Nimbus)
        Zinman/Tonhalle O. Zurich (RCA)
*Symphony No. 8, "Unfinished":

        Jochum/Boston SO (DG)
       Savall/Le Concert des Nations (AliaVox)

        Klemperer/Phil. O. (EMI)

        Blomstedt/Gewandhaus O. (DG)
Sinopoli/Philh. O. (DG)  
        Walter/NYPO (Sony)
        Krips/VPO (HDTT or Decca)
        Zinman/Tonhalle O. Zurich (RCA)
        Jacobsen/The Knights (Ancalagon)
Munch/Boston SO (RCA/JVC)
Mackerras/Scottish CO (Telarc)
*Symphony No. 9, "Great C-major":

        Savall/Le Concert des Nations (AliaVox)
Krips/LSO (HDTT or Decca)

        Klemperer/Phil. O. (EMI)
        Mackerras/O. of the Age of Enlightenment (Virgin)
Solti/VPO (Decca)
        Szell/Cleveland O. (Sony)

        Blomstedt/Gewandhaus O. (DG)
Wand/Berlin Philharmonic (RCA)
Mackerras/Scottish CO (Telarc)
Boult/LPO (EMI)

SCHUMANN, Robert (1810-1856)

Cello Concero in A-minor:
        Miranda/Vronsky/Moravian Philharmonic (Navona)

Starker/Skrowaczewski/LSO (Mercury)
        Thedeen/Markiz/Malmo SO (BIS)

Piano Concerto in A-major:

Kovacevich/Davis/BBC SO (Philips or Newton Classics)

Cliburn/Reiner/CSO (RCA)
        Andsnes/Jansons/Berlin Philharmonic (EMI)
        Lorango/Newman/New Brandenburg Collegium (Newport Classic)
        Lupu/Previn/LSO (FIM or Decca)
        Janis/Skrowaczewski/Minneapolis SO (Mercury)
Symphonies Nos. 1-4:
        Sawallisch/Staatskapelle Dresden (EMI)
        Klemperer/Philh. O. (EMI)

        Szell/Cleveland SO (Sony)

        Gardiner/ORR (DG)
*Symphony No. 1, "Spring":

Klemperer/Philh. O. (EMI)

Sawallisch/Staatskapelle Dresden (EMI)

Symphony No. 2:

Sawallisch/Staatskapelle Dresden (EMI)

Goodman/Hanover Band (RCA)

Symphony No. 3, "Rhenish":

Sawallisch/Staatskapelle Dresden (EMI)

Norrington/LCP (EMI)

*Symphony No. 4:

Klemperer/Philh. O. (EMI)

Sawallisch/Staatskapelle Dresden (EMI)

Goodman/Hanover Band (RCA)

SHOSTAKOVICH, Dmitri (1906-1973)

Symphony No. 1:

Haitink/Concertgebouw O. (Decca)

Jarvi/Scottish NO (Chandos)

Rozhdestvensky/USSR State SO (JVC)
        Ormandy/Philad. O. (Sony)

Symphony No. 5:

Jansons/VPO (EMI)

Ashkenazy/RPO (Decca)
        Bernstein/NYPO (Sony)

M. Shostakovich/USSR SO (RCA)

Stokowski/Stadium SO (Everest)
        Haitink/Concertgebouw O. (Decca)

Previn/LSO (RCA)

Jarvi/SNO (Chandos)

Symphony No. 6:

Previn/LSO (EMI)

Symphony No. 8:

Previn/LSO (EMI)

Mravinsky/Leningrad SO (BBC)

Symphony No. 10:

Previn/LSO (EMI)

Karajan/Berlin Philharmonic (DG)

Inbal/VSO (Denon)

Symphony No. 13 "Babi Yar":

Haitink/Concertgebouw O. (Decca)

Symphony No. 15:

Haitink/Concertgebouw O. (Decca)

Roshdestvensky/USSR SO (JVC)

SIBELIUS, Jean (1865-1957)

*Finlandia and other tone poems:

Barbirolli/Halle O. (EMI)

Stein/Suisse Romande O. (Decca)

Ashkenazy/Philh. O. (Decca)
        Karajan/Berlin Philharmonic (Warner)

Vanska/Lahti SO (BIS)

