Essential Classical Music - The Best Symphony Recordings

Gil Zilkha, singer/collector/music enthusiast

In this installment of Essential Classical Music, I cover the best recordings of the major symphonies, including those of Beethoven, Berlioz, Brahms, Bruckner, Dvorak, Franck, Haydn, Mahler, Mendelssohn, Mozart, Prokofiev, Rachmaninoff, Saint-Saens, Schubert, Shostakovich, Sibelius, and Tchaikovsky.

00:00 - Introduction
02:34 - Beethoven Symphony No. 3 "Eroica"
11:34 - Beethoven Symphony No. 5
22:32 - Beethoven Symphony No. 6 "Pastoral"
29:56 - Beethoven Symphony No. 7
37:14 - Beethoven Symphony No. 9 "Choral"
54:06 - Berlioz Symphonie fantastique
57:41 - Brahms Symphony No. 1
1:03:30 - Brahms Symphony No. 2
1:07:45 - Brahms Symphony No. 3
1:14:27 - Brahms Symphony No. 4
1:19:17 - Bruckner Symphony No. 4 "Romantic"
1:24:39 - Bruckner Symphony No. 5
1:28:11 - Bruckner Symphony No. 7
1:33:10 - Bruckner Symphony No. 8
1:41:21 - Bruckner Symphony No. 9
1:49:28 - Dvorak Symphony No. 7
1:52:50 - Dvorak Symphony No. 8
1:56:06 - Dvorak Symphony No. 9 "New World"
2:00:23 - Franck Symphony in D minor
2:01:26 - Haydn "London" Symphonies Nos. 93-104
2:04:31 - Mahler Symphony No. 1 "Titan"
2:11:11 - Mahler Symphony No. 2 "Resurrection"
2:17:55 - Mahler Symphony No. 3
2:21:25 - Mahler Symphony No. 4
2:25:58 - Mahler Symphony No. 5
2:30:06 - Mahler Symphony No. 6
2:33:47 - Mahler Symphony No. 9
2:44:26 - Mendelssohn Symphony No. 3 "Scottish"
2:46:42 - Mendelssohn Symphony No. 4 "Italian"
2:48:42 - Mozart Symphony No. 38 "Prague"
2:54:12 - Mozart Symphony No. 39
2:58:03 - Mozart Symphony No. 40
3:01:26 - Mozart Symphony No. 41 "Jupiter"
3:04:18 - Prokofiev Symphonies Nos. 1 and 5
3:06:24 - Rachmaninoff Symphony No. 2
3:08:23 - Saint-Saens Symphony No. 3 "Organ"
3:09:48 - Schubert Symphonies Nos. 8 and 9
3:17:19 - Shostakovich Symphony No. 5
3:23:07 - Shostakovich Symphony No. 7 "Leningrad"
3:24:00 - Shostakovich Symphony No. 10
3:27:33 - Sibelius Symphony No. 2
3:30:48 - Sibelius Symphony No. 4
3:32:32 - Sibelius Symphony No. 5
3:34:03 - Sibelius Symphony No. 7
3:36:18 - Tchaikovsky Symphonies Nos. 4-6

[hxyjdn]

When I see the title and the length of this video, I know it’s an instant subscribe. Thank you Gil.

[SDSsongs]

I admire how different your suggestions are from Mr. Hurwitz. It's nice to different viewpoints supported by well-detailed arguments. I personally do not care for historical performances; I've tried and tried, but life's too short. I know my brain wants good sound quality. But I appreciate the long-view perspective. Thanks for the hard work in putting this together.

[thr]

Dear Mr Zilkha,
I found this video via the discussion in the talkclassical forum about Hurwitz' channnel. I watched it piece by piece over the last weeks and enjoyed it very much. Thank you for this excellent presentation of important symphony recordings. I was happy when I saw this week that you released another video (about concerto recordings). Also, you started a new thread in the talkclassical forum which I will also follow. So I thought this is the right moment to say thank you, subscribe to your channel, give the videos a like and write a comment.
By the way, I am from Germany (so sorry for possible language mistakes in my text), 53 years old, and I do not have a real "musical background", meaning I play no instrument and do not know very much about musical theory. But I have been enjoying listening to classical music and collecting recordings for many years.
Probably the talkclassical forum is the better place to discuss the contents of the videos, so maybe just one thought here: In the symphony video I particularly liked how respectfully and appreciatively (is that the right word?) you talked about the conductors of the recordings. And I mean that especially in comparison to Mr Hurwitz, who is often very disrespectful to certain artists (he hates Furtwängler for example). Despite all freedom of opinion and speech, one can criticize an artist negatively but still should respect the person and his/her achievements.
I like the way you talk about works, artists and recordings in your videos, and so I wish you all the best and hope that there will be more videos in the future. Your channel deserves much more subscriptions and clicks.
Friendly greetings from Germany! TR

[paulusrex]

There are about 1, 000 or more guys or so on YouTube that speak about classical music as if they were better than anyone else good enough to give recommendations. I grew up with classical music as well, I'm also a performer, and also I am unfortunately from Texas. No big deal. My best advice to you, it's not to listen to these so-called critics everyone has their favorite recordings of whatever they want to listen to, please discover classical music one composer at a time one day at a time, there is no need to rush, classical music is also full of lesser known composers and also lesser known performers that did wonderful job. So don't let critics tell you what to listen to, what to listen for, how to listen to it, discovering these things by yourself without anyone tell you is far more rewarding.

