@johnwalker I too struggled with finding a player that could adequately handle classical music - where we have "works" rather than albums, "movements" rather than songs and composers take precedence over artists.
My collection is mainly classical but has other genres as well. Given that without separate implementations we cannot have a Classical Library and a Rock Library etc. we have to find a way to make them live together.
My implementation is different to the OPs and does require a bit of curating.
Each CD/download goes into a separate folder (merely to make finding the original easier if I have to re-rip of upgrade ogg to flac etc.)
Each Work is an "Album" (Different performances are suffixed by "Soloist, Orchestra, date")
Each Movement is a "Song"
The Album title is prefixed with the Composer's name (Surname, Forename) or with the Artist's name for other genres (name - as known - Jagger, Mick looks pretentious go it's Mick Jagger etc).
I then arrange my collection by an alphabetical sort, grouped "by Album".
Compilations are a mess and don't really fit the above so they will usually be saved as a playlist and then split down by Composer/Work or Artist/Album/Song.
How would I like to see this improved?
- Be able to switch between Libraries arranged by Genre - or have a top level filter (for me by genre) separate from the existing search. Each Library can then be differently curated.
- To be able to sort by Composer / Work in the Classical Library (avoiding having to prefix works with the composer's name - database denormalising!). If you use the current Advanced Grouping to Group by Composer then Album, you get a dull looking closed list where the Works(Albums) (and covers) do not show, making selection more difficult.
- Could playlists be made to show in the Collections list? This would make handling of "composite works" (e.g. the Four Seasons - 1 work or 4 works?; likewise Brandenburg Concertos - 1 work or 6 works; Bach Sonatas and Partitas for Violin - 1 work or 6 works?)
At the moment I have them separately in Collections and as playlists (with one playlist per composite work - performer combination)