C. Davis/LSO (RCA)
        C. Davis/Boston SO (Philips)

Four Legends:

Ormandy/Philad. O. (EMI)

Pelleas et Melisande:

Beecham/RPO (EMI)

Violin Concerto:

Heifetz/Munch/BSO (RCA)

Lin/Salonen/Philh. O. (Sony)
        Perlman/Previn/Pittsburgh SO (EMI)

Kullervo Symphony:

Berglund/Helsinki PO (EMI)

Davis/LSO (RCA)
Symphonies Nos. 1-7:
        Barbirolli/Halle O. (EMI)
        C. Davis/LSO (RCA)
        C. Davis/Boston SO (Philips)

Symphony No. 1:

Maazel/VPO (Decca)

Barbirolli/Halle O. (EMI)

Ashkenazy/Philh. O. (Decca)

Davis/LSO (RCA)

Vanska/Lahti SO (BIS)

Jansons/Oslo PO (EMI)
        Bernstein/VPO (DG)

*Symphony No. 2:

Barbirolli/RPO (Chesky Gold)

Barbirolli/Halle O. (EMI or HDTT)
        Monteux/LSO (HDTT)
        Szell/Concertgebouw O. (Philips)
        Rouvali/Gothenburg SO (Alpha-Classics)

Karajan/Berlin Philharmonic (EMI)
        Kletzki/Philh. O. (Hi-Q)

        Sondergard/BBC National Orchestra of Wales (Linn)

Vanska/Lahti SO (BIS)

Symphony No. 3:

Davis/LSO (RCA)

Berglund/Helsinki PO (EMI)

Jarvi/Gothenburg SO (BIS)

Symphony No. 4:

Ashkenazy/Philh. O. (Decca)

Barbirolli/Halle O. (EMI)
        Karajan/Berlin Philharmonic (HDTT or DG)

Berglund/Helsinki PO (EMI)

Vanska/Lahti SO (BIS)
        Karajan/Berlin Philharmonic (EMI)

Symphony No. 5:

Davis/LSO (RCA)

Barbirolli/Halle O. (EMI)
        Bernstein/New York Philharmonic (Sony)

Rattle/Philh. O. (EMI)
        Rattle/CBSO (EMI)
        Karajan/Berlin Philharmonic (EMI and DG)

Symphony No. 6:

Davis/LSO (RCA)

Berglund/Helsinki PO (EMI)

Barbirolli/Halle O. (EMI)

Vanska/Lahti SO (BIS)

Symphony No. 7:

Beecham/RPO (EMI)

Davis/LSO (RCA)

Berglund/Helsinki PO (EMI)

Barbirolli/Halle O. (EMI)

SMETANA, Bedrich (1824-1884)

*Ma Vlast, complete:
        Dorati/Concertgebouw O. (Philips or Newton Classics)

Berglund/Dresden SO (EMI)

Neumann/Gewandhaus O. (Teldec)

        Kubelik/Czech PO (Supraphon)

Pesek/Royal Liverpool PO (Virgin)
        Wit/Polish National RSO (Naxos)

Ma Vlast: Vltava (The Moldau):

Stokowski/RCA Victor SO (RCA or RCA/JVC)

STRAUSS, Johann (1825-1899)

*Waltzes:

Boskovsky/VPO (Decca or HDTT)

Boskovsky/J. Strauss O. (EMI)
Dorati/LPO (HDTT) 

Reiner/CSO (RCA or RCA/JVC)

Horenstein/Vienna St. Op. O. (Chesky)

Die Fledermaus:

Rothenberger/Boskovsky/Vienna SO (EMI)

STRAUSS, Richard (1864-1949)

An Alpine Symphony:
Kempe/Dresden Staatskapelle (EMI)

Kempe/Royal Philharmonic O. (Testament)

Previn/VPO (Telarc)
        Haitink/Concertgebouw O. (Philips or Newton Classics)

Blomstedt/SFSO (Decca)
        Karajan/Berlin Philharmonic (DG)
        Mehta/Los Angeles Philharmonic (HDTT or Decca)
        Solti/BRSO (Decca)

Thielemann/VPO (DG)

*Also Sprach Zarathustra:
        Reiner/CSO (1954, RCA)

