# My Basic Repertoire List



## RebLem

Classics Today has a list of what they think should be the first 100 CDs in a classical collection. I decided, for this list, to take that as a starting point, paste it in here, ignore the 100 part, and then make my own changes. I have put an asterik after every recommendation that remains unchanged from the Classics Today list. In a few cases,. I didn't check to see if these things were all currently available. I mostly used my own collection as a resource. 
This is a work in progress. My hope, eventually--and I am pretty close to it now, is to have a list of exactly 300 CDs. I suggest that most people could follow a 5 year plan to purchase these CDs. If you buy 4 CDs per month (with an occasional month in which you buy a 5 CD set, and then the next month only 3 CDs, so that you average 4 per month) you will have 240 CDs in 5 years. What of the other 60? 
Well, the.first group of CDs on this list is of sets of CDs with more than 5 CDs in each. These are potential plan busters. I suggest you keep a separate printout of these CD sets, and whenever someone asks what you want for your birthday (or Christmas, or Channukah, or Festivus. for a graduation gift, or whatever), just give him/her this list of sets and say, "Get me something from this list." Pretty simple, eh?
The second group of CDs are a series of multi-composer records. When mixed in with the other listings, some people just don't see any but the first composer listed, so I decided to segregate them in their own section. 
And then finally, the single composer CDs and 2, 3, 4, and 5 CD boxes.

Group 1-sets of 6 CDs or more
Beethoven: Complete Piano Sonatas. Annie Fischer (9 Hungaroton)
Dvorak: Complete String Quartets, incl. 18 Cypresses. Prague Qr. (9 DG)
Dvorak: Symphonies (complete)-Kubelik, Berlin PO (6 DGG)
Mahler: Symphonies (complete); Segerstam, Danish NRSO, (12 Chandos)
Schubert: Piano Sonatas (complete) Kempff (7 DG)
Shostakovich: Symphonies (complete). Kondrashin, (11 CD Melodiya)
Strauss R.: Complete Orchestral Music. Kempe (9 Brilliant)
Vaughan Williams: Symphonies (9, complete) + 10 other orch. works. Boult (8 EMI)

Beethoven: Piano Concerti. Fleisher, Szell, Cleveland Orch (Mozart PC 25, too) (3 Sony)

Group 2-multi composer CDs

Berg: Violin Conc. Szeryng |Schoenberg: Violin Conc; Piano Conc. Zetlin, Brendel, Kubelik, Bav RSO (DG)
Britten, Berg: Violin Concerti. Hope, Watkins, BBC Phil (Warner Classics)
Britten: Young Person's Guide |Prokofiev: Peter & the Wolf; Lt. Kije Suite. Connery, Dorati (London Phase 4) 
Brahms: Piano Conc 2 |Beethoven: Appassionata Sonata. Richter, Leinsdorf, CSO (RCA)
Faure, Franck: Violin Sonatas. Grumiaux (Philips)*
Franck: Piano Quintet.  Curzon | Mozart: Clarinet Qn |Strauss: Prelude for Str. Sextet. Amadeus Qt+ (BBC Legends mono)
Holst: Planets |Elgar: Enigma Vars--Boultt (EMI)
Liszt: Piano Conc (2) |Prokofiev: Piano Conc 3, 5: Pn Son 7 |Schumann: Pn Conc. Samson Francois (2 EMI)
Mascagni: Cavalleria Rusticana |Leoncavallo: Pagliacci. Callas, Serafin (2 EMI mono)
Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherezade |Borodin: Polovtsian Dances. Beecham, RPO (EMI)
Tchaikovsky, Brahms: Violin Concerti. Heifetz, Reiner, CSO (RCA)

Group 3-single composer CDs and 2, 3, 4, and 5 CD boxes.
Bach: Brandenburg Concerti. Marriner, ASMF (2 Philips CDs)
Bach: Toccata & Fuge in D Minor, S. 565 & 17 other organ works. Peter Hurford (2 Decca)
Bach: 4 Secular Cantatas. Collegium Aureum, Elly Ameling, et al (2 DHM Edito Classica CDs)
Bartok: Complete String Quarterts (6).-Takacs Quartet (2 Decca/London)
Bartók: 3 Piano Concerti-Ashkenazy, piano |2 Violin Concerti-Chung, violin-Solti, cond, London Phil (CSO in VC 1)-2 CD Decca set
Bartók: Concerto for Orchestra; Music for Strings, Percussion, and Celesta. Reiner, Chicago Sym (RCA)
Bartok: Bluebeard's Castle. Kertesz, Ludwig, Berry, LSO (Decca) (although mine is from MHS relicensed from Decca)

