The greatest recordings of all time...

[Daverz]

No Rachmaninov under classical?
No Beethoven Symphony No. 9
No Mozart Sym. No. 40 & 41

No Dvorak, either. A list of only 20 recordings is going to be missing a lot of composers and works. The real problem with this list is that as recordings these are not the best recordings of any of this music mainly because of technical limitations. Not surprising given that most of these are over 50 years old, and it seems to be mostly stuff that sounds impressive on LP. The Bartok, for example, has always been muddy sounding. RCA was still perfecting their stereo recording technique at the time. Does anyone think the Gould is a great recording of a piano? Sony certainly doesn't as they've released both an analog recording of the performance made at the same time and the Zenph "recreation". The Kleiber Beethoven is run-of-the-mill sonically. The same for the Gilels.

 

[jp4573]

Specially 3- El choclo

 

[dualazmak]

I do hope it would be allowed introducing my "Audio Reference Quality Music Playlist" shared on my hosting thread;
- An Attempt Sharing Reference Quality Music Playlist: at least a portion and/or whole track being analyzed by 3D color spectrum of Adobe Audition

Spoiler

[Part-00] Introduction: #587
[Part-01] Full Orchestral Music: #588
[Part-02] Solo Piano Music: #590
[Part-03] Typical(?) Smooth Jazz Music with Guitar: #591
[Part-04] Bimmel Bolle Antique Orgel; Extremely High-Energy High-Frequency Sharp Transient sound: #592
[Part-05] Color Spectrum of Tracks in CBS/Sony's "Super Audio Check CD": #593
[Part-06] Female Vocal in Jazz and Popular Music, and One Male Vocal Track for Comparison: #596
[Part-07] Female Vocal and Counter Tenor in Early Classical Music: #639
[Part-08] (Smooth?) Jazz Trio: #640
[Part-09] Organ Music: #641
[Part-10] Lute Music: #642
[Part-11] Violin Music: #643
[Part-12] Cello Music: #644
[Part-13] Harpsichord (Cembalo, Clavecin) Music: #645
[Part-14] Piano Concertos: #650
[Part-15] Again, CBS/Sony's "Super Audio Check CD": Analyzed by Adobe Audition 3.0.1 and MusicScope 2.1.0: #651
[Part-16] A Cappella Chorus and A Cappella Vocal Ensemble: #652
[Part-17] Excellent Quality Music Tracks, But Containing Unacceptably High Gain Low-Frequency Air Conditioning Noises; What Counter Measures Can We Have? #658
[Part-18] An Interlude or Provisional Finale of the Post Series: #669
and,
Updated, the latest, Audio Sampler Playlist as of October 20, 2022: #670

 

[Descartes]

This is great list but I think that any of these albums in SACD or BluRay Audio are going to sound much better than the vinyl versions!

 

[levimax]

This is great list but I think that any of these albums in SACD or BluRay Audio are going to sound much better than the vinyl versions!

For some of these older albums I have multiple copies including the original LP and several digital versions and in some cases I prefer the LP. Aja and Rumours come to mind. While digital is always technically better than LP it is not always enough better to over come mastering differences or tape degradation before digital transfer. YMMV.

 

[Dlr0657]

No Dvorak, either. A list of only 20 recordings is going to be missing a lot of composers and works. The real problem with this list is that as recordings these are not the best recordings of any of this music mainly because of technical limitations. Not surprising given that most of these are over 50 years old, and it seems to be mostly stuff that sounds impressive on LP. The Bartok, for example, has always been muddy sounding. RCA was still perfecting their stereo recording technique at the time. Does anyone think the Gould is a great recording of a piano? Sony certainly doesn't as they've released both an analog recording of the performance made at the same time and the Zenph "recreation". The Kleiber Beethoven is run-of-the-mill sonically. The same for the Gilels.

Then post the versions that you think are superior. Thanks.

Agree about Gould BTW. It's just that the performance is so strong that it overcomes any sonic deficiencies as an experience. Same goes for the old Minneapolis Symphony recording of the 1812. Not a top notch recording, but such a performance that you just have to experience it.

 

[Daverz]

Then post the versions that you think are superior. Thanks.

Just go to Dave Hurwitz's youtube channel:

The Greatest Recordings EVER!

The ultimate, definitive, unquestionably accurate list of the greatest classical recordings in the history of the universe--and if you believe that I've got ...

www.youtube.com

I know Hurwitz drives some people crazy, but he does a better job at this than I could.

 

[Jarrett]

Blackstar is just the CD (DR5) put on vinyl

 

[mieswall]

There are tons of jazz records better than almost any of the list. You are mixing musical taste with quality of recording (even if you put this as just the third criteria). There are even several mono recordings in it!
Even if you have a bias for 50's and 60's Rudy Van Gelder registers (and I would concur on that, but not to the extent as ranking them as bests ever), there are many of him better than those in the list.
Not a single ECM recording, for example. Perhaps half of their catalog is better recorded than most of this list.
No jazz recordings by the great Ken Scott, like Stanley Clarke's brown lp. At least Crime of the Century also by Scott made it in another list.

