One label that I believe has some of the best (if not the best) sounding classical recordings is Challenge Classics (not Channel Classics). The performances are great as well. I believe the label is out of the Netherlands. Their recording engineer is Bert van der Wolf (who's own personal company is called The Spirit of Turtle) who I believe utilizes the most progressive recording methods and finest equipment. With some very careful searching you can find it on Qobuz. In Qobuz the resolution is 24-bit 44.1 kHz. But you can get up to quad DSD from the label at the following address (this is for a Prokofiev recording as an example): Prokofiev: Symphonies Nos. 1 & 5 (Download) – The Spirit of Turtle. If the link doesn't work, go to: spiritofturtle.com. There is a pretty healthy catalog. The finer your system is the more these recordings will reward you.
Best Classical Labels for Sound
This is purely my opinion so obviously you may disagree or have a different experience. In any case I wanted to relay my experience in searching for the best recorded Classical music, Now in my case this is predominately Symphonic works, Concertos and Operas. These large ensemble works have always been a challenge to record given their size, dynamics and the complexity of most orchestrations. So first let me describe what I am looking for when I listen to these types of recordings. Also I am not usually sensitive to the conductor and the actual performance so I am not including that aspect. For me sound quality is paramount and I don't care how "great" the performance I just can't listen to poor recordings. I know some of you will think that's strange and value performance over sound but not for me. There are differences in interpretation obviously and I have listened to most of these works for over 40 years so it would have to be a pretty strange interpretation for me to nix a really good sounding recording.
Ok, so what am I looking for.
First for me is the perspective of the recording. Am I sitting in row 15 or further back or am I in the first row or worse at the podium. I want space, expansion, and atmosphere. Close up, close miked recordings for me are not what I want to hear. Close miked recordings compress the soundstage and minimize depth. It's like focusing with a telephoto lens. It feels claustrophobic. Many "Live" recording are miked this way to minimize audience noise and it's a treat to find a live recording with atmosphere and a sense of the hall.
Second is a well balanced recording where all of the instrumentalist, orchestra sections and soloists are presented just as you would hear them if you were there. In unbalanced recordings you find sections jumping out at you most likely flutes, brass and percussion. Strings in a lot of cases are miked too close and sound aggressive. When you are in the hall at a reasonable distance strings have a silken, smooth sound with no coarseness. So basically I look for a linear recording.
Third is transparency. With these scores I want to be able to hear all the sections, especially in complex parts and also in quiet parts as well. Many recordings fail at this and have a muddy midrange. Usually it's attributable to the type microphones used, or a too distant recording or the venue. And this is one of the most important aspects of Classical recording: the venue. A bad hall or studio can be a gremlin.In the old analog days almost any Decca recoding that was recorded in Kingsway Hall was wonderful. That hall is gone. I have found that the Boston Symphony recordings have always benefitted from their hall.
Fourth is overall frequency response. I mentioned linearity but the recording needs to have open and airy highs, a linear midrange and an impactful low end. Thin, bright recordings with an in your face midrange, weak low end or a depressed midrange really bother me.
So that sums up the most important characteristics I look for and here is where I find them
Telarc
This label is just amazing. What a catalog! t's hard to find a poor recording in their catalog especially anything they recorded after 1990 when they and many labels finally figured out how to record digitally. As my system has evolved and gotten better these recording did as well.The better the system the more you can appreciate these recordings. What a great engineering team. Very consistent. Only a few items in their catalog fail my list and usually for Telarc it's a venue issue.Their 16/44 recordings in many cases are equal to HiRes recordings at 24/96.Too bad they were sold and no longer record. Would have loved to hear what they could do with HiRes.
Chandos
This is also a very consistent label although since they record so many different Orchestras they do have some venue issues Chandos is thee proponent of atmospheric recordings. Very unusual to find a close miked recording with Chandos. In fact they have been consistently the most distant miked label. Now in some cases this has led to a lack of transparency. Again some of their best work is post 1990 and especially after 2000 when they started to phase in 24/96 technology. Hard to find a bad recoding in their catalog. Especially note worthy are any of their BBC Philharmonic recordings. They were sold to Naxos whose owner vows to maintain their catalog and keep producing new recordings.
