There are plenty of published guides out there. My favorite is The Virgin Guide to Classical Music by Jeremy J. Beadle (lots of music background, and multiple recommendations, but I'm not sure it's still in print). Ted Libbey and Jim Svejda also have guides out, which I'm pretty sure are available. Penguin and Gramophone publish compendiums as well.
Most of the focus is on CDs for obvious reasons (i.e., that's all that 99.9% of the world buys, you dinosaur, you). Nevertheless, the three authors I mentioned above all make some recommendations of older recordings from the analog era, so they'll be some help to you. You might try scouting used book stores for older guides, though I can't guarantee success.
Most of the focus is on CDs for obvious reasons (i.e., that's all that 99.9% of the world buys, you dinosaur, you). Nevertheless, the three authors I mentioned above all make some recommendations of older recordings from the analog era, so they'll be some help to you. You might try scouting used book stores for older guides, though I can't guarantee success.