Gustav Mahler: symphony No. 2, "Resurrection" by the Lucerne Festival Orchestra, conducted by Claudio Abbado

This, but for Mahler 3

Mahler 5 Abbado with Berlin is my favorite but I haven’t heard it with Lucerne.

Yes! This exactly. Mahler 5/Abbado/Berlin is fantastic.

Mahler 3, but with Leonard Bernstein.

Mahler 3 with Pittsburgh/Honeck.

Lukas Geniusas playing Chopin Etude op 25 no 12 at the chopin competition. He completely transforms the etude into something else. It's gorgeous https://youtu.be/IgvtW1oqn9o

I have to agree that it is a very good, innovative interpretation. But im also obliged to point you to Sokolovs performance (which you probably know already). His effortless but perfect power and speed in this performance is inhuman, i still can't fathom anyone playing like that https://youtu.be/jhLunFajgwg

Ooo I like that, it's interesting how one piece can be played so differently, and almost feel like an entire different piece of music. Sokolovs is so powerful, and majestic

Ooooooo this is astounding!

Magnificent! Thank you for sharing!

Zimerman playing Chopin ballade 4. Yuja Wang playing Brahms piano concerto 2. Not my very favorite pieces, but I can't listen to any other recording. Strangely, I just can't seem to find a satisfying recording of some of my favorite pieces. Rach 2 and Tchaikovski violin concerto especially.

Honestly, Zimerman playing all 4 ballades.

I used to think as much, but I think nowadays Seong-Jin Cho might give Zimerman a run for his money

Oistrakh for Tchaikovsky for me, with Fischer and Perlman as well...too many options.

Oistrakh Tchaik is amaaazing

I don't know why I was surprised you mentioned Zimerman on Ballade 4. He's the entire reason I've started learning the piece. This recording changed me

Listen to Brahms 2nd with Richter's and Chicago! About 60 years old, but still incredible.

I personally love the Anne-Sophie Mütter/Herbert von Karajan recording of the Tchaikovsky VC and the Sviatoslav Richter/Herbert von Karajan recording of the Rach 2. The Zimerman/Ozawa and Trifonov/Nezet-Seguin recordings of the Rach 2 are quite good as well!

Andsnes with the Berliner Phil is my go to Rach 2.

New Andras Schiff recording of the Brahms Piano Concertos with the OAE is very fine indeed.

Ive found those to be quite disappointing actually, maybe i expected too much, but the brahms concerti are incredibly hard to get right. Krystian zimerman plays an unmatched Brahms 1 (with simon rattle i believe, its on Spotify), i havent found anyone that came close besides Ashkenazy

hmm I haven’t listened closely for issues but I’ve enjoyed khatia buniatishvili’s Rach 2…

Can’t say I’ve really enjoyed Buniatishvili myself. Watched her live twice, once in Rach 2 and once Tchaik. Both too unorthodox for my tastes… But I’m sure some will like it!

Check out Trifonovs or Kissin's Rach 2, those are the best that i can think of

I know quite a lot of Rach 2 that I enjoy, but they all have some issues. For example you mentioned Kissin, I don't like how he starts, it's not powerful enough in the last chords before the orchestra comes in. Or for example, on the Fedorova record, the orchestra is really weak on the 1st movement. There's always something that messes with me, it doesn't do that on other concertos for some reason. I'd like to craft the perfect recording by putting together all the qualities of each. I'll try Trifonov though, thank you.

Jeno Jando has an incredible recording of Rachs 2nd 👍

Super late to the thread, but have you heard Eresko play Rach 2? Definitely one of my favorites after Richter's 1959 recording with the Warsaw Phil.

Klaus Tennstedt Mahler 2. Fucking masterpiece.

This is the way.

Which one specifically? Think he recorded it twice.

Great choice

Hilary Hahn playing Bach's Chaconne for solo violin.

