This thread is for people to list their favorite classical recordings based on sonic character only. While it's preferable to hear good performances, please disregard the interpretation entirely and list what you feel are the 10 best recordings based on sonic character of all classical music which you have heard.
Beethoven: Piano sonata #21. Russell Sherman. This is the most realistic 'sitting at the concert hall piano-sound' recording I have. You can almost feel the strings vibrating.
Sibelius: Symphony #1. Ashkenazy/PO. Again, this is what comes closer in my mind to actually being there, especially the brass and timpani. The atmosphere is just tremendous!
Stravinsky: Le Sacre du Printemps (and Bartok's Mandarin + Mussorgsky: Night on Bare Mtn.) Salonen/LAPO. Disney Hall in all its glory, even though it's a live recording, it's got amazing impact and detail.
Gershwin: Porgy & Bess. Kunzel/Cincinnati PO. Those voices!
Holst: The Planets. Dutoit/Montreal SO. Simply overwhelming mass of sound.
the best sounding classical CDs i own are consistently Pentatone SACDs followed by Harmonia Mundi. And i think ECM and Hyperion are excellent as well. Good bet anything by those labels will be of very good sound quality.
Originally Posted by lmswjm /img/forum/go_quote.gif Thanks Mink, I just purchased: Vivaldi: Cello Concertos - Ensemble Explorations/Dieltiens (Harmonia Mundi)
This is the Let-me-show-off-my-sound-system thread.
1) Atterberg Symphony 6 on BIS. Thrilling sound -- deep bass, exhilirating highs.
2) Bruckner Symphony 9 on Sony -- the NEW one from Faibio Luisi.
3) Schmidt Symphony no. 4 on Chesky.
4) Rimsky-Korsakov Scheherazade with Serebrier on Reference Recordings.
5) Mahler Das Lied von der Erde with Oue on Reference Recordings.
6) Elgar Symphony 1 with Zinman on Telarc.
7) Williams - Star Wars music with the Utah Symphony on Varese Sarabande.
8) Holst - the Planets with Dutoit on London.
9) Tchaikovsky Symphony 6 on RCA with Termirkanov.
10) Mahler Symphony 4 on Channel Classics with Fischer.
There are many others that sound fantastic, but these are some of first I pull out when I want to demonstrate the speaker system or the headphones. And some of them happen to also be top-notch performances as well.
I have three Linn (HD)CDs and they all sound stunning, especially the Schidlof Quartet ones
(images from amazon but get them from berkshirerecordoutlet)
I have heard perhaps a dozen CDs from Alia-Vox (Jordi Savall own label). I really love these two
but they all sound stunning and look gorgeous.
Speaking of Savall looking gorgeous, this DVD is reference quality (both technically and artistically)
I agree with lmswjm (what does that stand for?) that Naive Vivaldi Edition sounds fantastic (again both technically and artistically). Here are my favourites
Let me second radiohlite recommendation of Salonen's Stravinsky Sacre and add to it this older recording
Among the true oldies, I (surprise, surprise...) love the sound of Walter Legge mono recordings of the 50's. If you can play DVD-Audio you should get his mythical Tosca with Callas/Di Stefano/Gobbi in this format from berkshirerecordoutlet.
Let me finish with a very well recorded SACD, that could have been great but unfortunately isn't...
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