Choosing 10 of the finest recordings by the BPO is, of course, impossible, but here are 10 that simply demand to be heard…
No 1
Brahms Ein deutsches Requiem
BPO / Sir Simon Rattle
(Warner Classics)
‘This is a lovely performance, free-moving and sweetly sung’
No 2
Bruckner Symphony No 8
BPO / Günter Wand
(RCA)
‘This new Eighth is exceptionally fine’
No 3
Haydn Symphony No 88
BPO / Wilhelm Furtwängler
(DG)
‘Definitely one to rush out and buy’
No 4
Mahler Symphony No 6
BPO / Claudio Abbado
(DG)
‘I can’t remember hearing a tauter, more refined performance than this’
No 5
Mahler Symphony No 9
BPO / Herbert von Karajan
DG (live recording)
‘Karajan’s 1982 performance remains a remarkable one’
No 6
Mahler Symphony No 10
BPO / Sir Simon Rattle
(Warner Classics)
‘Rattle’s new version sweeps the board’
No 7
Prokofiev/Ravel Piano Concertos
Martha Argerich (pf) BPO / Claudio Abbado
(DG)
‘Defying criticism’
No 8
Puccini La bohème
BPO / Herbert von Karajan
(Decca)
‘Perhaps the best thing Pavarotti has ever done’
No 9
R Strauss Tod und Verklärung. Metamorphosen
BPO / Herbert von Karajan
(DG)
‘A clear first-choice in both works’
No 10
Wagner Parsifal
BPO / Herbert von Karajan
(DG)
‘Seems to grow in statute on each re-hearing’
Share it people