Haitink/Concertgebouw O. (Philips)

Reiner/CSO (HDTT, RCA, or RCA/JVC)

Previn/VPO (Telarc)

Blomstedt/Dresden Staatskapelle (Denon)

Karajan/Berlin Philharmonic (DG)

Mester/Pasadena SO (Auricle)

Death and Transfiguration:

Klemperer/Philh. O. (EMI)

Haitink/Concertgebouw O. (Philips)

*Don Juan:

Reiner/CSO (RCA)

Haitink/Concertgebouw O. (Philips)

Previn/VPO (Telarc)

Kempe/Dresden Staatskapelle (EMI)

Don Quixote:

Karajan/Berlin Philharmonic (EMI)

Kempe/Dresden Staatskapelle (EMI)

Reiner/CSO (RCA)

Previn/VPO (Telarc)

Ein Heldenleben:

Kempe/Dresden Staatskapelle (EMI)

Reiner/CSO (RCA)
        Beecham/Royal Philharmonic (EMI)

Haitink/Concertgebouw O. (Philips)

Barbirolli/LSO (EMI)

Solti/VPO (Decca)

Der Rosenkavalier:

Schwarzkopf/Karajan/Philh. O. (EMI)

Salome:

Behrens/Karajan/VPO (EMI)

Nilsson/Solti/VPO (Decca)

STRAVINSKY, Igor (1882-1971)

*The Firebird, complete:

Dorati/LSO (Mercury)

Davis/Concertgebouw O. (Philips)

Nagano/LSO (Virgin)

Haitink/LPO (Philips)

Chailly/Concertgebouw O. (Decca)

The Firebird, suite:

Muti/Philad. O. (EMI)
        Shaw/Atlanta SO (Telarc)
        Stokowski/LSO (Decca)
        Bernard/Park Avenue Chamber Symphony (Recursive Classics)
Petrushka:

Monteux/Boston SO (RCA)

Rattle/CBSO (EMI)
        Bernstein/New York Philharmonic (Sony)

Davis/Concertgebouw O. (Philips)
        Muti/Philad. O. (EMI)

Haitink/LPO (Philips)

Pulcinella, suite:

Marriner/ASMF (Decca)

*The Rite of Spring:
        Bernstein/New York Philharmonic (Sony, remastered)

 Solti/Chicago SO (Decca or Decca/JVC)
        Muti/Philad. O. (EMI)

        Stravinsky/Columbia SO (Sony)
        Boulez/Cleveland SO (Sony)

SULLIVAN, Sir Arthur (1842-1900)

*The Mikado:

Nash/D'Oyly Carte (Decca)

Jones/D'Oyly Carte (Sony)

Mackerras/Welch Nat'l Opera (Telarc)

The Pirates of Penzance:

Godfrey/D'Oyly Carte (Decca)

Mackerras/Welch Nat'l Opera (Telarc)

*H.M.S. Pinafore:

Godfrey/D'Oyly Carte (Decca)

Mackerras/Welch Nat'l Opera (Telarc)

SUPPE, Franz von (1819-1895)

*Overtures:

Paray/Detroit SO (Mercury)

Marriner/ASMF (EMI)

Dutoit/Montreal SO (Decca)

TCHAIKOVSKY, Peter (1840-1893)

Capriccio Italien:

Boult/LPO (EMI)
        Kondrashin/RCA Victor SO (RCA or RCA/JVC)
        Alwyn/LSO (HDTT)

Mata/Dallas SO (RCA)

Gibson/LSO (Chesky Gold)
        Leaper/RPO (Naxos)

*1812 Overture:

Previn/LSO (Hi-Q or EMI)

Edwards/Liverpool PO (EMI)

Dorati/Minn. SO (Decca/Mercury)
        Reiner/CSO (RCA or RCA/JVC)
        Alwyn/LSO (HDTT)
        Kunzel/Cincinnati Symphony O. (FIM or Telarc)

Marche slave:

Boult/LPO (EMI)

Reiner/CSO (RCA)

Previn/LSO (EMI)
        Alwyn/LSO (HDTT)

Romeo and Juliet Overture:

Previn/LSO (EMI)

Boult/LPO (EMI)

*Piano Concerto No. 1:

