# What piece do you have the most recordings of?



## Guest (May 20, 2013)

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for me it's Mozart, Piano Concerto #23. I have seven different recordings:

1. Malcolm Bilson, John Eliot Gardiner, English Baroque Soloists
2. Geza Anda, Camerata Academica des Salzburger Mozarteum
3. Murray Perahia, English Chamber Orchestra
4. Robert Levin, Christopher Hogwood, Academy of Ancient Music
5. Ivan Moravec, Sir Neville Marriner, Academy of Saint Martin in the Fields
6. Melvyn Tan, Roger Norrington, London Classical Players
7. Hélène Grimaud, Radoslaw Szulcl, kammerorchester des symphonieorchesters des bayerischen rundfunks


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## Op.123 (Mar 25, 2013)

I have loads of recordings of Mendelssohn's violin and Schumann's piano concertos

I think I have about 11 or 12 recordings of the Mendelssohn


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## Guest (May 20, 2013)

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I needed a second post to show all the album covers!


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## Kieran (Aug 24, 2010)

I'm impressed, Jerome! I have two sets of the same, with Barenboim and Mitsuko. I have individual copies of isolated PC's too, John O'Connor plays a few of them, Murray Perahia and Christoph Eschenbach.


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## Guest (May 20, 2013)

Kieran said:


> I'm impressed, Jerome! I have two sets of the same, with Barenboim and Mitsuko. I have individual copies of isolated PC's too, John O'Connor plays a few of them, Murray Perahia and Christoph Eschenbach.


If you are ever thinking of adding another complete set, I highly recommend the Perahia on the modern piano, or the Bilson/Gardiner set on the pianoforte. Both are wonderful.


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## BurningDesire (Jul 15, 2012)

Probably either various movements of Swan Lake, or Cage's Suite for Toy Piano.


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## techniquest (Aug 3, 2012)

Mahlers 2nd by far (vinyl, CD, DVD, broadcast downloads, even videotape from the TV over the years).


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde: eight orchestral and one piano reduction. I only intended to have eight to symmetrically match the eight versions I have of all his other symphonies but when I stumbled across a piano reduction version when browsing on Amazon it piqued my interest too much to let it pass. This does not mean I will get any more recordings of Mahler's other symphonies to make it up to nine - I'm sated!


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## Guest (May 20, 2013)

elgars ghost said:


> Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde: eight orchestral and one piano reduction. I only intended to have eight to symmetrically match the eight versions I have of all his other symphonies but when I stumbled across a piano reduction version when browsing on Amazon it piqued my interest too much to let it pass. This does not mean I will get any more recordings of Mahler's other symphonies to make it up to nine - I'm sated!


The fact that you have eight versions of every Mahler symphony is remarkably impressive. Why eight I wonder? Why didn't you stop at seven... or six? How sure are you that you won't continue nine? I think you will.


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## SiegendesLicht (Mar 4, 2012)

Richard Strauss, Eine Alpensinfonie:
1. Böhm - Staatskapelle Dresden
2. Solti - Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra
3. Kempe - Royal Philarmonic Orchestra 
4. Karajan - Berliner Philarmoniker


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## ptr (Jan 22, 2013)

Sorry Jerome, seven seems like a quite meagre number in my obsessive collectors world... 

After some light counting... Turns out.. That my data-base insists that I have 87 recordings of Mahler's Fourth Symphony as my having the most of... Earliest was recorded with Wilhelm Mengelberg in 1939 and the newest with Vlad. Ashkenazy in 2010 ... and it don't seem excessive to me and I'll probably buy several more when and if something interesting turns up... 

/ptr


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## campy (Aug 16, 2012)

For a full-length piece, it seems to be Beethoven's Symphony #7 with 20 recordings.

I have 28 recordings of Strauss's _Radetzky March_.


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## Guest (May 20, 2013)

ptr said:


> Sorry Jerome, seven seems like a quite meagre number in my obsessive collectors world...
> 
> After some light counting... Turns out.. That my data-base insists that I have 87 recordings of Mahler's Fourth Symphony as my having the most of... Earliest was recorded with Wilhelm Mengelberg in 1939 and the newest with Vlad. Ashkenazy in 2010 ... and it don't seem excessive to me and I'll probably buy several more when and if something interesting turns up...
> 
> /ptr


"HOLY COW!" - Harry Carey

You are amazing, my friend.


