Luciano Berio: Sinfonia (studio album) by Luciano Berio / New York Philharmonic / The Swingle Singers

This recording contains some of my favorite music ever performed. This recording is also the source of great agitation for me. To elaborate, Berio's "Sinfionia" is one of my favorite pieces of music ever composed, and the performance Berio gives here, conducting his own work (with the always phenomenal NY Philharmonic) is in my mind, undoubtedly the finest treatment this miraculous piece has ever been given... at least, as it existed at the time of its performance. "Sinfonia" consists of 5 segments, the fifth of which (which is at least on par with my favorite) was not written and added to the piece until after this recording was made, and no recording exists of Berio conducting "Sinfonia" in all 5 segments. It is painful to me to have such a perfect recorded performance (which, at the time, was considered "complete") to feel horribly incomplete. As much as I adore this recording, this is the one you will find on my chart: http://www.besteveralbums.com/thechart.php?a=44413 (EDIT: changed my mine. I'm sorry I love Boulez but that is one inferior performance. This is still heavenly. Ignore any further references to Boulez.)

Boulez & Orchestre National De France may not give Sections I-IV the same miracle sound found here, but they come damn close (EDIT: lol no they don't), and the inclusion of Section V (which I feel is absolutely integral to the piece as a whole, even if it was only added as something of an afterthought) makes it more than worthwhile. Boulez & company also perform the much shorter (and far less iconic) "Eindrücke", which is a nice plus... *sigh*. If only he had written that 5th Section just a little bit sooner...

ANOTHER EDIT: yeah like fuck most of what I wrote up there this is basically perfect and the fifth movement is pretty great but not 100% essential to the majesty of Sinfonia. So yeah, this recording. This is the one.