Cliburn/Kondrashin/RCA SO (RCA or RCA/JVC)
Horowitz/Toscanini/NBC SO (RCA, mono)

Argerich/Dutoit/RPO (DG)

Giles/Reiner/CSO (RCA)

Argerich/Kondrashin/BRSO (Philips)

Wild/Fistoulari/RPO (Chesky)

Violin Concerto:

Perlman/Wallenstein/LSO (Chesky Gold)

Heifetz/Reiner/CSO (RCA)

Chung/Dutoit/Montreal SO (Decca)

*Nutcracker/Sleeping Beauty/Swan Lake, highlights:

Previn/LSO (EMI)

Nutcracker, suite:

Abravanel/Utah SO (Vanguard)
        Kurtz/Philharmonia O. (Hi-Q or EMI)

Nutcracker, complete:

Dorati/Concertgebouw O. (Philips/Decca)

        Dorati/LSO (Mercury)

Previn/LSO (EMI)

Ashkenazy/RPO (Decca)

Dutoit/Monteal SO (Decca)

        Gergiev/Kirov O. (Philips/Decca)
        Rattle/Berlin Philharmonic (EMI)

Sleeping Beauty, complete:

Previn/LSO (EMI)

Ashkenazy/RPO (Decca)
        Mogrelia/Slovak State Philharmonic O. (Naxos)

Pletnev/Russian National O. (DG)
        Rozhdestvensky/BBC SO (BBC)

*Swan Lake, highlights:

Fistoulari, Concertgebouw O. (HDTT or Decca)
        Ansermet/O. Suisse Romande (FIM)
        Kurtz/Philharmonia O. (Hi-Q or EMI)

Swan Lake, complete:
        Dutoit/Montreal SO (Decca)

Ansermet/O. Suisse Romande (FIM)
        Previn/LSO (EMI)

Moldoveanu/Royal PO (RPO)

*Serenade for Strings:

Marriner/ASMF (Decca)

Leppard/ECO (Philips)
Symphonies Nos. 1-7:
        Jansons/Oslo PO (Chandos)

Symphony No. 1, "Winter Daydreams":

Haitink/Concertgebouw O. (Philips)

Markevitch/LSO (Philips)

Jansons/Oslo PO (Chandos)

Muti/Philh. O. (EMI)
        Pletnev/Russian National O. (Pentatone)

Symphony No. 2, "Little Russian," original version:

Simon/LSO (Chandos)
Symphony No. 2, "Little Russian," revised version:

Markevitch/LSO (Philips)

Haitink/Concertgebouw O. (Philips)

Symphony No. 3, "Polish":

Haitink/Concertgebouw O. (Philips)

Markevitch/LSO (Philips)

Jansons/Oslo PO (Chandos)

*Symphony No. 4:

Monteux/BSO (JVC)

Szell/LSO (Decca)

Jansons/Oslo PO (Chandos)

Haitink/Concertgebouw O. (Philips)

*Symphony No. 5:

Jansons/Oslo PO (Chandos)

Haitink/Concertgebouw O. (Philips)

Muti/Philh. O. (EMI)
        Stokowski/New Philh. O. (Decca)
        Gergiev/VPO (Decca)

*Symphony No. 6, "Pathetique":

Pletnev/Russian National O. (Virgin)

Ashkenazy/Philh. O. (Decca)

Jansons/Oslo PO (Chandos)
        Klemperer/Philh. O. (HDTT)

Manfred Symphony:

Muti/Philh. O. (EMI)

Jansons/Oslo PO (Chandos)

        Kitajenko/Gurzenich O. (Oehms)

VAUGHAN WILLIAMS, Ralph (1872-1958)

Orchestral music:
        Barbirolli/Sinfonia of London (EMI)
Symphonies Nos. 1-9:

Boult/LPO/New Philh. O. (EMI)
        Haitink/LPO (Warner Classics or EMI)
        Previn/LSO (RCA)

Handley/Liverpool PO (EMI)
        Manze/RLPO (Onyx)

Symphony No. 3:
        Previn/LSO (HDTT or RCA)
Symphony No. 4:

Thomson/LSO (Chandos)

Symphony No. 5:

Previn/RPO (Telarc)

        Spano/Atlanta SO (Telarc)

