Records that never let you down

[Barbirollians]

What recording do you play when you really want to listen to an old musical friend - whether to life your spirits , for solace or just for the joy of it ? Choose only one . I suppose it might also be that desert island disc that you are left with if the other 7 are washed away .

For me it has always been and remains Beethoven's Fifth Piano Concerto with Barenboim/New Philharmonia and Klemperer . An extraordinarily uplifting and thrilling performance that never pales .

[umslopogaas]

Messiaen's Turangalila Symphony cond. Seiji Ozawa, on three sides of a two LP set on RCA Victor. There have been other and probably better performances, but the Ozawa was the first version I heard, dating from 1967, and it still sounds great (two full price LPs on a student grant, where did I find the cash? That must have been at least a week's beer money).

[pastoralguy]

Easy! Igor Oistrakh playing the Tchaikovsky violin concerto under his father, the great Soviet violinist, David. The orchestra is the Moscow Philharmonic. Alas, it's never been issued on cd so I have to rely on an old reel to reel tape which sounds pretty damn good when played on my Sony tape machine.

I must have heard that recording 100's of times and it never fails to work its magic.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Whilst I'd have terrible problems selecting "just eight" discs, the "one that I'd save" is an easy choice: Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde; Patzak/Ferrier/VPO/Walter.

[silvestrione]

Brendel's 1977 recording of the Benediction de Dieu dans la solitude by Liszt.

[vinteuil]

.

Rameau : Hippolyte et Aricie

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B000005E4S

[Conchis]

Perlman and Ashkenazy in the Franck Sonata (Decca, 1968)

[Bryn]

Cage and Tudor: "Indeterminacy".

[Alison]

Tchaikovsky: Pathetique Symphony

Philharmonia
Sir Charles Mackerras

[HighlandDougie]

Hmm ... I was asked a very similar question recently and my response was "Dances" by Benjamin Grosvenor. Uplifting, entertaining, moving - all that and more.

[Alison]

Hmm ... I was asked a very similar question recently and my response was "Dances" by Benjamin Grosvenor. Uplifting, entertaining, moving - all that and more.

Yes, a very worthy nomination.

[Nick Armstrong]

A number spring to mind but at the top of the heap based on about 10 seconds' thought: the Decca recording by Kondrashin and the Vienna Phil of Dvorak's New World Symphony.

[Conchis]

A number spring to mind but at the top of the heap based on about 10 seconds' thought: the Decca recording by Kondrashin and the Vienna Phil of Dvorak's New World Symphony.

I call it the 'roll your eyes' symphony, despite not disliking it; that (first digital) recording is very special.

[Petrushka]

It wouldn't necessarily be one of my desert island CDs as others might just edge it out but it does for me exactly what you are looking for - Mahler: Symphony No 1, Concertgebouw Orchestra, Amsterdam/Bernard Haitink recorded in 1972. It was the first Mahler recording I bought on February 16 1973 and while other Mahler 1's come and go this is the one remains constant.

[Barbirollians]

Whilst I'd have terrible problems selecting "just eight" discs, the "one that I'd save" is an easy choice: Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde; Patzak/Ferrier/VPO/Walter.