best recordings for a sense of scale

Oscar Peterson 6 at Montreux, for a nice jazz record on Pablo label. I could name many classical and opera selections, but you said you were uninterested.

I'd second The Trinity Sessions (both versions). I know you dissed the classical and opera, but if you have an exception for early music, there are a few recordings on Jordi Savall's label, Alia Vox, that were done in a Spanish castle, my favorite is with his wife, the soprano, Montserrat Figueras - "El Cant De La Sibil-La" has a majestic sense of scale and atmosphere. The tiresome audiophile darling, Jazz at the Pawnshop, has a great sense of atmosphere and you-are-there presence.

The question is a bit confusing in that the OP starts by asking about a sense of space, which is quite clear, and mainly what myself and others are responding to. But in a follow-up question speaks specifically of sense of "scale", which may lead one to think of the size of instruments and their placement in space (apart from the environment they're in). I can think of recordings that make a piano sound small and distant, and others that make it sound life-sized and in the room, for instance...neither happen to convey much about the atmosphere they are in in those particular cases, but the latter short piece DOES convey a wonderful sense of scale of a piano. I'm assuming this is not what the OP is after(?).

The Trinity sessions were recorded at The Church of the Holy Trinity in Toronto Ontario Canada ! Cheers!

Thanks for all of the great responses. Sorry for the confusion with the question. I should have said a sense of space, both large and small.

Jax2, though I meant a sense of space, if you have recommendations of good recordings to illustrate a sense of scale as well, I would be eager to hear them.

Everything you guys say is like a little hidden gem. Thanks again for the responses.

Jax2, though I meant a sense of space, if you have recommendations of good recordings to illustrate a sense of scale as well, I would be eager to hear them.

OK, here's a few -

So the one that I was thinking of is a very short piece on an EP of Tori Amos - it is one of two lovely piano solos on the EP, "God", titled, "All the Girls Hate Her". I think Amos' Bosendorfer must be directly miked or close-miked because it feels like the piano is right there in front of you just behind the speakers. Her use of the extra octave on the Bosendorfer contributes some if you have speakers up to the task.

My friend introduced me to a blues guitar CD by David Bromberg which has a very lifelike, forward presence of his guitar and vocals. It came as a long awaited release in 2007 called "Try Me One More Time".

Vocals on a realistic scale are not as hard to come by it seems as they are more often than not emphasized. One of my favorite artists with a gorgeous voice, Antony, has several albums where he occurs to me as right there in front of me, life size and present. His latest, The Crying Light, is very good. I also like the EP, The Lake, and the Mecury Award winning, I am Bird Now (also avaialbale on vinyl).

Jazz...hmmm, check out the ECM release, "Achirana" ...check out the cut "The Spell", though the entire CD is GREAT. The sense of scale is immediate and life-like. ECM seems to have a superb track record of for excellent recordings, at least in my experience.

Orchestral is nearly impossible to convey a true sense of scale without some very serious $ invested into a system and a large space, and even still it will likely fall short. A very dramatic example that may impress there, on a very top-of-the-charts selection of classical music (read: highly overplayed) - check out Eiji Oue and the Minnesota Orchestra doing Copland's Fanfare for the Common Man on Reference Recordings. A system capable of deep bass will be necessary.