100 Best Classical Recordings According to The UK Telegraph

[Chalkperson]

My Grandfather had all those LP's, he played them on his Radiogram, this giant piece of furniture he had in the sitting rom, it's on that piece of equipment that I heard my first ever piece of Classical Music, the 1814 Overture, I was only seven years old, I always thought that was what it was called...

[Jared]

My Grandfather had all those LP's, he played them on his Radiogram, this giant piece of furniture he had in the sitting rom, it's on that piece of equipment that I heard my first ever piece of Classical Music, the 1814 Overture, I was only seven years old, I always thought that was what it was called...

why, how long did it last? 100 days??

[lmpower]

I appreciate the list having the Callas Tosca, but what about Rosenkavalier and Cosi without Schwarzkopf?

[SaulChanukah]

and mendelssohn is mentioned only once?

some list that is...

[david johnson]

10 Names to avoid

Karajan, Ashkenazy, Kissin, Lang Lang, Maazel, Mrs Mills and Richard Clayderman. Forget you ever knew these people.


Utterly ridiculous. Karajan and Ashkenazy! They have to be kidding, looking for press, that's all. I agree, that there may be musicological reasons to "question" some of the others, but to "forget them?" Ridiculous.

I've already forgotten who in Britain wrote the list

[mikealdren]

...........and the other thing I remember about Russ Conway was that he had lost the little on his right hand from the top joint.

Mike

[Jared]

10 Names to avoid

Karajan, Ashkenazy, Kissin, Lang Lang, Maazel, Mrs Mills and Richard Clayderman. Forget you ever knew these people.

Utterly ridiculous. Karajan and Ashkenazy! They have to be kidding, looking for press, that's all. I agree, that there may be musicological reasons to "question" some of the others, but to "forget them?" Ridiculous.

I have to say, the Daily Telegraph is a ridiculous right-wing rag of a newspaper, typically read by retired Colonels from Tunbridge Wells, who'd love nothing more than to give this country's youth a damned good thrashing before packing them off for mandatory conscription... the Colonel's wife, Lady Blue-Rinse, takes the Daily Mail, because she likes nothing more, with her early morning Earl Grey, than to be mortified by the declining standards of morality in 'Broken Britain', under their generic headline 'What is the country coming to when we allow XXXXX to happen on our streets!!' Of course the XXXXXX can be anything from dog fouling to organised people trafficing...

so, dear International friends, if ever you visit our leafy shores, please don't fall into the trap of viewing our country through the distorted lenses of the Telegraph or Mail... unless of course you're a supporter of the Fox News channel... when you'll feel right at home!! (right being the operative word... )

on the subject of these types of lists... I already find them nauseatingly trite. Maybe someone should point the 'reviewer' in the direction of Ashkenazy's Rachmaninov disks, Mendelssohn Symphony sets, his Tchaikovsky.. oh wait... he's half Jewish isn't he... forget it..

[stenka razin]

Another list from ABC Classic FM in Australia. Here are the top 100 Symphonies, according to their listeners. Any comments, mate?


