Best Performance and Sound

There are about 180 orchestral recordings we believe offer the discriminating audiophile the best performances with the highest quality sound.

These are the records on our list as of 2024. We expect to find many more in the coming years, so stay tuned if the best sounding classical and orchestral recordings are important to you.

Rachmaninoff – Symphonic Dances / Johanos

More Hot Stamper Pressings of Rachmaninoff’s Music 

  • With incredible Nearly Triple Plus (A++ to A+++) sound on both TAS-approved sides, this original Turquoise label pressing of this orchestral spectacular is practically as good a copy as we have ever heard, right up there with our Shootout Winner
  • Exceptionally (and unusually) quiet for a Vox pressing too – noisy vinyl is the rule and not the exception
  • It’s an extraordinary recording, and so wonderful on this pressing that after playing it, you may agree with us that few other classical Demo Discs are in its league
  • The bottom end of this record is powerful and solid like no other classical LP we’ve played in a very long time – this is the way to record tympani!
  • Other orchestral recordings with powerful drums can be found here
  • The sound is dynamic, lively and big – jumping out of the speakers and bringing the power and the vibrant colors of the symphony right into your listening room

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Copland – Rodeo / El Salon Mexico / Danzon Cubano / Dorati

More Music Conducted by Antal Dorati

  • Dorati and the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra’s performance of these wonderful Copland works appears on the site for only the second time ever, here with solid Double Plus (A++) sound or BETTER throughout this original Plum Label Mercury stereo pressing of SR 90172
  • It’s also remarkably quiet at the high end of Mint Minus Minus, a grade that even our most well-cared-for vintage classical titles have trouble playing at
  • This copy is everything that a good Mercury should be: dynamic, open, immediate, exciting, and of course, with Dorati and the MSO, beautifully performed
  • The “of course” should be taken with a grain of salt — plenty of Dorati Mercury records do not sound good, and if anybody should know, we should, we’ve played them by the score
  • But we love what he and the MSO have done with these Copland pieces – we tried lots of other recordings, and nothing could touch Mercury for exciting, lifelike and energetic sound
  • 1959 was a phenomenal year for audiophile quality recordings – as of 2025 we’ve auditioned hundreds and reviewed more than one hundred and seventy titles, and there are undoubtedly a great many more that we’ve yet to discover.
  • We think there are a large number that belong in any audiophile’s record collection worthy of the name.

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Rachmaninoff – Symphony No. 1 / Previn

More of the Music of Sergei Rachmaninoff

  • Rachmaninoff’s Symphony No. 1 returns to the the site with outstanding sound throughout this original British EMI pressing
  • These sides are clear, full-bodied and present, with plenty of space around the players, the unmistakable sonic hallmark of the properly mastered, properly pressed vintage analog LP
  • The only Rachmaninoff symphonies we know of with the potential for audiophile sound are the ones Andre Previn made for EMI in the 70s
  • However, we have quite a large number of reviews and commentaries for Rachmaninoff’s piano concertos

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Rimsky-Korsakov / The Tale of Tsar Saltan / Ansermet

More of the Music of Rimsky-Korsakov

  • This London stereo pressing boasts big, bold, dynamic Tubey Magical Double Plus (A++) sound from first note to last
  • No question this is a Demo Disc quality recording – it’s rich and real, with huge WHOMP factor down low, as well as clear, uncolored brass and robust lower strings
  • Here is the kind of depth and three-dimensional soundstaging that the recordings by Ansermet and the Suisse Romande are famous for
  • We would love to be able to find Ansermet’s Scheherazade on London, but as you may have read on the blog, the right stampers of that record are almost impossible to find these days, although that has not stopped us from trying
  • No question this is a Demo Disc recording – it’s rich and real, with huge WHOMP factor down low, as well as clear, uncolored brass and robust lower strings
  • The Speakers Corner pressing of Ansermet’s famous recording is mediocre, with many faults, all discussed here
  • We would love to be able to find Ansermet’s Scheherazade on London (not Decca!) vinyl, but as you may have read on the blog, the right stampers of that record are almost impossible to find these days, although that has not stopped us from trying

James Walker was the producer, Roy Wallace the engineer for these sessions from 1957 in Geneva’s glorious Victoria Hall. It’s yet another remarkable disc from the Golden Age of Vacuum Tube Recording.

The gorgeous hall the Suisse Romande recorded in was possibly the best recording venue of its day, possibly of all time. More amazing sounding recordings were made there than in any other hall we know of. There is a solidity and richness to the sound beyond all others, yet clarity and transparency are not sacrificed in the least.