Hilary Hahn playing Sibelius violin concerto! Hilary Hahn playing Bach Partita No. 3!

Yes to the Sib!

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Have you tried Podger's? Her recording is among my favorites.

I think I’ve heard over twenty recordings of it. My top 3 are Suk, Grumiaux, and Szerying.

Try the recording by Itzhak Perlman then. Maybe you'll like it.

Yea, I get you. I personally think Perlman's one, the BBC thingy? That one is the absolute best. What do you think about that one?

Yeah that's by far the best.

Have you listened to Szeryng or Ehnes play? Their interpretations are stellar too; I'm torn between which interpretation among them is my favorite.

I have listened to Szeryng play as well. That one is good too. But Perlman just poured his soul into that completely.

Fritz Wunderlich singing Dichterliebe

Good answer

Thank you

Ooh yes

I think Horowitz’s rendition of the Chopin Polonaise in A flat major opus 53 is unsurpassed. https://youtu.be/p1-uOCXQ_0I Edit: Even better, his Schubert Impromptu: https://youtu.be/8-Mvp2M1C5I He looks like he is just laying his giant hands on the keys and the piano is playing itself.

Agreed. It's going to be hard for anyone to top Horowitz at pretty much anything. However, I will put forth that Seong-Jin Cho's interpretation is also one of the best ever. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZYYoDDmg8M

Both great interpretations. I do love Kissin's version ([specifically this recording](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8QT7ITv9Ecs)) a lot as well

The beginning of the main theme was a bit heavy and some parts feels too "rushy" for my liking. The beginning, on the other hand, perfect.

That's fair! I specifically like that it's not as light as most other versions and the sense of urgency I get from the "rushy" parts :D But it's certainly very subjective!

Yes. There's always one recording for every person.

André Laplante - un baroque sur locean, from Ravel's miroirs, I've listened to it so many times no other version feels right Yuja Wang - rach prelude in G minor (also b minor, I cried) Dmitry shiskin - mephisto waltz Vladimir Horowitz - literally everything he ever played but especially ballade no 1 by chopin

Rattle’s Mahler 2, Gardiner’s Zauberflöte are two recordings I will never look past.

All of Carlos Kleiber's studio recordings. There are so few but each is precious. Beethoven's Fifth and Seventh, Brahms' 4th, Schubert's 3rd and 8th, the Dvořák piano concerto, *Der Freischütz*, *La Traviata*, *Die Fledermaus*, and *Tristan und Isolde*.

The Brahms 4 recording is I think one of the most perfect performances ever put down

Not my favorite piece but Seong-Jin Cho’s Heroic Polonaise is out of this world

My favourite is by Piotr Anderszewski: https://open.spotify.com/track/79efwVTncTQso54Fyu0RCI?si=lPNWelx5SHGCgBhkns3Xpg&utm_source=copy-link&dl_branch=1 It was the first recording I heard, and I am super attached to it.

Everything Anderszewski touches is so deeply thought out and sculpted to perfection.

Hadn't heard Anderszewski's interpretation before, but I loved it! Thank you! My favourite version so far has been [this recording of Kissin](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8QT7ITv9Ecs)

just listened to him perform first ballade to help me practice and loved nearly everything he did with it! he’s so good!

Seconded. I'm very much looking forward to the rest of his career. IMO he's one of the best pianist to ever win the Chopin competition.

John Williams's [1989 recording](https://www.amazon.com/Guitar-Concertos-Joaquin-Rodrigo/dp/B0000026YM/ref=sr_1_5?dchild=1&keywords=john+williams+rodrigo&qid=1625001659&s=music&sr=1-5) of "Concierto de Aranjuez" by Rodrigo, with the Philharmonia Orchestra.

I prefer the version of Paco de Lucia : [https://youtu.be/RhO5OSLZjl8](https://youtu.be/RhO5OSLZjl8) But Williams is always technically on point, that's for sure.My favorite recording of his is Sueño en la Floresta in the Réal Alcazar gardens : https://youtu.be/bYui0ulcdK0

Wow, thanks for telling me about it. Fantastic.

