Sony has brought together Shostakovitch's greatest concertos in first recordings made soon after their American premieres by the artists most closely identified with them. Neither performance has... read more »

Gorgeously recorded so that all of Shostakovich's eerieness of texture (and harps) can be heard, Haitink's performance of the Fifth symphony is pretty wonderful. The bare landscape of the first... read more »

This all-star chamber ensemble was specifically formed to play Messiaen's masterpiece. Two decades after this recording was made, it still shows the effects of their intense identification with the... read more »

The Borodin Quartet plays the music of its namesake as to the manner born. Theirs is a beautiful, lush realization of this lyrical work, polished and full of nuance, and well-served by the 1980... read more »

... read more »

Since its release on LP in the mid-1950s, Fritz Reiner's rendition of the Concerto for Orchestra has stood as the standard against which all other recordings of the work are measured. Even after... read more »

... read more »

Anyone who has ever gamely tried and failed to absorb, enjoy, and--especially--understand the complex works of Schoenberg, Mahler, Strauss, or even Philip Glass will allow themselves a wry smile... read more »

... read more »

... read more »