Oh boy, a thread I can actually say something about!

First, someone mentioned the cutout/discount specialists: that is the Berkshire Record Outlet at http://www.broinc.com. They're a definite destination on the web, and it's fun to go to their location as well (not that it's much to see, but they do have a lot of specials in the front room even better than the ones in their catalog) -- it's a few miles from the shed at Tanglewood in the Berkshires of western Massachusetts, which is itself one of the great meccas of classical music.

I don't yet own the great sound systems you folks do, so I generally can't comment on how good these recordings are, but here are a few more for your consideration:

Coloratura is something of an acquired taste (my mother has been in the Seattle Symphony Chorale since before I was born, and she still isn't crazy about it), but this recording is simply incredible: Edita Gruberova, Queen of Coloratura. The first track is the Queen of the Night aria from Mozart's Magic Flute (by the way, NO yawning here!) which is an amazing virtuosa performance in the high registers. If you want to test your speakers' extreme high range, you can't go wrong here -- I've been using it as one of my test tracks. The rest of the recording is also fantastic. Gruberova is a rarity who not only can do the extreme high, very fast notes exactly in tune and crystal clear, but also can sing the dramatic longer notes. I was lucky enough to hear her live early in her career at the Vienna Staatsoper, and she was an absolute sensation. A recording can never be as good as live, but this one comes close. Highly recommended.

Anything with Sir Eliot Gardner is likely to be a good choice. His work with historically-informed performance has produced some wonderfully new-sounding recordings of pieces we thought we knew before. I have several of his: I enjoy his work with the Bach Christmas Oratorio, with the Mozart Requiem, and more.

Boston Baroque has produced some great recordings in recent years: one of my favorites is the Montoverdi Vespers of 1610 -- that's a stunning recording as well, so I'll bet it would sound fantastic on a great system.

Someone mentioned the Bach solo Cello Suites -- one of the classic recordings of recent years is Yo-Yo Ma's recording of those. I don't happen to own that one, but it's on my wish list.

Curtis, you're from the LA area, right? Does Jim Sjveyda (sp?) still broadcast from KUSC? He has a great compilation of his work with The Record Shelf in a guide to classical music. It's extremely opinionated, extremely passionate, and at times, hilarious. (For instance, he describes the work of Carl Orff in Carmina Burana as the sound a gland might make [I may be misquoting somewhat]).

There are a few things to start with. More later.

Chris
Holliston, MA