[harukikougami]

We shouldn't forget mentioning Skrowaczewski when it comes to Bruckner :) His cycle is amazing and his interpretation of every single symphony is one of a kind. Check the 9th with the Minnesota especially. It'll be your favourite ;)

[markwhitney]

Wow!!
Thank you so much for going over these Composer's and your take on the best Symphony Orchestra to listen to! I'm a Trumpet player that was classically trained by a variety of teachers that were retired from Orchestra or were playing in them! From Michigan but went to school in Boston! So being a Trumpet player I do like the Chicago Symphony from 70s-80s! Will have to listen to what your take on the Malher, Bruckner, Salbalus, Stravinsky to name! Thank you for wisdom!

[mangstadt]

As far as Bruckner goes, for me it's got to be Sergiu Celibidache. A couple of weeks before getting married in 1989 I attended a performance of the 7th in Madrid. I had passages of the symphony going through my head when the judge who married us was speaking to me. Then in the 90s I attended two performances of the 3rd, and then the 4th and 8th. The final crescendo of the 4th by Celibidache is like nobody else. The string inflections in that buildup sound like no other conductor. Celi conducted 99 concerts in Spain throughout his lifetime and I was at nine of them. This said, not once did he draw tears from my eyes, in spite of the intensity.

[tipy]

great videos! Thank you really love your recommendation❤

[mangstadt]

For Haydn I strongly recommend a box published by Archiv featuring Trevor Pinnock and The English Concert. It's called The Sturm and Drang Symphonies and it has several symphonies from the middle numbers, but not any succession as such. It is truly delightful, especially in situations of slumber or midwake on the sofa after lunch.

[LyleFrancisDelp]

Tchaikovsky 6th: I discovered that Furtwangler on a set of 78s I picked up in an antique store! I played on my windup gramophone (Columbia Granola), and even in the dim sonics, I was mesmerized. As for a good mastering on CD, I recommend the Naxos....mastered by Mark Obert-Thorn. You will never hear this recording sound better.

[gerbs]

Gil...what a passion you have. I do not agree with many of your choices but admire your extensive offerings.

Music as an artform is very much a personal choice. I have been collecting since really the introduction of cd's.

I have also moved on a lot of recordings which I tired of.

I can also say that with the baroque and classical repertoire, I much prefer any of the period performances over any modern instrument version.

You mentioned John Elliot Gardener changing Beethoven. It was however not he, but rather Roger Norrington and the London Classical players that set thd music world alight.

A controversial figure I know but just every recording since has emulated the pergormance style.

I would propose that you need to remember what the performances are trying to achieve. That is trying to recreate the sound of the period. Most people do not have an understanding that orchestras of 200 years ago were much smaller ensembles than the modern day outfit.

You cannot compare apples and pears. It is a matter of what you prefer.

Lastly...The Hebrides overture....it is group of islands off the coast of Scotland and is pronounced

[riverman]

Great video and thanks for taking the time to share your wonderful knowledge of the repertoire. Definitely looking forward to your chamber music and solo recording recommendations. Thanks again!

[barrysaines]

Kempe's Eroica on Testament mirrors Furtwangler's Funeral March and is a sonic delight.

[janvanhaaren]

Why did you leave out the wonderful symphonies of Robert Schumann?

[DerrickMims]

I was chuckling to myself about how often you apologize for recommending "bad" audio in the historical performances. I have been sampling things on youtube as I go through your video. As someone who has listened to many, many Grateful Dead audience tapes, nothing you have presented comes close to some of those for rough sound; I came to love so many of those Dead tapes. So no fear for me listening to a 1940s recording here. 😃

[The_Jupiter_Mission]

Karajan kind of despised choruses because he couldn't control them like the orchestras.. He tended to recess them all to the point that they sounded like they were singing halfway down the street. Consequently they tended to sound like recessed mush. Compare it to the Solti 72 chorus in BEETHOVEN 9. Crystal clear.

[alecsachs]

Bernstein for Mahler 6 is my favorite version. There is a video of the whole piece on YouTube. Best thing is the video does not have ads that interrupt the video.

[jamessauve]

I just started watching this, very interesting. Thanks for making this. I found it amazing, to me, that record labels would even bother converting such old records to compact disc. I don't know, but I'm guessing there isn't a huge market for something like a Beethoven symphony recorded back in the 1940's when there are so many newer ones out there recorded on modern equipment. Moreover, of the CD's with older performances on them, I wonder how likely it really is that you could find one of them. I've seen Dave Hurwitz recommend some CD as a best version or reference recording or some such thing. When I go to see if I can find it for purchase, a lot of times it's out of print and used ones are way out of my price range or you can't find it at all.

[morrigambist]

Very well done. The soprano soloist on Horenstein's Mahler 4 is Margaret Price.

[ArtyFactual_Intelligence]

Interesting that you should start your Mahler section with the pre-eminence of Barbirolli and go on to praise the Final Adagio of Horenstein's version of MAHLER 3.
Deryck Cooke brought the news of Barbirolli's overnight death to the assembled LSO, recording engineer-Bob Auger, and Jascha Horenstein at the Fairfield Halls Croydon on the morning of Unicorn's last day of recording.
It is not fanciful to suggest that the recording of that Final movement that morning (29 July, 1970) was their tribute to a much loved conductor.