drumguy, that's great that you're getting into classical. Look for CDs released by Harmonia Mundi, very good. Hyperion, too. Deutsches Gramophone CDs seem to sound great these days... their CDs from 80s were abominable, but new releases are fine. Check the dates. Generally, if they're released within last 5-6 years, they should sound pretty good, as long as they're dependable labels.

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Hello all, with the recent upgrade to my home built speakers, and having just replaced my Denon 2910 with a Cambridge Audio 840C - I want to expand my listening base - the 2-3 classical CD's I have are by Naxos and sound like the microphone's were on the other side of a very thick curtain - the sound is thin,distant and cloudy -Can any one recommend 2-3 good starter classical Cd's that are open, airy and detailed - Artist, Label and serial no. if possible -Thanks...

What kind of Classical do you like? Orchestra, Organ (also Romantic, and Baroque could apply there), choral, what?

It's kind of a broad request

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Hello all, with the recent upgrade to my home built speakers, and having just replaced my Denon 2910 with a Cambridge Audio 840C - I want to expand my listening base - the 2-3 classical CD's I have are by Naxos and sound like the microphone's were on the other side of a very thick curtain - the sound is thin,distant and cloudy -Can any one recommend 2-3 good starter classical Cd's that are open, airy and detailed - Artist, Label and serial no. if possible -Thanks...

If it happens to be organ, like JJ listed among several, I can highly recommend "pictures at the exhibition" performed by Jean Guillou. Recorded in Zurich Switzerland it is recorded very very well. It is not sold new, but used. Amazon has about a dozen in stock, ranging from $18 to approx $91. I paid $18 and received a mint cd.

Hope this helps.
Steve

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If it happens to be organ, like JJ listed among several, I can highly recommend "pictures at the exhibition" performed by Jean Guillou. Recorded in Zurich Switzerland it is recorded very very well. It is not sold new, but used. Amazon has about a dozen in stock, costing from $18 to approx $91.

Hope this helps.
Steve

Michael Murray's "St. John the Divine" CD (sorry) is also very good, and well recorded. Nice instrument(s), too.

I'd love to have a clean copy of "Masterworks for Organ Volume 9" from Nonesuch, but that's just not gonna happen.

I highly recommend:

1) Martin Chalifour in Walt Disney Concert Hall. Label is Yarlung. They use 2 mics direct to 2 tracks; wow!!

2)Editor's choice by JA available on this site. Also, you can get JA's complete description of each track on the site also.

3)Reference Recordings 30th Anniversary Sampler. Happy listening!!

P.S. I'm surprised by your comments about Naxos;
They have a good reputation for quality recordings & the one I have of Aaron Copeland music sounds good! What a shame!!

My vote for the best-quality classical recording ever made, by far, in every respect, is the Peter Maag/ Orchestra de Padova e del Veneto recording of Beethoven's 9th Symphony. It was recorded with a relatively small orchestra in a cathedral, and the sonics allow every soloist and every instrument to come through with breathtaking clarity and yet the massive dynamics of the orchestra and chorus also ring out perfectly with unprecedented clarity. I have 14 recordings of the 9th, and while some of the others are fairly good, they simply do not compare with this one. Any classical music lover who does not have this one is missing an unforgettable performance, flawlessly recorded in a perfect acoustic environment. ARTS MUSIC GMBH 47248-2

The CDs recorded by OPUS 3 are some of the best ever; there are a number of them available from May Distributing, if I remember correctly. Alas, many of their recordings do not seem to be available any more, at least in the USA. I have NEVER heard an OPUS 3 recording that was anything but a 10 on a 1 to 10 scale!!!

Also, most if not all of the Mercury CDs recorded in the 1950s and early 1960s are truly excellent.

