How to go about collecting Classical Music


At age 68 I’ve started to like Classical Music. It’s been mostly Jazz, Rock n Roll, and R&B up to now. I’m familiar with those genres, know their history, artists, and how to best and most economically acquire their recordings. Not so the Classical repertoire which covers a much longer time period and encompasses so many styles and forms.

What genres and/or periods of Classical music should I be exploring? I’m not looking for recommendations on particular composers or artists, only genres or periods. In Classical music there is orchestral music, chamber music, opera, church music and who knows what else to try out. Maybe you could advise me, if you wouldn’t mind, of some types to try? Or maybe you could recommend a book on the subject that would help a rookie get a start understanding what’s out there.

In buying classical music, for any one work, there may be innumerable recordings by various artists, orchestras and ensembles. How do you sort out which recordings you want in that respect. For example, I looked up Stravinsky’s Rites of Spring on Ebay last night to get some idea of pricing and what classical music available there. There were so many recordings of that work, I would have no idea how to sort out which would have been a good choice. Are there web sites where there are recommendations on which recordings are most exceptional? Or alternately, are there classical record labels you can rely on routinely to provide superior quality recordings? I’ve heard Deutsche Gramophone may be a reliable label for one, but that’s about it. Could you recommend any other labels to look for?

There seems to be a lot of Classical music in SACD format relative to Jazz or Rock n ’Roll. Is there some reason for that? Should SACD be the format of choice for purchasing Classical music, or is there good classical material in Redbook format to be found? I prefer to stay away from used vinyl due to condition issues, or new vinyl due to cost. I’m guessing the better dynamic range of CD’s lends itself to orchestral music. Is there any market for used classical SACD’s? Are there any sites you prefer to purchase your Classical CD’s, either new or used?

I grew up on Long Island. On one trip to midtown Manhattan I walked into an old church not too far from St. Patrick’s to view its’ magnificent stained glass window. Once inside I heard some equally magnificent classical organ being played. I discovered the church’s incredible organ was being played by some of New York City’s finest classical organists who would book time to practice on it. That large church was always deserted, and I went back many times for what amounted to free private concerts. I’d like to know what kind of music that was to try and replicate that experience to some degree at home, From what I’ve read here and elsewhere there surely is a plethora of other wonderful Classical music to explore and enjoy. Thanks in advance for any advice,

Mike






skyscraper
Thank you all for your replies. I enjoy the physical media and will be likely sticking with CD's for the forseeable future. I've, for me, a fairly expensive stereo system and don't wish to invest in any more expensive equipment, cables, or monthly charges for streaming. I really enjoy the collecting aspect too. It's a lot of fun, I appreciate your suggestions in that regard and may be foolish in avoiding streaming, but what the hey. Getting and listening to records, and now CD's, has been one of the joys of my life since I was a kid so I don't want to give that fun up now that I can afford to indulge myself in purchasing them. 

Inna, thank you for the suggestions on the  Berlin, Vienna, London Philharmonic orchestras. I'll keep them in mind as well as the conductors and pieces you recommend. Are there any Classical record label you or anyone could name that are consistently good, say as Blue Note might be for jazz.

Jdane, trouble is I don't know or haven't been exposed to enough classical music to know what I like or don't yet. I've mostly had random exposure by picking up a few recordings at library sales or by listening to NPR on the radio while driving. If the local library wasn't closed due to the pandemic I'd go check out a book or two on the subject. I did take an elective course on Classical music in college. but that was close to fifty years ago. The only thing I can recall from that course was that  the professor had an enormous "pumpkin" head . He's probably long gone now so hopefully that isn't too mean-spirited a memory to bring up.

Rshak, thank you much for the advice on the Penguin guide, I will get one ordered ASAP,  I've found similar guides on rock an roll indispensable. Excellent idea. I'll do a little research and find out which is their most recent edition is and track that down.

Kr4, you're undoubtedly. right,, but I'd like to see what my Magico A3's can do. I recently purchased an Erykan Badu recording that had some very deep bass notes on it the Magico's did a nice job reproducing, so I'm wondering how they'd do on some sonorous classical organ pieces. I don't know what pieces to order though, as I have no idea who wrote them, played them, or when they were written. My lack of knowledge on classical music is fairly comprehensive.

My mom on the other hand could actually play classical music on the piano, but preferred to try and dope out boogie-woogie type jazz piano pieces instead, which she could sadly never master. She could play Rachmaninoff however without blinking an eye, Go figure.

Mikelavigne, if I stick to physical media do you find the SACD;s preferable to the degree Redbook CD's should be overlooked for orchestral pieces or is there good Redbook material out there for that type of music?  

Thanks again all,

Mike
Redbook classical is very high quality in most cases. DG CD's from the 1980's are pretty terrible. They were way behind other classical labels when it came to perfecting digital recording and mastering. You'll see that all these CD's from DG were eventually remastered.


"Jdane, trouble is I don't know or haven't been exposed to enough classical music to know what I like or don't"

Skyscraper, streaming will open up a easy way for you to find new (to you) classical music. You can buy a used Node 2i and subscribe to Qobuz for a year. Qobuz offers a discount if you prepay for a year. After that, sell the Node and cancel the subscription. I don't mean to beat a dead horse, but streaming has opened up a whole new way for me to find classical music that would have taken many years to otherwise discover. With that knowledge, I am able to buy LP's and CD's that I actually like.    
+1 @mikelavigne
Qobuz has 50 million songs while Tidal has 60 million songs which I believe is the most economic way to hear various songs. Many songs come with significantly higher resolutions files compared to redbook (CD) files which sound significantly better on highly resolving audio systems. If you want to do in-depth research such as which albums does a particular artist contributes to, try searching on Metadata and Roon.

@skyscraper
Perhaps starting with the top 100 classical songs may help:
http://kickassclassical.com//classical-music-popular-famous-best-top-100-list.html
There are some very good labels to be on the lookout for: Telarc, Decca, Deutsche Grammophon, Harmonia Mundi, RCA Living Stereo, Tacet are a few that consistently put out very high quality recordings. 

Now, whether or not you like the music is another matter...

I tend to buy classical music in either SACD or DSD digital file formats, although if a particular recording is only available in CD, I’ll buy that too!

 One way to go about collecting classical music that I highly recommend is to go to live performances. That way, when you listen to a recording of the same piece, you’ll be able to tell what it should sound like.