Reference
What a wonderful label! Staggeringly beautiful, dynamic and life like recordings. Some of their recordings can be a little too reverberant but even then they are excellent. Unfortunately for me their new series with the Pittsburg Symphony has been a disappointment as they are live recordings miked too close for my taste but still excellent recordings.
Deutsche Gramophone
Again post 1990 they figured it out. I thought their early digital recording were too bright but when they started their 4D line it all come into place. Since the mid 90s they have been pretty consistent. In fact the Pletnev Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninoff Symphony recordings with the Russian National Orchestra are really excellent but require a good system to hear what they offer. They clearly benefit from an excellent venue. This is another series of recordings that got better as I upgraded my system. In my opinion these are the best recordings and performances of these works. DG keep getting better. Their live recordings of Shostakovich Symphonies with the Boston Symphony are exceptional. One of the best live recordings I've heard. Also their recent recordings with the Philadelphia Orchestra are excellent. And if you want to hear a really stunning recoding of Ravel's Piano Concertos DG just released a recording with Seong-Jin Cho and the Boston Symphony that is amazing in both performance and as an example of state of the art recording.
Channel Classics
A label from the Netherlands that offers some very dynamic, well balanced and atmospheric recordings especially their Prokofiev Symphony series.
Other labels such as BIS, Onyx, Ondine, Hyperion and Harmonia Mundi offer excellent recordings but are not as consistent. My old analog favorites Decca and EMI now part of Warner to me have not yet made the adjustment to digital. Very inconsistent and lacking transparency and soundstage compared to those mentioned above. I also include Sony/RCA in this group as well.
Ok, a long one but I would be interested in your experiences as well and let me know if you have found any labels I missed. Also would be interested in what audio qualities you value when listening to Classical music which is the most challenging type of music to record.
I listened to the opening work on Borders on the 2L label. I agree, fantastically realistic recordings excellent transparency, great soundstage with depth and very well balanced with smooth open highs and deep low end. Plus the music is very good too. Thanks for the recommendation. I will explore more of their offerings. |
I concur with those who like BIS and Harmonia Mundi, although I do have one BIS CD which has seemed bright. I have one Audioquest CD of 18th Century trios that is fantastic--the three performers sound like they're in my listening room (helps that there isn't a lot of reverb in the recording), but haven't heard other AQ recordings. I mostly concur with the OP about his label preferences, although I'm not that impressed with the DG CDs and SACD I own. I'm inclined to think that well-remastered analog recordings that were originally good can often be the best-sounding digital media. So there are some Decca/London recordings and Philips like that, and even Columbia, whose LPs during the '70s were often not good, even if the vinyl was quiet. |
Decca from the late 1950s's 60s, 70s, Acoustic sounds has released re-masters of RCA, Decca and others. DG about a year or two ago started the Original Source series of recordings - vinyl mastered from the original tapes from the 50s, 60s, 70s. Incredible sound. Check out The Tracking Angle. Lots good classical info and music and re-releases and re-masters. |
@jfrmusic Either way, positive or negative, let me know what your is opinion of their recording tech. |
Qobuz does not have a good label search. I also use Qobuz through the Aurender Conductor app. That has a label search but it also is not good. My recommendation is to go onto the 2L home page (www.2L.no) or Stockfish home page (www.stockfish-records.de), pick a title, and search in Qobuz by title. If on Stockfish, with its very limited classical catalogue, check out folk/jazz fusion titles by Katja Werka and Sara K. On the two I recommended, a Qobuz search for Borders (Henning Sommerro: Trondheim Symphony Orchestra) or Magnificat (Nidarosdomens jentekor & Trondheimsolistene) brings you to the albums. Note spell check changed spelling of title in the original post … use Magnificat.
