The ECM set was the one I recommended.
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Yep, the ECM was what I tried first, as @struts001 noted.
It’s only just occurred to me that I might like some of the others more! 
(or in different ways) So exciting.
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Hi struts001,
I loved your stroll through the classical repertoire. Many pieces that I still need discovering. And a blessing for those who stream. And a curse.
When listening to classical music, one needs to hang in, not flick through. The beauty often reveals itself in all its slplendour on 2nd or 3rd hearing, on quite, relaxed evenings, or even better in concert! This is the reason I do not stream. The temptation to jump from one to the other is just too great. What does this mean? Going through the list will require a couple of years…
I quibble with the ranking. For me, nr1 is the Matthaus Passion (Mache dich mein Herzen rein). And after all that Bach, de Grosse Fugue. Thereafter, a plethora of absolutely astounding music, with piano and piano concertos solid favourites.
Your selection of pieces is based on a solid repertoire, mostly anglophone oriented. And most performers are no longer with us.
We now have to build the list again, promoting, encouraging and rewarding new interpreters who will carry the tradition forward. I would make 3-4 exceptions for extraordinary musicians who revolutionized how classical music can be played : Alessandrini, Bruggen, Gardiner, Hannigan(?) and the primus inter pares, Harnoncourt (Alessandrini, Hannigan and boorish Gardiner are thankfully still alive).
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Hi @JackPot
Thanks for reviving this thread!
I trust you read the first post where I explain the choice of works (not mine) and performances/recordings (100% mine and very personal). I concur with your observations.
I agree! Please take the lead and I will be happy to chime in. Hopefully @Bauer @PAR and others will do the same.
PS I have started working at dCS and now post as @AndrewS. @struts001 is mothballed.
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I’m afraid tat my position is exactly the same as when this thread started a couple of years ago. I do not have the knowledge required to judge what are the 100 greatest works nor which are the best recordings. I haven’t heard all or sufficient of either in order to have even a vaguely reliable opinion.
The level of knowledge required can be judged by listening to “Building a Library” on BBC Radio 3 where each week an expert ( practitioner or academic) reviews recordings of a single work by listening to all currently available, approving or rejecting them one by one by offering supporting reasons and arriving at a final choice. The argument used can be quite forensic in some cases , starting by looking at the score.
If airable ( Mosaic) offers BBC Radio 3 to you then you should also find a podcast option attached and you should find hundreds of these available here.
I recommend this and can only say that hearing one every Saturday ( when originally transmitted) has cost me a fortune as much of my collection results from hearing these 
.
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There is an up to date Excel on the BBC site with all the ‘Building a Library’ results:
BAL_1999-2024_V2.xlsx
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Thanks Rudi. Good to know, However my main point was not ( just) to find the winners but to listen to the podcasts and get an idea of the criteria that musicians use to make the choice.
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I found the list helpful in identifying interesting podcasts to listen to (there are so many)
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I hear you! I’ve been binge listening to BBC’s “This Classical Life”. I wind up adding a couple of recordings to my library after each show of new music and re-listening to old favourites with fresh ears based on insights from the show.
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15 (Mozart, Le nozze di Figaro, K.492, Gardiner) Better than expected. Can imagine enjoying this on a long drive. (So glad you suggested car listening for this list, Andrew.) Probably wouldn’t be all that often, but repeated listenings do seem to work wonders with classical for me.
14 (Beethoven, Piano sonata No. 23 in F-minor, Appassionata, Op.57, Kovacevich) Right from the start I was into this. Yes please.
13 (Verdi, Otello, Chung) Sun morning cooking tunes a couple of weeks back. Fine, but it’s…a lot. I can’t cook that long. I seldom want that much of one thing. My (mostly) consistent difficulties with operas continues.
12 (Tchaikovsky, Symphony No. 6 in B-minor, Op.74, Karajan and BPO) Listened to this as a storm rolled through and rain lashed the windows. Fantastic.
11 (Beethoven, Symphony no.3 in E-flat major, Op. 55, Norrington) Nice enough for the first go, but no more. Second time through I must have been in a different mood. Great stuff! Tried a Karajan version too, which was also fantastic. Another friend suggested I try one from Ferenc Frixay, too, but I’ve not found one yet. Boo.
10 (Stravinsky, The Rite of Spring, Eötvös) What a full-on piece this was. Not relaxing in the slightest (for me), but a fun ride. Like the soundtrack to a chase movie… (What a brutal TiVo review Roon shows: oof!)
