A look into classical


I have very little in classical music. The local library has a lot of classical cd's available. Rather than taking the hit & miss approach are there some suggestions for me to get my feet wet? I do like what I have: Mozart "A Little Nightmusic"...1812 Overture...Nutcracker.

The Mozart disc really floats my boat of the 3.
muncybob
Internet radio is a great place to go for variety and to get a feel for the different periods of classical music. Then just grow from there as you will find yourself gravitating to certains kinds of music.

As far as the best sites for a variety of classical radio stations I would suggest i-tunes or rhapsody.

This is one of my favorite stations http://www.radioswissclassic.ch/en.
Lots of classical variety on Internet Radio.

All you need for a great variety of Internet Radio with excellent sound is a Network Player like Roku Soundbridge (<$200) or Squeezebox, a high speed internet connection, and a system.
If you are so inclined to spend the money for a subscription, Grammaphone magazine is a great resource. Each issue has a cd of a collection of recently released pieces. If you aren't sure you want a year's subscription go to Barnes and Noble and get the recent issue to familiarize yourself with it.
If you like that Mozart disc, then I can recommend you try:
1. Mozart Symphony #40, or better yet pick up from the library this double-cd set "Mozart - Symphonies 35-41. Herbert von Karajan, Berliner Philharmoniker"
2. Mozart Clarinet Concerto - Sabline Meyer, Claudio Abbado.
3. Beethoven Piano Concerto 1&2 and Piano Concerto 3&4 with Yefim Bronfman
4. Mendelssohn - violin concerto(pick this one up with Jascha Heifetz or Hilary Hahn as soloists)
5. Bach Violin Concertos. Readily available should be the ones with Hilary Hahn.
6. Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto #1
7. Saint-Saens Piano Concerto #2 - if you can find this with Bella Davidovich and Neeme Jarvi conducting, this is the one to get.
8. Paganini, Spohr violin concertos - Hilary Hahn

This should be sufficient enough to start and for you to see what you like. You have to start with something light and then make a natural progress into more modern classical music.