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Recommended Recordings

Having a collection of recordings for study and inspiration is an essential part of any classical musician's education. Below is a list of recordings that are famous in the classical music world for their excellence.

You will notice that I do not list bassoon recordings here. I feel there is more to learn from the great pianists, singers and string players who have a repertoire that is much richer than ours.

Chamber Music:

• Beethoven String Quartets; Guarneri Quartet, RCA
• Olivier Messiaen: Quartet for the End of Time; Tashi; RCA
• Dmitri Shostakovich: String Quartets; Borodin Quartet; EMI

Opera:

• Mozart: The Magic Flute; Bohm, Berlin Philharmonic; Deutsche Grammophon
• Puccini: Tosca ; Callas, DeStefano, DeSabata; EMI (one of the most famous opera recordings ever made)
• Strauss: Der Rosenkavalier; Schwarzkopf, von Karajan: EMI
• Wagner: Tristan; Furtwangler, Philharmonia Orchestra; EMI (also one that stands out)

Orchestral:

• Beethoven; Symphonies; George Szell and the Cleveland Orchestra; Sony
• Beethoven: The Five Piano Concerti; Leon Fleischer, Szell, Cleveland Orchestra; Sony
• Brahms: 4 Symphonies; Szell, Cleveland Orchestra; Sony
• Haydn: Symphonies; Szell, Cleveland Orchestra; Sony
• Mendelssohn: Italian Symphony (#4); Szell, Cleveland Orchestra; Sony
• Mozart: Symphonies 35-41; Szell, Cleveland Orchestra; Sony
• Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherazade; Reiner, Chicago Symphony; RCA (one of the most famous orchestral recordings ever made!)
• Rossini: Overtures; Szell, Cleveland Orchestra, Sony
• Schumann: Symphonies; Szell, Cleveland Orchestra; Sony
• Tchaikovsky: Symphonies 4-6; Ormandy, Philadelphia Orchestra; Sony

Piano:

• Horowitz: Live at Carnegie Hall; Sony
• Maurizio Pollini: Stravinsky Petrouchka, Prokofiev Sonate No. 7 (the Stravinsky and Prokofiev are cult classics amongst pianists)

Violin/Cello:

• Bach: 6 Suites for Solo Cello; Yo-Yo Ma, Sony Records
• Bach: 6 Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin; Nathan Milstein, Deutsche Grammophon
• The Essential David Oistrakh (Mozart, Brahms, Beethoven, Shostakovich), violin; RCA/BMG
• Schumann Cello Concerto; Yo-Yo Ma, Sony
• Nathan Milstein Library of Congress Recital: Beethoven, Brahms, Bach; Bridge
• Tchaikovsky/Mendelssohn Concerti, Jascha Heifetz, violin; RCA
• Sibelius, Prokofiev, Glazunov Concerti, Jascha Heifetz, violin; RCA

Vocal:

• Cecilia Bartoli: Rossini Arias; Decca
• Jussi Bjoerling: Studio Recordings 1930-1959; EMI
• Britten Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings; Pears, Brain, Britten; Decca
• Maria Callas: Verdi Arias; EMI
• Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau: Mahler Songs; EMI
• Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau: any Schubert Songs; EMI or DGG
• Renee Fleming: The Beautiful Voice; Decca
• Lauritz Melchior: Wagner Arias; RCA
• Rosa Ponselle: Prima Voce Series, Vol.2; Nimbus
• Leontyne Price: Verdi and Puccini Arias; RCA (the "Blue Album")
• Elisabeth Schwarzkopf: Strauss 4 Last Songs; Szell, London, EMI
• Bryn Terfel: The Vagabond, Songs by Vaughan Williams; Deutsche Grammophon
• Fritz Wunderlich: Schumann Dichterliebe; DGG

Where to start:

If many of these recordings are new to you, I would suggest starting with some real basics:

• Bach Cello Suites
• Beethoven Symphonies
• Brahms Symphonies
• Tchaikovsky Symphonies

Which Artists?

• Fischer-Dieskau for just about everything: interpretation, phrasing, pacing
• Bjoerling and Wunderlich for the sheer joy of singing in their voices
• Callas for dramatic performances
• Callas, Heifetz and Horowitz were all performers that exceeded the boundaries of their voice/instruments.

These were not just instrumentalists or singers. They were artists that routinely made the audience forget they were hearing a violin, piano or voice. They were able to take the art to another level, that of story-telling and myth.

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