Greatest Classical Music Recordings

Criteria: Greatest Classical Recordings are ranked for their innovation and influence, as well as their aesthetic importance, historical significance and lasting popularity.

Greatest classical recordings are listed as: work, composer, recording year, ensemble, performers, and conductors. This list is in alphabetical order by composer.

Mass in B minor - Bach (1985)
English Baroque Soloists, conducted by John Eliot Gardiner

Concerto for Orchestra - Bartok (1950)
Chicago Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Fritz Reiner

Piano Concertos Nos. 4 and 5 - Beethoven (1961)
Berlin Philharmonic with Wilhelm Kempff, conducted by Ferdinand Leitner

Violin Concerto - Beethoven (1980)
Philharmonia Orchestra with Itzhak Perelman, conducted by Carlo Maria Giulani

Symphony No. 5 - Beethoven (1975)
Vienna Philharmonic, conducted by Carlos Kleiber

Symphony No. 6 - Beethoven (1972)
Vienna Philharmonic, conducted by Karl Bohm

Symphony No. 9 "Choral" - Beethoven (1951)
Bayreuth Orchestra, conducted by Wilhelm Furtwangler

Symphony No. 9 "Choral" - Beethoven (1977)
Berlin Philharmonic, conducted by Herbert Von Karajan

Missa Solemnis - Beethoven (1966)
New Philharmonia Chorus & Orchestra, conducted by Otto Klemperer

Symphonie Fantastique - Berlioz (1998)
San Francisco Symphony, conducted by Michael Tilson Thomas
Piano Concertos Nos. 1 and 2 - Brahms (1972)
Berlin Philharmonic with Emil Gilels, conducted by Eugen Jochum

Symphony No. 2 - Brahms (1979)
Chicago Symphony Orchestra, conducted by George Solti

A German Requiem - Brahms (1962)
Philharmonia Orchestra & Chorus, conducted by Otto Klemperer

Symphony No. 8 - Bruckner (1988)
Vienna Philharmonic, conducted by Herbert Von Karajan

24 Preludes - Chopin (1975)
Maurizo Pollini

19 Nocturnes - Chopin (1967)
Artur Rubinstein

Appalachian Spring - Copland (1961)
New York Philharmonic, conducted by Leonard Bernstein

Prelude A L'apres Midi D'un Faune - Debussy (1968)
Cleveland Orchestra, conducted by Pierre Boulez

Cello Concerto - Dvořák (1969)
Berlin Philharmonic with Mstislav Rostropovich, conducted by Herbert Von Karajan

Symphony No. 9 "From The New World" - Dvořák (1973)
Berlin Philharmonic, conducted by Rafael Kubelik

Engima Variations - Elgar (1971)
London Philharmonic, conducted by Adrian Boult

The Planets - Holst (1987)
Montreal Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Charles Dutoit

Piano Concertos Nos. 1 and 2 - Liszt (1961)
London Symphony Orchestra with Sviatoslav Richter, conducted by Kiril Kondrashin

Symphony No. 1 "Titan" - Mahler (1986)
Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam, conducted by Leonard Bernstein

Symphony No. 2 "Resurrection" - Mahler (1975)
Vienna Philharmonic, conducted by Zubin Mehta

Symphony No. 5 - Mahler (1989)
Cleveland Orchestra, conducted by Christoph Von Dohnanyi

Symphony No. 8 "Symphony of a Thousand" - Mahler (1971)
Chicago Symphony Orchestra, conducted by George Solti

Symphony No. 9 - Mahler (1999)
Philharmonia Orchestra, conducted by Benjamin Zander

Symphony No. 10 - Mahler (1980)
Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Simon Rattle

Symphony No. 4 "Italian" - Mendelssohn (1973)
Berlin Philharmonic, conducted by Herbert Von Karajan

Quartet For The End Of Time - Messiaen (1975)
Tashi, with Ida Kavafian, Peter Serkin, Fred Sherry, Richard Stoltzman

Symphonies Nos. 40 and 41 - Mozart (1962)
Berlin Philharmonic, conducted by Karl Bohm

Requiem - Mozart (1971)
Vienna Philharmonic, conducted by Karl Bohm

Pictures at an Exhibition - Mussorgsky/Ravel (1978)
Cleveland Orchestra, conducted by Lorin Maazel

Piano Concerto No. 2 - Rachmaninoff (1929)
The Philadelphia Orchestra with Sergei Rachmaninoff, conducted by Eugene Ormandy

Piano Concerto No. 3 - Rachmaninoff (1963)
London Symphony Orchestra with Vladimir Ashkenazy, conducted by Anatole Fistoulari

Piano Concerto No. 3 - Rachmaninoff (1951)
RCA Victor Symphony Orchestra with Vladimir Horowitz, conducted by Fritz Reiner

Scherherazade - Rimsky Korsakov (1990)
London Symphony Orchestra with Kees Hulsmann, conducted by Charles Mackerras

Complete Solo Piano - Satie (2002)
Jean Yves Thibaudet

Symphony No. 8 "Unfinished" - Schubert (1966)
New York Philharmonic, conducted by Leonard Bernstein

Carnaval - Schumann (1966)
Claudio Arrau

Piano Concerto - Schumann (1959)
Warsaw National Orchestra with Sviatoslav Richter, conducted by Witold Rowicki

Symphony No. 5 - Shostakovich (1981)
Concertgebouw Orchestra, conducted by Bernard Haitink

Also Sprach Zarathustra - Strauss (1974)
Berlin Philharmonic, conducted by Herbert Von Karajan

1812 Overture - Tchaikovsky (1958)
Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Antal Dorati

Piano Concerto No. 1 - Tchaikovsky (1958)
RCA Victor Symphony Orchestra with Van Cliburn, conducted by Kiril Kondrashin

Symphony No. 4 - Tchaikovsky (1962)
London Symphony Orchestra, conducted by George Szell

Symphony No. 6 "Pathetique" - Tchaikovsky (1982)
Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Evgeny Mravinsky

Messa da Requiem - Verdi (2001)
Berlin philharmonic, conducted by Claudio Abbado

The Four Seasons - Vivaldi (1982)
Israel Philharmonic Orchestra with Isaac Stern, Pinchas Zuckerman, Shlomo Mintz, Itzhak Perelman, conducted by Zubin Mehta
Herbert Von Karajan
John Eliot Gardiner
Leonard Bernstein
Zubin Mehta
Eugene Ormandy
Ferdinand Leitner


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Last Updated: 2004-12-19