Agreed re it's unfinished form. Rather like Schubert's 8th it can't be improved on IMHO.

Klemperer's Brahms 1 is fabulous.

Dear Gil May I ask that in future time allowing of course you share your take on the horn concertos ?

Basically every good teams fight song is good?

Isn't it great we have fantastic streaming services like Idagio who offer a huge number of recordings of the same work by many different artists and ensembles? Just take your time to listen to as many of your favourite works as you like and form your own opinion. Of course this refers to your "favourite works" only as that grants you sufficient time to compare. I found 90 recordings of Beethoven's 9th symphony. Containing versions of one conductor with different orchestras and/or date of recording as well as some remastered versions of one work. In the case of the 9th more than fifty different recordings.

My dear Gil Did Ravel not conduct the Bolero himself in 1930 with the orchestre Lamoureux ? Any opinion on this ?

Adore Chung's recording of the 3rd. Glad to see it as the first recording highlighted.

If I may recommend another four: 1) Lina Tur Bonet/Musica Alchemica (This one just came out. It's soooo interpretively fascinating. I swear it sounds like you're hearing some pieces for first time). 2) Luka Faulisi/Orkiestra Historyczna (Full-on propulsive energy! Would make a lot other versions sound boring.) 3) Christian Li/Melbourne Symphony Orchestra (A return to the big band sound with an amazing prodigy on the violin) 4) Rachel Podger/Brecon Baroque (Got a lot of acclaim when it came out. Great period style) Gil, I'm curious if you've had a chance to listen to them and what you thought. Perhaps you could do a follow-up vid about a few more versions? :) BTW, what is the standard orchestral size for this piece? There seems to be a wide variety. Cheers!

Horenstein in number 5 is a fantastic reading. Right from the shimmering opening you know you are in for something special. Alfred Dukes, the New Philharmonia percussionist, is surely the most attacking snare drummer of all. It gripped me as a teenager and grips me still. The only slight snag is that Dukes enters a bar too early, realises his mistake, stops, then comes in again. Not a fatal error, but could it not have been patched later? There is also an audible 'clack' as he puts the drumsticks down in the coda... could that not have been mixed out? These reservations aside, this is not a recording to be ignored!

There is an unnecessary pause before the finale of #4 on the CD you help up. It is corrected on the Navigator edition (with #1) and in the Martinon box.

For the Violin Sonatas, I've been listening to Andrew Manze's 2-disc set, and it is outstanding.

Hi how about Bernstein in the 3rd, essential listening I would think even though I love Tuxen and Chung…I believe there is a version by Jensen as well…I love the Blomstedt on Decca and Ole Schmidt as well…

For me the best version ever heard of this work is that conducted by van Beinum with the Concertgebouw Orchestra, a very very exciting performance and in excellent sound remastered by Dutton Laboratories.

Full disclosure: I’m a Buckeye fan and I consider OSU-Miami the greatest title game ever. But … this might be higher if I’m being honest with myself.

There are gazillions of great Mozart recordings that are also pleasing to listen to, i.e. recorded in stereo. I’m never impressed by people who claim to like old recordings.

My dear Gil I wish you also shared as part of other marvelous chamber music ref recordings for The two sextets And the trios Any intent to do a video on these ?

Arkansas is so underrated. Hell they are all great. How can one not love college sports??

I'm unsure what your definition of 'reference' or 'consensus' is ...'people in the know'.... By those rather nebulous 'definitions', I could as easily cite Cantelli, Loughran, Paray, Wand, Barenboim, Kubelik, Kondrashin, none of whom you mention. I'd be more convinced if you gave your own honest opinion. Following 'people in the know' , i.e. the almost always wrong critics, is a counsel of despair.

i like classical music, all composers except mozart, as a matter of fact

Two alternate essential choices for you: the Grumiaux/Pelliccia/Davis Mozart Sinfonia Concertante and the Marcellus/Szell Mozart Clarinet Concerto. Although it isn't my favorite of the last six symphonies, I agree with you about the Walter set. I also agree with your choices for the operas although I'm a big fan of the Krips Don Giovanni. But I agree with you that the Giulini is the reference version.

I watched this a long time ago!!

I used to fall asleep to this every night when I was a kid and I have the order (at least the first part) burned into my brain.

I am still so thankful for your work in bringing this information to us. You've enriched my retirement years, and I never thought I'd get here. I tell everyone about my experience now.