Beethoven: Violin Concerto. Violin Romances 1 & 2. Grumiaux, Galleira (in concetro) (Philips)
Beethoven: Fidelio. Klemperer (2 EMI)*
Beethoven: Complete Symphonies. Szell (5 Sony)
Beethoven: Missa Solemnis. Bernstein (either recording, 2 CDs on Sony or DGG)
Beethoven: Late String Quartets. Yale Quartet. (3 Vanguard)
Beethoven: Piano Trios + Kempff, Szerying, Fournier. (5 DG)
Beethoven: Violin Sonatas 5, 8, 9. Szerying, Rubinstein. (RCA)
Bellini: Norma. Callas-Serafin (2 EMI).*
Berlioz: Les Nuits d'ete; La Mort de Cleopatre; Les Troyens excerpts. Janet Baker, Barbirolli, Gibson (EMI)
Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique. Le Roi Lear Over. Le Carnaval romain. Beecham (EMI)
Biber: Rosary Sonatas. Maier, Lehrndorfer, Engel, Junghanel. (2 DHM Edito Classica)
Bizet: Carmen--De los Angeles, Beecham (2 EMI)
Brahms: Violin Concerto. Szerying, Monteux, LSO (RCA))
Brahms: Violin Sonatas. Suk-Katchen (2 Decca)*
Brahms: Symphonies + Solti, Chicago SO (4 Decca).*
Brahms: Piano Trios; Horn Trio; Clarinet Trio. Trio di Trieste in Pn Trios; Eschenbach, BPO players in others. (2 DG)
Britten: 11 orchestral works, incl. Diversions for piano left hand & orch, & Sinfonia da Requiem. Rattle, CBSO (2 EMI)
Britten: 4 String Quartets; Simple Symphony. Britten Q (2 Collins Classics)
Britten: Serenade for Tenor, Horn, & Strings; Noye's Fludde. Hickox (Virgin Classics)
Britten: War Requiem. Britten (2 Decca).*
Bruckner: Symphony No. 4. Kertesz, LSO (Decca)
Byrd: 3 Masses. Tallis Scholars. (Gimell)
Charpentier: Anthems for Advent; In Nativitatem DNJC Canticum. Christie, Les Arts Florissants (FHM)
Chavez: Complete Syms (6)-Mata, LSO-2 CD Vox set
Chopin: 4 Impromptus; 3 Nouvelle etudes, Andante spianato & grande polonaise, 4 other pieces. Rubinstein RCA
Copland: Appalachian Spring; Rodeo-4 dance episodes: Billy the Kid SuiteEl salon Mexico; Fanfare for the common man; Quiet City; Down a Country Land, Nonet for strings. Copland, cond. (2 Sony)
Debussy:Complete Piano Works, incl. Fantasy for Piano & Orch. Gieseking (4 EMI)
Debussy: Complete Meloidies (i.e. that's French for Songs). Baldwin, piano, Elly Ameling & 4 other singers. (3 EMI)
Debussy: La Mer, Nocturnes. Tilson Thomas (Sony)*
Debussy: The Martyrdom of St Sebastian. Bernstein, NYPO (Sony)
Dutilleux: Complete Orchestral Works (11). Tortelier, BBC Phil (4 Chandos)
Dvorak: Cello Concerto; Othello; The Noon Witch. Rostropovich, Talich, Czech Phil (Suprophon mono)
Dvorak: Syms 7, 8, & 9 |Carnival Overture-Szell, CO (2 SONY)
Dvorak: Symphony 6: My Home Ov; Hussite Ov; Carnival Ov. Ancerl, Czech Phil (Supraphon) 
Dvorak: Symphony 9; Symphonic Var. Macal, London PO (EMI Classics for Pleasure)

Falla: The Three-Cornered Hat + 5 other de Falla works. de los Angeles, De Burgos (2 EMI)
Fauré: Requiem. Cluytens. (EMI)
Franck: Symphonie in D minor. Monteux, Chicago SO. (RCA)*
Franck: Les Beatitudes.(oratorio) Rilling. (2 MHS, lic from Hanssler)
Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue. An American in Paris. Tilson Thomas (RCA)*
Gounod: Faust. Cluytens (3 EMI)*

