“Sleeper” Classical Recordings

These are top quality records not widely appreciated in audiophile circles for their superior sound quality.

We know exactly how good sounding they are. We’ve done the work — we call that process “shootouts” — for practically all of them, and heard for ourselves just how good they can sound.

Chabrier / Orchestral Music – Ansermet (Decca)

More of the Music of Emmanual Chabrier

  • This superb Chabrier album containing one of our two favorite performances of the España Rhapsody boasts INCREDIBLE Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) sound on side two mated with outstanding Double Plus (A++) sound on side one
  • This spectacular Demo Disc recording is big, clear, rich, dynamic, transparent and energetic – HERE is the sound we love
  • All the energy and power of Chabrier’s remarkable orchestration, thanks to the brilliant engineering of Roy Wallace
  • Ansermet’s Chabrier disc has long been a favorite of ours here at Better Records – this copy will show you why

If you want a classical record to TEST your system, if you want a classical record to DEMO your system, you will have a hard time finding a better pressing than this very copy.

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

So clear and clean, and spread out on such a huge stage, either one or both of these sides will serve you well as your go-to reference disc for Orchestral Reproduction.

Listen for the waves of sound in Espana — only the best copies bring out the energy and power of Chabrier’s remarkable orchestration.

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Handel / Water Music – Leppard

More of the Music of George Frederick Handel

  • An original Philips import pressing with KILLER Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) sound or close to it from first note to last – exceptionally quiet vinyl too
  • This copy was simply bigger, more transparent, with more clarity and clearly layered depth to the orchestra than practically all others copies we played
  • Shockingly airy and warm, this is the kind of sound that makes it easy to fall in love with an oft-heard piece such as The Water Music
  • Note how far back the trumpets are in the hall, yet they are still clear, tonally correct and not smeared – that’s the sound one hears in a live performance (and too rarely on a record)
  • This is close to the best combination of performance and sound that we know of, and let me tell you, we’ve played an awful lot of pressing of this music over the last thirty years, none of which do what the better pressings of this recording can do
  • This recording should be part of any serious classical music collection. Others that belong in that category can be found here.
  • There are about 150 orchestral recordings we’ve found to offer the best performances with the finest in audiophile sound, and this record certainly deserve a place on that list.

The performance by the English Chamber Orchestra under the direction of Raymond Leppard is currently my favorite, owing in large part to the fact that it has the kind of sound I find the most natural and enjoyable.

In a way this may not be quite fair to other equally well-known, well-respected performances. We went through an elimination round for the work a while back, winnowing the recordings down to those that had the best sound, regardless of performance — perhaps some of the discarded records had even better performances than Leppard’s. At this late stage who can say?

We audiophiles want the music we play to sound its best, a requirement which more often than not involves compromises of one kind or another. We are happy to report that that does not appear to be the case with The Water Music (keeping in mind the caveat above). (more…)

Tchaikovsky / Symphony No. 6 / Monteux

More of the Music of Tchaikovsky

  • This RCA Gold Seal released in 1976 (AGL1-1522) features STUNNING Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) sound or very close to it throughout
  • Tonally correct from top to bottom and as transparent as practically any vintage recording we’ve heard, the combination of clarity and Tubey Magic here is hard to beat
  • This copy is cut clean, and its dynamics and energy are fully intact, which just goes to show how much better the master tape must be than we’ve been led to believe by the original Shaded Dogs pressings and the awful Bernie Grundman pressing released by Classic Records
  • Not all of these later pressings sound like this one, so if you want to find your own, good luck, you sure aren’t likely to run across one of this quality, and the way we know that is that of all the copies that we played, this one was clearly the best
  • If you’re a classical music aficionado, this recording from the earliest days of stereo in 1955 belongs in your collection.
  • When you hear how good this record sounds, you may have a hard time believing that it’s a budget reissue from the 70s, but that’s precisely what it is
  • Even more extraordinary, the right copies are the ones that win shootouts

This Hot Stamper copy of this correctly remastered version of LSC 1901 (which just happens to be a recording from the earliest days of stereo, 1955!) is guaranteed to kill any and all original Shaded Dogs, as well as the more common reissues; White Dogs, Red Seals, Victrolas, Classic Heavy Vinyl, you name it — this pressing will beat the pants off of it and in the process show you precisely what is wrong with each and every one of them.

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Rodgers – Slaughter On Tenth Avenue / Fiedler

More Orchestral Spectaculars

  • With two outstanding Double Plus (A++) sides, you’ll have a hard time finding a copy that sounds remotely as good as this vintage Shaded Dog pressing, recorded in All Tube 1959 Living Stereo
  • Boasting two INCREDIBLE Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) sides or close to them, this early Shaded Dog pressing, recorded in Living Stereo, is practically as good a copy as we have ever heard
  • It’s also fairly quiet at Mint Minus Minus, which makes it unusual in our experience for a record made in 1959
  • These sides are doing nearly everything right – they’re rich, clear, undistorted, open, spacious, and have depth and transparency to rival the best recordings you may have heard
  • The music flows from the speakers effortlessly – you are there
  • This record will have you asking why so few Living Stereo pressings actually do what this one does. The more critical listeners among you will recognize that this is a very special copy indeed. Everyone else will just enjoy the hell out of it.
  • Like many of our favorite orchestral spectaculars, weighty, powerful brass is key to the sound of the best copies like this one
  • 1959 was a phenomenal year for audiophile quality recordings – we’ve auditioned and reviewed more than a hundred and thirty so far, and there are undoubtedly a great many more that we’ve yet to play

Years ago we wrote:

This copy was so good it almost left me speechless. Why is it not one of the most sought-after recordings in the RCA canon? Beats the hell out of me.

