Brian,
I’m afraid the Valence engine, for popular albums of recordings of a selected composer, needs work. A lot of work.
For the discography of a composer it’s pulling up many compilations albums with a single track (usually a single movement of a complete work) by that composer.
Take Haydn for example.
The first 5 selections are as follows:
The first album has one track composed by Haydn (out of 19)
The 3rd and 4th are entirely Beethoven.
Similarly, for Chopin, one of the top 5 is a trumpeter’s album with a single track of a transcription of a Chopin Prelude
For Brahms, of the top 5 : 4 are compilation albums Christmas Adagios, 100 essential classical , 50 Greatest Classical and an album showcasing Decca’s Analogue years…
Then there’s this Lang Lang album that must be on top of some chart that shows up at the top for any of the composers whose music is featured in it - and there are many - all single movements of larger works.
And so on for many composers
This makes the recommendation of popular work for a composer mostly useless.
You mentioned Opera
The first Recommended Album is an album entitled Rhapsodies of music conducted by Stokowski - nothing to do with opera and with a terrible, if entertaining, review.
The 4th album is one of the Boston Pops conducting various marches/rhapsodies and 1 opera overture.
For more see: BUG 1.8: Totally meaningless "Top Performers" for Classical Compositions [report is in]
And also: What determines "popularity"?
Hope this is something that can be worked on and fixed.
That Lang Lang album is particularly irritating.
Mehul