Greatest Classical Works & Best Recorded Performances

[AfterHours]

[AfterHours]

Added best recordings for the following:

Symphony No. 7 in A Major - Ludwig van Beethoven (1812)
Harpsichord Concerto No. 1 in D Minor - Johann Sebastian Bach (1734)
Piano Trio No. 1 in D major "Ghost" (aka, "Piano Trio No. 4 in D Major" or "Piano Trio No. 5 in D Major") - Ludwig van Beethoven (1809)
Tabula Rasa - Arvo Part (1977)
Piano Sonata No. 14 in C-sharp Minor "Quasi una fantasia" (aka, "Moonlight") - Ludwig van Beethoven (1801)

And a couple days ago, I revised my choice for the following, but forgot to mention it:

Quartet for the End of Time - Olivier Messiaen (1941)
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[AfterHours]

Added best recordings for the following:

Piano Quintet No. 2 in A major - Antonin Dvorak (1887)
Concerto for Orchestra - Bela Bartok (1943)
Piano Concerto No. 5 in E-flat Major "Emperor" - Ludwig van Beethoven (1811)
Piano Concerto No. 1 in B-flat Minor - Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1875)
Piano Concerto - Michael Nyman (1993)
Piano Concerto No. 2 in C Minor - Sergei Rachmaninoff (1901)
Piano Concerto No. 2 in F Major - Dmitri Shostakovich (1957)
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[AfterHours]

Added best recordings for the following:

String Quartet No. 8 in C Minor - Dmitri Shostakovich (1960)
String Quartet No. 11 in F minor - Dmitri Shostakovich (1866)
Piano Concerto No. 4 in G Major - Ludwig van Beethoven (1806)
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Best Classical
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Best Paintings

[AfterHours]

Added best recordings for the following:

Piano Sonata No. 8 in C Minor "Pathetique" - Ludwig van Beethoven (1798)
Piano Sonata No. 21 in C Major "Waldstein" - Ludwig van Beethoven (1804)
Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 in G Major - Johann Sebastian Bach (1718)
Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 in D Major - Johann Sebastian Bach (1721)
Concerto for 2 Violins in D Minor - Johann Sebastian Bach (circa 1718-1720)
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Best Classical
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Best Paintings

[AfterHours]

Added best recorded performances of the following:

Piano Concerto No. 17 in G Major - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1784)
Piano Concerto No. 9 in E-flat Major "Jeunehomme" - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1777)
Piano Sonata No. 31 in A-flat Major - Ludwig van Beethoven (1821)
Piano Sonata No. 2 in B-flat Minor "The Funeral March" - Frederich Chopin (1839)
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Best Classical
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Best Paintings

[AfterHours]

Added best recorded performances for the following:

Symphony No. 3 in C Minor "Organ" - Camille Saint-Saens (1886)
Faust Symphony - Franz Liszt (1857)
Piano Concerto No. 2 in B-flat Major - Johannes Brahms (1881)
Symphony No. 8 - Alfred Schnittke (1994)
Symphony No. 3 "Symphony of Sorrowful Songs" - Henryk Gorecki (1976)
String Quartet No. 12 in E flat major - Ludwig van Beethoven (1825)
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Best Paintings

[AfterHours]

Added my best recorded performance selections for the following:

Violin Sonata No. 2 in A Major - Johannes Brahms (1886)
Piano Concerto No. 27 in B-flat Major - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (circa 1788-1791)
Violin Sonata No. 3 in D Minor - Johannes Brahms (1888)
Violin Sonata No. 1 in G Major - Johannes Brahms (1879)

Revised my selection of the best recorded performance for the following:

Piano Sonata No. 8 in C Minor "Pathetique" - Ludwig van Beethoven (1798)

Some thoughts: I find the occasional backlash that Itzhak Perlman has received as he has (somewhat) fallen out of favor as a recording artist (over something like the last decade or so) to be quite silly and, in my opinion, often disingenuous. It appears like it's just because he got so popular and made lots of money, which is apparently a no-no for a "serious artist" (or something). Talent-wise, it seems impossible to seriously argue against him. Add to this that he often recorded with his eras greatest artists and producers... Any way, in my search for best recordings over the years, I've seen him denied from several lists on various sites where he obviously should've been included at the very least as an honorable mention (especially ridiculous for Beethoven and post-Beethoven (Brahms, etc) Romantic period recordings). Maybe its purely subjective in certain cases and not disingenuous -- but it also seems to reek of bias. I don't know how one can legitimately claim he isn't at least among the very greatest in those categories. He's not always the very best bet for Baroque (due to his Romantic leanings) but he is never less than excellent either way. His Bach Violin Partitas and Sonatas gets mixed reviews (some very high, some middling, some low), yet it is so far ahead of the field I am left scratching my head at what the hell half these people are listening to. That recording might actually be the single greatest Classical recording of all time if one takes into account just how much better it is than everyone elses renditions. In terms of overall skill/talent, Jascha Heifitz is maybe the only violinist I can think of that can be argued to be superior (perhaps the most talented ever), but I could also argue that Perlman may be a better example of "making every note count" (even if his raw talent isn't quite as technically awe inspiring), and of course Perlman generally has much better recording quality because he did so during the album era as technology dramatically progressed. NOTE: Several others are at or near that hierarchy in their own ways and one can make cases for each of them (such as David Oistrakh, Nathan Milstein, etc)