VERDI, Giuseppe (1813-1901)

Overtures and choruses:

Muti/Philh. O. (EMI)

Abaddo/Teatro alla Scala (DG)

*Aida:

Freni/Carreras/Karajan/VPO (EMI)

Caballe/Domingo/Muti/N. Phil. O. (EMI)

Otello:

Del Monaco/Karajan/VPO (Decca)

Domingo/Maazel/La Scala (EMI)

Rigoletto:

Pavarotti/Milnes/Bonynge/LSO (Decca)

*La Traviata:

Cotrubas/Kleiber/Bavarian St. O. (DG)

*Il Trovatore:

Price/Domingo/Mehta/New Phil. O. (RCA)

Plowright/Domingo/Giulini/St. Cecilia O. (DG)

Requiem:

Schwarzkopf/Giulini/Philh. O. (EMI)

Orgonasova/Gardiner/ORR (Philips)

        Gheorghiu/Abbado/Berlin Philharmonic (EMI/Warner)

VIVALDI, Antonio (1675-1741)

*The Four Seasons:
        McGegan/Philharmonia Baroque O. (PBP)

Kuijken/La Petite Bande (Pro Arte or Sony)

Sparf/Drottningholm Baroque Ensemble (BIS)

        Sorrell/Apollo's Fire (Avie)

Lamon/Tafelmusik (Sony)

        Pinnock/Eng. Concert (DG Archiv)

        Marriner/ASMF (Decca)
        Perlman/LPO (Hi-Q or EMI)

        I Musici (Decca)

Silverstein/Ozawa/BSO (FIM or Telarc)

Gloria:

Preston/AAM (L'Oiseau-Lyre)

WAGNER, Richard (1813-1883)

*Overtures, preludes, and orchestral excerpts:
        Klemperer/Philh. O. (EMI)
        Haitink/Concertgebouw O. (Philips)
        Leinsdorf/LAPO (Sheffield)
        Stokowski/Symphony of the Air/RPO/LSO (HDTT or RCA)
        Boult/LPO and LSO (EMI)

Orchestral music from the Ring:

Solti/VPO (Decca)

Dorati/Nat'l SO, WA (Decca)

The Flying Dutchman:

Adam/Silja/Klemperer/New Philh. O. (EMI)
        Bailey/Martin/Solti/Chicago SO (Decca)

The Ring of the Nibelungen, complete:

Nilsson/Ludwig/Solti/VPO (Decca)

Tannhauser:

Domingo/Studer/Sinopoli/Philh. O. (DG)

Kollo/Dernesch/Solti/VPO (Decca)

Konig/Popp/Haitink/Bavarian RSO (EMI)

Tristan und Isolde:

Domingo/Stemme/Pappano/ROH (EMI)

Vickers/Dernesch//Karajan/Berlin Philharmonic (EMI)

WALTON, Sir William (1902-1983)

Facade, Gloria, Te Deum, et al:

        Fistoulari/Royal Opera House O., Covent Garden (HDTT)

Fremaux/CBSO (EMI)

Symphony No. 1:

Previn/LSO (RCA)
        C. Davis/LSO (LSO Live)

Mackerras/LSO (EMI)

Symphony No. 2:
        Previn/LSO (EMI)

Mackerras/LSO (EMI)

Szell/Cleveland O. (Sony)

Belshazzar's Feast:

Hickox/LSO (EMI)

Previn/LSO (EMI)

Shaw/Atlanta SO (Telarc)

WEBER, Carl Maria von (1786-1826)

Overtures:

Goodman/Hanover Band (Nimbus)

Karajan/Berlin Philharmonic (DG)

Clarinet Concertos Nos. 1 & 2:

Pay/O. of the Age of Enlightenment (Virgin)
        Shifrin/Golub/O. di Padova e del Veneto (Delos)

Der Freischutz:

Kollo/Kubelik/Bavarian RSO (Decca)

WEILL, Kurt (1900-1950)

The Threepenny Opera, complete:

Lenya/Bruckner-Ruggeberg BRO (Sony)

The Threepenny Opera, suite:

Weisberg/Contemporary Chamber Ens. (Nonesuch)

Chicago Pro Musica (Reference Recordings)

JJP