Handel: Water Music, Royal Fireworks Music. Concerti grossi, Op. 6-Orpheus Chamber Orch-3 DGG Trio box
Handel: Messiah. Mackerras (2 EMI)*
Haydn: The Creation. Bernstein (2 Sony)
Haydn: London Symphonies. Jochum (4 DG)*
Janácek: Glagolitic Mass; Sinfonietta; Taras Bulba. Ancerl (Supraphon)*
Mahler: Das Lied von der Erde. Ferrier, Patzak, Walter, VPO (Decca mono)
Mendelssohn: Symphonies (complete) Abbado (3 DG)*
Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition. Giulini, Chicago Sym (DG)
Mozart: Piano Sonatas (complete) Klara Wurtz (5 Brilliant)
Mozart: Piano Concerti 21, 22, 23, 24, 26, 27. Casadesus-Szell (3 Sony)*
Mozart: Don Giovanni. Giulini (3 EMI)*
Mozart: Syms 35-41. 3 Flute Conc. Posthorn Serenade; Serenata notturni, 2 other works--Menuhin (5 Virgin Classics) 
Mozart: String Quartets 14-19 "Haydn" Hagen Q (3 DGG)
Mozart: Requiem. Giulini (Sony)
Nielsen: String Quartets (4, complete): String Qn; Wind Qn. Nielsen SQ + (2 DG)
Nielsen: Syms (compl) + 4 other orch. works. Blomstedt, San Francisco SO (4 Decca [2 sets of 2 CDs each])
Orff: Carmina Burana. Jochum (DG)
Paganini: Caprices. Accardo (DG Galleria)
Prokofiev: Piano Sonatas (complete). Boris Berman. (2 MHS, lic from Chandos)
Prokofiev: Piano Conc 1. Moravec. Sym 1; Scythian Suite; Seven They Are. Ancerl, Czech Phil (Praga)
Prokofiev: Violin Concerti. Mintz, Abbado, Chicago S.O. (DG)
Prokofiev: Syms 1 & 5-Levine, Chicago SO--DGG
Prokofiev: Alexander Nevsky; Lt. Kije. Previn, LAPO (Telarc)
Puccini: La Bohème. de los Angeles, Bjorling, Beecham (2 EMI mono)
Puccini: Madame Butterfly. de los Angeles, Bjorling, Santini (2 EMI)
Puccini: Tosca. Callas-de Sabata (2 EMI mono)*


Rachmaninov: Piano Concerti. Wild, Horenstein (2 Chandos)
Ravel: Complete Solo Piano Music. Monique Haas. (2 Erato)
Ravel: Piano Concerti (2) Francois, Cluytens (EMI)
Ravel: Orchestral Works.. Cluytens (2 EMI)*
Rodrigo: Concierto de Aranjuez |Elogio de la guitarra |Fantasia para un gentilhombre-Angel Romero, guitar, Previn, con. LSO
Rossini: Overtures. Reiner (RCA)*
Schubert: Die schone Mullerin song cycle. Fischer-Dieskau, Moore (EMI)*
Schubert: Schwanengasang song cycle. Fischer-Dieskau, Moore. (EMI)*
Schubert:Winterreise song cycle. Hotter, Moore. (EMI)
Schubert: Complete Trios (2 str trios, 3 piano trios+) various artists. (2 Philips) 
Schubert: String Q "Rosamunde"; String Q "Death & the Maiden"; Stri Q, D 887, Quarttr movement in C minor; String Quintet. Emerson Quartet, Rostropovich in Quintet. (3 DG)
Schubert: Symphonies (complete); Rosamundo Over; Grand Duo. Abbado (5 DG)

