# Original recordings that were surpassed.....



## Heck148 (Oct 27, 2016)

We often hear and see music listeners maintain that the first recording they ever heard of a particular work remains their all-time favorite - it's their first introduction to a work, they may have listened to it intently for a long time, it's their "first love" of that particular piece....

I am asking this - how many original/first hearing recordings that you loved, were then surpassed, in your preference, by subsequent recordings you may have encountered of the same work...do you always stick with the original?? or some of each??

from my own experience, there are quite a few, Right OTTOMH:

*Dvorak - Sym #9 "New World" *- first exposure - Talich/CzechPO, loved this recording, but Toscanini/NBC surpassed it for drama, excitement, stellar playing....Reiner/CSO joined in some time later.

*Nielsen Sym #4 "Inextinguishable"* - first exposure Markevitch/Royal Danish Orch [or maybe Tivoli Garden Orch - on Turnabout LP] - piece impressed me as pretty lively dynamic, but not much else - then I acquired the great Martinon/CSO recording from 1966 - totally blew Markevitch away...in every respect.....still my fave, never heard another like it.

*Bartok Concerto for Orchestra -* original - von Karajan/PhilharmoniaOrch....interesting piece, didn't make a huge impression....then I acquired Reiner/CSO - WOW!! this is a great piece!!

*Mahler Sym #9* - original - Barbirolli/BPO....impressed me as pretty heavy piece, very substantial, but that's about it....then I acquired Walter/ColSO....whole new ballgame, surpassed original in every respect....Walter/Col is still one of my favorites, along with Giulini/CSO and Boulez.

*Mahler Sym #5 -* original - Scherchen/VSOO....aaarrrggghhh!! couldn't believe that a composer who produced the wonderful Syms #2, and #1 could have cranked out such a turkey!! then I got Walter/NYPO from 1947....and suddenly it all made sense...Bernstein/NYPO was pretty good, then Solti/CSO and Abbado captured the top spots....

*Franck - Sym in d *- original -Ormandy/PhilaOrch - fine recording, excellent version - but Monteux/CSO is tops in this work.....one of those recordings where it all goes right....

What are some recordings that were your original favorites, that were surpassed by further listening??


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## Becca (Feb 5, 2015)

*Berlioz - Les Troyens* - Davis/ROH - Some very enjoyable parts but lots of tedium
Gardiner/ORR - Now the other parts aren't tedious

*Bruckner - Symphony #5* - Karajan/BPO - Must be Bruckner's biggest dud, so un-Brucknerian
Wand/Deutsches-Symphonie Orchester - I was wrong, it was a Karajan dud

*Orff - Carmina Burana *- Ormandy/Philadelphia - fun, but ... shrug
Fruhbeck de Burgos/New Philharmonia - showed me all that Ormandy had glossed over
(Since superceded by Blomstedt/SFSO)

*Respighi - Roman Festivals* - Ormandy/Philadelphia - fun, but is there more to it?
Muti/Philharmonia - same comments as above with Orff

*Mahler - Symphony #5* - Solti/CSO - Exciting technically polished but not something I wanted to hear often
Barbirolli/New Philharmonia - The whole thing finally made sense
(Since at least matched by Barshai/Junge Deutsche Philharmonie)

*Mahler - Symphony #9* - Walter/CSO - I never quite got what this symphony was about
Klemperer/New Philharmonia - as with Walter
Barbirolli/BPO - ...until I heard this, an ah-hah moment

*Vaughan Williams - Symphony #5* - Barbirolli/Philharmonia - A beautiful work which I returned to often
Handley/RLPO - A beautiful work with lots of unexpected depth that I returned to even more often


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## Merl (Jul 28, 2016)

*Mahler 1* - Abbado / BPO live was my first recording of this one (I was much later to Mahler than many other composers). I listened to it a while ago for the first time on ages and its still a decent account but then along came Simonov's spirited recordin, then Ozawa, quickly surpassed by Horenstein, then a few more, then Walter / Columbia and finally Honeck. I still struggle to pick just one but it's not Abbado anymore.

I'll post some more later, when school's out and I'm on holiday till January. Yay!


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## Kiki (Aug 15, 2018)

*Beethoven - Symphony No. 5* - Bernstein/Vienna/1977 Live (DG). I suppose having come across another recording that surpasses it should not be a surprise. Just name any star stick waver.

*Poulenc - Double Concerto* - Tacchino,Ringeissen,Prêtre/Monte-CarloPO/1983 (EMI). Nice. But once heard the brilliance and poetry of Martha Argerich and Alexander Gurning's Lugano 2007 live recording (DG), there's no way back.

