Help this budding Classical audiophile

Gemini, I'm in the same position; new to classical and trying to learn
about the seemingly millions of classical offerings.

I would recommend a copy of The Penguin Guide to Compact Discs and
DVDs 2003/2004. I've been browsing through it a lot lately. They note
key CDs to build a good (though large) collection and note recordings
that are above and beyond good. They also include SACD. Many Naxos
recordings are included. There is also another book that looked
interesting but I have purchased yet: The Essential Canon of Classical
Music by Dubal. the magazine Gramophone is also a good resource for
new discoveries. Hifi+ also has good classical coverage sometimes going
back through older stuff.

Contrary to what Fatparrot says, my Audio Note DAC is splendid with
redbook classical. It does piano, cello and violin right. There are some
XRCDs that are even better. However, the classical labels certainly seem
to be joining the SACD bandwagon and this may be a reason to try
SACD.

Channel Classics has consistently good quality and performances and
most new titles are SACD hybrids. Some of the LSO Live recordings are
great. I'm not very good at noting recordings, but here are three recs:
Kodaly, music for Cello and Piano with Sung-Won Yang on the EMI
Classics label, the Zehetmair Quartett Robert Schuman on the EMI New
Series label, and the infamous Rachel podger recording of Bach's
complete Sonatas and Partitas on the Channel Classics label (SACD). Too
many other to list. Some of the older Rostopovich cello recordings are
great.

Some composers I like are Part, Shostakovich, Liszt, Haydn, and Britten.
I'm becoming a big fan of Shostakovich.

A very interesting, but hard to find disc is Niels W. Gade, violin sonatas 1-3, Bratchkova, CPO 999 644-2. Romantic-era violin and piano; I wish I had known about this composer a long time ago. On Naxos, I recommend Glazunov/Dvorak violin concertos, and if you like atmospheric symphonic music, Sibelius Tone Poems. The Baroque violin recordings of John Holloway sound very good are highly recommended (Unam Ceylum and Unarum Fidium).

On another note, you might try joining a mail order club or two in order to get a load of "free" discs to begin with. It will allow you to sample a good diversity of music without a significant price tag. Most of the limited choices at BMG are fairly common, but you can pick and choose on the web site. For violin music probably available there, try Barber and Meyer violin concertos (Hahn; Sony Classical), Bach Art of the Fugue (Emerson String Qt; Deutsche Grammophon), Tartini violin concertos (Wallfisch; Hyperion), Mendelsohn and Shostakovitch violin concertos (Hahn, Sony Classical), Vivaldi Late Violin Concertos (Carmignola; Sony), Bach Solo & Double Violin Concertos (Manze, Harmonia Mundi), Vivaldi Concert for the Prince of Poland (Manze, Harmonia Mundi). For contemporary symphonic music that is not over the top (i.e., you can listen to it more than once), try John Adams Naive and Sentimental Music. Cheers.

Look at the web site for Berkshire Record Outlet. They have a wide selection of classical at very good prices. Harmonia Mundi is almost always excellent, They have many other labels , like Astree that are not well known but very good. Prices often $3 to $5 a CD. Also many older recordings by major labels. I second the use of a good record guide.

The Naxos cataloge has "recomended" ratings from a number of sources printed next to the item. A suggestion is to purchase the 10-20 recordings that are universally highly recomended. At about $6-$7 a CD it is a quick (and cheap) way to obtain a diverse slection of classical recordings that will lead you to more discoveries in your quest.

pick up copies of mendelssohns,beethoven's and brahm's violin concertos.performers such as heifetz,perlman,vengerov and newcomer hilary hahn have excellent recordings.there are many others,but start with these as they are among the best.