My Top 10 Classical Recordings (LP and CD) - A Personal List

Spoilers below:
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10: Rachmaninoff Symphony #2, Temirkanov, Royal PO, EMI
9: Tchaikovsky 1812, Kunzel Cincinnati, Telarc
8: Moussorgsky Pictures at an Exhibition, Richter Sofia, Philips and others
7: Puccini La Boheme, Beecham EMI 1956
6: Bruckner Symphony #8, Furtwangler, 1944/1949/1954, various labels
5: Beethoven Symphony #5/#7, Kleiber DG
4: Schubert Moments Musicaux, Egorov 1987
3: Chopin Nocturnes, Moravec Nonesuch
2: Brahms German Requiem, Giulini Vienna DG
1: Puccini Madama Butterfly, Scotto/Bergonzi/Barbirolli, EMI

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[taffeylewis]

You know what Ed? Years ago, maybe 10 - 15, I had an MP3 with a really noisy recording of Pictures at an Exhibition. No idea where I got it from. I lost it due to a hard drive crash and have been searching for it since then. I played it to my dad back then as his first love was always classical, and he agreed that it was the best rendition he had heard. You, my friend, have pointed me to the Richter recording in Sofia. Coughing and all! I finally know what recording it was, and have now got it on order. I came for the astronomy and got music too :-) Thank you ever so much.

[ElliottMilesMcKinley]

Greetings Mr. Ting! Great to see this list as friends have told me you are pianist as well as astronomer. I am a composer and now an Associate Professor of music composition and theory at Roger Williams University in Rhode Island, living in the Boston area. My father was a very well-known composer and jazz pianist, William Thomas McKinley. I've known of you since I returned to astronomy as an adult in 2001 and would read all of your Scope Reviews. I got into astronomy big time, starting with an LX90 and then went up to a NightSky 18, Obsession 20, and had a lot of intermediate scopes as well (notably a great StarMaster 11 ELT shorty and a TeleVue 101 (not NP, but had a green tube). I've sold most of those, sadly... but I did pick up my one remaining visual scope in 2016, a StarMaster 10" F/6 with a rare f/6 Zambuto mirror. I think you said you also loved this particular scope. Only a handful were made, from what I understand. It's in what looks like a 12" structure (for the 12" EL). The views are outstanding. I also do astrophotography with a RedCat 51 and Edge C8 on an iOptron CEM 40 with a ZWO ASI2600. While stuck in light pollution, I also regularly go to Cherry Springs each summer each new moon for at least a week or two from the June -September period, time permitting. I sadly don't have any connection to local clubs here. Anyway, thank you for your sharing of your favorite recordings. I also know/have a few of the ones you mentioned. I, naturally, have some more 20th century pieces in my top 20 :).

[petergallanis]

Great list, Ed. Since you asked, I’ll mention my two favorite recordings, both of Bach pieces. Nathan Milstein’s recording of the violin Sonatas and Partitas is, IMHO, what the angels play in heaven. His rendition of the Chaconne brings me to tears every danged time. But I like almost as much the fairly recent Goldberg Variations recording by the brilliant young Italian pianist Beatrice Rana. If you don’t know it, give it a listen. For me, no one has ever made that piece sound both so fresh and yet so deep.

[LucaCanetti]

Hello there 🥰! Well, the German Requiem is my absolute favorite orchestral piece by Brahms 🥰! My absolute favorite rendition of the Germqn Requiem is the one with Herbert von Karajan conducting, with Gundula Janowitz and Eberhard Wächter. I treasure this rendition so so so much 🥰

[orresearch]

Thanks for sharing your list. Happy Holidays, Ed.

[johndolby]

Thanks for Youri Egorov's Six Moments Musicaux!

[Arahurah]

Thanks for sharing this, I'm just starting to listen to classical so I added all of them to my list. Happy holidays

[melvyndavis]

What a wonderful surprise! I only now find you are a musician as well! And we share very similar tastes. Kleiber #7 in particular.

[garthhowe]

Thanks Ed. Merry Christmas to you and your family.

[jeffrey-deitch]

Thank you Sir! I follow both your musical and astronomical endeavors.

[willrothfuss]

Thanks, Ed. I can't seem to get past #3, the Richter Pictures at an Exhibition. I have to keep going to listen to it!

[carstenaltena]

Merry Christmas and a happy 2024, Ed!

[stevengrey]

Warning this record could destroy your system.... "That is kind of wonderful in a way isn't it?" That gave me a delightful chuckle.

Thank you for this list. My mother raised me on classical music and I grew away from it, but now that I am older I find myself able to appreciate it much more than I could when younger. This was a good list to allow me to explore deeper.

[TheJmh]

excellent list. am new to classical music. plan on listening to all of it.

[tkimble]

Thanks, Ed. These are hard choices to make. I always loved having my small church choir perform Brahm's Requiem. However, we must have some Bach: Johann Sebastian Bach - Herbert Von Karajan, Berlin Philharmonic (1965)

[davidborger]

Great list. I'll be looking for these.

[AlainPrevost-vx]

Why am I not astonished you are a Classical Music buff? I wouldn't go without it... Top 10's are a matter of sensitivity as for choice of works just as much as of interpretations. My Top 10 would be Mahler 9th (Giulini); Strauss Four last Lieder / Schwarzkopf; Schubert piano Trio op100 / Trio Wanderer; Bruckner 8th / Wand; Brahms German Requiem / Klemperer; Mahler Der lied von der Erde / Klemperer; Bruckner 5th / Eugen Jochum; Shostakovich 4th / Kondrashin; Berg Colin concerto / Perlman; Bartok BlueBeard's Castle / Ferenkzic. How personal can one get...Thank you for your most interesting video.

[RTCB-SWL]

Having an eclectic mix of music genres of recordings on vinyl LP’s/singles, cassette, CD/DVD, mini-disc, MP3, etc., ‘Madama Butterfly’ is one of my all time favourites. I have the Angela Gheorghiu recording and recordings of ‘Puccini’ & ‘My Puccini’ on CD.

[michaelhollman]

What?? No recording of Holst's "The Planets"??? 🤣 I'm a Mahler fan (vs Bruckner), so I'd have Bernstein with the London Symphony Orchestra and Edinburgh Festival Chorus performing Mahler #2 in St. Giles Cathedral (Columbia Masterworks • M2 32681 • recorded in 1973) on my "short" list of, say 200 top classical recordings! Have a Merry Christmas!

[hectorbart]

Thank you for your videos Mr. Ting! Your clock on the piano needs a new battery.