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## Tristan (Jan 5, 2013)

I have multiple recordings of all the Tchaikovsky ballets and I have several Pines of Romes and Rachmaninov's piano concerti. For the most part, I don't often seek out multiple recordings; there's usually one recording that I am going to far prefer to any others.


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

Jerome said:


> The fact that you have eight versions of every Mahler symphony is remarkably impressive. Why eight I wonder? Why didn't you stop at seven... or six? How sure are you that you won't continue nine? I think you will.


Jerome, the simple answer is that I kept finding that expensive recordings I'd hitherto coveted had come down in price, albeit briefly (i.e Bernstein's 2nd and 6th on DG and Horenstein's 8th and 3rd on the BBC and UK labels respectively). The only full cycle I have is Kubelik's on DG, which was in fact my second Mahler purchase after Solti's 8th on Decca. I will now hopefully settle for what I've got - it's been a long time since I bought a Mahler recording. I nearly bought the inexpensive Levine box some time back but baulked as it would have meant getting one of his 2nds separately and another version of the 8th by someone else.

Stop press: ptr's just blown me away with his post! :lol:


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## Guest (May 20, 2013)

Elgar's Ghost, I also have Solti's 8th. Do you like it best of the 8 recording you have of it? I'm just wondering if we both got lucky and acquired the best one first.


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## Kleinzeit (May 15, 2013)

14 Sibelius symphony cycles & any number of individuals, plus lots of violin concertos & Kullervo.

But I've got some 60 + Morton Feldman recordings and lots of those are doubles & triples.


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## Neo Romanza (May 7, 2013)

Let's see:

Stravinsky: _Le sacre du printemps_ - *42* performances (there's no telling how many _Petrouchka_ or _Firebird_ performances I own)

Ravel: _Daphnis et Chloe_ - *26* performances of the complete ballet

I'll have to think about the others. I have a large collection of classical recordings anyway (probably around 7,000 now).


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## julianoq (Jan 29, 2013)

Around 3 months ago I had an obsession to listen to a lot of different Beethoven symphony cycles trying to find a "perfect" one (I couldn't, obviously).

I have 17: Fricsay, Zinman, Norrington, Karajan (2), Jochum, Immerseel, Hogwood, Furtwangler, Bruggen, Barenboim, Chailly, Gardiner, Vanska, Paavo Jarvi, Bernstein, Toscanini.

My "go to" set at this moment is Jarvi, but I am avoiding to listening too much of Beethoven symphonies after that binge!


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

Jerome said:


> Elgar's Ghost, I also have Solti's 8th. Do you like it best of the 8 recording you have of it? I'm just wondering if we both got lucky and acquired the best one first.


Although the 8th is my least favourite Mahler symphony I would put the Solti up there with Horenstein and Chailly - three recordings that, although different from each other in numerous respects, probably appeal to me more than the others I have (Bernstein/Rattle/Sinopoli/Tennstedt/Kubelik). At the time, the Solti had not long been re-released as part of Decca's 'Legendary Recordings' series and as an opening gambit it seemed like a safe recommendation to this Mahler virgin based on the (mainly) positive reviews it seemed to be getting.


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## Kleinzeit (May 15, 2013)

My "go to" set at this moment is Jarvi, but I am avoiding to listening too much of Beethoven symphonies after that binge![/QUOTE]

Neeme Järvi is a top 3 'go to' for Sibelius.

(Vänskä/Lahti is another. #3 is always open)


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## julianoq (Jan 29, 2013)

Kleinzeit said:


> Neeme Järvi is a top 3 'go to' for Sibelius.
> 
> (Vänskä/Lahti is another. #3 is always open)


I agree about Neeme, and also Vanska on Sibelius. Another top 3 to me is Berglund, and he is my favorite at this moment!


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## jtbell (Oct 4, 2012)

According to my database, the prize for the composition with the most performances goes to:

Sibelius: Symphony #2 - 34 performances

Don't ask me which one is best! 

The other top ten spots are filled by the other Sibelius symphonies, Finlandia, Valse triste, and (in the #10 spot) Nielsen's #5 with 21 performances.


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## maestro57 (Mar 26, 2013)

I have five different recordings of Chopin's Nocturne No. 13 in C minor, Op. 48 No. 1:

Yundi Li
Valentina Lisitsa
Valentina Igoshina
Artur Rubenstein
Janusz Olejniczak

Because this piece was what got me back into playing the piano after a 10-year hiatus. There's so much room for interpretation with this piece that I wanted to listen to the entire spectrum before I dove in myself.


