# Your "Perfect" Recordings



## 20centrfuge (Apr 13, 2007)

*Perfection* is an ideal, perhaps not truly attainable, but some recordings come :devil: devilishly close to it. I won't define for you what a perfect recording is. I'll leave that up to you, but I would like to know which *recordings you consider to be sooooo good, you truly cannot imagine finer*.


----------



## brotagonist (Jul 11, 2013)

Schoenberg, Berg, Webern
Karajan, Berliner Philharmonker

I have a number of recordings of most of the material on these three discs, but these were the first I heard, so are they the best or just my favourites?


----------



## MoonlightSonata (Mar 29, 2014)

Elgar - Cello Concerto - Jacqueline du Pré / Barenboim / Philadelphia Orchestra

Sublime perfection.


----------



## Templeton (Dec 20, 2014)

Beethoven's Seventh Symphony is my all-time favourite, with Carlos Kleiber's recording with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra being as close to perfection, as is possible, in my eyes. His DVD performance of the same symphony, with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra is also up there.

I am also very partial to Wilhelm Furtwängler's recording of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony at the Lucerne Festival, in 1954, although many prefer Karajan's 1963 recording, which is also very fine.


----------



## ArtMusic (Jan 5, 2013)




----------



## Heliogabo (Dec 29, 2014)

Haydn, piano sonatas
Alfred Brendel


----------



## david johnson (Jun 25, 2007)

Pines of Rome, Reiner/CSO


----------



## Celloman (Sep 30, 2006)

Wanda Landowska - Scarlatti keyboard sonatas









Is this perfect? Close enough.


----------



## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

Aaron Copland Appalachian Spring Suite, Leonard Bernstein, NY Philharmonic. Definitive.


----------



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

I'll nominate Boulez's recording of Berg's Lulu. OK, there haven't been too many recordings of it and I confess to not having heard them all but I've a gut feeling that the Boulez could be something of a yardstick and not just because he gives us the Cerha completion of the third act in the wake of the death of Berg's widow. 

Concurrence would be welcome and disagreement equally so.


----------



## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

Charles Ives Concord Piano Sonata, Easley Blackwood. Definitive.


----------



## brotagonist (Jul 11, 2013)

elgars ghost said:


> I'll nominate Boulez's recording of Berg's Lulu.
> 
> Concurrence would be welcome and disagreement equally so.


I concur :tiphat: Verily, there aren't many options with Cerha's completions, but Stratas is perfect! I used to have the old Böhm recording on LP (an incomplete version), but the characters didn't come to life for me until I heard the Boulez recording.


----------



## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

Brahms Symphony No. 1 Charles Munch/Boston Symphony. Perfect.


----------



## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

So how is "perfect" different from "definitive"? Seems like we've done this recently already, but no worries, as you can see above, I'm playing!!!


----------



## brotagonist (Jul 11, 2013)

I usually stay out of discussion about definitive recordings, because you get the usual politics about all the legendary greats that cannot ever be surpassed, eg., piano has to be Gould or Perahia or Argerich, etc. It is a dominating conservative taste that bulldozes any other options into insignificance. Others don't know what they're talking about. Okay, it's true, I'm not a musician, but I do have decades of listening experience based on discovery, not on toeing the line. I think (most of the time) there are many great performances that all have something to offer.

Perfect sounds more subjective, with room for opinion and personal taste.


----------



## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

Saint-Saëns Organ Symphony. Boston Symphony/Charles Munch. Perfect/Definitive.


----------



## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

I hate to admit it, but I can find nothing lacking in Elisabeth Schwarzkopf and George Szell doing Strauss's _Four Last Songs_. If there is anything to criticize, I don't want to know about it.


----------



## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

​*Puccini : Turandot*
Soloist, orchestra, recording, second to none


----------



## brotagonist (Jul 11, 2013)

Gasp!  Mehta did another Puccini!? I just got a Fanciulla.


----------



## aajj (Dec 28, 2014)

I don't know if one set of Mozart's symphonies can be called definitive but Walter & the Columbia Symphony Orchestra on nos. 35 - 41 comes pretty close.

