Hidden Audiophile Classics


Just about every audiophile has a few "hidden" classics - you know those great sounding recordings that never seem to appear on any super disc or recommended recordings list published in the high end audio press. Well there's no need for them to remain a secret - so how about sharing some of them with your fellow 'philes out here. My first contribution to the this thread is Lyle Lovett's "Step Inside This House" a great sounding 2 CD set from back in 1998 which while well reviewed, never recieved any praises for it's truly excellent sound. A studio recording of Lovett and his "small" band covering other songwriters tunes, the recording sounds like it was done "live" in the studio. The playing is tight and the personel remains fairly constant throughout - which is always a good sign. What are some of your "hidden" gems??
ralphp_nj
Yeast, I am a Rossini overture junkie, and have no doubt the Dutoit/Decca would be a fine collection. Almost every recording in the Dutoit/Decca line-up is of demonstration quality. I have the Dutoit CD of Suppe overtures which is quite good, the Rossini CD must be new because I have yet to see a review of it. Current Rossini collection includes: Chailly/Decca double CD, Norrington/EMI, Orpheus C.O./DG, Abbado/DG, and Reiner/RCA which sounds incredible for 1958 recording.
I haven't posted in a while, so will add... Daniel Lanois 'Acadie', and Yo La Tengo's 'Electr-o-pura'. I've had both of these albums for years and they still get played all the time. For those inclined, Yo La Tengo's recordings are easy to find on vinyl. I agree with the posting on Cocteau Twins 'Victorialand'. It's one of the albums I will never part with. Happy New Year.
If you can handle dance/club music, try the sountrack to "Run Lola Run". I like a wide variety of music, including classical, and I'm not a dance music junkie, but this CD is brilliant. It demonstrates what my system can do better than any other CD - the quality of the recording is second to none (IMHO).
Original Showboat on early vinyl. Simply incredible. Matches and in some respects surpasses Sweeney Todd which is on the TAS list.