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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
cm6td
14 posts
 
    A book you might want to consider is "The Indispensable Composers" by Anthony Tommasini, who is the chief classical music critic for the New York Times. It’s a brief history of classical music, roughly in chronological order, with lots of suggestions for what to listen to. It focuses on his favorite composers and types of music, so it leaves out a lot and you wouldn’t want to limit yourself just to the things he recommends, but it’s a good starting point.
    A good website for reviews of recordings is ClassicsToday.com. If you want access to all the reviews you have to pay an annual fee, but a lot of the reviews are available for free.
    HRAudio.net has reviews of hi-res recordings. Most (but not all) of them are classical.
   The stores Presto Classical and ArkivMusic aggregate reviews from many sources on their websites.
surferandy's avatar
surferandy
52 posts
 
Years back I bought someones classical collection of about 1000 LP's. Slowly working through them but I must say it does not grab me like the other albums in my collection - Jazz, R&B, Rock. There is also a great variation in recording, with the Mercury Living Presence  mono recordings being extremely well recorded considering their age - mid 50's. https://www.speakerscornerrecords.com/news/details/4/mercury-living-presence-the-history
edcyn
1,876 posts
 
jpwarren -- I love going to classical concerts.  Of course, when I lived in SoCal it was so much easier to do.  No matter what the venue, I knew every parking place that was both nearby and easy to escape from when the concert wrapped up.  Had my share of season tix at Pasadena's Ambassador Auditorium.
jfuquay
107 posts
 
Brownsfan and Twoleftears gave you some good info. Them and Discogs. With Discogs you’ll probably pay $2-3 a disc.  I’m also 69 and was introduced to classical in college by another student who did a good job introducing me. So here’s my plan. Find a copy of Ted Libbey’s “NPR Guide to Building a Classical CD Collection.”  How’s that for right up your alley? 
Since you liked the church music, why not get E. Power Biggs Plays Bach in the Thomaskirche. That’s a Columbia Masterworks release, which are always reliable. Mine is on vinyl, but open a Discogs account and look. Bach is a great place to start, so get the Brandenburg Concertos. I bet Neville Marriner and The Orchestra of St. Martin’s in the Fields has a good recording.  That puts you in the Baroque era. Vivaldi, Telemann, Corelli are all representative. Before them are Dowland, Tallis, Byrd.

next is Classical era. Find Hayden’s last few symphonies, No. 99-104. Then Mozart (I’m going forward in time here), late symphonies No. 36-41, piano concerto 17, 20, 21, opera overtures (Marriner again) Clarinet Concerto (Anthony Pay), horn concertos. Beethoven symphonies — directors von Karajan, Bernstein, Bohm all good — piano concertos, No. 5 is the biggie, 1-4 good, too. Violin concerto. 
I need to condense. Getting into Romantics. Chopin, Etudes, Waltzes, piano concerto 2; Tchaikovsky Sym. 4-6, piano concerto 1; Dvorak, Sym. 9, Smetana, The Moldau; Wagner, opera overtures only; Mendelssohn, Midsummer Nights Dream, Violin concerto, Sym. 3;  Brahms, Sym. 4, piano concerto 2; Rimsky-Korsakov, Pictures at an Exhibition; Respighi, The Pines of Rome, Ancient Airs and Dances; Mahler, Sym. 1,4, 5. Holst, The Planets

flying fast.  Prokofiev, Sym. 1, piano concerto 3; Rachmaninov, Rhapsody on a theme by Paganini, piano concertos 2-3; Stravinsky, Rite of Spring, The Firebird, Petroushka; Vaughan Williams, Greensleeves, The Lark Ascending, Variations on a theme by Thomas Tallis; Carl Orff, Carmina Burana; Gorecki, Sym. 3 (Sorrowful Songs); Arvo Part, Tabula Rasa, Sym. 3. 

Should have just left it at the Libbey book! Cheers.

skyscraper OP
830 posts
 
Audioguy, you got a good start collecting Classical as teenager. That demonstrates excellent musical taste at quite an early age by a current youngster such as yourself. I’ll check out the Better Records site you suggest. Sounds like a good place, like Discogs, to do some research even if it’s prices may be prohibitive.

I made my first Classical purchase last night, getting the 157 CD Bach complete works edition on the Brilliant label. It was well reviewed from what I could find. And at only a dollar per CD, affordable compared to the likely superior 200+ CD Deutsche Grammophon set at three times the cost. I might regret cheaping out, but we’ll see.

Anybody else have either Bach set, like, or could compare them? There’s been a couple of aspersions cast on DG recordings in this thread so I was hesitant to put out the larger outlay. I’m not really familiar enough with Bach for that big an outlay either. I still felt like I was jumping into the Classical pool at the deep end with that size purchase, which is kind of exciting.

Fruckman, thanks for the KDFC list recommendation. I’ll search it out.

Jimmy2615, I didn’t know they made live classical recordings at the Fillmore East. That was my favorite pace for rock concerts as a teenager. Thanks for your suggestions.

JPWarren, good point. So many occupation have taken a hit with the virus, musicians surely are suffering.

Twoleftears, thanks for the listing of Classical Music periods. That something I need.

Cm6td, thank you for the book you recommended and the other resources . I’ll find the book and check out the otjher resources. That’s exactly to kind of infromation I was hoping to turn up with this thread.

Surferandy, thanks for the link, Classical never grabbed me before either as like you I always loved R&R, and then jazz early on after a listen to Coltrane’s "A Love Supreme" made me an instant acolyte. I don’t have any idea why I can see the beauty in Classical now in the same way. Not that I ever disliked it.

Jfuquay, thank you for all your suggestions, especially the NPR book. Your right that's right up my alley and I'll have to get it now that you've brought it to my attention.

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