Schumann: 14 solo piano works. Kempff. (4 DG)
Schumann: Complete Piano Trios (4); Piano Quartet, Op. 47, Piano Quintet. Beaux Arts Trio + (2 Philips)
Schumann: Complete String Quartets (3). Eroica Quartet (HM)
Schumann: Symphonies (compl); Manfred Over. Szell, Cleveland Orch (2 Sony)
Shostakovich: String Quartets (15)-Shostakovich Quartet (5 Regis)
Sibelius: Symphonies (7, complete); 9 other orch works. Barbirolli, Halle Orch., (5 EMI)
Smetana: Ma Vlast (My Country). Ancerl, Czech Phil (Supraphon)
Strauss J.: Waltzes. 1992 New Year's Concert. Kleiber (Sony)* Strauss, R: Metamorphosen, Oboe Concerto, 9 Songs, Violin Sonata-Stamp, cond. Academy of London, Ray Still, oboe, conc, Gundula Janowitz (songs) D Sitkovetsky, violin, P Gililov, piano in Sonata. 2 Virgin CDs
Strauss,R. Four Last Songs; Capriccio (closing scene); Arabela (excerpts) Schwarzkopf, Ackermann, von Matacic (EMI)
Strauss R.: Der Rosenkavalier. Solti (3 Decca)


Stravinsky: Le Sacre du Printemps |The Firebird |The Card Party |Petrushka |Pulcinella-Abbado, LSO-2 DGG
Tchaikovsky: Symphonies Nos. 4, 5, 6. Monteux, Boston SO (2 RCA)
Tchaikovsky: The ballets (Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty, The Nutcracker). Previn, London SO (6 EMI)
Verdi: Aida. Price, Solti (3 Decca)*
Verdi: Don Carlos. Giulini (3 EMI)
Verdi: Requiem. 4 Sacred Pieces. Price, Bjorling +, Reiner, Viennal Phil (2 London)
Villa-Lobos: Bachianas Brasileiras 1-9 |Guitar Concerto-Batiz, cond. OFCM, Alfonso Moreno, guitar (in conc)-3 EMI
Vivaldi: The Four Seasons. Standage. (MHS)
Wagner: Overtures and Preludes. Szell, Cleveland Orch (2 Sony)
Wagner: Tristan and Isolde. Bernstein. (3 DG)
Walton: Sym. 2; Variations on a theme by Hindemith; Partita for Orch. Szell, Cleveland (Sony)
Zwilich: Sym. 1; Prologue & Variations; Celebration. Nelson, Indianapolis Sym. (New World)


----------



## BuddhaBandit

> Shostakovich: String Quartets (15)-Shostakovich Quartet (5 Regis)


Great inclusion- many "Essential Classics" lists leave out the Quartets and just include the symphonies. The quartets are wonderful- almost as good as Bartòk's.



> Strauss R.: Der Rosenkavalier. Solti (3 Decca)


Another nice inclusion, again, overlooked on many lists in favor of Salomé and Elektra.



> Ravel: Complete Solo Piano Music. Monique Haas. (2 Erato)


I would also highly recommend the Gieseking recordings.



> Verdi: Requiem. 4 Sacred Pieces. Price, Bjorling +, Reiner, Viennal Phil (2 London)


This is my favorite Verdi recording, regardless of genre (including the Maria Callas operas).

I would also highly suggest the inclusion of the St. Matthew Passion in the Bach listings, but otherwise, a fine list.


----------



## Chi_townPhilly

Man, I admire the scope of posts like these. I own about half-a-dozen of the recommendations... and consider each of them to be tops for music + value. (E.g.: Reiner in Rossini & Bartók, and the Haydn symphonies set.)

(I'm not saying this is good or bad... but) I couldn't help but notice--
No Toscanini. No Stokowski. No Furtwängler. No Karajan. 

We also get three versions of Dvořák's 9th. I'm a big fan, too... but 3 in the first 100 buys(?).


----------



## RebLem

The reason I didn't include a Bach St Matthew Passion is that I am not familiar enough with the work and the recorded versions of it to recommend a recording. I do agree that some version of it ought to be on the list. Any suggestions?

There is only one Dvorak 9th I recommended because of the Dvorak 9th, and that is the Zdenek Macal recording with the London Phil on Classics for Pleasure. The other two--the Szell twofer of 7, 8, and 9, I recommended because of 7 & 8, and the Kubelik box of all the symphonies because of works other than the 9th.

This list is a composer-oriented list, not a conductor oriented one. I do think that after this basic list of items is acquired, it would be a good idea to start exploring different interpretations of particular works. I really, honestly, can't think of a Stokowski recording I would recommend, unless it were the Glazunov Violin Concerto. I am not much of a Karajan fan, either, but I do like his Sibelius, esp. Finlandia. His 1962 Beethoven Eroica is really good, too, though my number 1 personal pick for the Eroica is one few people even know about--an OOP CD on Teldec by Joseph Kielberth. The production--that is the labelling and the liner notes, not the recording itself--are a total mess, which probably has a lot to do with why it was withdrawn. But its a well-produced recording and a superb performance.

