Classical music newbie needs your suggestions

By the way it also based on Puccini's opera Carmen. Very excellent. I will get you into Opera...I promise. 

I'll keep it simple. Classical beginners enjoy Beethoven and especially Mozart. Mozart's Eine kleine Nachtmusik and Beethoven any symphony, especially the 6th or any. As far as getting into opera, anything with Kiri Te Kanawa or my absolute favorite  Leontyne Price who will absolutely kick your ass. Also anything with Dame Joan Alston Sutherland. Please check this out. What got me into opera was a record by by a British punk producer named Malcolm McLaren from the Sex Pistols days called "Fans" It's based on a Puccini opera "Madam Butterfly" but it rocks and the opera vocals are excellent. Check it out.

I think the hard part is not just composer and composition, but particular performance + recording sound quality. For example, DG had a superb roster, but I didn't like how most of their records sounded. Decca- often sublime and you can go down some rungs sometimes to London and even some of the budget series that were pressed in England. One, which I bought when I was a kid is the Martinon/Paris Conservatory of Divertissement / Jeux D'Enfants / Danse Macabre / Le Rouet D'Omphale which I first got as a Treasury series (budget) and many pressings later, I can still enjoy the cheaper copy. The Decca is now spendy. 

I have quite a few EMI ASDs and their boxed sets from the same era of things like Shostakovitch, Vaughn Williams, Du Pre, which were all good. Some, highly regarded, are not as interesting to me musically. 

The RCA doggies and Mercury Living Presence were hyped by TAS back in the day and finding clean copies is a challenge. I haven't checked audiophile reissue prices for some of these but would imagine they are spendy as well.

One of the issues I'd like to underscore is that if you talk to somebody who is knowledgeable (I have a few friends who really know repertoire), their focus is on the performance, not necessarily sound quality. Thus, if you dig into Scriabin, you'll see that many musicians think Vladimir Sofronitsky was one of his best interpreters (he also married Scriabin's daughter). But the recordings are a little rough. 

Among the solo performances, the cello is one of my favorite instruments (no, I never studied cello) and of course Starker's rendition of the Kodaly piece for unaccompanied cello is killer. The early recordings on Period Records are mono-- I have a few copies, along with later reissues. I prefer the old copies. 

The body of classical music is so large, even leaving aside modern or late 20th century composers that most of the university level folks have niche areas in which they go deep. Beyond that, it can be a very large sea to swim. Have fun-- many classical records are now depressed in value (though not the most desirable warhorses), so this is a good time to buy in my estimation. And classical records often didn't get trashed the way some pop/rock LPs did. 

I'm hardly a guru. I did most of my classical LP buying when the LP was declared a dead letter, in the '80s. There are thousands of these records here that have gone unplayed by me for years, but I'm not selling any of them. The exploration is 1/2 the fun. Enjoy~

What a fun question!

Do you have a favorite instrument? Favorite era of classical music? Affinity to a particular composer or conductor or orchestra?

I played trumpet through college, so I'm partial to music with lots of brass. Baroque music often has a lot of high (piccolo) trumpet parts, especially Handel. My favorite classical pieces that have extensive trumpet parts are Mahler's 5th Symphony and Ravel's adaptation (for full orchestra) of Mussorgsky's "Pictures at an Exhibition." Don't overlook Richard Strauss' "Also Sprach Zarathustra" just because it reminds you of an outer space film. Brass ensembles are great fun to listen to: Empire Brass and Canadian Brass are two of my favorites.

My mother and son play cello, so I have gathered quite a collection of cello music. Others have mentioned Johann Sebastian Bach's "Cello Suites." They are extraordinary pieces to listen to, being majestically powerful or hauntingly beautiful through the various movements. In addition to just getting these suites as performed by Yo-Yo Ma (he has several recordings of the Bach suites), it is fascinating to hunt down high-quality pressings by other famous cellists that have also recorded the suites: the seminal album by Pablo Casals, and then Jànos Starker's and Mstislav Rostropovich's pressings are also in my collection, and make for fun comparisons on interpretation.