I've read a quote from Schubert about the G Minor Symphony: "You can hear the angels singing in it." Whether or not this quote is accurate, it _perfectly _describes the Andante of Walter's interpretation.


----------



## Marschallin Blair (Jan 23, 2014)

brotagonist said:


> Gasp!  Mehta did another Puccini!? I just got a Fanciulla.





















'_Another_' Puccini?

- _The _Puccini.

Mehta's _Turdandot _is _sine qua non_ Puccini.

Oh you've got to get it- you'll love it.

For me, _Fanciulla_ is in slow motion compared to _Turandot_.


----------



## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

20centrfuge said:


> *Perfection* is an ideal, perhaps not truly attainable, but some recordings come :devil: devilishly close to it. I won't define for you what a perfect recording is. I'll leave that up to you, but I would like to know which *recordings you consider to be sooooo good, you truly cannot imagine finer*.


Raymond Lewenthal playing Liszt's Hexameron.


----------



## Heliogabo (Dec 29, 2014)

Radu Lupu playing Brahms's late piano pieces










Brahms's music as it is


----------



## Becca (Feb 5, 2015)

I just spent some time scanning through my collection to see if I could identify some recordings which I felt so good that they couldn't be improved upon. While a few come very close to that, there are also some that I used to feel that way have at least been equaled, therefore I would say that in all cases I am looking forward to versions which surpass what I consider great. Looking forward is always better than only looking backwards.


----------



## manyene (Feb 7, 2015)

The Mahler 8 in the Solti recording with all those great singers.


----------



## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

Prokofiev Violin Concerto No. 2. Jascha Heifetz, Boston Symphony/Charles Munch.
Perfect to these ears.


----------



## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

Andrew Manze playing Biber's Rosary Sonatas. :angel: :angel: :angel: :angel: :angel:


----------



## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

Mahler Symphony No. 9. Herbert von Karajan conducting the Berlin Philharmonic.

This is my reference performance. I don't expect to ever hear a better one.


----------



## Heliogabo (Dec 29, 2014)

hpowders said:


> Mahler Symphony No. 9. Herbert von Karajan conducting the Berlin Philharmonic.
> 
> This is my reference performance. I don't expect to ever hear a better one.


Do you mean the live (1982) or the studio performance?


----------



## Manxfeeder (Oct 19, 2010)

Satie's Socrate by Music Projects London. The orchestra attains the rarely obtained feat required in this piece of providing a halo around the voices.


----------



## pianississimo (Nov 24, 2014)

Pletnev playing Beethoven. Nikolayeva playing Bach.


----------



## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

Heliogabo said:


> Do you mean the live (1982) or the studio performance?


The "live" performance. Terrific!!


----------



## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

Mozart Piano Concerto No. 23. Artur Rubinstein, piano.

I grew up with this performance and to this day, for beauty of tone and penetrating poetry in the great second movement,
Rubinstein IMHO remains unsurpassed. Perfect!!!


----------



## Heliogabo (Dec 29, 2014)

Beethoven´s piano concerto No. 5, "Emperor".

Glenn Gould/ Leopold Stokowski/ American Symphony Orchestra.

I love this concerto and I´ve heard many performances, but this one is the top to my ears.


----------



## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

There are many fine performances of this work on disc but this one has them all beaten for cast and conducting. As perfect as one can get in this world.


----------



## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

J.S. Bach Unaccompanied Partitas and Sonatas for Violin. Nathan Milstein.

One of the pinnacles of Bach performances that everyone should hear.

His control, musicianship and virtuosity in the Chaconne of the Partita No.2 and the Fuga of Sonata No. 3: simply breathtaking.

I was fortunate to actually hear Milstein "live" performing the Chaconne late in his career.

If TC existed at the time, I may have missed that performance due to my never-ending posting duties.


----------



## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

For perfection and passion combined try Brahms:

Piano concerto 2 with Richter and Leinsdorf

Violin concerto with Heifetz and Reiner


----------



## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

Dvorak Cello Concerto with Rostropovich and Karajan


----------



## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

Dvorak Cello Concerto with Piatigorsky/Munch/Boston Symphony.

