Great thread! Thanks OP for starting this up.
First, I'll take a shot at defining what "Best" means to me in this exercise. I would include three aspects that all need to be completely dialed-in: 1) palpable presence with a fully dimensional sense of the original venue, nearly tangible recording quality, 2) excellent performance, 3) Music that thrills
Given that, my top three (at least at this writing) would include:
1) Esteban Salas - Cuban Baroque Music of the 18th Century (Milan_Jade 73138/35746-2 CD)
2) Saffire & The Uppity Blues Women - Live and Uppity (recorded at Wolf Trap - Alligator Records CD)
3) Cantate Domino - Oscar's Motet Choir (Proprius PRSACD7762 SACD)
and one more that must be mentioned: Lost Music of Early America - Music of the Moravians - Boston Baroque / Martin Pearlman (Telarc CD-80482 CD)
Cheers all!
First, I'll take a shot at defining what "Best" means to me in this exercise. I would include three aspects that all need to be completely dialed-in: 1) palpable presence with a fully dimensional sense of the original venue, nearly tangible recording quality, 2) excellent performance, 3) Music that thrills
Given that, my top three (at least at this writing) would include:
1) Esteban Salas - Cuban Baroque Music of the 18th Century (Milan_Jade 73138/35746-2 CD)
2) Saffire & The Uppity Blues Women - Live and Uppity (recorded at Wolf Trap - Alligator Records CD)
3) Cantate Domino - Oscar's Motet Choir (Proprius PRSACD7762 SACD)
and one more that must be mentioned: Lost Music of Early America - Music of the Moravians - Boston Baroque / Martin Pearlman (Telarc CD-80482 CD)
Cheers all!