Another strategy is to find combinations of conductor and orchestra that produced great recordings during the vinyl era; obvious pairings are Leonard Bernstein/New York Philharmonic and Herbert von Karajan/Berlin Philharmonic. Also look for recordings done by great conductor/orchestra pairings that also feature awesome music sections: some of my favorite sources of recordings are the Chicago Symphony under Fritz Reiner and Sir George Solti that also contain the superlative Chicago brass section, with principal trumpet player Adolph "Bud" Herseth, or the San Francisco Symphony during the Pierre Monteux years that had principal trumpet player Charles Bubb, Jr.

I also enjoy vinyl recordings of film scores, jazz, Bossa Nova, French Yé-Yé pop, and bagpipe music, but that will be a topic for another day's question.

Enjoy the listening, and Happy New Year!

Hi, I could write at length with suggestions, but I’ll try to limit myself.

Some folks above have suggested some accessible beautiful pieces, such as Pachelbel’s Canon. I’ll add Handel’s concerto grosso Alexander’s Feast, and three discs by pianist Vikingur Olafsson consisting of collections of short pieces by Bach (some transcribed for keyboard), Mozart, and Debussy/Rameau. Outstanding collections.

Bach’s music for solo instruments is varied and wonderful. For keyboard (which I prefer played on piano over harpsichord), there are the Goldberg Variations (many to choose from; I prefer Jeremy Denker’s and Murray Perahia’s versions, along with Sitkovevski’s rendition for string trio), the Well-Tempered Clavicle I and II (again, many to choose from; I like Jennifer Hewitt’s); French Suites (not discussed on this forum much; I like Gavrilov’s); English Suites (Andras Schiff is my favorite). For violin, the Sonatas and Partitas, and I suggest starting with Partita #2 in D, and I like Hilary Hahn although there are many great ones to choose from. Someone above mentioned the Cello Suites (Yo-Yo Ma’s are terrific).

Handel’s concerto grossi are a gateway to his very listenable works; Andras Schiff made a recording of three piano sonatas by Hadyn; and speaking of accessible sonatas, try Uchida’s recordings of Mozart’s sonatas for piano. And, well, speaking of Mozart, his piano concertos, esp. nos. 18-26 (and extra especially no. 21’s second movement (the theme from the movie “Elvira Madigan.”)

Brahms: his Ballades for piano (try Pollini) and for late-night meditation, his Intermezzi (Arkady Volodos).

I’ve gone on way too long and probably suggested too many piano pieces, but here’s one more, which I think is a highpoint of Twentieth Century music, Shostakovich’s 24 Preludes and Fugues, our times’ Goldbergs.

Enjoy!

It took me over a year to appreciate (some) music from the 40's through 50's when I bought 12 feet of albums (for $75!).

This will be a much more enjoyable experience. I listened to the whole Solti Wagner epic and some Puchinni when I was a young man.

btw, do you live near me, Plainfield, NJ? After you learn more about what you respond to, I inherited a lot of LP’s and have many classical I will part with for very low price. I am more interested to have more room on my shelves.

What a nice Xmas gift you guys (and gals?) have given me. Thanks so much.

I'm adding postit notes on each album as I listen to them, rating them, and describing the mood, etc. Then I'll sell/give away the questionable ones. I'll pull out any Mozart that happens to be in the Opera section. I already found I love the Russian composers that I have, and Hayden. But I've only just begun...

I didn't know anything about Jazz, untill I was given about 50 lps. Played, hey, I like trombone, hey, I like Red Garland, hey I don't like big bands. Armed with that start, off I went into the world of Jazz.

You will discover what you truly like,

and you will listen to LP's you will more than likely never listen to again. Sell/trade/give away those, keep room on your shelves for more like the ones you really respond to.

After you discern what you like, then research and buy similar, as well as what types/composers/conductor/orchestra are not included in what you bought.

Russian symphonic music is some of the best. Very approachable.

@1111art adding to my list:

6) Rhapsody in Blue -- Gershwin 

I've never seen someone enjoy playing it quite as much as Ms. Buniatisvilli.

When I was in high school my older brother made a list of his top 10 to start me on my journey of discovery.  Here are some, with my own additions;

Bach…The Musical Offering, Mass in B minor

Mozart…Symphony #40 in G minor, Clarinet Quintet in A.

Haydn…any Salomon London Symphonies

Beethoven…The odd numbered symphonies from 3 to 9, late String Quartets, late Piano Sonatas (but they’re all good).

Schubert…String Quintet in C…called the Great for a reason! Also late piano pieces.

