Recommended Listening

The disks recommended below are chosen largely from the archive of Sony Classical and Columbia Masterworks recordings and are all likely to be found in your local record library. Most are still in print and for sale in the $10 price range.

Prokofiev: Peter and the Wolf (1936) Prokofiev - Peter & the Wolf - Bernstein. New York Philharmonic / Bernstein. (Columbia) CBS MYK 37765 (Great Performances).

Britten: The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra (1948) Variations and Fugue on a Theme of Purcell, op. 34. New York Philharmonic / Bernstein. Sony Classical 47541 (the Royal Edition).

Monteverdi: excerpt from Orfeo (1609) L'Orfeo - Claudio Monteverdi. Monteverdi Choir / English Baroque Soloists / Gardiner. Archiv 419 250-2.

Pachelbel: Canon in D (c. 1700) Pachelbel's Canon - Baroque Favorites. English Chamber Orchestra / Leppard. (Columbia) CBS 38482 (Great Performances).

Mouret: Rondeau, from First Symphonic Suite (c. 1729) Pachelbel's Canon - Baroque Favorites. English Chamber Orchestra / Leppard. (Columbia) CBS 38482 (Great Performances).

Handel: Music for the Royal Fireworks (1749) Handel - Water Music / Music for the Royal Fireworks. La Grand Écurite et la Chambre du Roy / Malgoire. Sony Classical SBK 48285 (Essential Classics).

Mozart: Piano Concerto in C Major, K. 503, movts. II-III Beethoven - Piano Concerto No. 4 [etc.]. Fleisher / Cleveland Orchestra / Szell. (Columbia) CBS MYK 37762 (Great Performances).

Mozart: Symphony No. 40 in G Minor, K. 550 (1788), movts. II-IV Mozart - Symphony No. 41 in C Major, K. 551 ("Jupiter," 1788) Mozart - Symphonies No. 35, 40, 41. Cleveland Orchestra / Szell. Sony Classical SBK 46333 (Essential Classics).

Mozart: Overtures to The Marriage of Figaro, K. 492 (1786) and The Magic Flute, K. 620 (1791) Mozart - Eine kleine Nachtmusik [etc.] - Walter. Columbia Symphony Orchestra / Walter. (Columbia) CBS MYK 37774 (Great Performances).

Mozart: arias from The Marriage of Figaro and Don Giovanni, K. 527 (1787) Opera Arias: Donizetti - Bellini - Verdi - Puccini - Mozart. Cotrubas / Te Kanawa / Scotto / Domingo. Sony Classical SBK 46548 (Essential Classics).

Beethoven: Sonata No. 8 in C Minor, op. 13 ("Pathétique," 1799) Beethoven - Sonatas - Serkin. Rudolf Serkin. (Columbia) CBS MYK 37129 (Great Performances).

Beethoven: Sonata No. 14 in C# Minor, op. 27, no. 2 ("Moonlight," 1801) Beethoven - Sonatas - Serkin. Rudolf Serkin. (Columbia) CBS MYK 37129 (Great Performances).

Beethoven: Sonata No. 23 in F Minor, op. 57 ("Appassionata," 1804 - 1805) Beethoven - Sonatas - Serkin. Rudolf Serkin. (Columbia) CBS MYK 37129 (Great Performances).

Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 4 in G Major, op. 58 (1806) Beethoven - Piano Concerto No. 4 [etc.]. Fleisher / Cleveland Orchestra / Szell. (Columbia) CBS MYK 37762 (Great Performances).

Beethoven: Symphony No. 9 in D Minor, op. 125 (1824) Beethoven - Symphony No. 9 - Ormandy. Philadelphia Orchestra / Ormandy. (Columbia) CBS MYK 37241 (Great Performances).

Schubert: Symphony No. 8 in B Minor ("Unfinished," 1822) Schubert - Unfinished Symphony. Cleveland Orchestra / Szell. Sony Classical SBK 48268 (Essential Classics).

Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique, movts. I-IV (1830) Berlioz - Symphonie Fantastique - Overtures - Bernstein. New York Philharmonic / Bernstein. Sony Classical SMK 47525 (the Royal Edition).

Liszt: Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 in C# Minor (1847) Liszt - Brendel. Alfred Brendel. Vanguard Classics OVC 4024.

Schumann: Piano Concerto in A Minor, op. 54 (1845) Schumann - Piano Concerto - Serkin - Ormandy. Serkin / Philadelphia Orchestra / Ormandy. (Columbia) CBS MYK 37256 (Great Performances).

Mendelssohn: Violin Concerto in E Minor, op. 64 (1844) Mendelssohn - Tchaikovsky - Stern. Stern / Philadelphia Orchestra / Ormandy. (Columbia) CBS MYK 36724 (Great Performances).

Brahms: Symphony No. 3 in F Major, op. 90 (1883) Brahms - Symphonies Nos. 2 & 3. Cleveland Orchestra / Szell. Sony Classical SBK 47652 (Essential Classics).

Mahler: Symphony No. 1 in D Major (1888) Mahler - Symphony No. 1 - Bernstein. New York Philharmonic / Bernstein. (Columbia) CBS Masterworks MK 42194.

Smetana: The Moldau (1874) Mendelssohn-A Midsummer Night's Dream - Smetana - Bizet. Cleveland Orchestra / Szell. Sony Classical SBK 48264 (Essential Classics).

Tchaikovsky: Violin Concerto in D Major, op. 35 (1878) Mendelssohn - Tchaikovsky - Stern. Stern / Philadelphia Orchestra / Ormandy. (Columbia) CBS MYK 36724 (Great Performances).

Puccini: excerpts from Madama Butterfly (1904) Opera Arias: Donizetti - Bellini - Verdi - Puccini - Mozart. Cotrubas / Te Kanawa / Scotto / Domingo. Sony Classical SBK 46548 (Essential Classics).

Ravel: Daphnis and Chloe, Suite No. 2 (1912) Ravel - Bolero, La Valse [etc.] - Bernstein. New York Philharmonic / Bernstein. (Columbia) CBS Masterworks MYK 36714 (Great Performances).

Ravel: La Valse (1920), Boléro (1928) Ravel - Bolero, La Valse [etc.] - Bernstein. New York Philharmonic / Bernstein. (Columbia) CBS Masterworks MYK 36714 (Great Performances).

Copland: Appalachian Spring (1944) Copland - Appalachian Spring - Bernstein. New York Philharmonic / Bernstein. (Columbia) CBS MYK 37257 (Great Performances).

Rodgers and Hammerstein: excerpts from South Pacific (1949) South Pacific. Original Broadway Cast. Sony Broadway SK 53327.

Bartók: Concerto for Orchestra (1943) Bartók - Concerto for Orchestra [etc.]. New York Philharmonic / Bernstein. Sony Classical SMK 47510 (the Royal Edition).

The Beatles: "Hey Jude" (1968) The Beatles - Past Masters - Volume Two. EMI CDP 7 90044 2.

Riley: In C (1964) Terry Riley - In C. (Columbia) CBS MK 7178.

Adams: excerpt from The Death of Klinghoffer (1991) John Adams - The Death of Klinghoffer. Lyon Opera / Nagano. Elektra Nonesuch 9 79281-2.