One of my faves growing up. Still find it irresistible.


----------



## Barelytenor (Nov 19, 2011)

Horowitz playing the Chopin Ballade in G minor, the old RCA Masterworks recording.

Oh, and Horowitz playing the C Sharp Minor etude.

Best Regards, 

George


----------



## 20centrfuge (Apr 13, 2007)

I have dozens of faves, but few that are just so exceptional, They aren't likely, for me, to ever be surpassed:









As well as Pollini's rendition of Prokofiev's Piano Sonata no7. The playing is so crisp, spontaneous sounding...near perfection









Thomas Stevens rendition of Hindemith: Sonata for Trumpet/Piano. Technical perfection, it also exudes the spirit of the music to a level that seems unsurpassable.









There are 3-4 others that I can almost place on this list, but not quite.


----------



## 20centrfuge (Apr 13, 2007)

For me, "definitive" is an unattractive concept because it closes the door on INTERPRETATION. Music can always be seen in different ways, even if they are subtle.

I guess I am more interested in your "Holy Grail" recordings, that, for you *personally*, are the tops.


----------



## MarkW (Feb 16, 2015)

Instead of perfect, let's just say ones you can't live without. Toscanini's 1950 Eroica, Szell's Mahler 4, Leinsdorf's Brahms First and Fourth, Klemperer's "Das Lied..." and Missa Solemnis, Weisenberg's Rachmaninoff Third Concerto, Fleischer/Szell Beethoven concerti, Munch/BSO Berlioz overtures, Marlboro Brahms G major Sextet . . .


----------



## Bulldog (Nov 21, 2013)

Bach's Goldberg Variations - Tureck.
Bach's WTC - Glen Wilson.
Shostakovich's Op. 87 Preludes and Fugues - Nikolayeva.
Chopin's Preludes - Argerich.


----------



## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

Rachmaninov piano concerto 3

Argerich / Chailly


----------



## MagneticGhost (Apr 7, 2013)

No better recording of Elgar's Introduction and Allegro or his Serenade for Strings
The RVW Tallis is pretty tasty too.


----------



## MoonlightSonata (Mar 29, 2014)

MagneticGhost said:


> View attachment 66744
> 
> 
> No better recording of Elgar's Introduction and Allegro or his Serenade for Strings
> The RVW Tallis is pretty tasty too.


That is something I _definitely_ need to hear.


----------



## StlukesguildOhio (Dec 25, 2006)

Ingélou- Andrew Manze playing Biber's Rosary Sonatas. :angel: :angel: :angel: 

Yes, Manze's Biber is great...










... but I also love Elizabeth Wallfisch' recording no less:


----------



## StlukesguildOhio (Dec 25, 2006)

I think of few recordings as being the "best" or "perfect". In most instances I find there are several "essential" recordings of the works I most admire. Of the few recordings I find unrivaled I would include a few obvious ones:


----------



## Albert7 (Nov 16, 2014)

One of the finest recordings that I own... no one does it better:


----------



## Celloman (Sep 30, 2006)

Great choices...I would love to listen to all of these. While it's certainly admirable to pick out a recording for its "perfection", I would add that many of the best recordings are far from perfect. Some artists, while striving to create something new and indelible, fall far short of perfection because they take greater risks, yet they achieve a result that is valid in its own right.

I would point out Maria Callas and Glenn Gould as artists who were, in a way, perfect because of their imperfection.


----------



## StlukesguildOhio (Dec 25, 2006)

MarschallinBlair- 'Another' Puccini?

- _The Puccini_.

Mehta's Turdandot is sine qua non Puccini.

Oh you've got to get it- you'll love it.

For me, Fanciulla is in slow motion compared to Turandot.

Now Marschallin... I thought THIS:










... was _THE PUCCINI._


----------



## brotagonist (Jul 11, 2013)

StlukesguildOhio said:


> For me, Fanciulla is in slow motion compared to Turandot.