Chopin….Sonatas, Preludes, Ballades, etc. 

Leaping over the mid 19th C. to Brahms…Piano Concertos 1 & 2.  But Mendelssohn Symphony 4 is great, and Wagner has a few fans, I hear.

Mahler…Symphonies 1, 2, 6, 9.  This is heavy stuff!  
Ravel….Afternoon of the Faun
Stravinsky…The Rite of Spring

Bartok…Concerto for Orchestra …

Then there’s Shostakovich!

and….IMO, why did you wait so long!

@1111art Here are a few suggestions, I was specific in regards to the performers, however, there are many recordings of these works in existence. These are simply my current preferences.

1) Beethoven Triple Concerto

Berlin Philharmonic, conducted by Daniel Barenboim with Yo Yo Ma and Itzhak Perlman. This recording also includes Beethoven’s Choral Fantasy which I think is very well done.

2) Beethoven Cello Sonatas (Hope Amid Tears) Yo Yo Ma and Emanuel Ax

3) Beethoven Violin Concerto & 2 Romances — Berlin Philharmonic, Daniel Barenboim and Itzhak Perlman

4) Vivaldi Four Seasons - Anne-Sophie Mutter OR Vivaldi Chamber Ensemble & Julius Rinaldi

5) Bach Unaccompanied Cello Suites — Yo Yo Ma

Here's a couple for 'ya:

Scheherazade (Rimsky-Korsakov) + Canon in D Major (Johann Pachelbel).

There are many different contemporary versions/interpretations by different conductors.  For example, I purchased at least 6 different versions of Pachelbel's Canon in D Major (all on vinyl) before I finally found the one I liked best which, if I recall correctly, was used in a TV commercial many, many years ago.  I think the commercial was for GE light bulbs.  Simply outstanding on a good sound system, whether you're a lover of Classical music or not!

+1 @marklings 

You might try listening to a really good Classical Internet Radio station, see which Composers appeal to you, then explore.  That is basically how I started

Check out this guy.  I certainly don't always agree with his opinions, but his knowledge of classical music is very deep.

Come to think of it, why don’t you find some 101 class on music history? there’s plenty on lime and not… 

why, like asking the history of the world in a few sentences…

maybe you should start by buying a nice, short history of western music and take it from there . there are so many, the oxford one is great but several volumes, probably too much for starters

also all music is not enjoyable at the same level.

Mozart italian operas as it has been noted are some of the greatest mastepieces ever and readily accessible to anyone

beethoven’squartets are equally great but much more difficult, bach’s WTC and Goldberg very difficult also.

difficult to advice, take it slowly is a big and steep mountain. 

I should add that I do envy you. I wish I could hear again some of that music for the first time…

Herbert Von Karajan, Berliner Philharmoniker - Edvard Grieg : Peer Gynt Suite No.1 Op.46

The symphonies of British composer Ralph Vaughan Williams as conducted by Sir Adrian Boult are worth exploring! Symphony No.2 the "London" is particularly beautiful!

All of Beethoven that is not the 9 Symphonies. Duos, Trios,  String Quartets,  There is so much in those categories and they make a wonderful way to ease yourself into classical music.

Mozart's Symphony #29. Genial, happy, and loaded with tunes.

Mahler's First and Fourth Symphonies. Tunes. Drama. Worlds so real you find yourself walking around in them. Planet Earth in music. And yeah, Bernstein is a pretty good bet.

Chopin's Piano Etudes played by Maurizio Pollini. Things don't get much more virtuosic, passionate and romantic. Chopin and Pollini wear their hearts & souls proudly on their sleeves.

BTW, there's no math in these works. No intellectual concepts to tackle. Just stories told in music, with a few thrill rides thrown in to add spice..

Any Mozart among those opera records?  If so, have a listen before you decide to sell. There are some real jewels to be found in Mozart's opera oeuvre.

"The Symphony should be the World" - Gustav Mahler (1860-1910). The greatest symphonic composer who took the romantic vision into the Twentieth Century! You can’t go wrong with Leonard Bernstein’s conducting of any of the Mahler nine symphonies. I suggest starting with No.1 and then 2,3,4 ...9. Take your time because the depth of emotional expression and complexity increases!

Personally, I really like Rachel Podger of Channel Classic Records.  Just about anything by her is wonderful.