10 Great Classical LP's

15 years ago i was getting 'back' into vinyl after 15 years away....and i wanted to get into classical music for the first time. so i had no knowledge of the music and especially of the best Lps to purchase. in some ways i was lucky. at that same time Classic Records were doing their reissue series of RCA 'Living Stereo' shaded dogs.....both in 33 rpm and 45 rpm. there was lots of discussion in the magazines then (the internet was in it's infancy and there was no AudiogoN or Audioasylum) about whether these reissues were as good, better or not as good. Anyway, i bought most every one of those Classic Records reissues (in both 33 and 45) and that turned out to be a great entry into classical Lps both from a sound quality and performance perspective. 15 years later these RCA's are still some of the best Lps i have heard.

i would strongly recommend trying to find these RCA reissues as they will be consistently excellent and are very 'accessable' in terms of the music.

another source of great Lp recordings is the recommended lists on Acoustic Sounds. along the left side of the page is a 'Browse' section and underneath that is 'Absolute Sound Recommended'.....which is a pretty good list of great sounding Classical Recordings.

I love my Classical Lps and play them often. i'm still not much of an expert on the music but i have learned quite a bit.

enjoy.

Hi Mike, I hope you've continued your classical music exploration by going into the Mercury catalogue reissues from Classic Records and, more particularly, Speakers Corner. And then there's the entire Lyrita catalog to explore from the used market.
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Hi Rush,

i could not agree more with your Mercury, Speakers Corner and Lyrita recs. it's all good and these are all excellent Lps which i have aquired too. i just figured that the Classic Records RCA's was the right place to start for a Classical newbie. i suppose any/all of these series could be included in that idea.

best regards,

Mike, glad to hear it! And it's a slippery slope. For orchestral, keep going and also head to the Decca and EMI catalogs. If you find you also enjoy Baroque and pre-Baroque music, then it's off the the Harmonia Mundi, Accent, Astree, CRD and Telefunken catalogs. Then you discover opera is not as bad as you once thought and it's off to the Decca archives once again. Then organ music and you're off to the Vista, Proprius, Erato catalogs. Great fun! Makes it hell to make recommendations. :-)
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You have started down a path that will undoubtedly bring you much to enjoy for the rest of your life. It's hard to get bored with classical music, as it has been composed and performed for hundreds, if not a thousand years or more. There is always something you haven't heard before, unlike too much popular music these days. Enjoy the journey!

Regards,
Dan