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## moody (Nov 5, 2011)

Jerome said:


> "HOLY COW!" - Harry Carey
> 
> You are amazing, my friend.


Not really he's just taken the expression compulsive collector out into the stratosphere !!
I just wonder incidentally why anybody would want 28 versions of the Radetzky March.


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## Sid James (Feb 7, 2009)

I usually don't double (or triple?) up unless I get something new coupled with something I already have. With these that's the case - Bartok's Concerto for Orch. (got 3 of those), Holst The Planets (ditto). Some things I got 2 of in this way, eg. Rachmaninov's Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Stravinsky The Rite of Spring, Beethoven's 8th symphony (seems to be coupled with almost everything).

But the work I got most of is Handel's The Messiah, I got about 5 highlights cd's of that, and a couple more on vinyl. I developed an obsession with that work, a fascination that's not abated. Recently I went thru all of those cd's (but found that one is for some reason unplayable - looks fine). I like to hear the work in complete form irregularly, hence not owning a recording, but I like hearing it live at Christmas time the most...


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## handlebar (Mar 19, 2009)

Mahler's 3rd followed by Mahler's 2nd


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## SimonNZ (Jul 12, 2012)

I used to have forty-something recordings of the Goldberg Variations, but after a three-year process of culling my insane collection I now have just the essential dozen recordings of that work.

edit: after checking it turns out I still have 22 recordings of the Goldbergs:

Arrau, Cole, Gould '55, Gould '81, Hantai, Hewitt, Jarrett, Kempff, Kirkpatrick, Landowska, Leonhardt '53, Leonhardt '65, Leonhardt '76, Pinnock, Karl Richter, Ross, Schiff, Suzuki, Tureck '47, Tureck '57, Yudina, Walcha


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## Blue (May 20, 2013)

I've got three different versions of Bach's Violin Concerto in A minor-Isaac Stern, Ihtzak Perlman, and Hilary Hahn. My mom loves the Stern but it's a bit slow for me, the rest of my family prefers the Hahn because it is very fast and has a ton of energy, but I personally like Perlman's beautifully emotional mid-tempo rendering.


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## science (Oct 14, 2010)

I don't know what I have the most of. 

A likely candidate would be Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto #1, of which I have 8. I bought 3 or 4 of them at least in part for that concerto (can't remember why I bought the Horowitz/Toscanini disk), and the others came in box sets or paired with other things.


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## MagneticGhost (Apr 7, 2013)

87 versions of Mahler 4.

I'm in shock. Is this replicated with other works or just a Mahler 4 fetish?
Do you have a yearly month to listen to them all or are they just polished ever Mahler birthday ;-)


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## ptr (Jan 22, 2013)

MagneticGhost said:


> 87 versions of Mahler 4.
> 
> I'm in shock. Is this replicated with other works or just a Mahler 4 fetish?
> Do you have a yearly month to listen to them all or are they just polished ever Mahler birthday ;-)


Why, shock?, I'm a collector that collect music, if this had been a philatelist forum and I'd written that I had 87 versions of a certain stamp, no one would have lifted and eyebrow! I see my record collection as a library, much like the 19th Century Gentleman viewed his library, it is that is there to cater for my whim of the second. I have listened to every recording I have bought at least once, I live by the rule that no disc is put on the shelf without having been listened to. And No, I do not expect to listen to all 87 Mahler Fourths in Sequence, I select what I listen to in a whimsical way so who knows what inspires me next!

I have 50+ recordings of several things, OTOMH; Mahler 2,3,4,5,6,7,9, Shostakovich, various Symphonies and Quartets, Stravinsky Rites.. tec.. BTW, I've been collecting records for about 35 years and during the last 20 I've never had less then 500 new acquisitions each year (Quite many second hand, and still lots of Vinyl). Unfortunately the maths won't ad up cuz over the years I've several large collections at estate sales, the largest was 12000 LP's, that I'm still working my way through leisurely (and to be honest, selling of duplicates to collectors that are even more crazy then I am  )..



Jerome said:


> "HOLY COW!" - Harry Carey
> 
> You are amazing, my friend.


I don't know, on paper I might be an obsessive collector, nothing amazing with that (there's lots of us out there!). You know, most people put their money in the bank or invest their earnings wisely in real estate or shares, I invest my dough in works of culture (mostly music) as I'm convinced that it will bring me a longer, happier and much more enlightened life even if I fall down dead today. 

