Best CD

The Best of Mapleshade Vol. 2 '13 Shades of Blue'.

Cheers,
John

Ravel/Debussy Ameling de Waart/SFO Philips from I believe '79. It's an amazing recording and shows that careful mastering of a CD makes all the difference even early-on. The music--two Duparc songs, Ravel's Sheherazahde and Debussy's early but gorgeous Damoiselle Eleu. (sp)--is as good as it gets as well.

If there were ever a CD to fake out someone who only listens to "hi-rez," this is the one. What I would give to see their expression when you tell them that it's from the early '80's.

I've long enjoyed most of the releases from Reference Recordings, both on Vinyl and on CD. My favorites have been everything conducted by Eiji Oue. A real standout for me has been Rachmaninoff's Symphonic Dances on HDCD.

I also agree with those who like Sheffield. I have everything they ever produced on vinyl and CD, the Track Record kicks ass for sure but so do Lawrence Leighton Smith and Dmitri Kitayenko on the wonderful "Moscow Sessions".

A great question but way too many possibilities to narrow it down to less than a few hundred. It really depends on the mood, the wine, the time of day and most importantly for whom you are playing the system.

REL2

Give the Chandos recording of Carl Neilsen's "Alladin" a try,make sure it's the full version. It's got to be one of the greatest dynamic orchestral recordings ever made. On a big system it is a mind blower. Every time I listen, I don't know whether I should run or not it's so powerful.

Let me add Eva Cassidy's live at Blues Alley. Although not all the tracks are recorded at the same level,most are pure bliss.