I get the hint  I will give it a listen one day, but it's going to be a while. I still have 8 albums in the mail, 4 or 5 of which are operas, and I have not even come close to absorbing the other... er, 20 or 25 that I bought since about last November  They've been spun a few times and I've tried my damnedest to pay attention, but toward the last few, I was having a hard time staying focused. It's a lot of music for 4 months :lol: And not only that, but I estimate that I have at least trebled the size of my classical collection in the same number of years. There are probably a few hundred discs that have only had an initial couple of spins the first 2-3 days I got them, before being shelved. I fully intend to thoroughly enjoy them, which is why I bought them, and that means somewhat regular listening over the course of years. This does not mean I have stopped buying  but I have a real need to catch my breath.


----------



## revdrdave (Jan 8, 2014)

Horenstein's Mahler 9 on BBC Legends
Furtwangler's Beethoven 5 with the BPO (1943 performance, I think...I don't have the info in front of me...after years of listening to various recordings of this, to the point, in fact, of boredom, Furtwangler's was like hearing it for the first time)
And, going way out on a limb here...Aldo Ciccolini's Ravel Piano Concerto in G with Jean Martinon...to my ears, Ciccolini gets the atmosphere and, most importantly for me, the tempo (most other performances are too fast) just right


----------



## Giordano (Aug 10, 2014)

Ingélou said:


> Andrew Manze playing Biber's Rosary Sonatas. :angel: :angel: :angel:





StlukesguildOhio said:


> Yes, Manze's Biber is great...
> 
> ... but I also love Elizabeth Wallfisch' recording no less


My favorite recording of the Rosary/Mystery Sonatas is by Sirkka-Liisa Kaakinen-Pilch:


----------



## QuietGuy (Mar 1, 2014)

hpowders said:


> Aaron Copland Appalachian Spring Suite, Leonard Bernstein, NY Philharmonic. Definitive.


I second this. It IS definitive.


----------



## Marschallin Blair (Jan 23, 2014)

StlukesguildOhio said:


> MarschallinBlair- 'Another' Puccini?
> 
> - _The Puccini_.
> 
> ...


Oh, it is!

- Its just not '_the_ opera' for me.

I love _Tosca_ with Callas, Gobbi, and De Sabata- its absolute timeless Renaissance_ art_.


----------



## realdealblues (Mar 3, 2010)

My perfect...

Dvorak: Symphony No. 9 "From The New World"
View attachment 66840

Leonard Bernstein/New York Philharmonic

Mahler: Das Lied Von Der Erde
View attachment 66842

Leonard Bernstein/Vienna Philharmonic
Soloists: James King, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau

Mozart: Requiem
View attachment 66843

Sir Neville Marriner/Academy & Chorus Of St. Martin In The Fields
Soloists: McNair, Watkinson, Araiza, Lloyd


----------



## realdealblues (Mar 3, 2010)

Shostakovich: Symphony No. 7 "Leningrad"
View attachment 66846

Leonard Bernstein/Chicago Symphony Orchestra

Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherazade
View attachment 66847

Fritz Reiner/Chicago Symphony Orchestra

Smetana: Ma Vlast
View attachment 66848

Rafael Kubelik/Boston Symphony Orchestra


----------



## Blancrocher (Jul 6, 2013)

Lots of great mentions by everybody so far.


----------



## Azol (Jan 25, 2015)




----------



## Orfeo (Nov 14, 2013)

Anton Bruckner's Ninth Symphony: 
Giulini & the Vienna PO. 
-Still the most gripping and absorbing recording of the work.

Alexander Glazunov's Sixth Symphony: 
Jose Serebrier and the RSNO.
-This team has this work fully measured and the phrasings are simply ideal.

Giacomo Puccini's 'La Fanciulla del West: 
Domingo, Milnes, Neblett, Zubin Mehta w/Orchestra of the Royal Opera House.
-Absolutely stunning (and the state of the arts recording).

Jules Massenet's Esclaremonde: 
Joan Sutherland, Jaume Aragall, Huguette Tourangeau, Bonynge & the National Philharmonic.
-Another stunner!

Cesar Franck's Symphony: 
Bernstein and the French National Orchestra.
-gripping and powerful.

Sergey Rachmaninoff's Symphony no. I, Symphonic Dances, & Isle of the Dead:
Ashkenazy & the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra.
-I cannot think of better performances than these.

