Try Acoustic Sounds. It seems anyone who sells the Esoteric discs gets a premium for them even if they are recent issues. I had a couple of them and sold them at a premium. I did not find it worth it to keep them. IMO they were not worth the $50 for them.
Your post reminded me that I wanted to recommend the Mozart Symphonies done by Adam Fischer and the Danish National Chamber Orchestra. These have audiophile sound especially if one wants to search out the SACD versions which are becoming scarce now (probably a limited run). The CD box has almost as good a sound as the SACDs I think. I found the interpretations fascinating. And the Andante or Andantino movements are often delicious. The recordings were done over several years. The SACD issues have covers like this: The 2013 CD box of 12 CDs has this cover:
What do you think of the sound (not the recording quality) on this M&A set? Some say engineer Aaron Z. Snyder applied too much noise reduction, while others seem to like what he did. He remastered the recordings again for M&A in 2013 for another reissue:
In the disc player…an old favorite. I'm sure some are not partial to Solti's Brahms, but I enjoy it very much…there's a "passionate dignity" about it I find very appealing, almost irresistible.
...and that was when he'd only had them in hand a short time, too. Have you read the Harvey Sachs biography? If not, I commend it to your attention--he debunks a lot of myths and, while certainly sympathetic (who would ever write a biography otherwise?), he doesn't hesitate to give us the human side, warts and all. Oh, by the way, hope you're having a great vacation!
I am, thanks! That Toscanini box set was among my finds at Princeton Record Exchange earlier this week. By the way, they had a sign up that said that their classical stock was low, but they expected this to be a temporary state. I know that subject came up earlier in this thread, so I thought I'd share the news.
I wish I could help, but I haven't heard the M&A transfers. My copies are, mostly, on Naxos singles; if memory serves, those are the work of Ward Marston, and they are well regarded. Certainly I have no complaints about them. My recollection of reviews is that in general George's set was assessed as "different but not better or worse" relative to the Naxos issues.
Thanks. Unfortunately, those Naxos discs are OOP as far as I can see, and used copies are hard to find.
One might argue that "Capriccio Espagnol," "Pictures at an Exhibition" and " The Firebird Suite Round Dance of the Princesses" do not belong on the guitar, but Caballero certainly makes a convincing case. Staggering playing and very good sound.
I started with No.3 on this new release. Predictably, she's volatile and dramatic, but also plays some ravishing pianissimos. The outer movements are a bit faster than I'm used to, but they work for me. Good sound; however, the tympani and bass drum are a bit feeble.
More versions on CD... this one with the much admired Elly Ameling If you click on the 'show more' arrow it will display an interesting article...
BTW, I have the Coffee Cantata on a Ton Koopman DVD that happens to be available on the following youtube ...
I presume the above recording is included in the following box I picked up three years ago (according to Amazon) ...
