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New to Classical Music - Album to try first??


Hi all,
I have a very important question to ask..

I know good music with talented people and good recording when I hear it..and I have good ears..

When I listen to an artist that I haven't heard before, It is actually very easy to tell if you will like their music...If you hear a few cuts that you want to listen to AGAIN, that is the start of it...you listen to the cuts again and you start having favorites.. on good albums you will have a couple of real favorites, on great albums you may have 5 or more favorites..now you are really on to something...a nice music excursion.

That is exactly the way that most good music comes into my life, and I would think that it is much the same for most audiophiles..

I listen to classic rock, jazz & female jazz singers, some country and many kinds of other music..I am open to all music by talented people and especially love well recorded, dynamic examples on a good system..

Now here's the question.
I have NEVER listened to classical music, but I would like to try some now..
What one album would you suggest for me to try first?
- It has to start somewhere..

Please take your time to answer..and I will borrow or buy the one most suggested, and am looking forward to it..

Thanks,
Joe
joe55ag
larryken
537 posts
 
anything by Beethovan or Brahms...you can't go wrong
tpsonic
1,092 posts
 
Stokowski's Rhapsodies-A few friends have started with this piece.
schipo
1,268 posts
 
I would vote for the complete Mozart Piano concerto's. I think you will find that by listening to them at your own leisure. They will satisfy in so many ways, that you might just yearn for more classical music in your life.Take it slow the first time and if you find yourself enjoying a particular passage or moment,then replay it again.
avguygeorge
2,300 posts
 
I can only offer how it is for me,or how I started. I guess the Lone Ranger theme was my start/as a kid. (That's Rossini) Then on to the Tchaikovsky's 1812,also as a kid.
Movies are loaded with great classical music> Amadeus/ Out Of Africa in the mid 80's and on to Immortal Beloved all got my juices flowing.
Then it was on to public radio. The price of admission?--Owning an FM tuner. To start with use it as background or while driving, till something peeks your attention. Our local station plays mostly the great pieces by the great orchestras. Referred to as "The Basic Repertoire"
For some reason the pieces mentioned in the equipment reviews are mostly all unknown to me and I own lots and lots of stuff.
Haydn's 100+ symphonies all put me to sleep /save #94 the "surprise" --the purpose for which it was written.
I guess he know there were lots like me--that needed to be woken up.
Back in the late 80's ;for all the big 3day holidays they would play the top hundred requests in countdown fashion. Beethoven's 9th almost always won.)--Second mostly always was Rachmaninoff's' Piano #2)
Then every Sat.AM they would take one major work and play 5/6 versions.picking apart each and telling you why--then move onto the next movement and so on till they picked the best version. Even if you didn't agree it was a good introduction to the piece. These were my introductions to the good stuff.
chashmal
605 posts
 
I think the place to start is J.S. Bach on traditional instruments, because this is the nexus of all classical music. So called 'early' music dates as pre-Bach, and after was everything else.

Plus it just so damn good.

I would try some solo instrument pieces to get a feel for the structures. My rec would be piano: Goldberg Variations by Glenn Gould, or the Cello Suites by Pablo Casals.
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