It’s as wide, deep and three-dimensional as any, which is of course all to the good, but what makes the sound of these recordings so special is the weight and power of the brass, combined with timbral accuracy of the instruments in every section.

This is the kind of record that will make you want to take all your heavy vinyl classical pressings and put them in storage. None of them, I repeat not a single one, can begin to sound the way this record sounds. (Before you put them in storage or on Ebay please play them against this pressing so that you can be confident in you decision to rid yourself of their insufferable mediocrity.)

This London pressing contains a stunningly BEAUTIFUL Tale of the Tsar Saltan Suite. It’s clearly one of the great Demo Disc Quality recordings from the Golden Age (or any age for that matter), with everything that a top Golden Age Orchestral recording should have: all the magic; all the timbral and harmonic subtlety; all the sweetness and warmth; all the Tubey Magical richness.

All that and more. Folks, this is the kind of record that makes you sit up and take notice. Finally, HERE is the kind of sound that can bring an orchestra to life in your very own listening room.

It has the kind of depth and three-dimensional soundstaging that the recordings by Ansermet and the Suisse Romande are famous for.

Unlike some of their recordings — Pictures at an Exhibition comes readily to mind — the tempi here are not too slow. The tempi are in fact just right. We love the sound of Ansermet’s records but when the performance drags it’s hard to enjoy the music. For top quality performances of the work by other conductors — rarely in stock I regret to say — please check the site.

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Bizet-Shchedrin / The Carmen Ballet / Rozhdestvensky

More of the Music of Georges Bizet

  • With solid Double Plus (A++) sound from start to finish, this pressing of Bizet’s Masterpiece will be very hard to beat
  • It’s also fairly quiet at Mint Minus Minus, a grade that even our most well-cared-for vintage classical titles have trouble playing at
  • Both sides are open, high-rez, and spacious, with depth like you will not believe and some of the least shrill string reproduction we have ever heard for this music (which is the main problem we run into on the album)
  • Gloriously exciting and fun music that belongs in any audiophile’s collection – side one is where the action is, and this side one had some of the better sound we heard all day
  • This spectacular Demo Disc recording is big, clear, rich, dynamic, transparent and energetic – here is the sound we love
  • We’ve recently compiled a list of records we think every audiophile should get to know better, along the lines of “the 1001 records you need to hear before you die,” with the accent on the joy these amazing audiophile-quality recordings can bring to your life.
  • This album is a good example of a record many audiophiles may not know well but would be well advised to get to know better.

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Mozart / Piano Concerto No. 17 and No. 21 – Anda

More of the Music of Wofgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)

  • This vintage Large Tulip label copy of these classical masterpieces boasts solid Double Plus (A++) sound from first note to last
  • Spacious, three-dimensional and real beyond practically any DG recording you’ve heard – you hear into the soundstage on this record like you will not believe
  • Marks in the vinyl are sometimes the nature of the beast with these early pressings – there simply is no way around them if the superior sound of vintage analog is important to you
  • “Mozart’s piano concertos are filled with assured transition passages, modulations, dissonances, Neapolitan relationships and suspensions. Today, at least three of these works (nos 20, 21 and 23) are among the most recorded and popular classical works in the repertoire…”

The string tone here is especially rich and sweet, yet full of texture and that lovely rosiny quality that vintage pressings capture so well. (Sometimes capture so well. We’ve played plenty of copies with a smeary quality that robs the strings of their lovely sheen.)

The piano is beautifully recorded as well. Geza Anda’s performance is hard to fault here. You will have a very hard time finding better recordings of these Mozart piano concertos, of that we have no doubt. (more…)

Mozart – Sinfonia Concertante / Duo in G Major / Oistrakh

More of the Music of Mozart

  • These sublime works for violin and viola debut on the site with INSANELY GOOD Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) grades throughout this vintage London pressing
  • Here are just a few of the things we had to say about this amazing copy in our notes: “sweet and transparent and dynamic violin”…”lively and lush and tubey”…”very roomy and 3D”…”great texture”
  • These sides are doing everything right – they’re rich, clear, undistorted, open, spacious, and have depth and transparency to rival the best recordings you may have heard
  • The texture and harmonic overtones of the strings are perfection – as we listened we became completely immersed in the music on the record, transfixed by the remarkable virtuosity father and son bring to the piecesFor those of you who keep track of such things, we would like to point out that no Decca pressing did better than “good” in our shootout
  • The early London pressings are the only ones we played with the sonic goods befitting such an extraordinary recording, a reality that many audiophiles would do well to wrap their heads around

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Saint-Saens / Chabrier / Danse Macabre / Espana and More

More of the music of Camille Saint-Saens (1835-1921)

More of the music of Emmanual Chabrier (1841-1894)

  • An outstanding EMI import pressing of these sublime orchestral works with Double Plus (A++) sound from first note to last
  • Both of these sides are bigger and richer than most of what we played – they’re super clean and clear, tonally correct from top to bottom, and have all of the weight of the orchestra down low
  • If you want a classical record to test your system and demo your system, this copy is for you!
  • This Demo Disc Quality recording should be part of any serious Orchestral Music Collection. Others that belong in that category can be found here.
  • There are about 150 orchestral recordings we think offer the best performances with the highest quality sound. This record is certainly deserving of a place on that list.

