It's Leister/Leipziger on MDG, one of the finest labels out there. Since others have mentioned the Brahms 1, I have to mention Gunter Wand, who recorded it (I think) four times. All of them are worth hearing. To me no one understood the finale better; Wand conveys a sense of the 'dramatic' which does - at times - have its place in Brahms. What Monteux is to 2, who recorded THAT symphony several times, Wand is to 1!
I'm unsure what your definition of 'reference' or 'consensus' is ...'people in the know'.... By those rather nebulous 'definitions', I could as easily cite Cantelli, Loughran, Paray, Wand, Barenboim, Kubelik, Kondrashin, none of whom you mention. I'd be more convinced if you gave your own honest opinion. Following 'people in the know' , i.e. the almost always wrong critics, is a counsel of despair.
I defined this in my larger video. It’s an imperfect science, of course, and more often than not represents a plurality as opposed to majority. You could easily cite others, but I don’t think they are as often mentioned as the ones I cited. I recommend my own choices in other videos which you can easily look up. For example, in the four symphonies, only the Kleiber 4th is one I count as my own first choice.
The problem with "consensus" choices is that they will invariably favor recordings that a) have been around for a long time, b) are on major labels and thus are relatively easy to find, and c) date from the 60's and 70's, when recordings tended to stay in print for many years (as opposed to more modern recordings, which sometimes disappear within a few months). And of course, they favor famous artists - most of them, of course, deserve their fame, but some really don't. But these Brahms choices are mostly pretty solid - it's hard not to recommend Klemperer and Walter for Brahms symphonies, or Oistrakh for the violin concerto. I'm less enamored of the Gilels/Jochum piano concertos, particularly #2.
I love the majestic Gilels/Jochum #2. The tempo shift halfway through the second movement works very well, and I have not heard a more beautiful rendition of the Andante.
My dear Gil I wish you also shared as part of other marvelous chamber music ref recordings for The two sextets And the trios Any intent to do a video on these ?
