The Philadelphia Orchestra, Eugene Ormandy - Tchaikovsky: The Nutcracker Ballet, Op. 71 (Excerpts) (Expanded Edition) (2003)

Eugene Ormandy's disc of Nutcracker excerpts, including the entire "suite" plus a good bit of additional music (Act 1's journey through the snow and Waltz of the Snowflakes, along with some more Act 2 dances, including the Final Waltz and Apotheosis) must be one of the biggest selling records of all time. Having grown up in the 1960s and '70s, I can't think of anyone who didn't own it at one time or another, and its lustrous musical values haven't dimmed a bit. Ormandy finds every scrap of color in the music. Of course we expect the gorgeous strings, but even the percussion, right down to the suspended cymbals in the March, has a sort of picture-postcard vividness that never has been equaled and makes every other performance of this music, however fine, pale just a bit in comparison. As a bonus, we also get fantastic performances of four Rimsky-Korsakov encores, including the best-ever Dance of the Tumblers from The Snow Maiden. The Farewell of the Tsar closes the program quietly, with a sly wink, and I wouldn't be surprised if at this point you immediately decided to listen to it all over again. Sounding better than ever, and at a budget price, this disc deserves to sell another few million copies.