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You have accurately described some major labels. +1 on BIS. Also, Proprius offers recordings of excellent timbre, staging and imaging. However, my two favorites are 2L and the small classical collection on Stockfish. These two labels just get timbre and spatial presentation right from my perspective, including dense images and natural dynamics. 2L offers extensive liner notes on the composition, performance and recording technique where they use a column of microphones as well as others placed in the venue to record “the conductor’s perspective” as they imply. Their collection of pieces from Nordic composers and main stream composers played by Nordic orchestras is eclectic. Performances are emotional and energetic to my liking, but some may say to an extent. If you have not yet, give a listen to the label. They stream on Qobuz. Try Borders, a modern orchestral piece with some unusual solo instruments like harmonica or Magnificat, for chorus, orchestra and organ. Both evoke much emotion. Also try their Mozart Concerto collection or any one of their chamber or ancient music collections. Hope you enjoy. |
The old Deccas, the made in England Londons (doesn’t have to be a "blue back"). Even some of their mid-price "Treasury" series (budget reissues) that were pressed in England. Their recording techniques and the consistency of the end product, from mastering to manufacture, were second to none long before the "audiophile" label appeared. (Yes, I have tons of the speciality labels that came into being for audiophiles). Good repertoire too. Most of my classical LPs were acquired decades ago. Sadly, I listen only occasionally to these- I have a room full of classical records adjacent to my listening room, where the main "collection" resides, including rock warhorses- mostly OGs, jazz, and incoming acquisitions are located. If you are after particular performances by specific symphonies/conductors/featured performers, different question. PS: the EMI ASDs were pretty great. I also bought quite a few RCA doggies (both shaded and white) and Mercury Living Presence back in the day. Appears that you are after modern digital equivalents? Can't help there. The above is all earlier, analog material on LP. |
I have had many reach out and touch the musicians moments with BIS, particularly in Chamber Music; try their Haydn Quartets. BIS had been supporting SACD, which is my preferred way to access DSD. BIS doesn’t boost the midranges as some labels are tend to do and in Concerto discs they tend to not spotlight the soloists unnaturally. You may hear this a thinness but I hear it as realistic timbre. Some of BIS orchestras are not top tier, but imo they have been recorded faithfully. Channel Classics is another label that did stunning work in SACD, particularly the Rachel Podger discs. I am less a fan of their Budapest Festival Orchestra discs, but that could be because I think Ivan Fischer should have stopped recording 20 years ago. Alia Vox and Jordi Savall recordings are really good. Try his album devoted to La Folia, or the Beethoven Cycle or Schubert 8/9. A lot of Savall’s output just doesn’t sustain my interest but man it’s well recorded. The Canadian label Analekta is small but has some good sounding recordings. Harmonic Mundi hasn’t been mentioned here but they have a generally high standard. The so called majors are a crap shoot now as we have discussed. They probably always were. DG had those pristine vinyl surfaces but no bass. Occasionally they would put out a stunner such as Pollini Chopin Etudes or Karajan Bruckner or Mahler. Phillips also had quiet surfaces but failed to exploit the likes of the Amsterdam Concertgebouw for most of the Haitink years. RCA was probably the most consistent. Columbia spent years mixing Bernstein and Ormandy as if people would be listening on AM car radios |
I do like the BIS label but find them very inconsistent and they can tend to be bright and rather thinner in body. But when they get it right they are very good. And yes there are many smaller labels producing excellent recordings. But again not a consistent house sound. Since I stream from Qobuz it’s very easy to sample many recordings of the same work and fine the best recorded version. And I agree the old “major” recording labels just don’t produce the best recordings anymore. |
Try the Swedish label BIS. They were purchased by Apple who just canned their founder so act fast before all of their offerings are offered in mp3 only. Otherwise most of the excellent Classical Labels are smaller independents, such as Alia Vox, Somm, Alpha, Channel Classics, and numerous others. The so called majors-after all the consolidation in the industry it’s now Decca, Warner and Sony- frequently use free lance engineering teams and no longer have stables of regular personnel. They therefore do not have the ‘House Sound’ that they formerly had, and there is substantial variability as to their recording capabilities |
