Richard Tsuyuki asks:

>...  Specifically, I was wondering if anyone would care to recommend *two*
>recordings of the *same* work, one period and one modern.

No better place to start than with Bach.  After completing the following
comparisons, you'll appreciate that a non-HIP recording rarely does justice
to Bach's compositional genius.

Bach
Sonatas & Partitas for solo violin
van Dael (Naxos)/Grumiaux (Philips)

Gamba sonata
Savall & Koopman (Alia Vox)/Maisky & Argerich (DG)

Goldberg Variations
Hantai (Opus 111)/Schiff (Decca)

Frank