Teodor Currentzis also made a very special version of the 6th. Many might not like it, but I think it’s a good idea to also try some new paths….
I agree Marvisnky’s 6th is hard to beat. This 1960 recorded 6th is excellent but I prefer his mono version recorded in June 1956 with the same band same venue but different DG engineer.
It was reissued in SACD hybrid CD in 2012 via Praga Digital.
Original vinyl has more close up perspective but decent micro/macro dynamics. Detailed midrange with good instrument separations and colours.
Performance: Mysterious and cautious intro. Even the the pause between the repeat of the first theme is well calculated as if someone’s breathing with a inevitable sense of doom. Waltz scene is sufficiently cool and detached feel it’s a nice contrast to hot blooded march sequence. Exciting, a lot of bite in brass. It does not sound cheezy or forced nor sounding like a movie soundtrack. Love the tip toe intro on the 3rd movement and Wonderful stops and starts and brass section accents to keep the tension going leading to a great heroic finale. Colourful but Mravinsky does not let it too garrish. Most poignant 4th. Evah!
Remaster SACD sounds cleaned up a lot from the orignial however, the tension on the strings is more legato like losing a bit of peppery accents. Also slightly softened are transients on the march segment. Dynamics seem a little muted but in exchange, gaining instrument details and colours and overall scale. This is a better balanced recording/mix for most people.
My other faves on the 6th.
Giulini/Philharmonia
Recorded in 1959 but this is a Natural sounding excellent digital reissue with minimum digital distortion and spacious yet intimate perspective. Good low end dynamics. Spacious early stereo.
Performance:
Mellower gentle start but the sinister plot is felt due to a strong bass anchor. There is a great sense of scale and heft to this set sounding like an epic proportion. Perhaps missing a bit more of private intimacy. Waltz segment appears wondering around without much focus or intensity. But unlike other low energy set, this one has a very good lyrical flow that propells the music forward. Classy and lofty like a gilded ball room and the music swirls around in it. His march is oppullent and elegant. A large force pulling the music through like an oversized charise and just as exhilarating and leave enough impact and contrast for the final movement. Emotionally charged and under lying melancholy is felt. There is a lonely horn hovering like an angel guiding towards the guiding light. A greater contrast betewen the hard reality on this earth vs. reminiscing good things past. Similar feeling to Bruckner’s 9th.
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Here are other 6s I like.
Solti/CSO
My vinyl copy is Atmospheric and natural plus above average dynamics and details. No distortion anywhere. Great frequency extensions with a brilliant brass preserving the each instrumental colours.
Performance:
Gravitas and drama in abundance. Solti builds excitement slowly to a good effect. It’s still perhaps too polished for my taste but what a dynamics and large sound stage that fills the room like a tidal wave. Yet it’s much more human than Ansermet set. Heart attack inducing big bang on the back end of the 1st movement followed by nimble CSO band. What a confidence and bold strokes I’ve never heard from today’s CSO. Chicago Brass it their best in the 3rd movement. What’s missing is Mravinksy’s grit and sarcastic bent.
Kurt Masur/Leipzig Gewandhaus
Warner 10 CD box set reissue. Ultra dynamic Teldek digital recording. A bit stark but no apparent distortions. Great low end impact. Huge sound stage and coloruful brass section
Performance:
Surprisingly, Masur here nails the right tempo avoiding any subjective editorials and play it straight yet pretty effective. He brings out a dense textures and colorus from the band, classy and dramatic yet narrowly escaping the cheese. Skillful pacing throughout avoiding any monotony and cliche just get down on bringing out a gut wrenching emotions. Pacing and ebb and flow are surprisingly close to that of Mravinsky. Perhaps edges are slightly more polished and certain the finale is not as dark as Mravisnky but this is a pretty convincing read.
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This was the last 6th I purchased on vinyl back in 2016.
You are right in that this is not going to please every one.
Highly unorthodox, quite a lot of editorialising going on. Deliberately long pauses in th 1st movement yet, oddly the tension is less than Mravinsky instead coming off rather trite effort. A certain subtle underlying sinister darkness missing. A large dynamic swings also is somewhat theatrical missing some realism. Workman like 2nd movement. Lively 3rd movement maintains swifty tempo. The build up a decent excitement to the finale yet it sounds unusually hurried with irregular beat. The final movement has all sort of longer pauses for the dramatic effect but sounds superficial and not nearly as effective as Mravinsky set.
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Less dramatic, just controlled at some points in the piece. I also belief this one deserves to be heard, good sound quality….
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Not surprised. Have you seen Petrenko live?
Not in person no, but I do have the Digital Concert Hall of the Berliner Philharmoniker. So I see him regularly performing on TV in streamed format, mostly enjoying it….
Ps feel free to suggest a piece for comparison yourselves as well…
Bit late on this thread.
So, to catch up. Goldbergs have to be Perahia - nobody comes close to him. Desert island recording.
Tchaikovsky 6, it has to be Mravinsky, Leningrad. 1960 recording on DG.
There isn’t a best Goldbergs version, only variations 
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Today let me initiate an exchange on the Chopin Nocturnes. My favorite has always been Maria Jao Pires. However there are many more great versions of these great pieces. Let me know what you would recommend for these pieces……
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The Pires set of the Chopin is wonderful and my go to recording of these works. May I also recommend:
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Pires, I guess. Add Goerner, Planès and Pollini to your list. Pogorelich has a few nocturnes to his name. And I like Ashkenazy as well - more so than Freire or Moravec. Fliter and Lisiecki have a few good ones in their somewhat inconsistent sets. Among the big names I’ve always found Rubinstein a bit overrated and Hewitt underrated.
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You picked three of my favorites. I don’t know the Hough, but I would need to add Rubinstein (my imprint version).
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Pires and Arrau for me too. I haven’t heard Hough yet, but I’ll listen to it.
Claude
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I have not listened to many Nocturne Op.9 No.1 but my fave Nocturnes so far is Pollini and Samson Francois. Too many Chopins are just too flowery for my taste but these two have given something to ponder.
Finally I am getting somewhere with the No.1. Francois starts off with rather brisk bouncy even stroll yet there is a sense of hurt and sadness. So rather than making the tune overtly melancholic, he creates an interesting dichotomy of things are not what appears to be. Mood shifts and the anxiety inside starts to come out more and more. But he quickly picks up his composure and goes back to walking down the street in a slightly hopeful mood. No.2 is played out firm and less fillgrees. Not as insightful or imaginative as No.1. This is a macho Chopin.
Spacious pacy intro and interestingly his voice is not edited out. This might be most emotive Pollini I have heard to date. This is a full of emotion more so than his earlier Chopin set. Stronger dynamic contrast and poignant expressive phrasing everywhere. Dramatic build is ever more urgent and pleading. Heroic motifs whilst majestic there is a underlying dark streak. His playing now is slightly rounder and larger, perhaps not so incisive as before. Finish is just gorgeous. No.8 is utterly transparent and clear. It’s got a Swan Lake feel in the intro section. Opulent and flowing but never sappy or over fragrant. Crystal clear tone and fingerwork sounds like a voices from afar. A streamlined elegance. Beautiful melody making. A touch Schubertian but a stronger sweet moving melody line assures this is very Chopin. It is terribly melancholic but due to Pollin’s clarity and precision not as sentimental. A bitter sweet voice from the past. There’s much more poignant about this set.
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I see Hewitt is coming to the Musikgebouw next year.
I will check out Lisiecki’s Nocturne.
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Chopin nocturnes ?
Sorry, Pires and Arrau bore the pants off me. Got to be Ivan Moravec.
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