*Messiaen - Turangalîla* - Salonen/Philharmonia/1986 (CBS). For a long time I'd found this symphony difficult and I could never sit through the whole piece. But with Lintu/FinnishRSO/2014 (Ondine) and Mena/BergenPO/2011 (Hyperion) I finally can! Nowadays, listening to this symphony is a highly rewarding experience.

*Rachmaninov - Symphonic Dances* - Previn/LSO/1974 (EMI). For a long time this was my favourite version, especially that haunting waltz. it is still one of my favourites, but Temirkanov/St. Petersburg/1992 (RCA) and Jansons/BRSO/2017 Live (BR Klassik) both go one step further in terms of excitement, nostalgia and haunting-ness. Jansons was always good in Rachmaninov, but his Bavarian account beats his two earlier accounts hands down.

*Ravel - Daphnis et Chloé* - Levine/Vienna/1984 (DG). Bought before I became a JL-hater... Not too bad actually, but the likes of Dutoit, Abbado, Ozawa, Nézet-Séguin and Myung-Whun Chung gave me more warmth and excitement to various degrees. In comparison, JL is just boring.

*Bach - Brandenburg Concertos* - Must be one of I Musici's recordings that I recorded on a cassette aeons ago. However, it was the combination of elegance and excitement of Alessandrini/Concerto Italiano/2005 (Naïve) that was a-ha moment for me and that re-vitalized my interest in Bach.

*Schubert - Great C major* - Furtwängler/Berlin/1951 (DG). Never liked this symphony very much (the Unfinished is a much more touching piece of music for me), and Furty was idiosyncratically Furty as well; until I heard the very "personal" account from Abbado/Orchestra Mozart/2011 Live (DG). Now that's touching. Also like Minkowski and Hanoncourt. Even though I still don't like this symphony very much.

*Prokofiev - Symphony No. 5* - This is a strange experience. I first heard it on a TV broadcast of Mariss Jansons conducting the Leningrad PO. I was smitten. Didn't buy their CD (Chandos) though (as I'd taped it). Didn't hear another version until I heard, God forbid, Celi in the concert hall (must be around 92 or 93). Well, live music always beats recorded music in terms of the listening experience I'm afraid. You know where this is going, but I'll never admit it... (since it's Celi!) Much later on in life, I did buy the Jansons/Leningrad CD, which now sounds is a bit dull to me. Also bought a Celi/Stuttgart CD, and guess what, it's pretty slow, although his music does flow very nicely, and, I hate to admit, this is one of few recordings that I do not resist listening to Celi... In fact I haven't heard any recording of this symphony that I found totally convincing. Karajan came close, spoiled by DG's as-usual poor and shameful engineering. Neeme Järvi also came close, an all-rounder that's good at everything but the best at nothing. Mitropoulos' two exciting and idiomatic live recordings from 1954 (both on Orfeo) also came close, but they are a bit unsubtle at places. My quest continues.


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## premont (May 7, 2015)

Heck148 said:


> I am asking this - how many original/first hearing recordings that you loved, were then surpassed, in your preference, by subsequent recordings you may have encountered of the same work...do you always stick with the original?? or some of each??


I have not experienced these things really. Maybe because I chose the first recordings I purchased with the uttermost care (Brahms/Klemperer, Beethoven/Klemperer, Beethoven/Kempff, Bach/Walcha, Bartok/Fricsay et.c.). I would rather say, that later purchased recordings have supplemented the first ones, but not really surpassed them.


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## Bulldog (Nov 21, 2013)

*Bach - Well Tempered Clavier* - My first piano set was from Gould which I still love dearly. However, subsequent sets that I prefer include Tureck, Koroliov, and Woodward; Tureck is my favorite.


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## larold (Jul 20, 2017)

For me this has been an area where giants and conventional wisdom have often been cast against my sensibilities to wit:

*Shostakovich Symphony 10 *After reading repeatedly of the greatness of Herbert von Karajan's DG stereo version I tried it and was underwhelmed. A number of other recordings (just about every one I later heard) seemed better. The one I have settled with today is from Donald Runnicles and the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra on a recording issued by BBC Music Magazine.

*Mahler Symphony No. 3* After not hearing what scores of others heard from Leonard Bernstein I finally understood the music once I listened to Sir John Barbirolli's BBC Legends recording with the Halle Orchestra from 1969.