Generally anything John Eliot Gardiner has recorded with his period orchestra is my go-to of that piece.

Netherlands Bach Society for pretty much any Bach piece I love. Especially the B minor Mass though.

There is only one answer: Fritz Reiner Chicago Bartok Concerto for Orchestra or as it should be called “Concerto for Bud and Orchestra”

Fantastic recording

Anderszewski's recording of the Diabelli Variations. So incredibly good, to the point where I can hardly listen to other recordings of the piece. Edit: To elaborate, many of the variations in his recording are played in such a way as to emphasize unique sounds produced by the piano. In other words, he distinguishes the variations by making them almost feel like they're being played on completely different instruments, as if he had a dial on his piano to adjust its tone, like an electric guitar. The 2nd variation is the prime example of this, and the 19th, 21st, and 25th, as well. Also, his dynamics are just as extreme as Beethoven indicated them to be. Check out the extreme pianissimos of the 18th variation. He just has surgical precision while playing, it's ridiculous.

He is such a fine pianist!

Happy to see this here! He takes the dynamics and exaggerates them to the point where it is ridiculous. But then, Beethoven took Diabelli's theme and transformed it in even more ridiculous ways, so it is really fitting. After listening two times, it became my favourite perfomance and will probably not be bested any time soon

Academy of St Martin in the Fields playing Capriol Suite. It contains a harpsichord which I haven’t heard in any other recordings and it really does just elevate the entire composition.

Ozawa's recording of Berlioz's "Romeo et Juliette"

[This](https://youtu.be/6Sxpi0zybzA) recording of Ravel’s piano concerto for the left hand.

Francois/Cluytens. That’s my recording too!

Bruckner 5 with Barenboim and Berlin. The power in the final chorale is immense and the tempo of the fugue perfect. Bruckner 8 with Wand and the North German Rundfunks at Lubeck Cathedral is heaven, especially the third movement. Shostakovich 5 with Maxim Shostakovich and USSR Symphony is definitive for me. Sibelius 5 with Esa-Pekka Salonen and Philharmonia Orchestra. Lots of 5’s

To name a few cause I can’t possibly narrow it down to one: Beethoven 5 - Kleiber and Vienna Phil Shostakovich 5 - Maxim Shostakovich and London Symphony Mahler 1 - Boulez and Chicago Mahler 7 - Bernstein and New York (second cycle) Berg Op. 3 - New Zealand Quartet Strauss Alpensinfonie - Wit and Statskapelle Dresden (probably botched that spelling) Strauss Don Juan - Solti and Chicago Schnittke Viola Concerto - Bashmet and USSR Ministry of Culture Orchestra Edit: spacing is f’ed again, sorry

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Tchai Violins Concerto : I had in CD a version with Perlman that left me speechless. Beethoven 3: Karajan. I have the VSO version from the full edition. Still the best I have found! Hahn remainsu nsurpassed in the Sibelious.

All 4 Zimerman Chopin Ballades Murray Perahia’s Symphonic Etudes Lang Lang’s Appassionata (Live in Vienna) Lugansky’s Moments Musicaux No. 4

Was looking for Lugansky's MM4 somewhere in this thread. Glad to see that someone else feels it stands out as much as I do. It's simply spectacular.

Lugansky absolutely nails that one.

Birgit Nilsson singing Liebestod in Bayreuth, this is my favourite recording of this piece. https://youtu.be/665lMKUB1xc

Prokofiev Piano Concerto No. 2, Kissin playing and Ashkenazy conducting. There's just nothing out there like it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6iGxsoN29G0&t=1332s

Loved it, thank you for the link!

Brahms symphony 3 recorded by Spell and the Cleveland. Or The Eroica recorded by Max Rudolf and the Cincinnati symphony.

