Kind of Blue

Miles Davis

Best pressing: Analogue Productions UHQR (Bernie Grundman's mix from the 3-track master)

Key track: So What

Mostly first takes in Columbia's 30th Street Studio: a sextet breathing together in a real room, and the benchmark studio jazz recording.

Strauss: Also sprach Zarathustra

Fritz Reiner, Chicago Symphony Orchestra

Best pressing: Analogue Productions 45 RPM (Bernie Grundman) or 33 RPM (Ryan Smith)

Key track: Introduction (Sunrise)

One of the very first Living Stereo sessions, recorded straight to 2-track in Orchestra Hall, and still a benchmark.

Café Blue

Patricia Barber

Best pressing: Mobile Fidelity 45 RPM 3LP (out of print) or the later Impex edition

Key track: What a Shame

A modern audiophile staple: close vocals, upright bass and percussion with startling transients (a digital recording).

Stravinsky: The Firebird

Antal Dorati, London Symphony Orchestra

Best pressing: Mercury Living Presence half-speed reissue (Miles Showell, Abbey Road)

Key track: Infernal Dance of Kastchei

Three microphones in Watford Town Hall caught vivid, lifelike orchestral color.

Hope

Hugh Masekela

Best pressing: Analogue Productions 45 RPM 4LP (all 12 tracks)

Key track: Stimela

A long-time demo disc recorded live at Blues Alley, Washington DC, with huge dynamic range.

Highly RecommendedHidden Gem

Brahms: Piano Quartet No. 3

Festival Quartet

Best pressing: Original "Shaded Dog" pressing

Key track: III. Andante

One of RCA's most lifelike chamber recordings, with remarkable inner detail and a perfectly blended piano.

Hidden Gem

Haydn: String Quartets Op. 17

Tátrai Quartet

Best pressing: Original Qualiton 3LP box

The Hungarian Tátrai Quartet's celebrated Haydn: warm, unhurried playing that few collectors outside Hungary know.

Hidden Gem

For Duke

Bill Berry and His Ellington All-Stars

Best pressing: Original M&K RealTime direct-to-disc LP

A direct-to-disc session with Ray Brown, Scott Hamilton and Marshal Royal; Stereophile praised its open, natural highs and realistic cymbals.

Hidden Gem

Night Song

Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan & Michael Brook

Best pressing: Real World LP

Key track: Night Song

Qawwali devotional singing woven with Michael Brook's ambient "infinite guitar."

Highly RecommendedHidden Gem

Shostakovich: Cello Sonata / Schubert: "Arpeggione" Sonata

Daniil Shafran, Lydia Pecherskaya

Best pressing: Original "Shaded Dog" pressing

Key track: Shostakovich: Cello Sonata: II. Allegro

Full-bodied, resinous cello with real bow friction and weight, without bloat.

Highly RecommendedHidden Gem

Poulenc: La Voix humaine

Denise Duval, Georges Prêtre, Orchestre de l'Opéra-Comique

Best pressing: Original "Shaded Dog" pressing

Cocteau's one-woman opera with startling vocal realism: Duval sounds present, clear and dynamic.

Highly RecommendedHidden Gem

Tchaikovsky: Swan Lake (highlights)

Jean Morel, Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden

Best pressing: RCA Victrola LP

Key track: Scene (Act II)

A budget Victrola with deep 3-D staging, wide dynamics and rich bass.

Hidden Gem

Fauré: Requiem (original version)

John Rutter, Cambridge Singers, City of London Sinfonia

Key track: Libera me

The intimate original version of the Requiem; a Gramophone Award winner.

Hidden Gem

Us

Peter Gabriel

Best pressing: 2016 half-speed remastered 2LP (Tony Cousins at Metropolis; cut by Matt Colton)

Key track: Come Talk to Me

The less-celebrated follow-up to So, with deep low end and rich world-music textures.