The Beecham and Böhm Zauberflöte recordings are among the most overrated recordings in existence. The only reason that Beecham is considered a "consensus" pick is because it's been around the longest - the singing, Hüsch's marvelous Papageno aside, is mostly dreadful. And if Wunderlich weren't on the Böhm, no one would consider it. For that matter, Böhm is among the most overrated Mozarteans in general - he is invariably heavy and charmless. Walter's Mozart is good (unless you insist on exposition repeats), but Casals is my reference here. I've never understood the love for Giulini's Don Giovanni. Waechter is utterly miscast, Alva is a stereotypically wimpy Ottavio, and the women are no great shakes despite their famous names. Give me the Mitropoulos with Siepi, Simoneau, et al. The concerti with Perahia are dull. I'll take Kirschnereit or Viviana Sofronitsky for complete traversals, and any number of other pianists for individual works.

Mehta with LPO and Zdeněk Mácal with New Jersey symphony orchestra 👍

If you abbreviate “Philharmonic Orchestra” as “PO”, you have missed something essential. It’s properly abbreviated as “PhO”.

It is good to have your video reviews to complement the other main video reviewer out there. He often completely overlooks inportant historical recordings that to many of us are the strongest performances of all time of these works. One should at least mention them so those out there have a chance to listen and decide for themselves how much a drawback limited sound is. (I am a huge fan of both the Beecham and the Monteux BTW).

Fantastic!

Wow! That was awesome! Would love to hear more of your future performances.

Things have moved on since those old, amateurish, reputation-based, recordings.

Hans Hotter was one of the true greats who, like so many wonderful artists of the past, has fallen out of the collective consciousness. Happily, many of his recordings are still here to enjoy.

what about st.john passion? Gardiner is great for st john passion IMO.

The Gould Goldberg recording is a consensus pick only for those people who've never heard any other recording.

Concerning the violinconcertos I prefer Menuhin and the Robert Masters Chamber Orchestra on EMI, or Szeryng and the Academy of St. Martin under Neville Marriner on Philips. For the solo violinsonatas & Partitas , my first choice is also Henryk Szeryng on DG or Gidon Kremer on Philips. For the B -minor I would say Maazel and the RSO Berlin on Philips and the st. Matthew and st. John Passion I would chose Jochum with the RCO on Philips or Gardiner on Archiv. Of course these are personal choices....

Lovely singing (and playing) thanks for this

Szell and the Cleveland Orchestra.

Note the EMI release of the 51 Furtwangler is edited. However the actual undoctored broadcast is now available.

Wonderful performance Gil, it moved me deeply. I hope you will discuss the available recordings of the MP by Bach, which are the best and so on. Greetings from the Netherlands.

The "reference" Beethoven Symphony #5 in the monophonic era was Erich Kleiber's with the Concertgebouw. I've often wondered if that factored into critics' being enamoured of son's stereo recording. (I have both and prefer Fricsay).

The more I listen to Hermann Scherchen's Beethoven symphony set on DG, the more impressed I get. Those recordings have certainly changed my view of what I thought were the "best". Thrilling music making that you don't hear anymore.

Some of these consensus picks seem more like "consensus error" to me.

In the Beethoven Violin Concerto Heifetz and Munch (Boston) soar technically and sonically above the Perlman/Guilini. You seem to conflate popularity with quality.

Who’d win a Classical Reference Recording Jewish fist fight: Butterbean Hurwitz or Motor City Madman Zilkha!?

Eileen Joyce, Cyril Smith, Earl Wild all do it for me.

Absolutely agree about Byron Janis and both RACH 2 and 3❤️🎶🎹⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Dorati for me, all the way. And btw 106 symphonies if you include the Symphonies A&B. Please don't recycle this false notion that the Londons are the only good ones; the 'Paris' set Nos. 83-87 are excellent and, among others, 79 F major, 58 F major, 31 D major ‘Horn Signal’, 81 G major, 53 D major ‘L’Impériale’, 16 B flat major, 6 D major ‘Le Matin’ and 88 G major ‘Letter V’ - and plenty more.

Thank you, Mr. Zilkha, for this wonderful performance! Immortal music by Bach, because it honors the Lord and Savior, the Son of God Jesus Christ, who died for our sins and rose from the dead, as foretold in the scriptures! Bach was a true man of God, his musical ability was given to him by the Holy Spirit!

Spot on!

Tremendous Gil, your artistic talent complements your wide knowledge of the recorded classical repertoire. Thanks very much.

Thoroughly splendid, Gil. Thanks for sharing your artistry.