I couldn’t agree more with @larryi -
<< I probably have 1,000 classical LPs. I almost never listen to them. I do have, and listen to classical CDs ripped to a streamer. I MUCH prefer listening to classical digitally— no awkward breaks in programming, easy to find place in libretti when listening to opera, no ticks and pops during quiet passages, and most significantly, VASTLY greater selection of composers and performances (most legacy performances have been reissued digitally, very few new recordings have been issued on LPs since the early 1990s). >>
Until a few months ago, I had 1800 LPs of which 80% were classical, a carefully curated collection I began as a teenager. Like @ larryi, I wasn’t listening to them much and we needed the room to build bunkbeds for our grandkids. So I sold the records. [If you read TAS, check out the editorial for the February 2024 issue, which tells the story.] I agree that a listener without much experience with classical music should begin with inexpensive and wide-ranging sources—radio, streaming (with smart algorithms), used CDs at garage sales.
But the OP asked about LPs. I kept 50 or 60 of my vinyl albums for various reasons, some sentimental but most because they sound so good. Here are a dozen of the classical records currently on the very small shelf a few feet from where I’m typing in my office. Most are audiophile-quality reissues and worth the price - they all sound great and I bet the OP will actually listen to them, both for the content and their considerable audio merits.
You can get them from Acoustic Sounds, Music Direct, and Speakers Corner and, of course, used via eBay, Amazon, etc
1. Herold-Lanchbery: La fille mal gardeé (Decca)
2. Canteloube: Songs of the Auvergne. Davrath. Vanguard/AP)
3. Chopin’s Last Waltz. Robert Silverman (Stereophile)
4. Vivaldi: The Four Seasons (Telarc)
5. Stravinsky: Firebird Suite (Telarc)
6. Tchakovsky: 1812 Overture. Kunzel/Cincinnati (Telarc)
7. Rachmaninoff: Symphonic Dances. Dallas/Johanos (Turnabout)
8. Bach: Partita No. 2. Iivonen. (Yarlung)
9. Center Stage. Graham/National Symphonic Winds
10. Mercury Living Presence The Collectors Edition 1 & 2 (6 LPs each)
11. Archiv Production Classic Recordings 1956 - 1982 (5 LPs)
12. Classic Records Heifetz Box set (9 LPs)
Andy Quint
The Absolute Sound
