Wow recordings

It's not every recording that elicits a response of wow, there are plenty of very good recordings that don't. However, I seem to have come across two in the last couple of days (well, one and a half).

At the weekend I was clearing out the last couple of Gramophone cover CDs, which I haven't listened to in ages (often because I tend to have bought the things that interest me by the time the CD appears, or the editor's taste is sufficiently askew from my own the stuff I'm curious about isn't on the disc). Anyway, I was about the throw out the September disc when I noticed it had a newly issued live recording of Mahler 4 from Sinopoli in Dresden. Now I like his Mahler, so this immediately got the disc out of the wrapper and into the CD player. Unfortunately, they'd chosen their exert incredibly badly and it wasn't indicative of anything much. But I let the disc run on and all of a few indifferent tracks and all of a sudden wow. In the form of Bach's B minor mass, in particular the sanctus. However, this particular recording (which turned out to be Jochum and the Bavarians) had a sense of drama and rhythmic drive that I've never heard before (and a quick check to my other recordings paled them in comparison - for the record Gardiner, Giulini and Richter). Needless to say Jochum is now en route from Amazon and hopefully will live up to the promise.

The second recording is one from a pile of recordings of Furtwangler that were a kind gift that just keeps giving from a fellow forum member. This particular one was Brahms' German Requiem from a live concert in Stockholm in the late 40s. Again, it was a sense of drama that marked this out, especially to the start of second movement (so much so that it caused be to bang my head). The recording may be somewhat less than ideal, but it hardly matters, it made for a wonderful evenings listening.


So, anyone else come across any recordings that have a wow factor.


regards, Tam