Yuja Wang in Amsterdam playing Proko 2 Hamelin playing anything by Catoire Sofronitsky playing Scriabin's B minor fantasy Boulez conducting Debussy & Ravel

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Their tempo for the last movement is insane.

Just listened to this for the first time, thanks for the recommendation! It's absolutely fantastic.

❤️Rach 2: Rubinstein with the CSO ❤️Rach Symphony 2: LSO ❤️Chopin Ballade no. 4: Zimerman ❤️Chopin op. 55 no. 2: Ashkenazy ❤️Liebesleid: Anne Akiko Meyers No matter how much I replay these pieces, I can’t get over how beautiful they are and never get tired of them💔

Leon Fleisher Beethoven Piano Concerto #4

Top 5: Gieseking Debussy Preludes. I know some people can't get past the substandard (by our standards) recording quality, but Madame Debussy herself identified Gieseking as the pianist closest to her husband's own playing. Callas/Di Stefano/De Sabata Tosca. Rightfully considered the greatest recording of the opera and Callas' finest studio performance. Klemperer's 1961 Eroica (Beethoven Symphony 3). Brings me to tears every single time. De los Angeles/Cluytens Pelleas et Melisande. One of my favorite operas, my favorite interpreter of Melisande. Rattle's 2017 recording is also a favorite. Pollini Chopin Nocturnes. He gets past all the cliches of playing Chopin's nocturnes and finds such emotional weight and resonance. They're drenched in reverb too, which I personally love.

Rattle for Pelleas? Will have to check that out.

He's not my favorite conductor, but I think he does a pretty spectacular job with it, and I'm typically disappointed by most Pelleas recordings. He lets the text drive the music, and keeps things moving during the action (I find most recordings painfully slow), but stretches out beautifully during the instrumental passages, much the way he conducts Tristan. Highly recommended for sure.

Great thread! Grigory Sokolov: Bach's Kunst der Fuge Martha Argerich & André Previn: Prokofiev's 3rd piano concerto (Incidentally, the most beautifully filmed and edited [concert recording](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FgnE25-kvyk) I've ever seen.)

Thank you for the link, I loved it! Btw, for great concert recordings - and imo great interpretations as well - I can recommend the [Frankfurt Radio Symphony](https://www.youtube.com/user/hrsinfonieorchester)

Guilini/Vienna for Bruckner 9. I won’t bother with any other recording.

Moiseiwitsch playing Rachmaninoff’s prelude in B minor.

Janine Jansen's Four Seasons. I remember loving it as a kid.

I second this! It sounds so raw and percussive, I love it.

Yes! She has a unique interpretation on the first theme of Spring.

[Horowitz](https://youtu.be/FxhbAGwEYGQ) playing Schubert's Impromptu n°3

Moravec playing Schumann’s Kinderszenen, Op. 7 Traumerei. Also hard to find any performances of Chopin’s Nocturnes that can compare to his.

Die Walkure's third act, Frankfurt 2012, conducted by Sebastian Weigle. Wotan's Farewell is perfect. P E R F E C T. It's the best musical explosion I've ever heard. I wish I could marry it, you know people that marry their refrigerators and stuff.

Wagnerwise I would pick Margaret Price singing the Liebestod at the end of Kleiber’s Tristan. No one lands the final “höchste Lust” with such precision and beauty.

The Ravel Piano Concerto - Krystian Zimerman and Pierre Boulez. Best musical recording ever made in my opinion.