/ptr


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

Mahler - Das Lied on der Erde. Dozens of versions, mostly the original set-up (orchestra, tenor, alto), but also several deviations, including versions with baritone instead of alto, chamber music versions, piano versions and one in Cantonese rather than German. His 4th symphony and his three main song cycles would be a close second/third.


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## Skilmarilion (Apr 6, 2013)

I am generally not one to buy many different versions of the same work. If I like a recording, I stick with it. My classical collection is relatively small, so I prefer to add a new work to it when I make a purchase. 

That said, I do like to go through and compare various recordings/performances of a work on Youtube. It's amazing to think it didn't even exist 10 years ago.


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## apricissimus (May 15, 2013)

Open question:

When you have several recordings of the same work, and you start thinking about acquiring another, does you also consider using your scarce resources to buy a recording of some work that you don't already have, or haven't heard yet?

My collection is probably pretty small compared to some people here, and the greatest number of recordings I have of any particular work is maybe 3 or 4 (probably some Shostakovich piece). But even if I had a large collection, it's hard for me to imagine owning even a dozen recordings of the same work, never mind 87! I'm imagining myself thinking, "Do I really want a 20th version of X's Symphony No. Y, or would I like to hear something new?"


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## Arsakes (Feb 20, 2012)

Sibellius symphonies.


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## Ukko (Jun 4, 2010)

I don't know, except that is probably something by Beethoven. I'm sticking my nose in just to point out that (as _Science_ suggested) some of your repeats are likely to be hangers-on. For instance, if you really like Ravel's string quartet and so have umpteen recordings of it, chances are really good that you have umpteen recordings of Debussy's string quartet.


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## MagneticGhost (Apr 7, 2013)

ptr said:


> Why, shock?, I'm a collector that collect music, if this had been a philatelist forum and I'd written that I had 87 versions of a certain stamp, no one would have lifted and eyebrow! I see my record collection as a library, much like the 19th Century Gentleman viewed his library, it is that is there to cater for my whim of the second. I have listened to every recording I have bought at least once, I live by the rule that no disc is put on the shelf without having been listened to. And No, I do not expect to listen to all 87 Mahler Fourths in Sequence, I select what I listen to in a whimsical way so who knows what inspires me next!
> 
> I have 50+ recordings of several things, OTOMH; Mahler 2,3,4,5,6,7,9, Shostakovich, various Symphonies and Quartets, Stravinsky Rites.. tec.. BTW, I've been collecting records for about 35 years and during the last 20 I've never had less then 500 new acquisitions each year (Quite many second hand, and still lots of Vinyl). Unfortunately the maths won't ad up cuz over the years I've several large collections at estate sales, the largest was 12000 LP's, that I'm still working my way through leisurely (and to be honest, selling of duplicates to collectors that are even more crazy then I am  )..
> 
> ...


It wasn't meant as an insult.  
Shock and awe and admiration. My other half thinks my 1000 CDs is 900 too many.


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

In response to Apricissimus's question of obtaining more versions of the same work instead of seeking out unfamiliar music, the only ones I would consider are a harpsichord version of JS Bach's Goldbergs to supplement my GG piano recording and another Shostakovich symphony cycle - the only one I have is Haitink's which has been a tremendous servant over the last 10 or so years but I have long hankered after a Soviet-era mixture of Mravinsky, Kondrashin and Rozhdestvensky, whatever sonic shortfalls there may be.


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## Kleinzeit (May 15, 2013)

julianoq said:


> I agree about Neeme, and also Vanska on Sibelius. Another top 3 to me is Berglund, and he is my favorite at this moment!


Yup, Berglund! Was in my mind as the 3rd for complete cycles overall. 
And still feel the loss that I didn't scoop up his set with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe before it got taken hostage by the secondary market.

This is another thread but: Ole Schmidt is one who gets the hits at the end of the fifth exactly right --for me-- the symphony is a 'story of the soul', a 19th c. trope. And those hits mean the difference between accepting or rejecting the blindfold at your firing squad.

/You always the the smoke, even when you're trying to quit.


