classical newbie

George Solti and Chicago playing Bartok's Concerto for Orchestra, Dance Suite and Music for Strings Percussion and Celeste. Excellent sound and interpretations.

George Szell and the Cleveland Orchestra Playing Dvorak 7th, 8th and 9th Symphonies. Recorded in the late 50's early 60's probably on Ampex 3 track machines. Amazing presence and warmth but with detail. These are labeled "StereoRama" from Sony.

William Walton's Viola Concerto. Dont have a specific recording to recommend but this is great music.

Let's walk on the wild side:
Alban Berg's Lulu Suite Played by City of Birmingham/Simon Rattle. Sounds like Mozart on drugs.
Valentin Silvestrov's "Metamusik" and "Postludium". An excellent ECM Recording. Conducted by Dennis Russell Davies.
George Tsontakis Violin Cocerto #2 and other pieces Played by The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra conducted by Douglas Boyd.

Bach is my desert island composer. The well of great recordings and great performances is deep.

Glenn Gould's 1982 recording of The Goldberg Variations is a must have.
Anner Bylsma Violincello Piccolo playing Partita in E major BWV 1006
The masses conducted by Philippe Herrewghe--a very nice 4 CD set.
Mass in B minor conducted by Helmuth Rilling
The Art of Fugue played by Musica Antiqua Koln
Well Tempered Clavier played by Angela Hewitt

There are so many. A good way to hear a lot of BACH is to tune into WKCR.org and listen to the Bach fest that takes place in a very few weeks 24/7 Bach for the week between Christmas and New Years.

One more thing I would add about Bach. Most all of his music inspires me but it is his sacred music that I find most inspirational and inventive. He was truly connected to a higher power.

I do alot of CD and vinyl shopping on amazon. Also many of these performances are available to listen to and research on Youtube.

This is the two CD set which contains only four of them:
BWV 233, 234 235 and 236. There are a bunch more of these great masses in my 4 CD set, but they are not showing up on Amazon. They should show up for sale at some point. In the mean time listen to all of them on YouTube.

http://www.amazon.com/Bach-Masses-Bwv-233-236-Sanctus/dp/B003BKF6DM/ref=sr_1_19?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1386776435&sr=1-19&keywords=bach+philippe+herreweghe

Type "Philippe Herrewghe bach masses" in youtube search and a bunch of things come up including his recording of the mass in B minor.

Klimt,

Those are Cantatas. Here is the complete BWV list contained in the 4 CD set. And forgive me, some of these are actually cantatas. Looks like there are only 4 masses in this compilation.

BWV 131, 73, 105, 39, 93, 107 These are cantatas.
BWV 233, 234, 235, 236 These are the masses.

WKCR.org or 89.9FM if you are in the New York City listening area just announced the Bach Festival. This is from their website:

WKCR announces the annual Bach Festival 2013. For the ten-day period from December 21st through New Year's Eve at midnight, WKCR will dedicate all broadcasting to the works of Johann Sebastian Bach. This yearly marathon broadcast is a defining aspect of the WKCR philosophy and a hallmark of the winter season on New York radio. Please read more for a schedule detailing major works.