Man in need of new music

Oh, yeah...I second the live performance advice. You'll immediately understand what true tonal balance sounds like, and you'll hear how the strings sounds "as one." A good recording will mimic this effect without "spotlighting" the violins or any other frequency band.

Can anyone recommend a label that consistently puts out great sounding sacds? How are the Living Stereo reissues soundwise?

Pentatone seems to be comitted to the SACD format. I think the label was founded by unhappy engineers from a major european label. I have several. The discs are good , but their artist roster is limited, and maybe not the top people. The living stereo is a mixed bag. I have several, some are very good and some not. I guess it depends on the quality of the original recording. I would advise reading the reviews on Amazon, for the living stereo and Pentatone. My experience has been that the difference between SACD and redbook version of the same CD, is rarely night and day.

Try to get LP records whatever you want to listen to. Digital is no good for any kind of music and even worse for classical to the point of becoming ridiculous for big orchestra.
Carmen was an excellent suggestion for opera though it matters who performs. Carmina Burana by Orff is great too. Then of course the usual names - Bach, Beethoven, Musorgsky, Mahler, Paganini etc. With classical it is very important who performs and conducts. I am not big fan of this kind of music so others will guide you more specifically including advising you to get particular performances and LP editions.
The power of orchestra can be incredible.

Seek out music recorded in the DXD format (it is released in SACD's and CD form) as this is an amazing converter technology that yields some nice results in dynamics and noise floor.
Brad