Speaking of Stravinsky´s ´Sacre´, I tremendously enjoyed this recording:
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Arturo Toscanini is a sublime conductor, up with the very best. These recordings should be on everybody’s (virtual) shelves.
However, the sound quality leaves so much to be desired that some might find them unbearable. Perhaps AI might ultimately come up with a solution? In the meantime, can others recommend cleaner Toscanini recordings?
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You can try the ones from Pristine Classical. I always like all their recordings, including the ones with Toscanini.
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Continuing through the newly sound engineered Decca Dorati/Philharmonia Hungarica Haydn. Still finding it wondrous as I get to the greater instrumentation in the Haydn Paris Symphonies (82-87).
Appreciate @Bauer bringing the Dorati/Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra Rimsky-Korsakov to the group’s attention. Wonderful recording.
Took a break from this wonderful listening experience to hear some Amalie Stalheim performed Britten cello suites recommended by Gramophone. Astonishing to this listener to hear such an adventuresome, occasionally (and delightfully) spiky work by this composer. And Ms. Stalheim’s nuanced rendition is splendid. Also had a listen to Peter Wispelway’s and Truls Mørk’s versions of the same pieces. Both also wonderful and compelling.
Also recommended by Gramophone is Alexander Malofeev’s first solo 2 h and some change recording, Forgotten Melodies. Some of the works I found a bit precious, particularly the first few Mikhail Glinka composed pieces. Some of the decoration seemed affected, almost Windham Hillish. Quite pretty, but not my samovar cuppa. The Medtner and Rachmaninov were superbly played/recorded. Well worth a listen. Jed Distler was over the moon for the Rach Piano sonata No. 2 in the March Gramophone. I particularly enjoyed the Études-Tableaux. Looking forward to more by this artist. Superb first solo recording.
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Now to something completely different:
Famous compositions by Philip Glass arranged for solo harp and wonderfully executed by Korean-Dutch virtuoso Lavinia Meijer. While the Opening Glassworks and Metamorphosis are pieces one might expect here, the true gem of this album is IMHO the suite compiled from the film score ´The hours´. Sounds wonderfully intimate.
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I still have the Dorati Haydn symphonies on LP. Bought second hand about 40 years ago. Makes some serious doorstops! Although the CD remasters were better in most regards - LPs were never the perfect medium for classical music. I am also curious about the latest remasters.
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I love the pace and aggression in many of Toscanini’s recordings. He was ahead of his time in so many ways. However, as you say, the typical recording quality leaves a lot to be desired. Such as shame as his later recordings almost overlapped with the new recording techniques introduced by Decca, Mercury and RCA in the late 1950s. Unfortunately virtually all of his recordings are boxy, distorted and painful to listen to, at least to my ageing ears. Perhaps, as you say, AI might be the future. Imagine the skills of Wilma Cozart Fine and the Mercury team applied to the Toscanini legacy! We can but dream.
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The original Mercury CD of the same performance is also very impressive. Robert and Wilma Cozart Fine were an amazingly talented recording team. Probably only the Decca team (John Culshaw and his colleagues) were reaching the same high standards in the late 1950s.
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You must need a fork truck or serious gym work 
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Sometimes there are sacred music recordings that make you feel light and joyful, here is an example:
Mendelssohn #2 is not an easy one, as it defies any categorization or traditional structure. In musicology, it is often referred to as the second symphonic composition in history involving a choir (after Beethoven´s #9). The opening movement is entitled sinfonia, and it is just that, like an extended movement of a symphony introducing a bunch of themes. Followed by a rather random series of choruses, arias and ensembles, mostly based on psalter texts. So the formal structure might read like a cantata, but it does not sound like one. It is just an overdose of praising the Lord, an average 70 minutes long.
In Suzuki´s reading, it feels not long at all. Rather joyful, light, entertaining. That is particularly true to all parts involving the soloists. Tenor Benjamin Bruns stands out, hearing him is just a delight (heard him live some weeks ago, by far the best Mozart tenor I have ever experienced).
One might criticize Suzuki for the instrumentation and handling of the choir. The orchestra sounds overly lean, the choir rather decent, maybe too decent at times, accompanied by a thundering organ. Except for the latter, the whole thing sounds very Bach-like, not only the choral-style ´Nun danket alle Gott´.
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An ongoing fortepiano adventure, part of a more general keyboard, plectrum/hammer, string, soundboard instrument exploration, led me to this pretty wonderful YouTube video (be forewarned, it is an hour, but to this viewer, well worth it, if you love piano and want to understand the instruments the classical composers composed for).
A restorer, par excellence, and collector, Edwin Beunk is deeply knowledgeable about the forte piano and he, along with great artists Andreas Staier, Alexander Melnikov, Kristian Bezuidenhout, Robert Levin, Ronald Brautigam, Yulianna Avdeeva and Frans Brüggen and his wife Riko Fukuda might convince a few more of you to revisit classical period pieces performed on this instrument. He and Riko also have another series in which they describe the evolution of the piano through the classical and early romantic periods. Strings and soundboards thicken, tensions increase, double escapement appears, octaves grow in number and braces become metal. Fascinating evolution and Mr. Beunk and Ms. Fukuda are wonderful and engaging guides.
Deep weeds: The Fortepiano in the Classical Era by Michael Cole, Clarendon Press Oxford.
I’ve been rerelistening to Mozart piano concertos and find I prefer them and Haydn piano works on this instrument. One recording that has had me on repeat is Kristian Bezuidenhout/Freiburger Barockorchester Piano Cto’s 9 and 18, particularly the Paradis (18). Splendid articulation, color, voicing and integration with the excellent orchestra.
I had previously stated that I thought modern built fortepianos based upon period instruments were superior in sound to actual period instruments. With loving care and meticulousness, Mr. Beunk gives the lie to this. His reconditioned fortepianos are wondrous instruments. What a treasure he is.
Olga Paschenko/Il Gardellino Mozart Piano Concertos 6, 8 and 18 led me here. She plays on an Atelier Chris Maene Tangentenpflügel (6 and 8) and an Anton Walter 1792-based Paul McNulty (another treasure) fortepiano (18). Found the tangent piano a bit thin and challenging to distinguish from a harpsichord, but the fortepiano was very nice.
Also listened to Murray Perahia/English Chamber Orchestra’s excellent recordings of the same Mozart piano ctos. Although I love the Perahia/ECO Mozart piano ctos first among modern piano versions, I now prefer the less singing, more transparent and resolved fortepiano versions and Mr. Bezuidenhout’s above all.
Thank you @Arindal for the insightful and interesting exposition on this Mendelssohn composition. A fascinating composer, greatly beloved of his fellow composers. Has made me re-assess my initial impressions of his work.