classical newbie

George Solti and Chicago playing Bartok's Concerto for Orchestra, Dance Suite and Music for Strings Percussion and Celeste. Excellent sound and interpretations.

George Szell and the Cleveland Orchestra Playing Dvorak 7th, 8th and 9th Symphonies. Recorded in the late 50's early 60's probably on Ampex 3 track machines. Amazing presence and warmth but with detail. These are labeled "StereoRama" from Sony.

William Walton's Viola Concerto. Dont have a specific recording to recommend but this is great music.

Let's walk on the wild side:
Alban Berg's Lulu Suite Played by City of Birmingham/Simon Rattle. Sounds like Mozart on drugs.
Valentin Silvestrov's "Metamusik" and "Postludium". An excellent ECM Recording. Conducted by Dennis Russell Davies.
George Tsontakis Violin Cocerto #2 and other pieces Played by The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra conducted by Douglas Boyd.

Classical the hightest form?

I think so! And to my ear Bach is the greatest composer.

Can anyone recommend the best recordings of Bach's work?

Thanks

Great to hear that you want to get into classical! There's a huge world of music out there, and if you get serious enough, you just might catch the collecting bug that we've all come down with.

If you are interested in the Decca 2: Analogue Sound, you may want to also consider the two Mercury Living Presence boxed sets out there. It's pretty hard to get the first one these days unless you pay a fortune, but the second one is still in circulation and can be had for about $125 for 55 CDs. Personally, I think that the second boxed set is superior to the first. These contain some quintessential recordings from the golden era of classical recordings.

The other set to consider is the RCA Living Stereo 63 CD set. Like the Mercury set, this also contains remastered issues of some of the classic RCA Living Stereo releases of the 1950s-60s in excellent sound.

Bach is my desert island composer. The well of great recordings and great performances is deep.

Glenn Gould's 1982 recording of The Goldberg Variations is a must have.
Anner Bylsma Violincello Piccolo playing Partita in E major BWV 1006
The masses conducted by Philippe Herrewghe--a very nice 4 CD set.
Mass in B minor conducted by Helmuth Rilling
The Art of Fugue played by Musica Antiqua Koln
Well Tempered Clavier played by Angela Hewitt

There are so many. A good way to hear a lot of BACH is to tune into WKCR.org and listen to the Bach fest that takes place in a very few weeks 24/7 Bach for the week between Christmas and New Years.

One more thing I would add about Bach. Most all of his music inspires me but it is his sacred music that I find most inspirational and inventive. He was truly connected to a higher power.