# BBC's Top 50 Classical Recordings



## KenOC

Just noticed this, I think it's recent. Something old, something new...

http://www.classical-music.com/arti..._newsletter_BBC Music_Newsletters&utm_content=


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## moody

KenOC said:


> Just noticed this, I think it's recent. Something old, something new...
> 
> http://www.classical-music.com/arti..._newsletter_BBC Music_Newsletters&utm_content=


Well,it's not bad is it? Certainly an improvement on the garbage printed by Classic FM--and I approve of most of it so it must be OK.


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## joen_cph

The list is overall OK for some basic library stuff, though leaning to the Anglofile side. No Scandinavian repertoire at all, only two French works, for instance, but 3 major Britten vocal works - and then 2 Janacek operas ...

A few of them are very controversial choices or just big sellers (Mozart Complete Piano Concertos / Barenboim / EMI), most of them generally acknowledged. I own 25 of them and have heard excerpts of a few more, but would probably in the majority of them choose other recordings as favourites, albeit reflecting a personal taste.


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## moody

joen_cph said:


> The list is overall OK for some basic library stuff, though leaning to the Anglofile side. No Scandinavian repertoire at all, only one French work, for instance, but 3 major Britten vocal works - and then 2 Janacek operas ...
> 
> A few of them are very controversial choices or just big sellers (Mozart Complete Piano Concertos / Barenboim / EMI), most of them generally acknowledged. I own 23 of them and have heard excerpts of a few more, but would probably in the majority of choose other recordings as favourites, albeit reflecting a personal taste.


These were the critics from the BBC magazine,I'm sure that a Scandinavian magazine would have had 50 Scandinavian composers, You make your Anglophile comment but suggest nothing to back up your comment !
I think that Barenboim is a strange case and they perpetuate the Kleiber Jr myth but they can't please all the people all the time,can they now ?


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## Blancrocher

I thought they stuck their necks out a little putting the Melnikov/Shostakovich in there, given how few piano recordings made the list. Credit where credit's due. 

On the other hand, I didn't need their comment about the "turgid style" of Nikolayeva.

Fine list overall.


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## joen_cph

Concering the somewhat Anglofile Angle:

Are 3 of the 50 greatest recordings of classical music related to vocal works by Benjamin Britten?

EMI-related recordings on the list: 19 recordings
Decca-related: 11/12 recordings
DG/Archiv/DG-Melodiya related: 9 recordings
RCA: 2 recordings
CBS-Sony related: 2 recordings
Philips: 1 recording
Hyperion: 1 recording

The selection also tends to point to soloists and conductors with a very prominent career in the UK.


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## bigshot

It doesn't have any Stokowski. And I would definitely quibble with that Porgy and Bess. But there is some good stuff on there.


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## Itullian

Barenboim's Mozart and Porgy must go.


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## Winterreisender

Interesting list, a good mix of periods. I particularly enjoy the presence of Hildegard's "Feather on the Breath of God" and the Britten War Requiem. 

Personally, I can't buy into all the hype surrounded Kleiber's Beethoven; I see little which elevates this recording above the countless others on the market. 

Can't argue with Solti's Ring, however! Also, it is nice to see Barenboim's Mozart Concertos as this is certainly my go-to recording.


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## Guest

I own, or have owned, 20 of those recordings. It is an interesting list - not the list I would compile, but then I'm not an expert, am I? Not to get into a pissing match over the merit of older recordings versus newer recordings, but am I really expected to believe that when considering the best recordings of all time, nothing relatively recent reaches that threshold? And forgive my still relative ignorance of some of these, but Janacek's Katya Kabanova? I am no opera fan, but I recognize that many are, and I have followed many discussions of opera - this is the first time I have even heard of this one. That really stood out? I recognize that Mackerras was a great conductor (I have several of his recordings, myself, and love his Dvorak recordings on Supraphon, as well as his Haydn on Telarc), but it seems like so many others could have earned a more exalted place on this list.

Oh well - we classical music fans do like our lists. Sometimes, though, I think we like them more for the controversy that they can stir up than merely as a way to convey our feelings on an issue. There are several excellent gems in this list, but I can't say that I am enticed to spend my money on many of the others.


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## moody

Perhaps it all goes to show that music critics are as bad as TC members at coming out with lousy lists.


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## realdealblues

It appears I am missing a large collection of "must have" recordings. 