1 DVOŘÁK Symphony No. 9 in E minor, Op 95, From the New World
2 BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op 125, Choral
3 BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 6 in F, Op 68, Pastoral
4 SAINT-SAËNS Symphony No. 3 in C minor, Op 78, Organ Symphony
5 BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 7 in A, Op 92
6 BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 5 in C minor, Op 67
7 TCHAIKOVSKY Symphony No. 6 in B minor, Op 74, Pathétique
8 BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 3 in E flat, Op 55, Eroica
9 SIBELIUS Symphony No. 2 in D, Op 43
10 SCHUBERT Symphony No. 9 in C, D944, The Great
11 TCHAIKOVSKY Symphony No. 5 in E minor, Op 64
12 MOZART Symphony No. 41 in C, K551, Jupiter
13 MOZART Symphony No. 40 in G minor, K550
14 MAHLER Symphony No. 2 in C minor, Resurrection
15 BERLIOZ Symphonie fantastique, Op 14
16 RACHMANINOFF Symphony No. 2 in E minor, Op 27
17 GÓRECKI Symphony No. 3, Op 36, Symphony of Sorrowful Songs
18 MAHLER Symphony No. 5 in C sharp minor
19 SCHUBERT Symphony No. 8 in B minor, D759, Unfinished
20 BRAHMS Symphony No. 4 in E minor, Op 98
21 MAHLER Symphony No. 1 in D, Titan
22 BRAHMS Symphony No. 1 in C minor, Op 68
23 MENDELSSOHN Symphony No. 4 in A, Op 90, Italian
24 MENDELSSOHN Symphony No. 3 in A minor, Op 56, Scottish
25 SIBELIUS Symphony No. 5 in E flat, Op 82
26 SHOSTAKOVICH Symphony No. 5 in D minor, Op 47
27 PROKOFIEV Symphony No. 1 in D, Op 25, Classical
28 TCHAIKOVSKY Symphony No. 4 in F minor, Op 36
29 BRAHMS Symphony No. 3 in F, Op 90
30 ELGAR Symphony No. 1 in A flat, Op 55
31 SHOSTAKOVICH Symphony No. 7 in C, Op 60, Leningrad
32 DVOŘÁK Symphony No. 8 in G, Op 88
33 MAHLER Symphony No. 4 in G
34 BIZET Symphony in C
35 BRAHMS Symphony No. 2 in D, Op 73
36 MAHLER Symphony No. 8 in E flat, Symphony of a Thousand
37 BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 8 in F, Op93
38 MOZART Symphony No. 39 in E flat, K543
39 MAHLER Symphony No. 3 in D minor
40 SCHUBERT Symphony No. 5 in B flat, D485
41 MAHLER Symphony No. 9 in D
42 FRANCK Symphony in D minor
43 SIBELIUS Symphony No. 3 in C, Op 52
44 VAUGHAN WILLIAMS Symphony No. 5 in D
45 HAYDN Symphony No. 94 in G, Surprise
46 BRUCKNER Symphony No. 4 in E flat, Romantic
47 SHOSTAKOVICH Symphony No. 10 in E minor, Op 93
48 SIBELIUS Symphony No. 1 in E minor, Op 39
49 R. STRAUSS An Alpine Symphony, Op 64
50 SHOSTAKOVICH Symphony No. 11 in G minor, Op 103, The Year 1905
51 MOZART Symphony No. 38 in D, K504, Prague
52 BRUCKNER Symphony No. 8 in C minor
53 SIBELIUS Symphony No. 7 in C, Op 105
54 MAHLER Symphony No. 6 in A minor, Tragic
55 MOZART Symphony No. 29 in A, K201
56 MESSIAEN Turangalila Symphony
57 ELGAR Symphony No. 2 in E flat, Op 63
58 HAYDN Symphony No 101 in D The Clock
59 VAUGHAN WILLIAMS Symphony No 3 Pastoral
60 BEETHOVEN Symphony No 4 in B flat, Op 60
61 DVOŘÁK Symphony No 7 in D minor
62 VAUGHAN WILLIAMS Symphony No. 1, A Sea Symphony
63 BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 2 in D, Op 36
64 RACHMANINOV Symphony No. 3, Op 44
65 VAUGHAN WILLIAMS Symphony No. 2 in G, London
66 BRUCKNER Symphony No. 7 in E
67 EDWARDS Symphony No. 1 Da Pacem Domine
68 MOZART Symphony No. 25 in G minor, K183
69 BRUCKNER Symphony No. 9 in D minor
70 MOZART Symphony No. 35 in D, K385 Haffner
71 BORODIN Symphony No. 2
72 MOZART Symphony No 36 in C, K425 Linz
73 SCHUMANN Symphony No 3 in E flat, Op 97 Rhenish
74 TCHAIKOVSKY Symphony No 1 in G minor, Op 13 Winter Dreams
75 TCHAIKOVSKY Manfred Symphony, Op 58
76 VAUGHAN WILLIAMS Symphony No 7 Sinfonia Antartica
77 WALTON Symphony No 1 in B flat minor
78 MENDELSSOHN Symphony No 5 in D Op 107 Reformation
79 HAYDN Symphony No 104 in D London
80 SIBELIUS Symphony No 4 in A minor, Op 63
81 BRAČANIN Symphony No 2 Choral
82 RACHMANINOV Symphony No 1
83 O’BOYLE Riversymphony
84 MAHLER The Song of the Earth
85 HAYDN Symphony No 45 in F sharp minor Farewell
86 PROKOFIEV Symphony No 5 in B flat, Op 100
87 BERLIOZ Harold in Italy, Op 14
88 TCHAIKOVSKY Symphony No 2 in C minor Op 17 Little Russian
89 MENDELSSOHN Symphony No. 2, Op 52 Lobgesang
90 NIELSEN Symphony No 4, Op 29 The Inextinguishable
91 NIELSEN Symphony No 5, Op 50
92 SHOSTAKOVICH Symphony No 4 in C minor, Op 43
93 SIBELIUS Symphony No 6 in D minor, Op 104
94 STRAVINSKY Symphony of Psalms
95 RACHMANINOV Choral Symphony, Op 35 The Bells
96 DVOŘÁK Symphony No 6 in D, Op 60
97 SCHUMANN Symphony No 1 in B flat, Op 38 Spring
98 DVOŘÁK Symphony No 5 in F, Op 76
99 GLASS Symphony No 4 Heroes
100 HAYDN Symphony No 100 in G Military

[Jared]

^^ and we have wait until No 46 before we get to the first Bruckner... 42 places behind Saint-Saens?...