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## Guest (May 21, 2013)

elgars ghost said:


> In response to Apricissimus's question of obtaining more versions of the same work instead of seeking out unfamiliar music, the only ones I would consider are a harpsichord version of JS Bach's Goldbergs to supplement my GG piano recording and another Shostakovich symphony cycle - the only one I have is Haitink's which has been a tremendous servant over the last 10 or so years but I have long hankered after a Soviet-era mixture of Mravinsky, Kondrashin and Rozhdestvensky, whatever sonic shortfalls there may be.


I am not familiar with that particular cycle, but I have found the Soviet era recordings on Mylodia to be sonicly strong. The Sibelius cycle I have is exceptional.


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## Kleinzeit (May 15, 2013)

Jerome said:


> I am not familiar with that particular cycle, but I have found the Soviet era recordings on Mylodia to be sonicly strong. The Sibelius cycle I have is exceptional.


Oh man! The Rozhdestvensky - Moscow Symphony Sibelius cycle on Melodiya! It's like a big bear took a preposterous shine to poor tiny Sibelius, got him drunk (well.....you know what I mean) and said "*This* is what your music sound like!" It's nuts. it couldn't be farther from a new style Finnish take, which is different to Kajanus conducting in the 1930s.

But it's a nice example of why many having interpretations can be really illuminating. I'll always come back to this Rozhdestvensky/Jerry Lewis set, but only now & then.


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## moody (Nov 5, 2011)

I have 15,000 different versions of Mahler's 1st---I don't know what it is causing this ! I now go shopping with a bulldozer.


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## AlexD (Nov 6, 2011)

The Rattle (CSBO) Karajan & Tennstedt recordings of Mahler 2. Rattle's is the favourite - I'm still getting into the Tennstedt. Karajan seems to slow the whole piece down a bit too much and it loses some of its drama, for me.


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## apricissimus (May 15, 2013)

I've accidentally bought the exact same recording twice. Does that count?


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## ptr (Jan 22, 2013)

apricissimus said:


> When you have several recordings of the same work, and you start thinking about acquiring another, does you also consider using your scarce resources to buy a recording of some work that you don't already have, or haven't heard yet?


The more You know about music the easier it is to know what to gamble on, but then, I always apply knowledge my mother passed on to me; You should only gamble with money You can afford to loose! To make certain I don't gamble with money I can't afford I keep a separate economy for my collecting hobby!

As for choosing, I really don't see any reason to choose one over the other, if I can't afford both immediately I'll put the one that I have others of on the waiting list. A bold guess is that about 1/4 of the music I buy are works that I have since before, and the remaining 3/4 is spent on new discoveries.

/ptr


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## moody (Nov 5, 2011)

apricissimus said:


> I've accidentally bought the exact same recording twice. Does that count?


No.you've got to accidentally buy it lots more times to really qualify.


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## Sonata (Aug 7, 2010)

I probably have no more than three versions of any piece, and usually then that third version is incidental as part of a package that I bought for something else. I do have three versions of a couple Mahler symphonies, and if I ever do expand into "multiple recordings" territory it will probably be there, or Mozart opera. Another example where I will do multiple would be the Beethoven piano sonatas, as I received about half of the set in my Big Beethoven Box MP3 set, and I do intend to purchase the Emil Gilels almost-complete set down the road. 

The absolute most I could ever see myself having of one piece would be 4 or 5. And I'd REALLY REALLY have to love that work in order to do so.


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## Olias (Nov 18, 2010)

Dvorak's NWS - 3 Studio CD versions, 2 Live CD versions, 4 DVD versions, and 1 CD version for two pianos. Its nice because all the performances are very different interpretations.


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## Guest (May 21, 2013)

Kleinzeit said:


> Oh man! The Rozhdestvensky - Moscow Symphony Sibelius cycle on Melodiya! It's like a big bear took a preposterous shine to poor tiny Sibelius, got him drunk (well.....you know what I mean) and said "*This* is what your music sound like!" It's nuts. it couldn't be farther from a new style Finnish take, which is different to Kajanus conducting in the 1930s.
> 
> But it's a nice example of why many having interpretations can be really illuminating. I'll always come back to this Rozhdestvensky/Jerry Lewis set, but only now & then.


Ha ha! Now that you put it that way... I still like the recordings. Admittedly, I'm not too experienced with Sibelius, and that's the only full cycle I have, but I really like it.


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## Picander (May 8, 2013)

I have more than 15 recordings of The Well-Tempered Clavier, because (i think) buying one new version is a perfect excuse to listen to the whole masterpiece 40 or 50 times... again.


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