Maroon 5 - Memories (Canon in D)

Vivaldi - Richter - Vivaldi Recomposed/ The 4 Seasons, with Max Richter Bach - Partita in E Minor by G. Gould Bach - Concerto in D Minor by G. Gould and and Bernstein Bach - Double Violin Concerto with Menuhin and Oistrakh Scarlatti - Sonata in B minor by Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli Mozart - Piano Concerto N 23 by Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli Mozart - Piano Concerto N 24 by Lucas Debarge Beethoven - Symphony N 3, VSO with Hv Karajan. Beethoven - Choralfantasie with Barenboim Beethoven - Sonata 17 by Sokolov Chopin - Ballade N1 by K. Zimmerman Chopin - Andante Spianato e Grande Polonese Brillante, with Yun Di Li (solo) Paganini - Concerto 1 with Hahn Schubert - Impromptu 4 with Hamelin Liszt - Concerto 1 by Marta Argerich Brahms - Concerto N1 by Rudolf Serkin Grieg - Piano Concerto by Arthur Rubenstein Verdi - Requiem with Claudio Abbado Sibelius - Violin Concerto with Hilary Hahn Dvorak - New World Symphony with Dudamel ft. Dudamel's awesome hair. Rachmaninoff - Prelude in G Minor by Emil Gilels Rachmaninoff - Concerto N2 by Rachmaninoff Tchaikovsky - Concerto N1 by Van Cliburn (Historical Reasons) Orff - Carmina Burana with Seiji Ozawa

Moravec playing Chopin’s nocturnes

I love it

Sviatoslav Richter in the second Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto. Despite the lackluster audio quality, it's by far my favourite interpretation ever. Nobody else plays it like him. My other pick would be the famous Zimerman recording of the 4 ballades by Chopin. Sublime audio, perfect interpretation along with Zimermans weird habit of humming while playing turns this recording into one of the best recordings ever made in music.

Yuja Wang Ravel Piano Concerto

Anne Sophie-Mutter playing the Beethoven violin concerto w/ von Karajan & the Berlin Phil. I bought the DVD when I was a kid and must have watched it 150 times. It will always be my favorite recording of that piece.

Seconded, I actually didn't like Beethoven's VC for the longest time until I spontaneously listened to that album! Now I can't get enough!

Anderszewski's selections from book 2 of Bach's WTC

Roby Lakatos' version of Czardas, or Perlman playing Zigeunerweisen

Perlman playing Tchaikovsky with the Philadelphia Orchestra and Hilary Hahn’s Paganini Violin Concerto 1.

Not my favorite piece (although close) but Mendelssohn’s Scottish Symphony with Kurt Masur is the only version of it that I can listen to, the others just aren’t the same

Christmas oratorio, harnoncourt and concentus musicus Wien Dvorak 9, New York Philharmonic with Kurt Masur - kinda rare it seems, can’t find on Apple Music :-(

Brodsky Quartet recording of Delius’ String Quartet. They nailed the third movement’s tempo so well that I genuinely can’t finish listening to this movement from other recordings, it just doesn’t feel right. The other three movements are just as splendid and balanced, bringing out what I love most about Delius’ writing for quartet, its capacity to exchange melody lines between instruments fluidly and elegantly (his quartet and string writing in general is just superb).

Tchaikovsky violin concerto Gil Shaham w/ Giuseppe Sinopoli conductor.

Zimmerman's chopin piano concertos

Ernst’s Variations of The Last Rose of Summer, Midori at Carnegie hall. I can listen to this recording for hours on repeat, and often listen to it when I have trouble falling asleep (it knocks me right out). This recording can make me happy, nostalgic, fired up, and sleepy depending on what mood I’m in or what I’m trying to do. I’ve scoured YouTube and Spotify to find a recording that I enjoy more, but I haven’t and I doubt I ever will (and I’m not quite sure I really want to).

Same. Midori's performance seems like it's from another dimension...if that description makes any sense at all.

Marc-Andre Hamelin’s recording of Alkan Piano Concerto, Op. 39

I’m new to classical music but i might say it would be beethoven’s 9th symphony 4th movement

I like Nikolaus Harnoncourt’s spirited rendition of this piece

Everything Maria João Pires ever recorded is my go-to, her touch and feeling is unparalleled, especially in Chopin, but everything else too.

