If I were to narrow my own list of 5 down to one must have account it would be difficult since they each have thier own strong points, but my choice is:
*** Beecham / EMI (Great Recorings of the Century) ***
Beecham is a master of painting tonal colors best at capturing the magic and mystery of this enchanting tale, there is a hint of jasmine in the air as you are carried away by tale of "1001 Nights" The storm/shipwreck sequence has impressive power and savage fury which is hard to match.
The only slight negative is this is 1958 recording and the orchestral climaxes are a bit strained/ragged, better now with new ART remaster but noticeable compared to modern recording. There is also excellent version of Borodin's "polovtsian dances" included but again same issues with sound quality. This is minor point and doesn't keep me from playing this set again and again.
By comparison the Mackerras/Telarc has fabulous lush modern Telarc sound that is quite impressive demonstration class, but does not capture the magic mood as effectively as Beecham.
*** Beecham / EMI (Great Recorings of the Century) ***
Beecham is a master of painting tonal colors best at capturing the magic and mystery of this enchanting tale, there is a hint of jasmine in the air as you are carried away by tale of "1001 Nights" The storm/shipwreck sequence has impressive power and savage fury which is hard to match.
The only slight negative is this is 1958 recording and the orchestral climaxes are a bit strained/ragged, better now with new ART remaster but noticeable compared to modern recording. There is also excellent version of Borodin's "polovtsian dances" included but again same issues with sound quality. This is minor point and doesn't keep me from playing this set again and again.
By comparison the Mackerras/Telarc has fabulous lush modern Telarc sound that is quite impressive demonstration class, but does not capture the magic mood as effectively as Beecham.