Starting a Classical Vinyl Music Collection

There are books on the subject, and lots of advice online regarding orchestras, conductors, their interpretations of the composers, tempo choices, and the sound quality of the recording.  The Penguin Guide is very useful.  But only you can say what moves you emotionally and intellectually.  Do you like the music of Vivaldi?  Of the Baroque masters, Bach is  supreme in my opinion, but maybe you will find Handel compelling, or Monteverdi?  One must reckon with Mozart, but pay attention to Haydn too.  Beethoven is the universally acknowledged Titan of the Western musical canon, but Schubert and Chopin are not to be ignored.  Some people flip for Wagner.  I love Brahms and Mahler, but Bruckner, I don’t get…etc.

Here are a few starter suggestions:

Vivaldi: The Four Seasons; JS Bach: The Musical Offering, Mass in Bm. Mozart: Clarinet Quartet, Gran Partita Serenade K.361, Piano Sonata K.331, Symphony #40 in Gm.  Beethoven: Symphony #3, 5, 9, Quartets Op.59, Piano Concerto #4, Waldstein Sonata, Moonlight Sonata. Schubert: The String Quintet in C, some Lieder sung by Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, a  late Piano Sonata.  Chopin: Piano Sonata #3 by Emil Gilels on DG. Mendelssohn: Violin Concerto, Symphony #4. Brahms: both Piano Concertos, Symphony #1, Violin Concerto.  Mahler: Symphony #2, for starters, #6 if you like that, and the rest if you are still enjoying.  Strauss: Also Sprach Zarathustra;  Stravinsky: The Rite Of Spring; Bartok: Concerto For Orchestra; Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue; Varese: Ionisation, Equitorial on Nonesuch.

Don’t start

Get a streamer that has access BBC 3 and a Qobuz and Presto Music account.

On your death bed your not going to have to worry about your family having to get ride of a giant collection.

@jjbeason14   In the words of the The Highlander "There can be only one"  🤣

If you want to own some physical media, as I do, here is a great place to start your classical collection. In fact, with +/- 120 hours of playing time, you may never need to buy another classical cd/LP in your lifetime.  Fantastic addition to any music collection.

If you have satellite radio, listen to the classical station. They play a wide variety of composers and eras. Classical music ranges from sonatas to huge Mahler symphony’s and everything in between. And baroque to ultra modern. The great thing is you can find quality used vinyl at very affordable prices. If you buy something you don’t like you are only out a few dollars. 

I probably have 1,000 classical LPs.  I almost never listen to them.  I do have, and listen to classical CDs ripped to a streamer.  I MUCH prefer listening to classical digitally— no awkward breaks in programming, easy to find place in libretti when listening to opera, no ticks and pops during quiet passages, and most significantly, VASTLY greater selection of composers and performances (most legacy performances have been reissued digitally, very few new recordings have been issued on LPs since the early 1990s).  

I would never start out collecting classical music on LP.  Jazz, bluegrass, and other genres might be a different matter.