The NPR Classical 50
Critic Ted Libbey and radio host Fred Child recommend 50 recordings any fanatic or first-timer should not be without.
Conductor Valery Gergiev's powerful, nearly maniacal interpretation of Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring is a lesson in controlled chaos. He emphasizes the angular savagery in the music, which still has the capacity to shock listeners today.
Recent The NPR Classical 50
June 30, 2009 Leonard Bernstein performs American music with mid-century flair in this 1959 recording.
August 11, 2009 Hear conductor Carlos Kleiber bring out all the pent-up emotions in Brahms' final symphony.
September 1, 2009 The original Broadway cast recording still sounds fresh more than 50 years after the show opened.
December 1, 2009 The Chicago Symphony, playing as if it had been set on fire, set a standard for Bartok back in 1955.
June 2, 2009 Hear the lanky Texan's iconic Tchaikovsky recording, made just after his historic Moscow victory.
November 10, 2009 Cellist Jacqueline Du Pre exposes both the tenderness and pain in Elgar's late-career concerto.
October 13, 2009 Franz Liszt's multi-layered sonata can spark a powerful emotional experience in the listener.
July 28, 2009 Ted Libbey recommends an all-star cast performance of Mozart's last opera, The Magic Flute.
September 22, 2009 Hear the extraordinary opulence soprano Jessye Norman brings to Strauss' final songs.
December 15, 2009 Monteverdi's set of Vespers illustrated a mastery of blending Renaissance and Baroque styles.
