[AmanGeorge]

One random one:
SAINT-SAËNS Symphony No.3 in C Minor by the Milwauke Symphony Orchestra available for download at that link. It's a binaural recording that sounds terrific through headphones. They also have a Greig recording which I haven't listened to.

 

[gilency]

Quote:

Originally Posted by lmswjm /img/forum/go_quote.gif BTW, Bach is my master, Vivaldi is a close 2nd.

Couldn't agree more!
I received several very unique CD's for Christmas. here are a couple of them:
1- James Ehnege Homage records several pieces (violin and piano) with different violins and violas offering a comparison of the unique sounds of each of them. He plays several Stradivari, Guarnieri etc. I am listening for the first time. Recommended.
2- Giuliano Carmignola playing several of Vivaldi's late violin concertos, some never recorded before. Delicious!
3- Vivaldi: Heroes with Philippe Jaroussky. Countertenor voice. Very interesting.

 

[Hardertaskthinking]

I was considering starting a similar thread but I am glad I found this.

I have found the recordings made by the late recording guru Kennth Wilkinson to be of a consistently high standard. Most (if not almost all) his recordings were analogue and they can be found on reissues on Decca and Chesky (which remasters some of the recordings done by Kenneth Wilkinson for Readers Digest).

I have also found recordings on 2 other labels to be of a consistent high standard: the Japanese label Denon (I have many of the I Solisti Italiani recordings and the chamber string sound is superb) and the US label Reference Recordings (under "Prof" Keith Johnson).

Let's hear from other fellow classical music lovers what other recordings offer superb sound.

Thank you

 

[Head_case]

I posted this elsewhere but not here oddly!

Anyone interested in a reference set of recordings across a composer's works - try Simon Rattle's recordings with the Birmingham Symphony Orchestra on EMI Recordings for the Polish composer, Karol Szymanowski:

Stabat Mater
Symphony No.3
Symphony No.4
Harnasie
King Roger
Violin Concertos 1 & 2

The recordings are completely audiophile and have set the standard for audio classical recordings for Szymanowski's work - brilliant engineering; sound balance and microphone soundstaging, particularly for the violin concerto where the violin's solo against the full orchestra needs to be heard. The most striking thing is the sheer consistency - across the different works....and not just on one solitary recording.

Simply impressive!

 

[Head_case]

Might be useful for those who are interested in Szymanowski's work and have never heard of him:

EMI Classics - Szymanowski: Songs - Release Details

Quote:

The (London) Times gave an ecstatic five-star review to performances of Harnasie preceding the current recording: “Simon Rattle’s return “home” for two concerts with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra also means … a hugely welcome return to the music of Karol Szymanowski. … Rattle delivered a performance of rapturous intensity that will not easily be forgotten. … [He] excels in this kind of music, and here Szymanowski’s rich orchestral tapestry had everything from a sense of wild mystery to coruscating brilliance.” Simon Rattle and the CBSO are joined by the CBSO Chorus and tenor soloist Timothy Robinson, who previously took part in Rattle’s EMI recording of Bernstein’s Wonderful Town. More recently, Robinson made his debut with the Berliner Philharmoniker under Simon Rattle’s baton in Stravinsky’s Renard and Les Noces. Each of Simon Rattle’s three previous Szymanowski recordings for EMI Classics has won a Gramophone Award. King Roger, coupled with Symphony No. 4 (‘Symphonie Concertante’) with pianist Leif Ove Andsnes, also won the Choc du Monde de la Musique and a Diapason d’Or. The Sunday Times wrote of the recording, “Rattle and the CBSO revel in Szymanowski’s sensual and exotic sound world … Szymanowski’s lush scoring is intoxicatingly beautiful and Rattle obviously adores it.” The recording of Violin Concertos Nos. 1 and 2, performed by Thomas Zehetmair, won the Choc du Monde de la Musique and the Grand Prix de la Nouvelle Académie du disque. The Stabat Mater, Litany to the Virgin Mary and Symphony No. 3 ‘Song of the Night’, won a 10 de Répertoire with Gramophone’s reviewer describing the disc as “one of the most beautiful Szymanowski recordings that I’ve heard. … Rattle’s insistence that all of the music be heard, its bones and sinews as well as its flesh, its urgency and passion as well as its deliquescent loveliness, makes for uncommonly gripping Szymanowski.”

 

[yacobx]

Subbed

 

[Laughin Al]

If you have a nice sound system, please try

1) Pokofiev Romeo & Juliet, Classical Symphony, Lieutenant Kije Suite
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Yuri Simonov
Love the stereo image, soundstage, and dry bass cellos / double bass

2) Beethoven Symphonies
London Symphony Orchestra & Joseph Krips
Very satisfying Beethoven performances for Beethoven lovers

3) Pink Floyd Wish You Where Here, Dark Side of The Moon, The Wall
Best on Vinyl
Pink Floyd albums are spotty regarding individual song, but great sound innovation

4) Van Halen, And the Cradle will Rock, Women and Children First
Very satisfying on pre-loudness-wars recordings, i.e. Vinyl

5) Beatles, Abbey Road
Just wow

 

[wink]

An Alpine Symphony - Richard Strauss
Karajan  on DG Gold Series.

 

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