Nearly any performance of Ionisation by Edgard Varèse is good....really, the writing is so perfectly crafted for the ensemble that even a mediocre performance is still exciting. When you find an outstanding performance, like the one above, with every member of the group playing with the intensity of a mad man being hunted down by rabid dogs, it really makes the work even more phenomenal! Sorry to the rest of you non-percussionists out there, but I'll put performances like this up against anything a string quartet, brass ensemble, or any other chamber group can come up with.
By the way, if anyone knows who this ensemble is, please let us know!