I had no idea my collection was so empty without more Britten. 

I'm also saddened that no one has made a Great Recording of the Four Seasons or The Brandenburg Concertos or any of Mozart's Symphonies or Beethoven's 9th or any other standards of the classical repertoire since none of those works are on the list. 

I also had no idea how important Janacek's Operas were either. Man am I behind the times...


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## TresPicos

moody said:


> These were the critics from the BBC magazine,I'm sure that a Scandinavian magazine would have had 50 Scandinavian composers, You make your Anglophile comment but suggest nothing to back up your comment !


Actually, here in Scandinavia, we have a fairly modest and accurate understanding of our contribution to classical music.


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## bigshot

realdealblues said:


> I'm also saddened that no one has made a Great Recording of the Four Seasons or The Brandenburg Concertos or any of Mozart's Symphonies or Beethoven's 9th or any other standards of the classical repertoire since none of those works are on the list.


You can practically throw a dart over your shoulder and find decent versions of those. I wouldn't even know where to begin trying to pick a "greatest recording" of those sorts of things.


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## realdealblues

bigshot said:


> You can practically throw a dart over your shoulder and find decent versions of those. I wouldn't even know where to begin trying to pick a "greatest recording" of those sorts of things.


But isn't that their job as reviewers...to guide us unknowning common folk to the best recordings? I'd be interested to hear what the majority of critics polled believe to be the best recordings of those works.

And besides it's easier to pick the best recording when there's only a handful of recordings of a particular work. Janacek's Kat'a Kabanova only has like 4 or 5 recordings on CD. I want to see them sort through 500 recordings of Beethoven's 9th and tell me from their educated stance as specialists in the field of classical recordings what the greatest ones are.


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## Guest

realdealblues said:


> But isn't that their job as reviewers...to guide us unknowning common folk to the best recordings? I'd be interested to hear what the majority of critics polled believe to be the best recordings of those works.
> 
> And besides it's easier to pick the best recording when there's only a handful of recordings of a particular work. Janacek's Kat'a Kabanova only has like 4 or 5 recordings on CD. I want to see them sort through 500 recordings of Beethoven's 9th and tell me from their educated stance as specialists in the field of classical recordings what the greatest ones are.


Agreed. This seems more like a list where the critics are trying to impress one another with just how obscure a list they can come up with, and show how much more sophisticated they are than the unwashed masses because, rather than selecting things like Beethoven's 9th, Bach's Brandenburgs, or Vivaldi's 4 Seasons, they include multiple operas of Janacek and Britten.

Ultimately, it makes me just a little less inclined to care about these sorts of lists. Should that worry them? Not necessarily - but the less approachable they make classical music seem to people, the less people will take interest. What is more likely to get people interested in classical music - the recommendation of a great Beethoven 9th symphony recording, or a Janacek opera? We can try and pretend that some of these more obscure works are "better" than the perennial favorites, but I come back to my oft-recited claim - the reason that so many people can hum a few bars of several of Beethoven's works, or of Bach's, or of Vivaldi's, is because they are great. Ignoring them on a list like this seems self-defeating.


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## gHeadphone

Funnily enough i used this list as one basis for starting my collection and i doing 2/3rds of it very good.

I wonder if the combined might of Talk Classical could have a top 50 Classical recordings for beginners, perhaps picking 50 pieces which include some orchestral, chamber and operas with a top recommended recording and 2 alternatives?

I would have found this hugely valuable when i started out.

Any thoughts on this?


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## Pugg

gHeadphone said:


> Funnily enough i used this list as one basis for starting my collection and i doing 2/3rds of it very good.
> 
> I wonder if the combined might of Talk Classical could have a top 50 Classical recordings for beginners, perhaps picking 50 pieces which include some orchestral, chamber and operas with a top recommended recording and 2 alternatives?
> 
> I would have found this hugely valuable when i started out.
> 
> Any thoughts on this?


I am sure that the opera section has that answer for you.
Also Nereffid did polls about favourite works. :tiphat:


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## Nereffid

My polls of course can only point to "most liked" works rather than "best", and the upper reaches are certainly biased towards symphonies, but otherwise the leaderboard could prove useful for a beginner.

As for picking recordings, this idea gets floated every now and then on TC and it soon becomes clear that few of us have heard enough different versions to be confident of what might be the "best" - and those who have, won't agree!


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