Alexander Scriabin's Symphonies I-III: 
Muti & The Philadelphia Orchestra.
-Ideally played, extremely well blended, structural integrity nicely intact, performances moving and passionate.

Nikolay Myaskovsky's Symphonies nos. XIII, XXIII, XXV, & XXVII: 
Svetlanov and the Russian Federation SO.
-Benchmark stuff, and on Russian terms.

->I think that should do it (for now). 
:tiphat:


----------



## DiesIraeCX (Jul 21, 2014)

Bruckner's 9th - *Giulini/Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra*

Intense, grand, terrifying, and beautiful. Giulini owns this symphony as far as I'm concerned. He takes you underneath the surface of the music.










Beethoven's Late String Quartets, Op.'s 127, 130 (w/Grosse Fuge), 131, 132, 135 - *Takacs Quartet*

I can't shake the feeling that this is how these otherworldly masterpieces are _supposed_ to sound.










Brahms' 4th - *Carlos Kleiber/Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra*

Vital, full of momentum and energy while still digging deeper than the notes.










Beethoven's Late Piano Sonatas, #28, #29 "Hammerklavier", #30, #31, and #32 - *Maurizio Pollin*i

To these ears, nobody comes close.










Mahler's 1st "Titan" - *Rafael Kubelik/Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra*


----------



## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

Two kinds of perfection


----------



## DiesIraeCX (Jul 21, 2014)

DavidA said:


> Two kinds of perfection
> 
> View attachment 66858
> View attachment 66859


That's great! I bought the Karajan/Janowitz_ Four Last Songs_ a few weeks ago, came on TC and read the effusive praise for the Szell/Schwarzkopf recording and was beginning to think I made the wrong choice! Glad to see I did good.


----------



## Marschallin Blair (Jan 23, 2014)

DiesIraeVIX said:


> That's great! I bought the Karajan/Janowitz_ Four Last Songs_ a few weeks ago, came on TC and read the effusive praise for the Szell/Schwarzkopf recording and was beginning to think I made the wrong choice! Glad to see I did good.


For me the Janowitz is a beautiful voice, whereas the Schwarzkopf is a beautiful voice, intelligently and emotionally expressed.

- I wouldn't be without either, either._ ;D_


----------



## Heliogabo (Dec 29, 2014)

DiesIraeVIX said:


> Bruckner's 9th - *Giulini/Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra*
> 
> Intense, grand, terrifying, and beautiful. Giulini owns this symphony as far as I'm concerned. He takes you underneath the surface of the music.
> 
> ...


Gorgeous selection!


----------



## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

Hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh


----------



## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

20centrfuge said:


> *Perfection* is an ideal, perhaps not truly attainable, but some recordings come :devil: devilishly close to it. I won't define for you what a perfect recording is. I'll leave that up to you, but I would like to know which *recordings you consider to be sooooo good, you truly cannot imagine finer*.


The complete Arauxo edition by José Ayarra.


----------



## Bevo (Feb 22, 2015)

http://www.amazon.com/Piano-Concerto-No-5-Emperor/dp/B0000025M5
For me this is the closest performance of perfect!!! If you haven't heard this performance, you're missing out!!


----------



## 20centrfuge (Apr 13, 2007)

I'll agree that the Giulini-Bruckner 9 is fantastic. It's the only recording that has made me like Bruckner!


----------



## isorhythm (Jan 2, 2015)

DiesIraeVIX said:


> Brahms' 4th - *Carlos Kleiber/Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra*
> 
> Vital, full of momentum and energy while still digging deeper than the notes.


YES, this was one of the first recordings that got me into classical music. Was going to post it myself.


----------



## realdealblues (Mar 3, 2010)

My perfect...

Bruckner: Symphony No. 6
View attachment 66923

Otto Klemperer/Philharmonia Orchestra

Bruckner: Symphony No. 8
View attachment 66922

Herbert Von Karajan/Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra

Shostakovich: Symphonies No. 5 & 9
View attachment 66929

Leonard Bernstein/New York Philharmonic


----------



## Couac Addict (Oct 16, 2013)

For the 3rd....not the 2nd.
The 1st movement is a beast.