Additional thoughts: If you haven't heard of or listened to Andreas Staier, please take notice of how much he frequents my list. This is not the result of me being a fanboy and just propping him up as much as I can. Over the years, he is gradually becoming more and more well known but may still qualify as the "best-kept-secret" in Classical music recordings. He is almost certainly the greatest keyboardist of the last few decades. Every one of his recordings are among the very best of their kind. Many of them are the very best, and in a number of cases by a wide margin. Pray that he one day does a complete cycle of Mozart Piano Concertos, or at least all the very best ones. Of the handful that he has already completed, each of his renditions completely lay down the gauntlet for their respective concerto. Also, please please please tell me he has plans to record Beethoven's "Archduke" Piano Trio #7! His only "weakness" as a recording artist is that he so often records lesser known works of the greatest composers instead of their greatest masterpieces. This is still pretty cool as he draws attention and exceptional renditions to these works, but it also has the drawback in that we're not getting to see him lay down that gauntlet very often on the most amazing works.
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Best Classical
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[AfterHours]

Revised my best recorded performance selections for the following:

Symphony No. 9 in D Minor "Choral" - Ludwig van Beethoven (1824)
Symphony No. 41 in C Major - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1788)

Re: Beethoven's 9th ... Yes, Karajan has been surpassed. Gardiner had the gall to actually follow Beethoven's original metronome markings (tempo), which until now I'd never heard any Conductor and Orchestra manage completely convincingly and successfully. It is incredibly difficult to maintain such a pace, particularly while maintaining control of emphasis and all the instrumental color and dynamics in the first movement, and particularly hard on the vocalists in the 4th -- which is already very challenging at 25 or so minutes but a near impossible task in 21 as Gardiner (or Beethoven) requires here! Since the 9th Symphony's inception, such tempi has frequently been considered too fast, with accusations of the composer's utter madness, and many arguing that the markings don't even reflect Beethoven's true intentions ('they couldn't possibly!'). Gardiner proves that Beethoven was infact correct all along (lo and behold, the greatest musical genius of all was actually right about his own work!) and all "scholarly" arguments against this should cease and desist upon listening to this famous/infamous and controversial historically informed recording. Gardiner unveils the full force, dynamic instrumental range, and monumental spiritual intensity of Beethoven's vision, like no one ever has, and as Beethoven must've intended. As but one example, Gardiner's first movement is delivered with such gripping, herculean intensity and shocking, swift blows and titanic violence that it renders all of Beethoven's orchestral statements and internal instrumental arguments that are flowing through the work into full blown suggestion and vivid conceptual and emotional fire -- like it has never happened before -- except in the original incarnation inside Beethoven's mind. The 2nd and 3rd movements are momentous, beautifully rendered and extremely persuasive, and the 4th is hair-raisingly breakneck, yet controlled, and utterly astonishing in its overwhelming sweep, sudden emotional dichotomies, its toppling-over-itself instrumental assaults, and its unmitigated beauty and ferocity of vocal outpourings. The best recordings of this work have always serviced it very well and proven its mastery beyond any doubt, but THIS is the full, vivid, shockingly revolutionary masterpiece that Beethoven himself must've envisioned, and it is even better than you've imagined yourself being there for its original performance.
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Best Classical
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[AfterHours]

Added best recorded performance selections for the following:

Winterreise - Franz Schubert (1828)
Toccata and Fugue in D Minor - Johann Sebastian Bach (circa 1704)
String Quartet No. 15 in G Major - Franz Schubert (1826)
String Quartet No. 16 in F Major - Ludwig van Beethoven (1826)
Violin Sonata No. 9 in A Major "Kreutzer" - Ludwig van Beethoven (1803)
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Best Classical
Best Films
Best Paintings