I think not...

[Chalkperson]

^^ and we have wait until No 46 before we get to the first Bruckner... 42 places behind Saint-Saens?...

I think not...

I was about to make exactly the same point...I guess Anton the Mighty is not that popular in Australia...

And, Haydn's 100th Symphony is at, Number 100...

But, I am thrilled to see Schumann's at No.73...I wonder how Mad Bob's Champion, Maestro Kelso will spin that...

Plus...

81 BRAČANIN Symphony No 2 Choral - This one has texts by words by Judith Wright and W. H. Auden
Wright is a champion for Aboriginal Rights...

83 O’BOYLE Riversymphony - This one is a Symphony for Didgeridoo

Neither has any recordings listed on Arkiv Musik...

[Ken]

Another list from ABC Classic FM in Australia. Here are the top 100 Symphonies, according to their listeners. Any commensts, mate?

Nah, I think the list speaks for itself.

Perhaps things sound differently in the Southern Hemisphere... Something to do with the Coriolis effect?

[Jared]

when I was a young lad, me and my mates used to sit and write top 10 lists for everything... best albums/ singles/ tracks/ drummers.. you get the picture.. then we'd argue their merits (or otherwise) until the cows came home... of course the lists were highly subjective, and changed from one week to the next. Unless anyone can give me some solid reasons otherwise, I just feel that these 'lists' are still just as subjective and ultimately just as futile.... Music after all is an Art... the Arts are an aesthetic which effect us all in different ways...

Chalkie thinks RVW is rather overrated... I think Chalkie's view is loopy... that doesn't mean either us is right, does it?...

[karlhenning]

^^ and we have wait until No 46 before we get to the first Bruckner... 42 places behind Saint-Saens?... :shock:

I think not... :roll:

I was about to make exactly the same point...I guess Anton the Mighty is not that popular in Australia...

OTOH, "only" eight of Beethoven's symphonies made their obligatory appearance on this "100 Best," so some restraint has been shown by the Australians ; )

Cheers,
~Karl

[karlhenning]

Calling Rakhmaninov's The Bells a "choral symphony" is a stretch, too.

Cheers,
~Karl

[karlhenning]

Calling Rakhmaninov's The Bells a "choral symphony" is a stretch, too.

Sheesh, and Das Lied von der Erde.

Cheers,
~Karl

[Chalkperson]

OTOH, "only" eight of Beethoven's symphonies made their obligatory appearance on this "100 Best," so some restraint has been shown by the Australians ; )

And five of them are in the Top Ten...

[karlhenning]

Well, all right: not much restraint . . . .

Cheers,
~Karl

[Ken]

Chalkie thinks RVW is rather overrated... I think Chalkie's view is loopy... that doesn't mean either us is right, does it?...

As far as I can tell I think you're both right.

[absinthe]

81 BRAČANIN Symphony No 2 Choral - This one has texts by words by Judith Wright and W. H. Auden
Wright is a champion for Aboriginal Rights...

83 O’BOYLE Riversymphony - This one is a Symphony for Didgeridoo

Neither has any recordings listed on Arkiv Musik...

You'll have to go to Buywells for those.

At least Ross Edwards made it to 67 though I prefer his Symphony No 3.

[Chalkperson]

Chalkie thinks RVW is rather overrated... I think Chalkie's view is loopy... that doesn't mean either us is right, does it?...

Other than the obvious three "pretty english tunes" I find the rest of his output to be just too boring for my tastes, take into account just how much Early Music I own and listen to, I can't like everything, like Mozart's Symphonies for example, on Saturday I figured I would take Heck's suggestion and listen to Mozart's Last Symphonies, i'm glad that's what they were because they just sounded so hackneyed and overplayed, that does not happen to me in Beethoven, Mahler or Bruckner, it also does not happen in Haydn...as I mentioned before I am much more sympathetic to Concerto's, now if RVW had written Cello, Piano, Violin, Viola, Clarinet, Bassoon, Double Bass or Organ Concertos i'd be happy to listen to them...after all he wrote one for the Oboe and one for Two Pianos...

[nut-job]

Chalkie thinks RVW is rather overrated... I think Chalkie's view is loopy... that doesn't mean either us is right, does it?...