----------



## DiesIraeCX (Jul 21, 2014)

Thanks for reminding me, Couac Addict! I forgot about perhaps the most "perfect" recording in my entire collection, Bruno Walter's Beethoven 6th "Pastoral" (and thank goodness he doesn't take the repeats, makes it all the more definitive for me. In general, I'm not a fan of repeats, even in my absolute favorite symphonies).

This recording is _perfection_.


----------



## JACE (Jul 18, 2014)

Couac Addict said:


> For the 3rd....not the 2nd.
> The 1st movement is a beast.


I love this CD. All of it. For me, both the Second Symphony *and* Third Symphony are PERFECT.


----------



## The nose (Jan 14, 2014)

Here's my definition of perfection.


----------



## JACE (Jul 18, 2014)

A few more recordings that are "perfect" (in my book):









Charles Ives: Songs / Jan De Gaetani, Gilbert Kalish (Nonesuch)









Charles Ives: Piano Sonata No. 2 "Concord" / Marc-André Hamelin (New World)









Mahler: _Das Lied von der Erde_ / Janet Baker, Waldemar Kmentt, Rafael Kubelik, Bavarian Radio SO (Audite)


----------



## realdealblues (Mar 3, 2010)

I was thinking sometimes I have multiple perfect recordings...

Mahler: Symphony No. 9 (I find them all perfect in their own ways and for different reasons)

View attachment 66939

Leonard Bernstein/New York Philharmonic

View attachment 66938

Leonard Bernstein/Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra

View attachment 66942

Karel Ancerl/Czech Philharmonic Orchestra

View attachment 66940

Herbert Von Karajan/Berlin Philharmonic

View attachment 66941

Otto Klemperer/New Philharmonia Orchestra


----------



## Marschallin Blair (Jan 23, 2014)

JACE said:


> A few more recordings that are "perfect" (in my book):
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I don't believe in 'perfect' anything- but Dame Janet and Raphael Kubelik's "_Der Abschied_" comes pretty damn close to 'flawless.'


----------



## Celloman (Sep 30, 2006)

This is pretty darn perfect. In fact, it's a little _too_ perfect...I wish that someone would flub a note somewhere in order to assure me that these people are actually, well, _human_.


----------



## Bruce (Jan 2, 2013)

*Best of the Best*

Wow, So many great recordings. My "to-listen-to" list has just grown to unwieldy proportions. Is there such a thing as musical bulimia?

My own definitive recordings are rather numerous.

Ravel - Piano Concerto in D - François/Cluytens
Chopin - Piano music by either Rubinstein or Moravec
Scriabin - Poem of Ecstasy - Mehta/LAPO
Tchaikovsky - Symphony No. 5 - Mravinsky/Leningrad PO
Saint-Saens - Symphony No. 3 - Asma with Benzi/Hague PO
Wagner - Tannhäuser - Solti
Mozart - Symphony No 39 - Walther/Columbia SO
Brahms - Klavierstuck, Op. 118, No. 2 - Hélène Grimaud
Beethoven - Piano Concerto No. 5 - Rubinstein w/ Leinsdorf/Boston SO
Schumann - Piano Concerto in A minor - Grimaud with Zinman/Deutsches Sinfonieorchester-Berlin
Pettersson - Symphony No. 8 - Comissiona/Baltimore SO
Prokofiev - Piano Concerto No. 3 - Cliburn with Hendl/Chicago SO
Prokofiev - Piano Concerto No. 2 - Browning with Leinsdorf/Boston SO
Baber - Piano Sonata - John Browning (the first recording)
Scriabin - Piano Sonata No. 3 - Bernd Glemser
Scriabin - Etude in C# minor, Op. 2, No. 1 and Etude in C# minor, Op. 42, No. 5 - Horowitz
Beethoven - Piano Sonata No. 29 - Pollini
Rachmaninov - Piano Concerto No. 3 - Ashkenazy with Ormandy/PO
Beethoven - String Quartets - Quartetto Italiano
Strauß - Alpensinfonie - Karajan/BPO
Ives - Concord Sonata - Kalish (but I must hear the one by Blackwood now)
Franck - Piano Quintet - Petersen Quartet with Brown
Schumann - Fantasy in C, Op. 18 - Ashkenazy

I realize that's a bunch, but I wouldn't want to be without any of these recordings.


