"best" version for "Toccata and Fugue D minor?

While the Murray recording is good, I still am lukewarm about his performances, though there's never a technical mistake. I prefer Christopher Herrick on the Hyperion label, probably influenced in part by the fact I've gotten to know him and am impressed both by his scholarly approach to Bach as well as his playing. The Guillou is also a good version, has a lot more fire than Murray's. And if you want something completely different and don't mind some liberties taken in registration and a very dry organ sound, Virgil Fox's recording, both the direct to disc vinyl and the CD version, is an exciting, though admittedly eccentric, version.

SD, the Fox recording is the one I was speaking of, and was released, I believe on the Bainbridge label, as The Digital Fox. Sound was never that great, even on the vinyl, as the organ seems quite close-miked and accordingly dry, but you're right, the digital version is not nearly as good as the vinyl.

SD--I didn't know Bainbridge also put it out on LP. It was also a CD release, which I have and includes the material from both the D to D records, though recorded digitally and edited to take out the fluffs from the original performance that went D to D. As you say, it is far inferior to the Direct to Disc, which I also have, but it certainly shows Fox's style very well. Fox was one of those organists either you loved or hated, but you can never say he was boring. I think Guillou has a bit of Virgil in him.

Agree with Rushton on the Chandos release. Also, Telarc did a CD with Kunzel and the Cincinnati Pops years ago called The Stokowski Sound which has a good version in pretty decent sound for digital, if you can find it.