Great MONO recordings

Thanks. I have been interested in getting more into classical music. I have been enjoying KDFC, the classical station in the Bay Area. I have even thought about getting an old tube tuner. Although my classical collection is small, for Tristan & Isolde, I have a very nice LP boxed set with Brigit Nilsson / Georg Solti / London Stereo, which, I think, is also really good.

As far as *stunning* sounding mono goes, generally-speaking, Westminster Lp's of Chamber music can sound almost palpable. Surfaces can be noisy though. Orchestral music on Westminster or elsewhere...I can't say it's "about the sound." It's about performance: Currently, I'm a big fan of Scherchen's Beethoven. I'm also a big fan of Furtwangler.

So since I'm only familiar with Classical Mono, I could only say comfortably that most Chamber music on Westminster could be used for sound demonstrations, (but damn good performances too), and I'd only recommend going out of your way for large-scale Classical and/or Opera on mono when you've become tired of modern recordings of said performances, a lifetime's pursuit. I learned my Wagner through Nilsson, but only recently discovered Flagstad, who has Nilsson's clarion top but can also soften and feminize her voice as well. Now it's hard to go back to Nilsson, even though she's recorded better.

So you're probably asking a difficult question!

Many of Rudy Van Gelder's early Stereo mixes were hard pans with little center fill, which is a distraction to me, an annoyance.

So I sought the Mono version Blue Notes, Prestige Records, etc.

If you are jazz lover, the Music Matter mono Blue Note reissues are hard to beat.

Also look for the original Contemporary and Argo titles.

Jazdoc wrote:
If you are jazz lover, the Music Matter mono Blue Note reissues are hard to beat.

I completely concur. The Gil Melle LP entitled "Jazz Patterns" is breathtaking in its ability to paint a realistic soundstage in a head-scratching way. Mono LPs like this make me wonder why stereo LPs were ever introduced!