----------



## GreenMamba (Oct 14, 2012)

I don't know if it's "perfect," but this recording is terrific:


----------



## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

At this time, Hilary Hahn performing the Schoenberg Violin Concerto, Van Cliburn as soloist in Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1, Nathan Milstein performing the Bach solo violin Sonatas and Partitas plus Charles Munch/BSO performing the Berlioz Symphonie Fantastique and the Saint-Saens Organ Symphony.


----------



## Casebearer (Jan 19, 2016)

Zappa's late albums, especially Civilization Phase 3


----------



## LOLWUT (Oct 12, 2016)

Bernstein Mahler 3 with Vienna. 

Greatest recording of all time.


----------



## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

​High in my personal top 3


----------



## Andolink (Oct 29, 2012)

I have yet to find any fault with this recording:










And this recording still comes across to me as faultless after almost 30 years in my collection:


----------



## jailhouse (Sep 2, 2016)

The nose said:


> View attachment 66936
> 
> Here's my definition of perfection.


Thanks for the rec. Listening now, Excellent sound quality, lively orchestra. Petrouchka is so great i dont listen to it enough.


----------



## Azol (Jan 25, 2015)

Pugg said:


> ​High in my personal top 3


Have you heard the same Transcendental etudes performed by Lazar Berman? High in my personal Top 1 :tiphat:


----------



## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Azol said:


> Have you heard the same Transcendental etudes performed by Lazar Berman? High in my personal Top 1 :tiphat:


On which label is that recording?


----------



## david johnson (Jun 25, 2007)

Respighi/Pines - Fountains/Reiner/CSO 
Rimsky-Korsakov/Scheherazade/Reiner/CSO


----------



## Azol (Jan 25, 2015)

Pugg said:


> On which label is that recording?


https://www.amazon.co.uk/Liszt-Transcendental-Etudes-Melodiya-1002179/dp/B00JU5DH4M/

And I fully agree with one of the comments:



> This is jaw-dropping playing. Although the sound is occasionally patchy do not let this deter you. Any lover of piano music in general and Liszt in particular MUST have this in their collection. I can not recommend this too highly


----------



## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Azol said:


> https://www.amazon.co.uk/Liszt-Transcendental-Etudes-Melodiya-1002179/dp/B00JU5DH4M/
> 
> And I fully agree with one of the comments:


Thank you Azol, I did read the comments and also from "my" choice, also 5 starts, nevertheless I have on my shopping list.
( which grows each day on this site) 
added: found one for less then €10.00 delivered, going to push the buy button now.


----------



## majlis (Jul 24, 2005)

Tchaikovsky's piano trio: Gilels-Kogan-Slava live.
Haydn's 6 q.op.50. Old Tokyo.


----------



## Blancrocher (Jul 6, 2013)

Marc-André Hamelin playing Wolpe's "Battle Piece"--had thought the work was just a jumble of notes till I heard this pianist cut through it with his precision technique.


----------



## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

Just about perfect:

Easley Blackwood's performance of the Charles Ives Concord Piano Sonata.

Geoffrey Burleson's performances of the 12 Vincent Persichetti Piano Sonatas.


----------



## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

Schumann Kriesleriana played by Horowitz. The unstable pianist matches the instability of the piece perfectly!


----------



## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

Listening to another. Van Cliburn playing Rachmaninoff 3


----------



## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

Gundula Janowitz with Karajan/BPO performing the Four Last Songs by Richard Strauss is a performance that cannot be improved on, IMO.


----------



## johankillen (Sep 20, 2015)

Brendel in perfect form


----------



## FDR (Oct 19, 2016)

johankillen said:


> Brendel in perfect form


One of the first Brendel albums I listened to. I always find it fascinating how much he looks like the Swedish king (Carl XVI Gustaf) in that picture.


----------