Orchestral Showpieces

Who can resist these sublime orchestral works? To quote an infamous (around here) label, “they are an audiophile’s dream come true.”

The sound is clear, with wonderful depth to the stage. These recordings may just be the ideal blend of clarity and richness, with depth and spaciousness that will put to shame 98% of the classical recordings ever made.

Clean bottom and lower mids. Zero smear. They’re so full-bodied and rich, yet clear and clean, and spread out on such a huge stage, these sides may become your go-to reference disc for Orchestral Reproduction.

One More Thing

This is the kind of record that will make you want to take all your Heavy Vinyl classical pressings and put them in storage. None of them, I repeat: not a single one of them, can ever begin to sound the way this record sounds. (The worst of them can be found here. If these 30-odd Heavy Vinyl titles sound good to you, something is definitely wrong somewhere.)

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Mendelssohn – Symphony No. 4 / Ansermet

More of the Music of Mendelssohn

  • This original London pressing of Ansermet and the Suisse Romande’s masterful performance of Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 4 boasts STUNNING Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) sound or close to it from first note to last
  • It’s also fairly quiet at Mint Minus Minus, a grade that even our most well-cared-for vintage classical titles have trouble playing at
  • Here are just a few of the things we had to say about this incredible copy in our notes: “sweet and breathy woodwinds”…”transparent”…”strings get huge and weighty”…”tubey brass”…”great size and energy”…”lots of detail and space”…”most lush and weighty strings” (side two)
  • A spectacular Demo Disc quality orchestral recording – big, clear, rich, dynamic, transparent and energetic
  • There is richness and texture to the strings that no record made in the last 30 years can capture, and if you don’t believe me, we offer this pressing as proof
  • There are about 150 orchestral recordings we think offer the best performances with the highest quality sound. This record is certainly deserving of a place on that list.

This record has the same kind of amazing sound as the Chabrier disc on London from the same year, but it’s much more rare, perhaps because the cover does not help to sell the album. (The Chabrier cover is not much either, but in both cases the music and sound are sublime.)

I don’t think I’ve ever heard a better Mendelssohn 4th.

We admit we foolishly did not expect much from a mid-60s London with a cover this plain.

It’s hard to get excited about an album with such a generic cover, but hearing the recording we were forced to confront our silly prejudices and recognize the greatness of James Lock‘s work for Decca in 1965.

It even beats the famous Solti on Blueback, which has a cover to die for. However, like many of the Londons and Deccas we’ve played over the years, the sound of that pressing is awful.

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Chopin – Piano Concerto No. 2 / Rubinstein

More Classical and Orchestral Recordings

  • Chopin’s 2nd piano concerto returns to the site for only the second time in four years, here with stunning Nearly Triple Plus (A++ to A+++) sound from start to finish – just shy of our Shootout Winner
  • The reproduction of the piano on this exceptional Shaded Dog pressing is clear, solid, and present – in other words, hard to fault
  • The sound was simply bigger, more transparent, less distorted, more three-dimensional and more real than practically all the other copies we played
  • We were also impressed with the vibrant orchestra surrounding the piano, with plenty of the Living Stereo Tubey Magical strings we audiophiles swoon over
  • There are about 150 orchestral recordings we think offer the best performances with the highest quality sound. This record is certainly deserving of a place on that list.
  • 1958 just happens to be one of the truly great years for analog recordings, as evidenced by this amazing group of albums, all recorded or released in that year.

The original version of LSC 2265 as pictured above is known as The Rubinstein Story. It comes with a deluxe gatefold cover and a lovely illustrated booklet tucked into an inner flap with biographical information about Rubinstein and commentary about the music of Chopin. The second picture is of the reissue of the album which came out soon thereafter, still with the Shaded Dog label.

Those of you who know your Shaded Dogs no doubt have had a few problems with your Rubinstein pressings in the past being too midrangy and forward, a sound that Rubinstein supposedly insisted on for his records. Not so on this pressing, I am happy to report. The sound is overflowing with Tubey Magic.

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