The absence of Toscanini is, I think, a little more serious. He was, without a doubt, one of the great conductors of the first half of the 20th century, along with Furtwangler and Walter. If you had to cite three, that would be it. I suggest that one of the ways of beginning to address this problem would be in the second phase of collecting, after this initial collection is acquired. If you concentrate in that phase on studying how different conductors approach a few basic works in different ways, you can begin to include some of these folks. It seems to me that the Brahms First Symphony is a work which lends itself, perhaps more than most, to different interpretive approaches. Szell is middle of the road and workmanlike. But my favorite MOR recording of it is the 1960 DG recording with the BPO by Karl Bohm, now available, as far as I know, only on the Australian Eloquence label. Toscanini's 50's box of all the symphonies (+ some other items) is worthy as well, and fleet, emphasizing the work's melodies and sheer tunefulness. A better overall interpretation, though, IMO, is Toscanini's 1941 RCA recording, much more MOR. Furtwangler's 1951 (I think) recording is contemplative and ruminative, ravishingly lush in its sentiment, the culmination of a lifetime filled with achievement, shame, and sadness. Solti's recording is a very dramatic, almost operatic performance, and is one of, I think, only two sets that records all the repeats (the other being the Kertesz set).

Another work which lends itself to a variety of alternate interpretations is the Beethoven Eroica. I have already discussed the Kielberth and Karajan recordings in this connection, but both the wartime and post war Furtwangler recordings are remarkable, too. Compare, particularly, those two recordings of the Marcia funebre--an immediate, angry, tragic warning in the wartime version, a tender, sad memorial for the dead of war and Holocaust and a shamed lament for a nation disgraced in the post war recording.


----------



## SamGuss

This thread is being put on my favorites list, if for no other reason as a resource to find good music and selections - thank you!


----------



## BuddhaBandit

> The reason I didn't include a Bach St Matthew Passion is that I am not familiar enough with the work and the recorded versions of it to recommend a recording. I do agree that some version of it ought to be on the list. Any suggestions?


The one recording of the Passion that truly stands out for me is John Eliot Gardiner's recording with the English Baroque Soloists. Second to that, the recording with Ian Bostridge (a fine tenor) is great, too.


----------



## SamGuss

This thread has indeed inspired me. For the past several days, I have been sampling and listening and putting together my own list for my first 100. I figure once I get that far I will go from there 

I'm only at 52 selections so far and still have a lot of research and sampling to do as well as filling out the rest of my first 100, which I will share when I have it complete. It has been a great way for me to learn more about composers, performers, orchestra's and learning who is good at what with which composers.

Anyway just had to say thanks for the inspiration and for those who are also just starting out collecting - I would encourage you to do something along these lines as well.

Sam


----------



## R-F

This makes me wish I had never started finding classical music myself, because this list is so great. I havn't been listening to classical music very long, so I tend to have a lot of compilation CDs. This will mean that if I follow this list I will get a lot of copys of one track, but nevertheless, this selection is too good to miss!


----------



## opus67

SamGuss said:


> have a lot of research and sampling to do


Do you listen to internet stations? That's one way of expanding your horizons on various composers and their music.

http://www.talkclassical.com/2557-internet-radio-stations.html?highlight=internet+radio+stations


----------



## SamGuss

opus67 said:


> Do you listen to internet stations? That's one way of expanding your horizons on various composers and their music.
> 
> http://www.talkclassical.com/2557-internet-radio-stations.html?highlight=internet+radio+stations


As of late last night - yes. I actually came across one of your posts somewhere with this link. So far I have added to my stations 5 different classical stations. I'm actually listening to one now. I was pretty specific about which stations I added, for example it had to have a genuine website with programming schedule, so I could visit the site and say to myself "aha at 1 am I can listen to this or this" (depending on which station I went to.

Great resource!


----------



## Vic

That's AMAZING!!! THanks you sooo much! I am gonna check them all out.


----------



## kg4fxg

*Thanks*

I love lists, now to check it against my collection to see what I am missing.


----------

