I'm at my office, not at home where the music is, therefore my list will be somewhat short on exact titles, etc., but I think I can still provide enough information to be useful. I've been beaten to the punch on a lot of titles already mentioned by others, so I'm concentrating on items that may be somewhat less obvious, but still meet the criteria of first rate performance & recording quality.
1) Cherish the Ladies (That's the group name, not a title!):
The most recent release of Irish/Celtic folk music-the real (reel?) thing, not the New Age type-performed by an all female vocal/instrumental group with guest artists, including members of The Chieftains (to whom some of the ladies are related). HDCD encoded, beautifully realized recording/performance
2) Bill Cunliffe: Jazz piano trio recording of music written by/associated with the great Bud Powell by pianist Cunliffe who is not well known, but has a real grasp of the bop great's essence without being imitative. On the Naxos label, thus dirt cheap, and extremely well recorded.
3)Beethoven Symphonies 1-9 (+ several shorter works): David Zinman, cond., Tonhalle Orch. This is cheating a bit, because there are, I believe, 5 separate CD's, not in a boxed set, but releases on the Arte Nova label are only $5 or $6 (I got mine at Border's for $4.99 per), so I feel OK about calling it one item! There may be better performances of each of the symphonies available, yet as a set, these superbly recorded ones stand up well, and not just because of the price.
4) Mingus Big Band, The Essential...: On the Dreyfus label, the recording quality varies a bit, because this is really a "Best of..." compilation recorded at different times at different locations by different engineers, but it is never less than very good. If you haven't heard this big band that was formed in the early '90's to play arrangements of the music of Charles Mingus on a weekly gig at a NYC night club, you're in for a real treat. Despite varying personnel resulting from the nature of the engagement, the band is still an immensely coherent bunch with excellent soloists that can blow the roof off.
5) Vivaldi: Concert for the Prince of Poland. Features the Academy of Ancient Music on original instruments led by Andrew Manza, who also does some great work on the violin, on a variety of pieces by the composer (No, NOT The Four Seasons!) This is not Vivaldi to doze by, but a lively, sparkling assortment of concertos that will hold your interest, especially with the typically front rank Harmonia Mundi recording. (Or you could substitute Vivaldi's Concertos for Diverse Instruments, a Reference Recordings HDCD issue that may be a marginally better recording, but not quite as well played by the Philharmonia Baroque under Nicholas McGhegan