*Bach Brandenburg Concertos* This may not have been the first recording I knew but the one from Benjamin Britten, said to be the ultimate work of one composer interpreted by another great composer, just never did it for me. A lot of other recording did including that from Karl Ristenpart and the Chamber Orchestra of the Saar issued about the same time as Britten's.

*Shostkovich Symphony No. 7 "Leningrad"* It didn't matter where I went or what I read everyone seemed to agree Leonard Bernstein's version with New York Philharmonic did things no one else had for the music. I can't say that was true for me because a number of other versions did more including the one by Oleg Catini and the Giuseppe Verdi Symphony Orchestra of Milan which sounds better, is consistently more exciting, and contains all the melodrama of every other recording. It was recorded in concert, to boot.

*Vivaldi Four Seasons* I Musici's version, recorded in either the late 1960s or early 1970s, sold more than 2 million LPs and became the choice for many in the music. I don't have anything bad to say about it but I enjoyed James Galway's version of the music played on flute better than the original violin concertos by I Musici or anyone else.

*Verdi Requiem* When I first started listening to this epic the version by Carlo Maria Giulini was considered the greatest stereo reading in part because of the sterling set of soloists (Schwarzkopf, Baker, Gedda, Ghiarov and Ludwig.) After hearing Eugene Ormandy's super audio version with a quartet oft-criticized in Britain and elsewhere (Amara, Forrester, Tucker, London,) I could never go back to Giulini.

*Beethoven 9 Symphonies* I'm not a great believer in anyone doing all these to a superlative level but, when I first started listening to recordings, nearly everyone agreed Toscanini's set was greater than anyone else. I still don't think of anyone being the "best" in all these but today, when I listen to them, it is more likely going to be Ernest Ansermet's sometimes-called "French" approach to the music that satisfies me.

*Bruckner Symphony 4 "Romantic" *There is a conventional wisdom that the Nowak score recording from Karl Bohm and the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra contains the proper elements of rustic Vienna, Brucknerian vision and wisdom, orchestral and sound characteristics that made a perfect rendition of the score. I have nothing bad to say about it but the one from Wilhelm Furtwangler and Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra of the Loewe-Gutmann edit is more exciting and equally Viennese though coming from the 1950s in mono didn't have the same sound.

*Schubert Symphony No. 9 "Great"* This was said by some to be the greatest recording ever made by Furtwangler and Berlin Philharmonic in the postwar era. I don't question that assessment but, for me, the one from Josef Krips and the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra remains heaven-bound throughout while everyone else is at least at some point thuddingly earthbound.

*Berlioz Symphonie Fantastique* There was a time when Colin Davis's Concertgebouw Orchestra version, in classic lines and proportion, was considered the final word in the music. That may have been true for some but Paul Paray's recording with Detroit Symphony Orchestra, especially when reissued in super audio sound, had a forward thrust and excitement I never heard elsewhere.

*Any Tchaikovsky symphony from Oslo and Mariss Jansons* The recently-deceased conductor wasn't a household name until he released these symphonies from Oslo when people all over the world flipped for them. After hearing them I never understood why. In fact, for me that is true of just about anything he recorded. The list of recordings I prefer is lengthy and may be headed by Stokowski's stereo versions, those from Abbado and the Chicago Symphony, and to lesser extent Maazel's recordings with Vienna Philharmonic.

*Prokofiev Symphony 5 *Here's another case where the world seemingly went gaga over Karajan and I scratched my head. I hear far more in many other recordings headed by Gianandrea Noseda's with BBC Philharmonic.

*Sibelius Symphonies 3, 4, 6 and 7* It was more difficult for me to come to grips with and enjoy these symphonies than just about any symphony from a major composer in the half-century I have been listening to, performing and collecting recordings of classical music. There wasn't always a consensus on whose recordings were "best" so I listened to everything anyone recommended including Karajan in stereo and mono, Barbirolli, Beecham, Collins, Davis, all the modern Scandinavians and most others that have a reputation in Sibelius. It took a lot of swings and misses for me to hear them in recordings I could play over and over again. Today I am more likely to listen to Yevgeny Mravinsky's super audio recording of Nos. 3 and 7, Leif Segerstam's BBC recording of No. 6, and the remake of Eugene Ormandy's 1954 rendition of No. 4 released by High Definition Tape Transfers than any others I've heard. This is more true for Nos. 4 and 7; these interpretations for me simply transcend anything else I have ever heard.