But wait just one minute. It wasn’t until a few years ago that I found out just how good this record could sound, so how can I criticize others for not appreciating a record I had never taken the time to appreciate myself?

Which more than anything else prompts the question — why is no one exploring, discovering and then bringing to light the exceptional qualities of these wonderful vintage recordings (besides those of us here, of course)?

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Szeryng Plays the Music of Fritz Kreisler

More Recordings Featuring the Violin

  • Boasting solid Double Plus (A++) sound or BETTER throughout, this early pressing (one of only a handful of copies to ever hit the site) will be very hard to beat
  • The violin is so sweet and present, so rich, natural and real, you will forget you’re listening to a record at all
  • This recording is not your typical dry, bright, nasaly, upper-midrangy Merc – the sound is rich and smooth like a good London, with a big stage and lovely transparency
  • We are happy to report that the vinyl is reasonably quiet for a vintage Plum Label Mercury stereo pressing too, with no marks that play (something that could not be said of our Shootout Winner, alas)

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Bartok – Music For Strings Percussion And Celeste / Marriner

The Music of Bela Bartok Available Now

  • We surveyed a large group of pressings containing this work, and in the end Marriner’s reading from 1970 had the best sound and the best performance of all those we played
  • Wonderfully textured string tone and huge hall space extending wall to wall and floor to ceiling – everything you want in a top quality orchestral recording is here, and more
  • To keep beating a horse that has been dead for years, this is precisely the sound that the modern reissue fails to offer the committed audiophile with top quality equipment
  • “… one of the best-known compositions by the Hungarian composer Béla Bartók.”
  • There are about 150 orchestral recordings we think offer the best performance coupled with the highest quality sound. This record has earned a place on that list.

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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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Dvorak – Symphony No. 8 / Von Karajan

More of the music of Antonin Dvorak (1841-1904)

More Imported Pressings on Decca and London

  • Here is an early pressing (one of only a handful of copies to ever hit the site) with the big, rich and tubey Decca sound we were hoping for, earning excellent Double Plus (A++) grades from first note to last
  • These sides are doing just about everything right – they’re rich, clear, undistorted, open, spacious, and have depth and transparency to rival the best recordings you may have heard
  • Our recent major survey for the 8th symphony produced this outstanding London – no other recording had sound even close to this quality, and the performance by Karajan was as good as any we heard
  • The original Decca pressing we had was especially disappointing, especially considering that it was mastered by one of our favorite cutting engineers, Ted Burkett
  • 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.

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Haydn / Symphony No. 94 / Fjeldstad

More of the Music of Joseph Haydn

  • With solid Double Plus (A++) Living Stereo sound or BETTER on both sides, this original RCA Camden pressing of Fjeldstad and the Oslo Phil’s outstanding performance is doing just about everything right
  • 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
  • This copy is simply bigger, more transparent, less distorted, more three-dimensional and more REAL than most of what we played
  • The rich, textured sheen of the strings that Living Stereo made possible in the 50s and early 60s is clearly evident throughout these pieces, something that the Heavy Vinyl crowd will never experience, because that sound just does not exist on modern records
  • 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 vintage RCA Living Stereo Camden LP has stunning Hot Stamper sound on both sides. It’s one of the best Camdens, if not actually the best. In true Living Stereo fashion, a natural, realistic concert hall perspective unfolds before you. The sound is rich, smooth, sweet and tubey, with lovely sheen on the strings — what’s not to like?

Fjeldstad’s performance is excellent as well. Fjeldstad, you may remember, is the man behind the definitive Peer Gynt on Decca (SXL 2012). His recordings may not be common but they have never disappointed. If you can’t own all 104 of Haydn’s symphonies, make sure that at least this one is in your collection.

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Offenbach et al. / French Overtures / Ansermet

More Music Conducted by Ernest Ansermet

  • This original London pressing (CS 6205) of these wonderful Romantic works boasts KILLER Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) grades or close to them from first note to last
  • You’d be hard-pressed to find a copy that’s this well balanced, yet big and lively, with such wonderful clarity in the mids and highs
  • The sound of the orchestra is dramatically richer and sweeter than you will hear on practically all other pressings – what else would you expect from Decca‘s engineers and the Suisse Romande?
  • This shootout has been many years in the making – we’ve been trying to do these wonderful French overtures for about five years, which just goes to show how hard it is to find these kinds of records in audiophile playing condition nowadays
  • We also have a recording with Fremaux at the helm for EMI coming soon to the site that’s every bit as good
  • Which one is better is probably a matter of taste as they are both head and shoulders better than any other recordings we have come across in the last five or more years
  • If you’re a fan of delightful orchestral showpieces such as these, Decca’s wonderful recording from 1961 belongs in your collection

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