Hi, everyone! I was wondering what some ideas are about the best-sounding classical CDs, speaking from a purely sound quality perspective. It could be from any era, from early music to new music and everything in between. What are the gems that you've come across?
Arvo Pärt, Spiegel im Spiegel. If you can listen to this SACD without becoming emotional you have no soul. ;-) The recording is faultless.
For raw sound quality, Telarc is very hard to beat. However, many classical listeners prefer other interpretations of the core repertoire.
Solti and Vienna Philharmonic - Wagner Meistersinger complete set. West Germany pressing. It is easy to find a copy and the sound is incredible. Listen to the closing of the act ll, which is ultra complex textured with the orchestra of 100 men and highly divided big chorus groups. Mixed by Kenneth Wilkinson, the score is almost visible. Mixed by Kenneth Wilkinson, the music is so clear and transparent. Nobody else could achive this.
Channel Classics puts out great-sounding CDs, featuring phenomenal musicians. Baroque violinist Rachel Podger has a lot of recordings on that label; I highly recommend the Biber "Rosary Sonatas" (which I've been listening to repeatedly lately) and Bach's solo violin sonatas and partitas. The CD booklets include extremely detailed information about the recording and mastering equipment (down to the Van den Hul cables), so clearly it's something they take very seriously. There's a label called "Winter & Winter" that's released some beautiful CDs. Mostly it's contemporary music, and not strictly classical, but they have a CD of Brahms chamber music featuring ensemble La Gaia Scienza that's one of my favorite recordings. Recordings by the Tallis Scholars (renaissance vocal music) generally sound really good; their recording of Victoria's 1605 Requiem is stunning. Generally I'm an analog enthusiast, but those are a few recordings where I'm willing to put up with all the zeros and ones.
To name a few from my recent "listening notes"... Karajan's Sibelius recordings from the 1960s - especially symphonies 4 and 5 Solti's Bruckner 6 with Chicago Symphony Orchestra Haitink Mahler 3 with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra Argerich/Abbado - Chopin and Liszt's first piano concertos Could list hundreds more, but I'll stop there.
Two versions of Rachmaninoff 'Paganini Rhapsody'. Earl Wild and Jascha Horenstein (Chesky) Recorded by Kenneth Wilkinson Dimirty Alexeev and Yuri Temrikanov (RCA) Recorded by Tony Faulkner
I find that on the whole, classical CDs (and LPs) are much better sounding than CDs of other genres. Of course there are plenty of duds as well, but I would say that at least 95% of my classical CD collection sounds excellent. For example, right now I am listening to music for viola and orchestra from Paul Hindemith, performed by Lawrence Power on viola and the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra conducted by David Atherton (Hyperion CDA67774). It sounds just wonderful. Before that I was listening to Mozart's first four keyboard concertos played on harpsichord by Hogwood's Academy of Ancient Music (Decca). Again, just wonderful. For something really special, try to get hold of a few CDs of Monteverdi's or Gesualdo's madrigals, performed by La Venexiana on Glossa. Spectacular sound and performances. It's like the ensemble is standing really close to you and singing just for you. The whole experience is very intimate, for lack of a better word. Transporting stuff.
What constitutes "best sounding" is subjective. Are you after pristine, crystal-clear, state-of-the-art digital sound? If so, Linn, Hyperion, BIS, Channel Classics, Tacet and MD&G are putting out any number of excellent new issues that fit the bill. Or are you looking for "golden age" vintage recordings, such as any number of titles from Decca, Philips or RCA from the 1960's?
Oh god, where does one start: huuuuge subject. I began connecting with classical music only by all the budget-priced LP's at the University Bookstore, where I was a music student. Prior to this, it was all just what I knew from library listening, and how general public awareness of classical music was much more universal in those days. Any real critical or focused listening and absorbing classical works happened because of my participation in school band and orchestra, my early fascination with the Moog records of the day (Carlos mostly, Kazdin & Shephard, and eventually Tomita), and many times listening to Bernstein's Beethoven's 9th, and Ormandy recordings of "the basics" ("Pictures", "Firebird" Dvorak...). Peer interest in pop, and learning jazz, took a lot of my concentration away from classical music, or sound quality - which I assumed was of a high standard on classical recordings anyway, because even the budget line records were pressed well in my younger years (and, I grew up in Terre Haute Indiana, so I did know a little something about record pressing). It was only really by '85 or so that I'd taken the time to start building a CD library with classical music included, and caring about sound quality of something so complicated with large ensembles. A quartet recording of something like The Seasons would be a different animal, and concertos where you mic'd differently to spotlight the soloist, helped raise awareness of recording and mixing in the scheme of things. It was the advent of surround recordings - and starting to read this forum - where I finally got serious about knowing what I might like and find substandard, and why. The early Mercury Living Presence recordings re-presented in 3-point stereo surround were an ear-opener, and then I began discerning between standard 2-point recordings and the more "immersive" potential surround offered (I mean, come on - does anybody really give a crap about what the reflections from the back of a hall sound like?!?). For the purposes of this discussion in particular though, I'd direct your attention to the Frederick Fennell/Eastman Wind Ensemble recordings of Holst and Grainger on Telarc, and just about anything of a deeper wind ensemble catalog with Dallas Wind Symphony on Reference Recrodings. POW, baby! And one of my favorite niche composers (also an Eastman School legend), Howard Hanson, and Gerard Schwartz/Seattle Symphony's take on his 2nd Symphony, and Dies Natalis, which I adore (on Delos).
Yes, that's the idea. I suppose I was thinking more about what you describe as "pristine, crystal-clear, state-of-the-art digital sound" but I'm open to all kinds of suggestions.
I lean towards the golden age recordings for my favorites regarding sound quality, but for what you describe, I recommend the San Francisco Symphony / Michael Tilson Thomas Mahler cycle on SACD.
Thanks a lot for the recommendations. Monteverdi is a favourite of mine so I will be checking that out.
Little known fact: there's also a Highlights disc of this available on discogs, for those who feel the whole Meistersinger is a little more than they can handle in one sitting!
No problem! Some of my favorite golden age recordings for sound quality: Reiner - Also Sprach Zarathustra - Analogue Productions SACD (or XRCD in second place) Heifetz/Reiner - Brahms Violin Concerto or Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto - Analogue Productions SACD (or XRCD in second place) Between golden age and modern age: Carreras - Misa Criolla - I prefer the FIM K2HD but the Philips original is also good
Bach, Glenn Gould - The Well-Tempered Clavier I = Das Wohltemperierte Clavier I = Le Clavier Bien Tempéré I . Can hear him humming in some passages, which I think is interesting.
If you are interested in the recording, start at around 1:59:30. The soundstaging and the vocal presence are just amazing.
Cluytens and Berlin Philharmonic - Schubert Unfinished symphony on Testament label This is one of the best recordings of the orchestra. It is still available new.