Other than the obvious three "pretty english tunes" I find the rest of his output to be just too boring for my tastes, take into account just how much Early Music I own and listen to, I can't like everything, like Mozart's Symphonies for example, on Saturday I figured I would take Heck's suggestion and listen to Mozart's Last Symphonies, i'm glad that's what they were because they just sounded so hackneyed and overplayed, that does not happen to me in Beethoven, Mahler or Bruckner, it also does not happen in Haydn...as I mentioned before I am much more sympathetic to Concerto's, now if RVW had written Cello, Piano, Violin, Viola, Clarinet, Bassoon, Double Bass or Organ Concertos i'd be happy to listen to them...after all he wrote one for the Oboe and one for Two Pianos...

You one mistake is to assume that "boring" is a characteristic of the music itself rather than of your perception of the music.

[nut-job]

OTOH, "only" eight of Beethoven's symphonies made their obligatory appearance on this "100 Best," so some restraint has been shown by the Australians ; )

And five of them are in the Top Ten...

Off hand, I can't think of a symphony that isn't better than Beethoven 4.

[Jared]

Chalkie thinks RVW is rather overrated... I think Chalkie's view is loopy... that doesn't mean either us is right, does it?...

Other than the obvious three "pretty english tunes" I find the rest of his output to be just too boring for my tastes, take into account just how much Early Music I own and listen to, I can't like everything, like Mozart's Symphonies for example, on Saturday I figured I would take Heck's suggestion and listen to Mozart's Last Symphonies, i'm glad that's what they were because they just sounded so hackneyed and overplayed, that does not happen to me in Beethoven, Mahler or Bruckner, it also does not happen in Haydn...as I mentioned before I am much more sympathetic to Concerto's, now if RVW had written Cello, Piano, Violin, Viola, Clarinet, Bassoon, Double Bass or Organ Concertos i'd be happy to listen to them...after all he wrote one for the Oboe and one for Two Pianos...

You one mistake is to assume that "boring" is a characteristic of the music itself rather than of your perception of the music.

well said n-j... I entirely agree..

but in all seriousness, that is exactly the point about these lists... no two CMG members would agree on a list of Top 20 Symphonies in order, let alone a Top 100, because our tastes differ... no one is wrong or right in this, just as Chalkie isn't wrong for not liking RVW very much. That's why I think the creation and pronouncement of such lists is a little infantile..

[Chalkperson]

You one mistake is to assume that "boring" is a characteristic of the music itself rather than of your perception of the music.

No, I meant that I find it boring, not that the music is boring...he would not have written it if he thought it was boring...and whilst I keep trying to enjoy Schumann's Symphonies I can't even make it halfway thru one of RVW's, I stopped trying a couple of years ago when Henry (Slofstra) was trying to convince me that I would enjoy them...not strictly true I tried a couple of moths ago but gave up very quickly...a matter of minutes, in fact...

[Chalkperson]

but in all seriousness, that is exactly the point about these lists... no two CMG members would agree on a list of Top 20 Symphonies in order, let alone a Top 100, because our tastes differ... no one is wrong or right in this, just as Chalkie isn't wrong for not liking RVW very much. That's why I think the creation and pronouncement of such lists is a little infantile..

we discuss Music all day, lists like this cause discussion in the masses, on the radio, etc...they do serve that purpose...pointless as we all agree that it is...

Remember, I think we should skip the Third B, and the fourth B, and go straight to M or S...

[nut-job]

You one mistake is to assume that "boring" is a characteristic of the music itself rather than of your perception of the music.

No, I meant that I find it boring, not that the music is boring...he would not have written it if he thought it was boring...and whilst I keep trying to enjoy Schumann's Symphonies I can't even make it halfway thru one of RVW's, I stopped trying a couple of years ago when Henry (Slofstra) was trying to convince me that I would enjoy them...not strictly true I tried a couple of moths ago but gave up very quickly...a matter of minutes, in fact...

You can put on R-W 6 and find yourself bored in a couple of minutes?

[Chalkperson]

You can put on R-W 6 and find yourself bored in a couple of minutes?

I never said it was No.6. it was the London Symphony, No.2...i'm just about to listen to Gergiev's new SACD of Shosty 1+15, instead of following that with Julia Fischer's Russian Violin Concertos on Pentatone i'll put on No.6, I have Hickox on a Chandos SACD...

[Chalkperson]

You can put on R-W 6 and find yourself bored in a couple of minutes?

I lasted halfway, there is nothing wrong with it, other than it sounds so much like RVW...I would much rather listen to Russian Music from a similar and later period...far as I know, Mravinsky never did any Vaughan Williams Symphonies...nuff said...