Delos is another label that never disappoints; even their earliest CDs, recorded in the early 1980s, are very very good! Delos did not use the prevalent Sony recording equipment that resulted in so many poor digital recordings in the 1980s. The first CD I ever bought with my first CD player, Delos CD4001, still sounds good TODAY (Joe Williams/"nuthin but the blues"). How it sounded on that early Magnavox FD3030 player...now that's another story...lol. Delos engineer John Eargle must be thanked for doing superb engineering on that and other Delos recordings over the years! There is a sampler called "Engineer's Choice II, DE3512" on Delos that contains samples of his finest work, chosen by him; you really do want to listen to this to establish a reference for good quality. If your system does not sound excellent in every respect when listening to this...you have problems with your sound system, and work to do...lol!

Almost everything on the Reference Recordings label will also be impressive; I especially love the recordings by the Chicago Pro Musica.

AS for Naxos; I have many Naxos recordings that are excellent. On the other hand, while I would not dispute that some of them might produce the sound you describe, I am suspicious of problems in your system. Try those CDs on a known good-sounding system and see how they sound.

Sounds like you have a fairly good CD player; what is the rest of your system?

Thanks for the heads up on the Ninth. I too have a bunch of different versions none of which are really satisfying. I'll give this one a try. I'm also going to give the Delos a try.

Rilke Songs, Lorraine Hunt Lieberson, mezzo soprano and Peter Serkin, piano.

Engineers Choice 1 and 2 (Delos) and Symphonic Sound Stage(Delos) , all engineered by the late, amazing John Eargle. The liner notes go into great detail about how each piece was recorded..mic positions, number, etc..his"King of Instruments" recording is amazing too..actually John Eargle is just amazing all around.

Te Deum(Arvo Part)-ECM

Music for a Glass Bead Game- JMR

Lux Aeterna- RCM

Henryk Gorecki: Symphony 3 "Sorrowful Songs" - NoneSuch

Reference Recordings- Symphonic Dances

http://www.jr.com/product/classical/pc/_216222/

http://www.amazon.com/Heifetz-Double-Concertos-Hybrid-SACD/dp/B000KP7LYS

http://www.amazon.com/J-S-Bach-Oster-Oratorium-Peter-Kooy/dp/B00000079U

https://www.elusivedisc.com/prodinfo.asp?number=FONSAM016

*ANYTHING* on ALIA VOX is amazing...same for OPUS 3.

Also MA REcordings and Yarlung

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NAXOS
They have a good reputation for quality recordings & the one I have of Aaron Copeland music sounds good! What a shame!!

actually, they have more of a rep for being grossly inconsistent. some AMAZING, some utter trash.

oh yes, to the OP..

I am a dolt...I left out some obvious choices.

Edgar Meyer, Yo Yo Ma, Joshua Bell, Sam Bush... amazing sound, amazing songs

http://www.amazon.com/Short-Trip-Home-Joshua-Bell/dp/B00000K4IU

http://www.amazon.com/Appalachia-Waltz-M...4452&sr=1-1

http://www.amazon.com/Appalachian-Journey-Edgar-Meyer/dp/B00004S38H/ref=pd_bxgy_m_img_b

Most anything from John Marks Records.

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NAXOS
They have a good reputation for quality recordings & the one I have of Aaron Copeland music sounds good! What a shame!!

actually, they have more of a rep for being grossly inconsistent. some AMAZING, some utter trash.

Really? I was going by an article in Stereophile not too long ago. Thanks for the heads up!!

A lot of the NAXOS stuff was originally recorded by Melodiya, the USSR state recording company, and other operations behind the old Iron Curtain. They have been able to get this stuff dirt cheap, but the engineering and recording quality was all over the place.
The other source they mined heavily was orchestras and ensembles from Norway, Scotland etc. where they could sign fairly good orchestras with no major reputation to do recordings...again, fairly cheap!
Pretty good sometimes...but no guarantee.

Ah,that explains it!! Too bad! Thanks!!

While you're on the subject of Edgar Meyer, try his double bass version of three of Bach's Cello Suites, also on Sony. It's beautifully recorded, and played--adds a new perspective on these pieces. I wish he'd record the other 3 suites.