A pretty clean 1975 4-LP Vox Box of Ravel’s complete orchestral works, performed by the Minnesota Orchestra under Stanislaw Skrowaczewski with the St. Olaf Choir. I get this out every couple of years. The music and recording are great, though the surfaces have a few pops here and there. Nothing too distracting.
An Analogue Productions CD (I know, right?) of an old favorite Vox LP that’s still in my collection.
Unpretentious but extremely well crafted and charming works of Italian Galante style chamber music. Strongly recommended.
Francesco Pasquale Ricci (1732-1817) Six String Quartets Op. VIII
ALLA MANIERA ITALIANA ENSEMBLE
Although von Karajan’s version is much more powerful, I the CD directed by Bernard Haitink still is my favourite 
Two discs, freshly arrived from Presto Music. The first is a collection of quartets arranged for string orchestra, performed by Finnish ensemble Ostrobothnian Chamber Orchestra under Malin Broman. Interesting music from composers mostly unknown to me, the exception being Grace Williams. And being a BIS release, the sound doesn’t disappoint.
The second is the new recording of Tchaikovsky’s “musical pancakes” for piano (his characterization), The Seasons, performed by Yunchan Lim. This one was teased several weeks ago with the release of one of the tracks, which I really enjoyed, so I’ve been looking forward to it.
PSA: Bert van der Wolf (Northstar Recordings | Spirit of Turtle) has increased his End of Summer sale to 35% OFF for this last weekend of summer. The discount applies to the entire catalog. (The artwork below needs updating.)
Ah, an old favorite now returned to my music library. These performances have always been my touchstone for these works. There are others, but these are wonderful readings. And the recording quality is very good. As noted, this is a transfer from an LP (an original EMI White/Gold label pressing). Bob Witrak is doing a great job with his ongoing Vinyl Records Restoration series of releases.
Mozart’s Requiem in the late afternoon… I’ve been enjoying this recording from Manfred Honeck and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. It is crafted as a full concert experience with spoken interludes by F. Murray Abraham (wonderful readings) and additional instrumental music from Mozart’s Masonic Funeral Music and Gregorian Chant. Treated as a concert, with due attention to it as such, it is a dramatic & engaging album. Perhaps the best choral music recording I’ve heard this year. A Mark Donahue recording and mastering, so it’s got lots of good sonic DNA. I’m listening to the DXD 32-bit release and it sounds pretty fabulous. HERE
Intriguing concept. I have 30+ recordings of the Requiem and it appears I need yet another. 
Lots of excellent music superbly performed and very well recorded on this 2 disc set. Recommended - -
After hearing Lim’s new recording of Tchaikovsky’s The Seasons on piano, I decided to dust off the orchestrated disc of the old 2-LP set I bought long ago. Really nice performances and recording.
This entire cycle of the complete symphonies of Haydn has been (is continuing to be) just terrific for those who love Haydn and enjoy historically informed performance practice. They are up to Vol. 17, but I’m catching up with some of the earlier releases. Nicely performed, nicely recorded by Alpha Classics. My earlier review HERE
Recorded in 2008 to 15ips 2-track analog tape. Transferred to DSD256 from the master tape and released in 2015. A nice set of performances of these works by then then younger Nigel Armstrong. Nigel graduated from the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia in 2004, then in CA, then as concert master for the Santa Cruz Symphony Orchestra from 2017-2023, and now performs as a soloist in concert tours.
The album opens with a very nice performance of Bartok’s very challenging Sonata for Solo Violin. moves to Bach’s Violin Sonata No.3 in C Major, BWV 1005, and concludes with Korngold’s romantic Violin Concerto with The Coburn Orchestra conducted by Sir Neville Marriner in Royce Hall.
As always, Bob Attiyeh’s recording of both the solo instrument performances and the orchestral performance are beautifully done – very natural sound, perfect positioning of microphones, excellent soundstage capture.
Imagine my surprise finding Bela Bartok’s Romanian Dances included in this volume of Haydn’s complete symphonies. The connection is that Haydn regularly included folk music themes in his symphonies, particularly dance music. So, what better than Bartok’s Romanian Dances for an interlude, played on period instruments of the 16th and 17th Centuries! the different timbre of many of these instruments brings a whole new perspective to Bartok’s famous music.
Agree. This Haydn symphonies cycle is way ahead of the competition, HIP or not.