Recordings
Winterreise: the tale of Schubert's brilliantly bleak song cycle - and four great recordings
Michael Tanner sets out on one of the bleakest and loneliest journeys in classical music, as he selects the finest recordings of Schubert's harrowing song-cycle, Winterreise
Mahler Symphony 5: a guide to this journey from darkness to triumph, and its best recordings
We name the greatest recordings of Mahler's legendary Fifth Symphony
18 weird and wonderful Christmas album covers: our pick of the best
Christmas over the years has inspired a glorious array of quirky covers from record company designers. We present our favourites…
Essential Christmas albums: 10 timeless recordings to get you in the Christmas spirit
What is the perfect music to get oneself into the festive spirit? We ask ten of our writers to name the albums they couldn’t imagine Yuletide without
Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 1: the story of a Romantic showstopper and its best recordings
Claire Jackson explains how this king of the concert hall triumphed despite its inauspicious start in life, and presents the best recordings of Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1
Handel's Messiah: the best recordings of this festive choral masterpiece
We name the best recordings of of Handel’s Messiah, a choral masterpiece that should have everyone shouting Hallelujah!
Bach for beginners: 12 great recordings to unlock the Baroque master's magical music
Pianist George Lepauw introduces us to his essential Bach listening
Gaspard de la nuit: inside Ravel’s famously haunting piano cycle
Rebecca Franks explores the twilight world of Ravel’s haunting and nightmarish cycle, Gaspard de la nuit, and finds the best recording of this virtuosic work
Mozart Sinfonia Concertante: lively, sorrowful, utterly beautiful. A guide to this extraordinary work and its best recordings
A guide to Mozart's lively, sorrowful and beautiful work for violin, viola and orchestra, and some of the best recorded versions available
Best Beethoven recordings of all time: 20 great moments in Beethoven recording history
We name the best albums and recordings every Beethoven lover needs to add to their collection
Best recordings of all time: 50 classical discs you should own
Our round-up of the best must-have performances of classical music. Update your collection with the great symphonies, choral works, operas, chamber and instrumental works
Vivaldi Four Seasons: five of the greatest recordings of all time (and, just for fun, three wild cards)
These four revolutionary violin concertos remain Vivaldi's most-loved works. Lucy Chaudhuri rounds up the best recordings of The Four Seasons to date, and adds in three wild cards for good measure
Appalachian Spring: Aaron Copland's masterful evocation of America's wide open spaces
The 1940s ballet Appalachian Spring has become one of Copland’s most popular works. And its true American spirit has inspired many great recordings, finds Anthony Burton
Ludovico Einaudi, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Max Richter: 18 definitive ambient classical albums you should hear
The best post-classical albums and modern masterpieces to inspire and move you
Bruckner's Fifth Symphony: a work almost destroyed by well-meaning but misguided acolytes
Devout yet unconventional, Bruckner’s Fifth has long been misjudged, says Terry Williams, who finds which recordings reveal its greatness
Simon Rattle and the Berlin Philharmonic: seven of the best recordings
The British conductor spent 16 years at the helm of the Berlin Philharmonic. Together, they created landmark recordings of some of classical music's best loved works
Pictures at an Exhibition: a guide to Mussorgsky's original piano masterpiece and its best recordings
Jessica Duchen chooses three of the best recordings of Musorgsky's evocative masterpiece - in its original piano version
The best recording of each Beethoven symphony to add to your collection
No composer changed the symphony more radically than Beethoven... Here is a guide to all nine of his symphonies and their best recordings
Rachmaninov's Symphonic Dances: four great recordings of this masterpiece - and one to avoid
The greatest recordings on disc of the Russian composer Rachmaninov's final orchestral masterpiece, the Symphonic Dances, full of vibrant colour and driving rhythms
Brahms Symphony No. 3: a guide to his most enigmatic symphony and its best recordings
Terry Williams finds the best recordings of Brahms’s Third, one of the composer’s greatest triumphs yet one of his most paradoxical pieces
Bach Mass in B minor: a guide to this monumental sacred masterpiece and its best recordings
The sheer variety and craftsmanship of JS Bach’s final choral masterpiece, Mass in B minor, enthral Paul Riley as he chooses the finest recordings
The Planets by Holst: a guide to this truly cosmic work and its best recordings
We bring you the best recordings of each movement of Holst's The Planets
Mozart's violin concertos: the best recordings
Julian Haylock sends a couple of false pretenders packing as he searches out the best recordings of Mozart’s violin concertos
Mendelssohn's Piano Trio No. 1 in D minor: a guide to a great chamber work and its best recordings
Jo Talbot celebrates the ‘Mozart of the 19th century’ as she searches out the finest recordings of this masterful work for piano, violin and cello