Strongly I cannot say I have been the biggest Mozart fan but he is one of the great composers and I like him a lot more than I do Mahler, whose symphonies I only grudgingly started to collect a few years ago. Just because I do not like Mahler that much, he is still a somewhat important composer and should not be completely ignored by any serious collector ...
First listen to CD 8 from the "Kyung Wha Chung - Complete Decca Recordings" box on Decca. Elgar - Violin Concerto with the London Philharmonic Orchestra led by Sir Georg Solti.
I wasn't happy with any of the cover art available online for the Stratas/Boulez Lulu CD (the first release, not the later DG Originals one) so I made one: Anyone here is welcome to use it as well
I guess I'm not a "serious collector" either since I wouldn't spend a dime on music I don't like, no matter how important other people say it is.
First listen to CD 7 from "Constantin Silvestri - The Legendary Conductor" on Warner. Prokofiev - The Love For Three Oranges Wiener Philharmoniker Khachaturian - Gayaneh - Suite No. 1 Wiener Philharmoniker Shostakovich - Symphony No. 5 [I][I]Wiener Philharmoniker[/I][/I]
BBC Music Magazine CD. The real star here is the Clarinet Trio by Louise Farrenc. I've listened to a lot of her music in the last year or so, and I consider her an excellent composer with a gift for beautiful melodies.
My point was you said you collect Mahler even though you don't like him much because he's considered an important composer. Why not collect, Berg, Bartok, Webern, etc? I'm not trying to start an argument, I'm genuinely curious as to why you do this.
Mahler music is still more listenable than those by Berg or Bartok though it would take me longer to get used to ...
Carl von Weber: Oberon (highlights). Schuchter, Thomas, Bamberger Sym. Eurodisc Signed by Jess Thomas FWIW. Weber sounds like early Wagner occasionally.
Messiaen: Visions de l'Amen & Debussy: En blanc et noir. Ursula Oppens & Jerome Lowenthal. Cedille Recods.
I love that performance. I have the recent Decca vinyl reissue (I'm too lazy right now to take a picture ).