Basic Repertoire


Long ago, in a different galaxy, Stereo Review published in instalments and also made available as a little brochure something called "The Basic Repertoire" of orchestral or symphonic music. I remember avidly buying on the basis of these recommendations. People with a massive library of serious music probably have multiple recordings of all these old chestnuts and don't need such a listing. Many others, though, could benefit from something similar, especially all those who are curious about how good a system performs when seriously challenged but are a bit gun shy about stuffy, old, serious or "classical" music. Audiophiles could also benefit from such listings for performances with the best sound quality. Is there anything similar already out there and, if not, maybe developing one here under the " music " heading would be a good idea. How to assess and validate all recommendations and to edit such a list would be a problem, it would seem. Any thoughts? Would keep a bunch of us from the well known equipment debates. I always wondered why such a list was not available for chamber music as well. Trying both would double our chances of keeping us out of mischief.
pbb

Showing 1 response by sdcampbell

Pbb:

I have two books in my library that provide an excellent starting point for building a classical music collection:

1. The NPR Guide To Building a Classical CD Collection, by Theodore Libbey. Available from Amazon.com for $11.17 (paperbound).

2. The Essential Canon of Classical Music, by David Dubal. Available from Amazon.com for $28, or as little as $23 from other sellers affiliated with Amazon. (This book is also
available from the Quality Paperbook Book club for those who are members.)