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.

McCoy Tyner Quartet

McCoy Tyner Quartet (Joe Henderson, Ron Carter, Al Foster)

Best pressing: One-Step 2LP reissue

Key track: Recorda Me

Four masters together at RCA Studio A in New York, captured with Chesky's open, natural sound.

Nouveau Flamenco

Ottmar Liebert

Key track: Heart Still/Beating

Intimate nylon-string guitar against hand percussion: a test of string texture and transient snap.

Leopold Stokowski: Decca Recordings 1965–1972

Leopold Stokowski, Czech Philharmonic Orchestra

Key track: Bach: Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 565 (orch. Stokowski)

Decca's close-miked Phase 4 technique paints Stokowski's own orchestration in vivid, larger-than-life color.

Haydn: String Quartets, Op. 33 "Russian"

London Haydn Quartet

Key track: String Quartet in E-flat, Op. 33 No. 2 "The Joke"

Played on gut strings, which give the four voices a warm, slightly plangent tone.