Help with Classical Music Record Labels.

Swedish BIS is best , by FAR the best!

@lowrider57 I can see that. I think Dorle wanted to reach a larger audience and thus presumably went for a different house sound.

Try command or mercury living presence or any record you see recorded at fine recording studios they are the best i have ever heard.

My great aunt, Dorle Soria, was the founder of Angel records. As well as being a producer, she also was looking for talent both new and established and was instrumental ( no pun intended ) in helping new talent get recorded. I can't attest the sound quality of all the recordings, but the ones I have sound pretty decent on my system. Although I may be biased.

It seems that the Soria's did a fine job of distributing classical recordings in the US for EMI. 
At some point EMI/Angel stopped importing and began production and distribution in the US only. This is when different masters were used to press vinyl, and to my ears, never matched the quality of the original UK masters.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angel_Records

Thanks all for your input. As expected I haven't heard half of the labels mentioned but that's why we have these great forums with very useful information.

I lot of people seem to be disappointed from DG. That is not my experience but I realized that all my DG records I bought used are from the 60's and the 70's. I guess in the 80's the quality went down.

No label can even approach guaranteeing a "great listening experience".  Just think of all the variables involved: ensembles and soloists, halls, recording engineers, equipment, etc.

Chandos and Hyperion have a good batting average, as do some of the other names mentioned here.  But really it's on a disc to disc basis.

My great aunt, Dorle Soria, was the founder of Angel records. As well as being a producer, she also was looking for talent both new and established and was instrumental ( no pun intended ) in helping new talent get recorded. I can't attest the sound quality of all the recordings, but the ones I have sound pretty decent on my system. Although I may be biased.

Naxos is v good and often overlooked. I’ll buy almost anything on the label and haven’t been disappointed. 
Fwiw I think DG is overrated. Great musicians but sound to me is disappointing. 

I would include also Mercury, Harmonia Mundi and Erato.

G

What, no EMI and HMV? These were the favorite labels of HP (Harry Pearson), founder of TAS!

@edcyn, good descriptions and recommendations.
Something I've noticed, DG somehow managed to make Abbado's recordings sound good...thankfully.

Wow, everybody's all over the place. So I'll add my personal take. BTW, I get enjoyable fidelity from all formats -- vinyl, CD & streaming.  I've also been listening to classical music since the age of three.  I'm now, ahem, in distinguished retirement.

Best sound quality overall for me has been on Philips. The Concertgebouw Orchestra and the Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields almost never fail to give me musical and aural pleasure. Some call the St. Martin-in-the-Fields performances bland. I don't.  Saw 'em live a couple times, too.

Telarc can often be a bit too analytical, but when it is good, for example in the Lauren Maazel recording of Tchaikovsky's Fourth Symphony, it is very good.

RCA Living Presence, yes even in the CD/SACD reissues, are audiophile go-to's for good reason.  Slaughter on Tenth Avenue with Fiedler and the Boston Pops is a standout.

CBS/Columbia can get all too trebly, especially with Bernstein and the New York Phil, but the performances can be persuasive.  The Bruno Walter recordings from the 1950's, especially a transcendent performance of the Schubert Ninth Symphony I've got on both Odyssey and a Japanese pressing, are always worth a try. So is any recording with Murray Perahia.  

DG is sometimes unbearably trebly, but that doesn't keep me from having them regularly on the turntable (my DG CD's, unfortunately, usually show DG at its harsh worst).  My DG LP recording of Bizet's Carmen (conducted by Claudio Abbado and featuring Placido Domingo) might be my single favorite album in any genre. Drama! Color! Tunes! Chaotic 3D crowd scenes!

Worst... Everest, Columbia House, Angel (EMI budget releases), Seraphim (Angel reissues).

Are you talking vinyl? DG is very inconsistent, 1980’s digital are very poor recordings.
Decca, London (Decca USA releases), Philips, EMI, RCA Red Seal, Mercury Living Presence, RCA Living Stereo, Telarc (digital releases). Columbia which was bought by Sony, L’Oiseau-Lyre.

Command, Westmintster, Nonesuch, Lyrita, just to name a few.

Don't overlook Sony.  All the great old stuff is on the Sony label.  Or so it seems.

Cheers