Best Samuel Barber Violin Concerto

Here's one vote for Isaac Stern with the New York Philharmonic conducted by Leonard Bernstein. First performance recorded in stereo. Absolutely glorious.
Maybe a little forward in presentation but the playing is on a grand scale.

Stern/Bernstein is the one. I once heard Hilary Hahn's take and almost vomited...
Also interesting is the Claire Bernard/Edouard van Remoortel (L'Orchestre National de l'Opera de Monte Carlo) which was put out on the Philips "World Series" with Milhaud's violin concerto on side 2.

Stern's is probably generally viewed as the best interpretation, though the sonics are not the best. I also like Bobby McDuffie's version on Telarc, but he's a friend and client of mine, so I'm prejudiced. I'm not quite as turned off by Hahn's playing as Dpatrick, but I have heard her play it live and felt she was fine as a technical matter but seemed to lack the emotion that this piece requires--perhaps that will come over time.

In addition to the Stern/Bernstein, I'd recommend Olivera/Slatkin. Olivera has a lovely tone. I wish he'd recorded more. Also Hahn did not make me vomit. I think it's one of her better records.