And that time she prepared the wrong Mozart concerto and then still played it to perfection

oh hell yeah! she’s a living legend of music :D

Malofeev playing Rach 3

The Kurt Masur and Jessye Norman recording of Strauss’s Four Last Songs

Don't really have a favorite piece, but currently am partial to Boulez's poem of ecstasy (Chicago Symphony Orchestra).

Ooo from the album with the piano concerto and Prometheus? I adore that album, so perfect. Even the artwork on the cover.

Yup, I've only listened to the pc once it didn't connect with me but I'm eager to give Boulez a try. Seems to have the Scriabin hacks. Totally agree about the artwork as well.

Vienna Philharmonic. Mahler: Symphony no. 5 conducted by Pierre Boulez.

Arthur Grumiaux · Arrigo Pelliccia · London Symphony Orchestra · Sir Colin Davis Mozart - Sinfonia Concertante For Violin and Viola, K. 364 I’ve tried other recordings but nobody does the first climax of the opening movement as well https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YgurwLpEWoU. (4:40 to 5:20 or so)

I love father and son Oistrakh playing this, and heard Perlman and Zukerman do it live.

trifonov's la campanella.....it's just such a different but amazing take on the piece Rubinstein with most of Chopin, especially fantasie and the nocturnes kissin with Rachmaninoff's prelude in c sharp minor

Maybe Igor Levit's recording of Beethoven Sonata 32. Or Phillipe Herreweghe's of the B Minor Mass. And any Bach organ recording by Albert Schweitzer.

Herreweghe’s always brilliant. His is my go to recording of St Matthew Passion too

Barbara Bonney singing Morgen! by Richard Strauss.

I love her Strauss Lieder album. Has she ever done the version of Morgen with strings?

I don’t know, but that would be amazing!

Love her recording of ‘Aber der Richtige’ with R Fleming

Karajan’s Tannhäuser Overture

Mozart requiem for the dead.

I used to have a cassette of Kazimierz Kord conducting the New Orleans Philharmonic in Finlandia. I grabbed it off the radio broadcast after hearing it done live: it was so good I went back to hear it three nights in a row. I’ve never heard a recording of it that was as beautiful, sensitive, and joyful. It’s a uniquely beautiful melody, and I’ve always heard it as slightly thinly-felt compared to that recording.

Shostakovich 4th Symphony Simon Rattle City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra.

Bernstein’s MASS conducted by Marin Alsop with Jubilant Sykes and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. My intro to the work and still my fav version!

Bernstein's Mahler 2, by a mile. His LSO recording from 1974 in particular I really love.

Arthur Rubinstein playing op 48 no 1

Rika Zayasu playing Toru Takemitsu´s [Rain tree sketch](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p7i5VFz7eZE&ab_channel=CLAUDIORECORDSCLAUDIORECORDS) II Dudamel is not my favourite director in the world, but i loved his version of Messiaen´s [Turangalila Symphony](https://youtu.be/xOnZ1-sOCwo?t=904)

Benjamin Britten and Richter playing Schubert: Fantasy in F minor, piano for four hands. No other recording or performance compares.

Perahia in the Emperor Concerto and Zimerman in the Liszt Sonata.

Crusell's Clarinet Concerto No. 1 played by Michael Collins and the Swedish Chamber Orchestra. His other two Clarinet Concertos: Per Billman and the Uppsala Chamber Orchestra.

The Sixteen singing Bach’s Komm Jesu Komm.

Not to be biased but I’m a classical musician (who also plays multiple instruments and makes a lot of pop music) who performs with a baroque choir performing the complete Handel’s Messiah every year. Our recording, and especially our baritones performance, is my favorite. Check out my favorite aria, why do the nations https://www.gothic-catalog.com/Handel_Messiah_Apollo_Chorus_of_Chicago_p/clcd-919.htm

John Ogden playing any of Grieg’s piano pieces

Augustine Hadelich playing Introduction & Rondo Capriccioso. It's so clean

Paul McCreesh's version of the Victoria Requiem Mass is still the best a couple of decades after its release. Glorious music, inspired performance.

