Gramophone Hall of Fame

Celebrating 110 years of classical recording

The classical record industry is just over 110 years old, and for nearly 90 of those years Gramophone has had a ringside seat, watching the industry grow, develop and evolve. With a year to go before our 90th birthday, we’re introducing the Gramophone Hall of Fame to celebrate the men and women who have contributed to its riches.

Each spring we will admit new honourees – artists, producers, engineers and record executives – as voted for by Gramophone’s readers and visitors to its website. An initial list was drawn up (it was not comprehensive and all the omissions and suggestions have been notes for the next wave of voting) and voting took place over the past few months.

Fifty names emerged, headed by a quintet of artists who have, at different times, made a huge impact on recorded music: the conductors Herbert von Karajan, Claudio Abbado, Wilhelm Furtwängler and Leonard Bernstein, and the soprano Maria Callas.

The full list appears below; click on their names to see archive articles from Gramophone, recommended recordings and, where available, a video clip of them in action.

Gramophone’s May issue also contains full coverage including the 50 honourees championed by 50 musicians and writers. Click here to order the digital edition [from April 7].

Gramophone Hall of Fame

Conductors Claudio ABBADO ● John BARBIROLLI ● Daniel BARENBOIM ● Thomas BEECHAM ● Leonard BERNSTEIN ● Pierre BOULEZ ● Wilhelm FURTWÄNGLER ● John Eliot GARDINER ● Nikolaus HARNONCOURT ● Herbert von KARAJAN ● Carlos KLEIBER ● Otto KLEMPERER ● Simon RATTLE ● Georg SOLTI ● Arturo TOSCANINI

Singers Janet BAKER ● Cecilia BARTOLI ● Jussi BJÖRLING ● Maria CALLAS ● Enrico CARUSO ● Joyce DIDONATO ● Plácido DOMINGO ● Dietrich FISCHER-DIESKAU ● Birgit NILSSON ● Luciano PAVAROTTI ● Elisabeth SCHWARZKOPF ● Joan SUTHERLAND

Pianists Martha ARGERICH ● Claudio ARRAU ● Daniel BARENBOIM ● Alfred BRENDEL ● Glenn GOULD ● Vladimir HOROWITZ ● LANG LANG ● Murray PERAHIA ● Maurizio POLLINI ● Sviatoslav RICHTER ● Arthur RUBINSTEIN

String/brass players Dennis BRAIN ● Pablo CASALS ● Jacqueline DU PRÉ ● Jascha HEIFETZ ● Yehudi MENUHIN ● David OISTRAKH ● Itzhak PERLMAN ● Mstislav
ROSTROPOVICH

Ensembles BEAUX ARTS TRIO ● TAKÁCS QUARTET

Producers/record label executives John CULSHAW ● Walter LEGGE ● Ted PERRY

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