*Beethoven Symphony No. 3 "Eroica"* It may seem hard to believe today but, once upon a time, the recording from Sir John Barbirolli and BBC Philharmonic, which takes about 54 minutes, was considered by some the top recording of this music all over the world. It didn't take long for me to find something I liked better that seemed to get to the emotional core of the music more quickly. Roger Norrington's 1985 recording was one of those.

Here are a few I first heard that I think probably deserve their lengthy reputations as definitive recordings:

*Beethoven Symphony No. 6 "Pastorale" *from Bruno Walter & Columbia Symphony Orchestra (AKA New York Philharmonic)

*Mozart Horn Concertos from Dennis Brain* No one else have ever made the French horn sound like a trombone in Mozart.

*Bach Orchestral Suites Pablo Casals and (Vermont-based) Marlboro Festival Orchestra* "This isn't pink tea Bach," one critic opined about this tremendous musicmaking. Casals often told his players to "play Jewish" meaning bend the bow and emote. You hear that here while many players have since swept clean the humanity of these scores in the intervening decades under the guise of period performance and so-called "truth." To believe that is to believe Bach didn't bear 21 children, didn't spend a night in jail over a musical dispute, wasn't a guy that could sing all the parts and play all the instruments, didn't have a volcanic temperament, and was never unhappy because no one else could achieve what he could intellectually or musically.

*Beethoven Piano Sonata Nos. 28-32 from Maurizio Pollini* The winner of the 1977 Grand Prix du Disque and many other awards has stood the test of time against all comers in this all is dust music written at the end of Beethoven's life. They were reissued in Japan in super audio and sound better than ever.

*Beethoven Symphony 5 by Carlos Kleiber* It pains me to agree that, in at least one moment, the Kleiber legend was real. I have never heard another recording of the greatest symphony ever written with more electricity than the young Kleiber's, especially in the super audio version released a decade ago. I can't say same for its discmate, Symphony 7, which is pounded mercilessly by Kleiber and steadfastly refuses to dance.


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## Kiki (Aug 15, 2018)

How come I forgot this - *Chopin Ballad No. 4 Op. 52* - Rubinstein/1959 (RCA). John Ogdon called the piece the experience of a lifetime. Really really really love it. The Rubinstein hadn't been surpassed in my listening life for a very long time. Until I heard Tamás Vásáry's 1993 BBC recording. After that, all other recordings that I've heard always left me feeling terribly unfulfilled. Only Leif Ove Andsnes' 2018 (Sony) recording came close.


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## howlingfantods (Jul 27, 2015)

The most dramatic one for me was the Solti Ring Cycle, when I was first starting to explore classical and opera music in the 90s. For a good decade, I was convinced that I just plain didn't care for Wagner, finding Solti's Ring overly bombastic and overly obsessed with climaxes that came far too frequently. It was like the hormonal teenager of classical music, so I thought.

Bought the highlights from Bohm's Ring used for a few bucks just to have something shorter to force myself to listen to once in a while when I felt like revisiting my reactions to Wagner and liked it quite a lot more than I expected. I thought perhaps that that I just liked Wagner's bleeding chunks but didn't care for the whole thing--a not uncommon reaction from classical fans. 

But the more I listened to those highlights, the more I liked it, and then after I broke down and bought the full Bohm Ring, Wagner clicked for me in a big way, to the point where he's my untouchable favorite composer, who I have probably listened to roughly 10x as much as I've listened to any other composer over the past decade. It has flow and pace and dramatic peaks and valleys in a way that I find lacking in Solti's Ring, which comes off to me as a collection of overly insistent episodes rather than a unified whole.

Bohm's Ring remains among my favorites along with Furtwangler's 1950 La Scala Ring.


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## Orfeo (Nov 14, 2013)

*Bruckner: Symphony no. IX in D
*I originally had Christoph von Dohnanyi with the Cleveland Orchestra (Decca), which happened to be my first exposure to this masterpiece. I fell in love with the work and actually enjoyed the recording. But came Carlo Maria Giulini with the Vienna Philharmonic (DG) about a year or two later, and what views I had of the symphony initially changed quite radically because of it. I still to this day proclaim DG's recording the benchmark against which all others would be measured (although Barenboim and the Berlin Philharmonic comes quite close).

*Glazunov: Symphony no. VI in C
*For long, I deemed Fedoseyev's rendering with the USSR Television and Radio Large Symphony Orchestra (Melodiya) to be on the top of the heap, sort to speak, although Golovanov and Butt have plenty to say in their own rights. But came Jose Serebrier and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra (RSNO) and how he manages to bring out the subtleties of the score forced me to look at the work in a different light. Rewarding is simply an understatement.

