It must be "make a list" time. I'll present the works which get to my core in order of preference (quite momentary): 1. Bach - Art of Fugue (Gilbert-Archiv). 2. Schubert - Piano Sonata D.959 (Brendel-Philips). 3. Bach - St. Matthew Passion (New Herreweghe -HM). 4. Bach - Well Tempered Clavier (Gould-Sony). 5. Mozart - Great Mass in C minor (Leppard-EMI). 6. Beethoven - Symhony No. 9 (Bernstein-Sony). 7. Brahms - Clarinet Quintet (Leister-Nimbus). 8. Mahler - Symphony No. 4 (Alexander/Haitink-Philips). 9. Beethoven - Hammerkavier Piano sonata (Pollini-DG). 10.Mozart - Magic Flute (Klemperer-EMI). 11.Mozart - Clarinet Concerto (Bohm-DG) and Quintet (Meyer-Denon). 12.Schumann - Kinderszenen (Argerich-DG). 13.Handel - Messiah (Boston Baroque-Telarc). 14.Shostakovich - Op. 87 Preludes & Fugues (Nikolayeva-Hyperion). 15.Brahms - Clarinet Sonatas (Leister-Orfeo). 16.Mahler - Das Lied (Ferrier/Walter). 17.Mozart - Piano Concerto No. 24 (Frantz-Eurodisc). 18.Bach - Mass in B minor (Leonhardt-DHM). 19.Rachmaninov - Piano Concerto No.3 (Kocsis-Philips). 20.Ravel - String Quartet (Alban Berg-EMI). 21.Brahms - Handel Variations (Katchen-Decca). 22.Weber - Grand Duo Concertant (Hilton-Chandos). 23.Debussy - Preludes (Giesking-EMI). 24.Schumann - Piano Concerto (Bolet/Chailly-Decca). 25.Schubert - String Quartet D.887 (Tokyo-RCA). Don Satz [log in to unmask]