Highly RecommendedHidden Gem

String Band featuring Isao Suzuki

Isao Suzuki, Hank Jones, Ron Carter, Roy Haynes, string quartet

Best pressing: Original Flying Disk direct-to-disc LP

A Japanese direct-to-disc session pairing Suzuki's piccolo bass with Ron Carter's acoustic bass, Hank Jones, Roy Haynes and strings arranged by Masahiko Satoh.

Highly RecommendedHidden Gem

Schubert: "Trout" Quintet

Victor Babin, Festival Quartet

Best pressing: Original "Shaded Dog" pressing

Key track: IV. Andantino – Allegretto (Theme and Variations)

A dry, intimate studio recording with real tactile bite; collectors rank it beside the famous Curzon/Vienna Octet "Trout."

Highly RecommendedHidden Gem

Busoni: Elegies / Villa-Lobos: Rudepoêma

David Bean

Best pressing: RCA Victrola LP

One of RCA's finest solo piano recordings: lifelike weight, clarity and speed.

Gloria's Step

Sunday at the Village Vanguard · Bill Evans Trio

Bass pitch and the wood of LaFaro's instrument.

Exactly Like You

Soular Energy · The Ray Brown Trio

The size, pitch and body of Ray Brown's upright bass.

No Sanctuary Here

Roadhouses & Automobiles · Chris Jones

Deep bass under his baritone and the width of the stage.

Part I – Acknowledgement

A Love Supreme · John Coltrane

Jimmy Garrison's bass figure under the chant, and Elvin Jones's cymbals rising behind the sax.

Maiden Voyage

Maiden Voyage · Herbie Hancock

Ron Carter's bass and Tony Williams's ride cymbal.

★ Reference

Strauss: Dance of the Seven Veils / Smetana / Dvořák / Weinberger

Fritz Reiner, Chicago Symphony Orchestra

Best pressing: RCA Victrola LP

Key track: Strauss: Salome – Dance of the Seven Veils

★ Reference

Falla: The Three-Cornered Hat (complete ballet)

Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, Philharmonia Orchestra, Victoria de los Ángeles

Best pressing: Clean HMV ASD 608 original; Alto 180g reissue

Key track: Final Dance (Jota)

★ Reference

Arnold: Overtures

Malcolm Arnold, London Philharmonic Orchestra

Best pressing: Original Reference Recordings 2LP (pure analog)

Key track: Beckus the Dandipratt

★ Reference

Sibelius: Symphony No. 2

Pierre Monteux, London Symphony Orchestra

Best pressing: Original "Shaded Dog" pressing

Key track: IV. Finale: Allegro moderato

★ Reference

Schubert: String Quartet No. 14 "Death and the Maiden"

Juilliard String Quartet

Best pressing: Original "Shaded Dog" pressing

Key track: II. Andante con moto

★ Reference

Venice

Georg Solti, Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden

Best pressing: Original "Shaded Dog" pressing

Key track: Ponchielli: Dance of the Hours

★ Reference

The Power of the Orchestra

René Leibowitz, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra

Best pressing: Analogue Productions 200g LP (Ryan K. Smith); clean "Shaded Dog" original

Key track: Mussorgsky: Night on Bald Mountain

★ Reference

Strauss: Waltzes

Fritz Reiner, Chicago Symphony Orchestra

Best pressing: Original "Shaded Dog" pressing

★ Reference

Rhapsodies

Leopold Stokowski, RCA Victor Symphony Orchestra

Best pressing: Analogue Productions 200g LP; clean "Shaded Dog" original

Key track: Enescu: Romanian Rhapsody No. 1

★ Reference

Pops Stoppers

Arthur Fiedler, Boston Pops Orchestra

Best pressing: Original "Shaded Dog" pressing

★ Reference

Debussy: Images pour orchestre

Charles Munch, Boston Symphony Orchestra

Best pressing: Original "Shaded Dog" pressing

Key track: Ibéria: III. Le matin d'un jour de fête

★ Reference

Gounod: Faust Ballet Music / Bizet: Carmen Suite

Alexander Gibson, Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden

Best pressing: Original "Shaded Dog" pressing

Key track: Bizet: Carmen Suite – Les Toréadors