Some SACD recommends
Hi Tim,
Here's a few "classical" titles that I think you should consider. Composer / Title / Conductor
Pentatone
Korngold / Symphony in F sharp / Albrecht
Strauss / Till Eulenspiegel / Albrecht
Music For a Time of War / Kalmar
Bruckner / Symphony No. 3 / Janowski
Ravel, Prokofiev, Schlime / Piano Concertos / Pletnev
Stravinsky / L'Histoire Du Soldat / Jarvi
Reference Recordings
Strauss / Don Juan, etc. / Honeck
Tutti / Orchestral Sampler
Various / Exotic Dances from the Opera / Oue
Tudor
Stravinsky / Le Sacre Du Printemps (Rite of Spring) / Nott
CSO Re-Sound
Stravinsky / Symphony in Three Movements, Four etudes / Pulcinella / Boulez
Living Stereo - RCA Victor
Liszt, Enesco / Rhapsodies / Stokowski
Rimsky Korsakov, Stravinski / Scheherazade, Song of the Nightingale / Reiner
Bartok / Concerto for Orchestra, Music for Strings, Percussion, and Celesta / Reiner (Abstract)
Ravel / Daphnis et Chloe / Munch
Strauss / Also Sprach Zarathustra / Reiner
Esoteric Pricey but very good
Falla / Three Cornered Hat / Ansermet
Dvorak / New World Symphony No. 9 / Kertesz
All the above are dynamic, engaging, melodic (except perhaps for Bartok) full orchestral works. Will definitely give your system a workout.
One of my favorite combinations is Piano and Cello and much mellower
Channel Classics
Artists are Wispelwey and Lazic. Various composers.
Try Sonatas for Cello and Piano first. Shostakovich, Prokofiev, and Britten.
Other composers (Brahms and Beethoven) available. All sublime if you like this combination.
Any of these should provide a good "benchmark" for sonics and, IMHO, outstanding music. Most, if not all titles, should be available from Amazon.
Best and enjoy,
Gordon