Jon Leifs - Saga Symphony   (BIS)

Fritz Reiner: Rimsky-Korsakov Scheherezade

https://store.acousticsounds.com/d/91339/Fritz_Reiner-Rimsky-Korsakoff_Scheherazade-180_Gram_Vinyl_Record
 

George Solti: Stravinsky The Rite Of Spring

Mahler's Symphony No. 8, dubbed the Symphony of a Thousand because of the huge size of the orchestra and chorus goes from whisper quiet to a huge blast of sound at the end.  I spoke with a horn player in the Boston Symphony Orchestra who said it is the one piece that made him concerned about damage to hearing as a player.

Almost all large scale symphonic works have so large a dynamic range that they are never recorded with full dynamic range preserved. Recordings have to be made listenable in normal rooms which are noisier than a concert hall, or listenable on a subway train or in cars, etc.  I have a CD by Clarity Records that preserved the dynamic range for Stravinsky's "Rite of Spring."  It has warning labels on the cover about how the peaks can damage equipment if the quiet level at the beginning is not set at a very low volume level.

uhm, I'll play. 

A record I've owned in one form or another since around 1972 is Martinon, Paris Conservatory,St-Saen, Danse Macabre- mournful violin, intense dynamic passages, cut on Decca UK- the old London Treasury US copy was a G.B. pressing, pretty cheap, often same dead wax as OG. (Of course, you could buy the Decca and spend money).

Another piece- I like a lot - EMI ASD 3483, Haendal Plays Britten, Berglund, Violin Concertos; well worth the cost of buying a clean copy from the UK (another dark, brilliant violin piece). 

Things to Come, side two, Bliss, EMI ASD will sound familiar--probably one of the great British film scores, which is a story in itself. 

I got a million of 'em. :)

Have fun. 

Anton Bruckner’s symphonies, especially, 4, 7, 8 & 9. Bruckner loved big, loud brass choirs. Barenboim’s performance of the 4th with the Chicago Symphony on DG is a good one. The CSO has a great brass section and Barenboim unleashes them on that recording. The vinyl reissue on DG’s The Original Source series improves substantially on the original release, but it may be out of print by now.

Mahler's 2nd is my favorite symphony. It has everything in it.

+1 Mahler. Symphony 5, 7, 8 

Also check out Kabelac: Hamlet Improvisations for Large Orchestra 

Mahler. Symphony 5, 7, 8

7 and 8 are not my favorites. 6 and 9 are much better. :)

Ralph Vaughan Williams: Symphony #5, Fantasia On A Theme By Thomas Tallis, The Lark Ascending

Most Mahler Symphonies.  Some one has recommended the Eighth.  I would for the Second, the Ressurection.

 Shostakovich symphonies in particular 5 and 11

Generally speaking, classical music wasn’t composed to “rock your socks off”.  It wouldn’t be until the Romantic era of classical music that you get the dynamics that you’re looking for; however, it is a good place to start your interest into classical music in general.  You’re basically looking at pieces by Beethoven, Brahms, Tchaikovsky, Liszt, (and Rachmaninov).  For just drama, Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1 is hard to beat, and  would have ended the Cold War in 1958 with Van Cliburn, had it been allowed.  

Also Sprach Zarathustra 

Holst - the Planets - esp Mars

Here is an interesting link...

https://www.talkclassical.com/threads/great-symphonic-works-with-stand-out-brass.91096/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=organic

Mahler symphonies - there are always such movements - in the early days of stereo a common rallying cry was "Mahler was made for hi-fi".

Verdi Requiem - the Dies Irae.

The last movement of Beethoven's 9th.  Berlioz Symphonie Fantastique.

If I might change the mood, the wonder of "classical" music is that every feeling and emotion can be found.  For me the single most profound 15 minutes in music is the Molto Adagio - Heiliger dankgesang of Beethoven's op. 132 quartet in A minor.  Every emotion is explored in this movement, melancholy, joy, hope, despair, thankfulness and anger.  The Alban Berg recording on Qobuz is outstanding, do listen when feeling reflective!

The greatest music can blow you away even when quiet.

Night on Bald Mountain might be a fun listen for you.

Beethoven's 9th symphony, Manfred Honeck and Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra

Bach B Minor Mass, Raphael Pichon and Pygmalion 

Shostakovich 10th symphony, Kirill Petrenko and Berliner Philharmonic

A contemporary piece by composer Arturo Marquez called "Fandango". It is actually a violin concerto, and was commissioned by Anne Akiko Meyers. Premiered in 2021 by her and the L.A. Philharmonic. The album is of the same name, featuring Meyers and the L.A. Phil. IMO perhaps the best classical composition of this century. 

Fandango | LA Phil

@billsw Just bought the DSD of Honeck and the PSO performing Beethoven's 9th  last night.  NativeDSD was having a 20% off all PSO since they just signed them into the 2030's.

OP, I like big sound with big dynamic range too (20 to 25).  

• Holst The Planets is one of my favorites
• Copland Symphony No.3
• Dvorak No. 9 
• Also a fan of Bruckner No. 7

I can add THE PLANETS by G. Holst.

There are dozens of great recordings of this classic classic.

Enjoy

Since I’m listening to it now I’ll add Strauss’ Alpine Symphony, Op. 64. 

I’m playing the new Decca Pure Analogue series reissue on vinyl with Sir George Solti conducting Symphony Orchestra of the Bavarian Radio, originally released on Decca in 1980.