*Prokofiev: The Fiery Angel
*First Exposure: Neemi Jarvi, the Gothenburg Symphony and Chorus, chorus, and vocal soloists. Pretty well done overall, and the singing is decent. But....
Second Exposure: Valery Gergiev and the Kirov. They took the listening experience on a whole new level. Gorchakova is simply superb and convincing as Renata.

*Rimsky-Korsakov: The Invisible City of Kitezh
*The classic Melodiya recording featuring Vasily Nebolsin with the Moscow Radio Chorus and Symphony and including Ivan Petrov, Natalia Rozhdestvenskaya, and other remains special. Even Svetlanov's reading is well worth remembering. But came, and here we go again, Gergiev and the Kirov forces, and the rest is history. Need I say more?

*Glinka: Ruslan and Ludmilla 
*My first exposure was the Melodiya/BMG recording featuring Yuri Simonov and the Bolshoi (and with Yevgeny Nesterenko, Valery Yaroslavtsev, Bela Rudenko, Tamara Sinyavskaya, et al.). The performance, done in the early 1980s, still managed to maintain the great singing tradition held together for generations and Simonov's conducting is appropriately vivacious. But it contains cuts (especially preludes to act II and I think act V). While Gergiev and the Kirov elevated the listening experience nicely (and how about the aforementioned Galina Gorchakova?), it is Kondrashin's classic 1952 recording with the Bolshoi I find myself returning to more often than not. And besides, what better cast to have penetrating the mind in the listening room than the one that includes Ivan Petrov (Ruslan), Vera Firsova (Ludmilla), Georgi Nelepp (Finn), Aleksei Krivchenya (Farlaff) Yevgenya Verbitskaya (Ratmir), and Sergey Lemeshev (Bayan)?

*Kurt Atterberg: Symphony no. II in F
*I was simply bowed over by the nobility of this very fine work when I heard it the first time courtesy of Stig Westerberg and the Swedish Radio Symphony (Swedish Society label). It is simply a gorgeous score, expertly orchestrated by "Sweden's most melodic composer" as Atterberg is often deemed, which is well brought to the fore by Westerberg and his orchestra. But what Ari Rasilainen shows is that there is a different way in approaching this abundantly melodic, epic score, and his Radio Symphony Orchestra of Frankfurt responds perfectly (the brass section is especially wonderful). It helps too that the CPO recorded sound is nicely atmospheric and incandescent, very much in a Chandos tradition.

---> I can think of a number of other examples in responding to this thread (thank you Heck148 for that), but I think I can end it here.


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

larold said:


> For me this has been an area where giants and conventional wisdom have often been cast against my sensibilities to wit:
> 
> *Shostakovich Symphony 10 *After reading repeatedly of the greatness of Herbert von Karajan's DG stereo version I tried it and was underwhelmed.


Which one? He recorded it twice for DG. I believe the first is regarded more highly. That said, I am a devotee of Mravinsky's live 1976 recording, for all that the sound is hardly great.



larold said:


> *Verdi Requiem* When I first started listening to this epic the version by Carlo Maria Giulini was considered the greatest stereo reading in part because of the sterling set of soloists (Schwarzkopf, Baker, Gedda, Ghiarov and Ludwig.)


You seem to have added an extra soloist to the Giulini. The incomparable Janet Baker is on Solti's second recording (with a slightly over the hill Leontyne Price, Veriano Luchetti, and José Van Dam). That said, the Giulini is still one of my favourites despite the recording overloading in places.


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## Merl (Jul 28, 2016)

*Beethoven Symphony 7* - it all began with Karajan 63 (as did all my Beethoven listening) and its still a top 7th. For many years that ruled the roost until I heard Kleiber. Then I fell in love with Skrowaczewski''s account followed by Dudamel's insanely quick single disc (coupled with the 5th) on DG but all of them were blown out of the water by Honeck's quite brilliant 7th on Reference. It's still top of the shop for me.

*Brahms 3rd Symphony* - Again, i cut my teeth on Karajan's 70s 3rd then migrated to Szell and Abbado That was bettered by Sanderling / Dresden and then Levine, which stayed up at the top for years until Alsop came along. What a fantastic disc that is.

*Dvorak 5th Symphony* - it all started with Kertesz for the the 5th. Kubelik topped that for some time but Pesek arrived and stole the show for a while until Neumann and the glorious Czech PO wooed me. However, I discovered Rowicki's magnificent 5th some years back and that's not moved for a long time. I still have a few sets to listen to yet , though. Who knows what the future may bring?