Jethro: not in the list Thick as Brick mix by Wilson, that almost made me cry when I listened it the first time, it gave a whole new perspective of a record I truly love and have listened countless times before. Minstrel is doubtful though, too clean and clear (yes, whole new instruments do appear), but imho it lost something of the feeling of the stone walls, medieval setting that the original recording was trying to catch.

 

[Azazello13]

Thanks for putting this together. It's an interesting list, in that I think it reveals the genres where "audiophiles" focus their attention. The rock and songwriter lists are good as far as being particularly notable for audio quality. The classical list is good for dilettantes (those RCA living stereo recordings really hold up). But some, like the jazz, blues and reggae lists are basically just someone's list of important recordings. The music recorded is groundbreaking, but the actual recording and mastering quality is just typical for the time they were recorded. Of course, they get remastered, re-issued and re-sold a million times because people want the best version they can get because they're important recordings.

 

[Azazello13]

There are tons of jazz records better than almost any of the list. You are mixing musical taste with quality of recording (even if you put this as just the third criteria). There are even several mono recordings in it!
Even if you have a bias for 50's and 60's Rudy Van Gelder registers (and I would concur on that, but not to the extent as ranking them as bests ever), there are many of him better than those in the list.
Not a single ECM recording, for example. Perhaps half of their catalog is better recorded than most of this list.

agree with this. ECM consistently did a great job. the Blue Note recordings by RVG especially in the '60s are consistently good, and there are a ton of amazing sessions of music under that umbrella.

it's hard for me to even think of jazz records that really stand out for the recording quality itself. a few that did come to mind quickly for me...
- Dave Holland, Conference of the Birds (ECM)
- Thelonious Monk Quartet, Monk's Dream (Columbia)
- World Saxophone Quartet - Metamorphosis

 

[Titurel]

Just go to Dave Hurwitz's youtube channel:

The Greatest Recordings EVER!

The ultimate, definitive, unquestionably accurate list of the greatest classical recordings in the history of the universe--and if you believe that I've got ...

www.youtube.com

I know Hurwitz drives some people crazy, but he does a better job at this than I could.

Once you understand Hurwitz's tastes and prejudices, his videos are great place to start your search for nearly anything in the "art music" domain, other than vocal music.

 

[Descartes]

Missing a few more

 

[Chrispy]

List compiled by Mr. Insufferable Know-it-all

That what you call AI?

 

[Robin L]

No Dvorak, either. A list of only 20 recordings is going to be missing a lot of composers and works. The real problem with this list is that as recordings these are not the best recordings of any of this music mainly because of technical limitations. Not surprising given that most of these are over 50 years old, and it seems to be mostly stuff that sounds impressive on LP. The Bartok, for example, has always been muddy sounding. RCA was still perfecting their stereo recording technique at the time. Does anyone think the Gould is a great recording of a piano? Sony certainly doesn't as they've released both an analog recording of the performance made at the same time and the Zenph "recreation". The Kleiber Beethoven is run-of-the-mill sonically. The same for the Gilels.

The standard CD is. The surround SACD isn't.

While I'm on my soapbox, the 1954 RCA Living Stereo recording of Also Sprach Zarathrustra directed by Fritz Reiner probably isn't even Reiner's best recording, seeing as his 1962 re-recording with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra has better sound and playing.

And one more thing—Nick Drake's "Pink Moon" is not really an album at all; it's a half-hearted demo written and recorded by a man who had already given up, a sonic document that a lot of people have attached a lot of baggage to through the decades. Sonically there's hardly anything there.

 

[olds1959special]

Capitol Records!

 

[EJ3]

Get rid of Springsteen entirely and swap Neil Young 'Freedom' in, in place of 'Harvest'.

I'd say get rid of Neil Young entirely, also.
Could do without Bob Dylan singing Bob Dylan, too.
To me, his songs are truly great, when sung by someone other than himself.

 

[Bruce Morgen]

Antal Dorati's three-mic recording of Brahms' Second Symphony with the Minnesota Orchestra for Mercury circa 1958.

 

[Johnkeizer]

Joni Mitchell, Both Sides Now, on DVD-A ( remember that short lived format?).

 

[Dialectic]

Just go to Dave Hurwitz's youtube channel:

The Greatest Recordings EVER!

The ultimate, definitive, unquestionably accurate list of the greatest classical recordings in the history of the universe--and if you believe that I've got ...

www.youtube.com

I know Hurwitz drives some people crazy, but he does a better job at this than I could.

Between the YouTube channel and his website, he is a content generation machine ('Hello, friends!').

Every classical musician whom I have asked says he is something of a hack, but I admire his willingness to share his views, with the attendant risk of ridicule from some quarters.