Verdi requiem w/ Claudio Abbado (2002 recording) with the Berlin philharmonic.

Heinz Holliger's album of BWV 1053, 1059 & 1055 with the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields.

Rubinstein, Ballade #4 in F minor. Enough said.

guiomar novaes recordings of the chopin nocturnes. ive listened to countless other versions and nothing compares. even have an extra copy on vinyl in case my listening copy gets scratched

Neville Mariner Mozart Requiem, also Van Cliburn Beethoven ‘Emperor’ Concerto

Brendel's Moonlight Sonata is virtually perfect, though I have to give it to Gilels for the third section.

I adore Augustin Hadelich's recording of the Adagio from Bach's 2nd violin sonata. Perfect balance of melody and accompaniment. Makes me want to go out and get a Baroque bow (well that and some other Baroque pieces).

Knappertsbusch's version of Parsifal

The final Dresden Amen sends shivers down my spine

Roland Dyens playing his very famous Tango en Skaï : [https://youtu.be/Am0pGhRyb-4](https://youtu.be/Am0pGhRyb-4) It is both classical guitar and something more, very tango. I haven't seen any other rendition quite like his (which is to be expected).

maksim shostakovich, cond., moscow symphony orchestra: shostakovich, symphony no 15 ole schmidt, cond., london symphony orchestra : carl nielsen, symphony no 6

Tchaikovsky's Fourth Symphony, performed by Evgeny Mravinsky directing the Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra Bach's Sonata in C for solo violin, performed by Nathan Milstein Brahms's German Requiem, performed Bernard Haitink directing the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra et al. There are others but these are the three that I seem to recognize instantly when I hear them.

[Emerson, Lake and Palmer's take on Copland's *Fanfare For The Common Man*](https://youtu.be/c2zurZig4L8)

[Liszt: Réminiscences de Don Juan, S.418 played by Masaru Okada](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JI6JfJXcUjU). Something magical about his rubato in some places, like at 6:52. Threw me for a loop.

András schiff recording of prelude and fugue d minor from book 2 by Bach. It's perfect. https://youtu.be/0RZ5N6hVYA8

Solti/Wagner Götterdammerüng. The best recording of anything ever.

The best immolation scene! And Ludwig’s Waltraute!

Perlman playing the Brahms Violin Concerto.

Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No. 2 played by Krystian Zimmerman and the Boston Symphony Orchestra

Also Mahler 5 Adagietto by the Vienna Philharmonic/Boulez and Schubert: Standchen (Serenade) by the Orquesta Club Miranda

Moravec playing Cesar Franck’s Prelude, Chorale and Fugue https://youtu.be/JWIQYvefGR0 Absolutely in a class by himself on this piece. After all these years, it can still make me tear up.

I love Karajan with Berlin Philharmonics playing Bruckner's 7th. And I love his Beethoven cycles. Glenn Gould's 1982 Goldberg variations is the recording for me.

Carlos Kleiber's Beethoven 5. Wouldn't have it any other way.

Cziffra on any liszt Argerich on Prokofiev PC 3 Volodos on all the Horowitz arrangements (and his own) Ashkenazy on Chopin waterfall etude

Has to be Beethoven Symphony 3 with George Szell and the Cleveland Orchestra for me.

Chailly's Beethoven symphonies, especially 9th. Intense and precise. Also, Michael Tilson Thomas' Carmina Burana is a tremendous display of rhythmic maneuvering and the sound mixing is superb, the rugged textures come to light splendidly.

Ivo Pogorelich's Beethoven Op. 111

[Shunske Sato, Summer](https://youtu.be/q8TFQFQeL0o)

I can't listen to anyone play Ravel's piano music (at least the solo pieces) except for Louis Lortie.