09 (Handel, Messiah, Dublin version, 1742, Butt) Had a fun session planning a new listening room with a pad and pencil while this did its thing. Liked it for the most part, but tired quickly of the hallelujah-ing. (Just pipe down!)
08 (Beethoven, String Quartet 14 in C-Sharp minor, Op.131, Takács Quartet) Enjoyed this. Such crisp, clear playing. Still can’t believe I snoozed and missed them playing here in Nelson. Facepalm.
07 (Mozart, Don Giovanni, K.527, Gardiner) A surprise, this one. Opera…and Mozart, and I quite enjoyed myself.
06 (Wagner, Tristan and Isolde, Pappano) Another good one. I’ve been looking forward to The Ring since I watched that YouTube making-of vid, and this has me pining for it all the more. Lovely stuff. Particularly liked the last act.
…and into the last five. This has been such a treat, @AndrewS THANK YOU 
Sorry, just caught up on this. It’s Fricsay, pronounced Frixay. Sorry about that!
All good, Andrew. Not your fault. I blame his parents. Or his parents’ parents’ parents 
Made it.
05 (Bach, St. Matthew Passion, Gardiner live) Wow. No idea what they’re singing about (yeah yeah, I know), but one very happy listener. Another evening of listening room planning set to a gorgeous soundtrack. Just washed over me 
And that last piece…!
04 (Beethoven, Symphony 5 in C minor, Gardiner) Tunes good. I worried at the beginning that I’d groan my way through tiringly familiar stuff, but much of this I didn’t recognise. Recording felt lacking, though.
03 (Beethoven, Symphony 9 in D minor, Bernstein live) You were at this live?! Must have been amazing. Even if the music were terrible it would have been amazing. The music was not terrible 
02 (Wagner, Der Ring des Nibelungen, Solti) This took me a long time to get through. Not because it wasn’t special, just because it was enormous. I listened until I felt like something different, then came back to it later. (Good tip, Andrew. No mad sprints to the finish.) I even found myself bellowing “hoi ho” around the house, much to Meg’s chagrin. Quite why they’re singing about the yellow-eyed penguins we get on the beach I’m not sure…
01 (Bach, Mass in B Minor, Gardiner, SDG) I really wanted to love this. I kept coming back waiting for it to click, but it never got past “this is nice.”
Personal observations in no particular order…
- Browsing for classical remains a monumental pain in the arse. Better than it used to be, though.
- My hit rate improved over time. Another run-through of the 100 would probably flip some bits from 0s to 1s.
- Repeated listens often make all the difference. Almost all of this was unfamiliar, and since recognizing patterns is rewarding for my tiny brain I should devote some time to learning what might be coming next.
- If I’m not feeling something, I should try it again…twice as loud.
- If my mind is wandering while I listen it could be because the piece isn’t for me…
- …or it could be that my mind was wandering and I need to come back later. (Helpful )
- I’m still not bothered with the story/meaning. If the music itself doesn’t connect then it’s a lost cause.
- I seem to find grim/sad/deep and meaningful pieces uplifting, while the happy morsels tend to get on my tits.
- Some bits are so commonly played that I can’t bear to hear them again. Examples: Mendelssohn’s Wedding march, Vivaldi’s Four seasons.
- Period versions beat modern renditions in most cases. (For me.)
- I can dislike a piece or LOVE it depending entirely on who was playing. Goldberg Variations by Gould: nope. Dershavina: YES PLEASE. (This turns the current misses into potential hits, of course. Exciting :-))
- Handel’s Water Music deserves another go. But only because another version might be less awful. I’ll be girding myself when I try.
The biggest takeaway for me is this, though: sometimes I now sit down to listen to something classical. This is a huge deal for me. Thank you to everyone who chimed in with ideas and tips.
Thank you particularly to @AndrewS — you’ve done what felt impossible 
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Fantastic! Now you have a better grounding in classical music than (guy guess) at least 90%+ of music lovers and a good idea of what you like and don’t like. Soooooo happy that this helped you over the threshold. Getting to listen to this great music all over again was a reward in itself, that it helped someone else make friends with classical is a massive bonus!
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Ben, I am really pleased to read this. It is such a huge subject to gain familiarity with, not only the works themselves, but the vast number if different recorded performances of them. It truly becomes a lifetime interest.
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