Classical fans, I need advice

A few clear things I've learned after all of your suggestions. I enjoy the weight, warmth (cello?) and body an orchestra can add to solo performances. I enjoy the dynamics between each in a concerto as long as the orchestra doesn't overpower the solo performance. This is not to say I don't enjoy the orchestra. I do very much so! It's just the piece itself I guess and the scale in which it was written, or the sound as a whole. I've began looking into double and triple concerti in an attempt to find a greater solo performance focus within an orchestra.

For example, I listened to Bach: The Art of the Fugue by The Emerson String Quartet. I really enjoyed this but missed the warmth, weight and body of an orchestra behind them. I know the piece isn't written for orchestra I'm just describing my experience. I have some clear directions now and I will continue to refer to this thread. I feel like I'm learning a new language. So many names, performances, styles, recording labels etc. etc!

Meisterkleef,
I think you were on to something. The Bach piano concerti flow very much like the violin concerto. If I warm up to the piano in a solo role these will be my first choice.

Jim!
The Be Good Tanyas, I am so frustrated with them. The music is absolutely wonderful!! I like everything I hear but.. the vocals! Most of the vocals are done in an alternative rock drawl I like to call "vocals on novocaine". I have the same problem with Bob Dylan although he isn't trying to sound like anyone other than himself. I may break myself of this hangup eventually though!

The Ahn Trio has some interesting material. I really like their Riders on the Storm! Swing Shift may take some time for me Jim. In all fairness I only listened to samples though. Not exactly an honest listen. I'm glad you enjoy the AK+US Live CD set. I should have recommended this to you before the "Now That I've Found You: A Collection". The Live set really is a full featured sample of AK and AK+US. I have this on DVD-Video and the Hybrid SACD set. Having owned the studio version of everything I can say the performance is great but perhaps a tiny bit cold at the start. Completely enjoyable and a first rate recording.

Back to the search..

Vedric--- I understand your frustration with TBGTs. As I indicated, their "Chinatown" was the first CD I bought, and it includes a libretto. I found this most useful in deciphering what was being sung, and particularly after I bought their other CD, "Blue Horse", which doesn't have a libretto. Perhaps I'm being naive about this, but I haven't once thought of their vocals as being affected. I simply chalked it up to maybe that's the way people talk in "their neck of the woods". (As a Tennesseean, I'll be the last to criticize one's dialect!!) I hope your frustration is not sufficient to preclude your actual purchase and extended audition of one of their recordings. But if it is... that's what makes the world go 'round, after all.

Your comment regarding your preference for a soloist or small group being backed by an orchestra strikes a similar chord with me, to wit: As much as I enjoy a string quartet, I many times feel something's missing, like little if any percussion, too much midrange, and insufficient bass, to put it in purely audio terms. I think this is the main reason I prefer piano trios, since a piano can sound like "an orchestra in a box", given the proper score and pianist. It can flesh out the presentation in the form of both percussion and bass.
The beauty part of the Ahn Trio (pun intended, since they are knockdown gorgeous ladies, in fact) is that, although classically-trained (Juilliard graduates), they delve into primarily modern music, most of which has been commissioned for them, in addition to older standard repertoire such as Haydn, Ravel, Dvorak, etc. They are a delight, IMVHO.
Jim

Hi Vedric,
When I was in the same spot as you back in the mid-1990's, I came upon a book called "Classical Music" by Phil Goulding which proved to be an invaluable tool for building a collection. It's written for the beginner, and it ranks the top 50 all-time composers (Bach is #1, Borodin is #50) and lists 5 essential compositions by each composer (Expanded lists are also included if you want more than 5 by a particular composer). With the help of this book I built a nice collection of music.
As for specific recommendations, I will throw out a couple of my all-time favorite orchestral pieces:

1) Petrushka - Stravinsky
2) Piano Concerto #5 - Beethoven
3) Christmas Oratorio - Bach
4) A German Requiem - Brahms
5) Slavonic Dances - Dvorak

To find the best loved performances of these and other works, Amazon.com reviews work great. To find the highest quality sound is more difficult. Sites like this one and SA-CD.net work fairly well. Also, certain labels such as Chandos and Hyperion are oriented more towards audiophile recordings, so go with CDs on those labels when you have a choice.

Enjoy the journey!

Tom

vedric, another thing you might want to check out before spending to much on cd's is to take from the library a work like mozarts violin concertos and get 2 versions to compare: modern -vs- period piece performances. i spent a bundle when i first started only to later find out i loved period piece performance and have bought a lot of duplicate cds (which isn't necessarily a bad thing).. as you said you like cello, try haydns cello concerto in c. a version with awesome sound is steven isserlis with the chamber orch. of europe. i strongly agree with the advice previously given to use the library.. but i feel npr radio is the best place to get exposure, plus you can always find what was played on their web site. also..when i first got into this, like you, i only wanted the finest sounding DDD recordings (and still generally prefer them), but you will miss some of the greatest played classical music if you don't go the add recordings (pre 1980's).. good luck-- welcome aboard- you'll never look back

https://www.discogs.com/lists/The-50-Greatest-Composers/1571

awesome list.