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It took me quite by slow, gradual suprise if I may say so - I've been listening to classical music more and more in recent years. The same process that led me to jazz years ago took place - I simply got bored with limitations of rock and other genres and (probably the best way to describe it would be to say that) I felt an urge to 'expand'. I still listen to rock, jazz, blues, world music and other stuff (and I'm pretty sure I will in the future) but my focus definitely seems to shift to classical. I've collected a couple of hundreds of classical albums (most of them in hi-res - I'm a believer) seeking advice mainly on forums like talkclassical, classicalforums etc (happened before registering on CA) but I'm pretty sure there are still many great recordings I haven't discovered yet. And I know there are many people here on CA who are deeply into classical. I think that thread like this could be on one hand a kind of guide for people like me who don't consider themselves experts (I don't read about music nowadays as much as I used to - I simply prefer to listen to it, it probably can be called laziness) and on the other I believe it could be of some use to the ones who have deep knowledge of the genre too. Please post any number of albums you personally consider essential, the ones without which in your opinion no classical albums collection can be called 'complete' or 'satisfying', the ones you can't imagine your own collection without, the recordings you'd wholeheartedly recommend to anyone interested in the genre - your real desert island albums - from any period you like - starting from early music and ending with contemporary composers. Don't hesitate to post albums that have already been mentioned by somebody else as this can be an important signal and even stronger cofirmation that the recording is an important one. Additional comments on performance and sound quality are welcome! Derailing the thread in order to go into any specific details is welcome too! Every post is appreciated! And yes, I know for some choosing just 5, 10 or even 20 most essential albums may seem virtually impossible. But isn't the impossible tempting in a way.? Hope you'll enoy it! Let me start with just two albums that are important to me personally. I've been listening to Glenn Gould 'Goldberg Variations' since I was 20 and still every time I listen to it am as impressed with his performance as I was back then. I've always preferred the 1981 version in part due to sound quality of the recording. Hearing some years ago Martha Argerich - Riccardo Chailly performance of Rachmaninov Piano Concerto No.3 quite explosively triggered my interest in the pianist (ok.. I'll be frank - it can almost be called a love affair), the composer - I like Rachmaninov a lot and in classical music in general. IMHO absolutely stellar performance. SQ could be better but I think the emotional impact of the music more than compansates for it.