peter, you asked about AMG on line - i've never looked at it on line but i buy it regularily. It is best used for gaining a concensus of performances on recent releases and, i think best of all, it has composer reviews wherein all of the composers most popular works are discussed and "ranked". But be careful, sonic quality is not really important to these guys. (i also subscribe to all of the recommended journals and highly recommend this as a primary source of information, just be wary - Pls1 has described them very accurately.
you mentioned Bruch's Scottish Fantasia - You may well have heard Cho-Liang Lin on Sony/CBS. It also includes Bruch's Violin Concerto. This is an excellent choice, however my personal preference is the same program by Kyung-Wha Chung on a Decca Legends CD. But either will serve you well.
On Vaughn Williams, since you have some of his short works, you might try Neville Marriner's CD (if still in print) on Argo, which includes the Fantasia On a theme by Thomas Tallis, the Fantasia on Greensleeves, The Lark Assending etc. However, i would recommend that you sample one of his symphonies, the 2d called the London Symphony. There are many good versions on budget labels, I like Previn in all of the symphonies on RCA. However my current interest is in the original version on Chandos by Hickox. Beware this is an audiophile disc in the best sense - but it will challenge the dynamics of your system. enjoy.
you mentioned Bruch's Scottish Fantasia - You may well have heard Cho-Liang Lin on Sony/CBS. It also includes Bruch's Violin Concerto. This is an excellent choice, however my personal preference is the same program by Kyung-Wha Chung on a Decca Legends CD. But either will serve you well.
On Vaughn Williams, since you have some of his short works, you might try Neville Marriner's CD (if still in print) on Argo, which includes the Fantasia On a theme by Thomas Tallis, the Fantasia on Greensleeves, The Lark Assending etc. However, i would recommend that you sample one of his symphonies, the 2d called the London Symphony. There are many good versions on budget labels, I like Previn in all of the symphonies on RCA. However my current interest is in the original version on Chandos by Hickox. Beware this is an audiophile disc in the best sense - but it will challenge the dynamics of your system. enjoy.