music you cant live without

I'll try to add to the minority. Anything by J.S. Bach, particularly his choral pieces, and Brahms, Shostakovich's 1st and 5th symphonies, Prokofiev's 2nd and 3rd piano concerti and first symphony, Rachmaninoff's 2nd and 3rd piano concerti and solo piano works, particularly the Corelli Variations, Copland's Symphony No. 3, Mahler's 1st, 2nd, 4th and 9th symphonies, Vaughn-Williams symphonies and Tallis Fantasia, Dvorak (anything by him)-- too many to mention, when you think of it. Check out the Most Aching-Beautiful Music thread for more.

Alfred Brendel does justice to Shubert's Impromptus,too.
Emerson String Quartet is at the moment my favorite string
quartet;very powerful and forceful particularly on Schubert's quartets and Webern's chamber pieces. What do you think of YoYo Ma's work these days?????

Mozart's last 10 piano concerto's; the last 6 symphonies especially the last 3 and many of his chamber works; Beethoven's 5,6,7 and 9th symphonies and Emperor Concerto and many of his sonatas; Borodin's string quartets; Brahms 4th Symphony; Most of Schubert's String Quartets; Rachmaninov's 2nd & 3rd Concertos (Reprince I probably have 6 different recordings of the 2nd on cd and vinyl there is one with Jorge Pratt and Mexican Philharmonic that is stunning if you haven't heard it, dynamics of this recording will lift you out of your seat on the opening and ending of the last movement). Much of Bach's music for the polyphony of harmony especially many of his choral pieces as noted by Reprince. Modern music? Stravinsky, Rite of Spring; Prokofiev Classic Symphony, 5th piano concerto, I like almost all his music, so diverse. And for American how about a Gershwin tune or two or more? There are too many more.

Tubegroover, I'm going to have to check out the Pratt Rachmaninoff, thanks. My favorite interpretation of that piece has been the unusual Richter one on DG from the 60s, but the sonics are such that you have a gigantic piano stretching across the soundstage, little bass and wiry strings--typical DG. The one thing that I cannot yet find in any of the recordings of Rachmaninoff 2 and 3, and I've heard a lot of them, is the incredible power of the pianist that you hear in concert (last year I heard the 3rd played by Toradze with the NJSO, and I'll swear he almost moved that piano off the stage at times!). Argerich has the fire in her live recording, but not quite that power in the lower registers on the recording which I know she has live. Let me know if you've found one that has it--maybe it's just one of those things that cannot be conveyed, even by a good system and recording.

Re Argerich. Most of her recordings are for DG and their 'Tonemeisters' usually roll off the lower registers in their recordings.