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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
skyscraper OP
831 posts
 
Lowrider, that really is unfortunate. After reading about the poorer quality 1980s Deutsche Grammophon material, I was wondering if any of that lesser material is in the massive DG Beethoven "complete works" boxed set they sell. I happened to stumble across a mention of that set on the classical music aficionados thread on site and looked it up on Amazon. I was thinking that might be a nice set to have, but not if it contains some of those inferior quality CD’s.

Rshak, I found and purchased on Amazon a "Like New" condition 2009 version of the Penguin Guide you suggested. Apparently that was the last year they published the full guide, not just an annual update. Thanks again for the suggestion. It should be useful.

Mike
edcyn
1,876 posts
 
Everybody here has good suggestions.  And yes, Herbert Von Karajan and the Berlin or Vienna Philharmonic is a good bet for a first stab to find a performance of a particular work.  Leonard Bernstein might even be a better bet.  Or any conductor/performer with a Russian name.  If you have a soft spot for good tunes and lush textures, try one of Tchaikovsky's ballet scores. 

I gotta say, too, that I love Primephonic to distraction.  Sound quality of the classical only streaming service is, at worst, a half-a-hair behind Qobuz.  In other words, excellent. They have experts and guides on hand to lead you into the magic forest.
petg60
1,486 posts
 
Mike,
Used vinyl is the best way to go as many of them are in pristine condition nearly never played and in great pricing compared to anything else.
Decca, Archiv, Philips, DG, EMI, TELDEC, have great recordings and performances. Next would be SACD, big catalogue from Sony Classical.
Good hunting.

G

lowrider57's avatar
lowrider57
5,417 posts
 
Lowrider, that really is unfortunate. After reading about the poorer quality 1980s Deutsche Grammophon material, I was wondering if any of that lesser material is in the massive DG Beethoven "complete works" boxed set they sell. I happened to stumble across a mention of that set on the classical music aficionados thread on site and looked it up on Amazon. I was thinking that might be a nice set to have, but not if it contains some of those inferior quality CD’s.
I want to clarify my point about DG digital. The rough sounding CDs are recordings from the early to late 1980’s when the music biz had transitioned from analogue to digital. DG as I’m sure you know has a long history of recording classical music. It’s only the stated period where they had issues with sound quality, ranging from harshness due to overmic’ing, clipping (distortion), a wall of sound presentation with no air between instruments. And not all recordings are bad, Abbado’s symphonies are very good whilst Karajan and Giulini’s are harsh and fatiguing to listen to. It’s really hit or miss with the sound quality on early digital.

Beethoven: The Complete Works https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07X7D9W6N/ref=cm_sw_r_u_apa_fabc_W9VZ09XMVWAWAP2Y3CM2

I assume this is the boxed set. DG has all the great conductors and historic performances, I’m sure they’re all remastered. It contains what I consider THE Beethoven cycle that anyone starting out should own; Karajan/Berliner Philharmonic,
1963. It’s a great introduction to Beethoven.
The 1962,63 recordings:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000056OBA/ref=cm_sw_r_u_apa_fabc_BQRXAM86X2RNQRWQB341

Warner Classics includes top-tier conductors and orchestras. Warner bought many of the great classical record labels which have excellent sound quality.

Naxos is a classical label that specialises in all digital recordings with very good sonics. They include lesser known artists, but still a good representation of Beethoven’s work.

I read the listing of recordings from the DG box and it looks to have the "greatest hits" from the DG catalogue. These are not audiophile quality but they are very enjoyable and are some of the greatest performances ever.


larryi
4,106 posts
 
Another resource is the on-line classical CD seller Arkivmusic.  They have an enormous listing of available CDs searchable by artist, composer, label, etc.  They also offer recommendations on particular recordings that can be helpful.

I agree that much of the DG catalogue from the 1970s and 1980s were not particularly good as far as sound quality, but, many of their remastered CD offerings of those recordings are better.  Some of the performances in their catalogue are quite important, so, I would not rule out purchasing DG recordings (e.g. Carlos Kleiber recordings of Beethoven's 5th and 7th Symphonies).
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