*Holst Planets* - It all began with Previn's 1974 Planets but Karajan and the VPO took over many years later, only to be pipped by the budget Handley recording that shared top billing with Dutoit for some time. However, then I discovered Ozawa 's Planets and life would never be the same.

*Orff Carmina Burana* - My first Carmina was on LP and was Previn (again). A decent recording but it didnt do it for me like Fruhbeck de Burgos and Blomstedt did later. For years they were my staples and are still great recordings but for years I have had a huge soft spot for Thielemann's beautifully played and recorded account and Tilson Thomas. Im still not sure what my favourite is but all those I currently play have surpassed Previn.


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## Bulldog (Nov 21, 2013)

*Beethoven's Two Cello Sonatas, op. 5* - My first recordings were from Rostropovich and Richter. Performances were quite good, and I assumed at the time that they were the best on the market. Then I happened upon the period instrument recordings by Coin and Cohen on Harmonia Mundi. What a difference!! I felt like I was transported back to Beethoven's time; the instruments and interpretations blew R & R out of the water as far as I'm concerned.


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## Merl (Jul 28, 2016)

*Mahler 2nd Symphony* - Started with Vonk's recording that did nothing for me (and put me off this symphony for years). Kubelik was next and that was a big improvement but still not one I ever refurn to. Rattle got me interested before Walter and his excellent twofer with Columbia really made the music come to life. Recently, Ozawa's live account again fuelled my love of the symphony. Fantastic.


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## larold (Jul 20, 2017)

_Shostakovich 10 Karajan...Which one? He recorded it twice for DG. I believe the first is regarded more highly. That said, I am a devotee of Mravinsky's live 1976 recording, for all that the sound is hardly great._
I listened to both Karajan versions of which the earlier one was the one people seemed to like.

_Verdi Requiem When I first started listening to this epic the version by Carlo Maria Giulini … you seem to have added an extra soloist to the Giulini. The incomparable Janet Baker is on Solti's second recording (with a slightly over the hill Leontyne Price, Veriano Luchetti, and José Van Dam). That said, the Giulini is still one of my favourites despite the recording overloading in places. _
I don't own the Giulini any longer and consulted the Amazon listing for it. It lists 5 soloists, one being Christa Ludwig.


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## Heck148 (Oct 27, 2016)

Just a word about Walter's aforementioned recordings....he recorded Mahler #2 with the NYPO, c'59; his later Beethoven, Bruckner recordings were done with West coast Columbia SO, basically - LAPO, with some top studio musicians included. Walter did record some with East Coast ColSO (Mozart "Linz" for example) but this was not the NYPO ..it was more like Stravinsky's ColSO...


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

larold said:


> I don't own the Giulini any longer and consulted the Amazon listing for it. It lists 5 soloists, one being Christa Ludwig.


Ah, Amazon! Say no more. Ludwig is indeed the mezzo soloist on the Giulini, with Schwarzkopf, Gedda and Ghiaurov the other soloists. The Giulini is usually coupled with his recording of _Quatro pezzi sacri_, on which Baker sings the short solo in the last movement.


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## MarkW (Feb 16, 2015)

Easier to list the first recordings that remained No. 1 for me:

Toscanini's 1949 Eroica; Klemperer's "Das Lied . . ." and Missa Solemnis, a really old (1950s) Swan Lake excerpts by Joseph Levine leading "The Ballet Theatre Orchestra" whatever that is, the BPO Octet's Brahms B-flat sextet, Bernstein's acoustically laughable early '60s Brahms Second Symphony (first recording in the then new, awful Philharmonic Hall), Barbirolli's Mahler 9 . . .


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## Heck148 (Oct 27, 2016)

MarkW said:


> Easier to list the first recordings that remained No. 1 for me:
> 
> Toscanini's 1949 Eroica;


Yup, definitely a winner...my first exposure was von Matacic/CzPO....both are still top of my list, along with Reiner.



> a really old (1950s) Swan Lake excerpts by Joseph Levine leading "The Ballet Theatre Orchestra" whatever that is,


I have same forces, arly 50s, performing ballets by Antheil and Schuman...great disc, superb orchestra!! I think it was a NYC Pickup group...dynamite!!



> Bernstein's acoustically laughable early '60s Brahms Second Symphony (first recording in the then new, awful Philharmonic Hall), .


I love that recording!! lol!! Crazy miking and all!!


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