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Help this budding Classical audiophile

I am looking for a recommendation on what Classical cd to buy, preferable under the Naxos label as they are well recorded and inexpensive (talk about having your cake and eating it too!). I've been an audiophile for the past 20 years now and mainly listen to acoustic jazz. My taste includes artists such as Bobby Hutcherson, Kenny Barron, Brad Mehldau, Micheal Franks, Yellowjackets, Joey Calderazzo to name a few. I have about 700 cd's, with about 80% acoustic jazz. I'm more into the melody, and of course the musicianship, when I buy cd's. One thing that is also very important to me is the recording quality. I only started getting "turned on" to Classical music within the last 2-3 years and have since bought cd's from Bach, Beethoven, and my favorite right now, Haydn. I particularly like the sound of the violin and have exclusively bought violin quartets/trios. I like listening to Classical songs that are "emotional", even solo violin would do. Any recommendations out there would be greatly appreciated as this budding Classical audiophile has no clue as to what cd to pick from the very vast selection Classical music has to offer. Thanks in advance!
gemini

Showing 1 response by jlamb

jlamb
150 posts
 
I've been exploring classical music for some time now, since back in the day when the best I could do was the speakers that came with my Gateway computer! Not only could I not afford a decent system, but budget cd's were always in order. So that's what I did, I picked up cheap compilations from the big chain stores, listened and learned. Best Buy, Circuit City, you name it! All cheap, cheap, but boy did I get exposed! With time I came to distinguish what I liked from what I appreciated from what I loved. Many of these cd's were under $5.00, not particularly well recorded but then again, my system wasn't up to snuff either. One of my favorites was a 4 disc set that I picked for under $10.00 "Great Violin Moments", from the Kannon label. Violin concertos from Brahms, Mendelsson, Sibelius and two sonatas from Mozart. What a starter set! In time I got a decent system and with it new and better recorded versions of my favorites. But to this day I don't think I'll ever recapture the emotional impact of discovering these gems on that old beat up computer.
Another such compilation, which incidently, is very well recorded, is "Romantic Violin" on the RCA Red Seal label. They aslo have a very fine "Romantic Cello" disc as well! (I love the Red Seal series from RCA, classic perfomances from the RCA archives remastered)
So to answer your question on violin suggestions:
Mozart and Beethoven's Sonatas for Violin & Piano;
Brahms, Mendelsson, Beethoven, Sibelius for violin concertos;
Gidion Kremer's readings of Astor Piazolla's music for something different;
Naturally, Vivaldi's Four Seasons and Bach's Brandenberg Concertos need to be mentioned for Baroque standards.
There's just so many!
More to discover