Need a little help getting into Classical Music

[Shadowfax]

I would like to expand my listening with a little bit of Classical but have no idea where to start as there is a ton of different types.
The only real disk I have aside from a few low quality samplers is "Mark Gorenstein CD Russian Symphony Orchestra Schnittke Tikhon Khrennikov"

I would like to find music that has some flow to it and easy to follow and not the stuff that is all over the place with nothing to follow. I love Piano and Violin, the likes of Secret Garden although I know it is not classical.

I did just listen to Scheherazade from Renaissance Live at Carnegie Hall which is classical done rock style.

Please give me a starting point and TIA.

 

[crwilli]

IMHO - I am not an expert and are a n the journey. I am still learning and may always be. My advice, start with easy stuff. Don’t try to jump into the big guns. One of the confusing things to me was trying to understand which pieces I liked only to also have to learn which recordings and performances are ‘the best’.

So my advice is start with what music you like. Don’t worry if it’s the best recording or the the best performance. Figure out if you like Concertos, Symphonies, Chamber, etc.

Here’s something I was introduced to that gives me joy and a story to go with it.

Jacqueline DuPre, one of the best cellists of all time, playing the Elgar Cello Concerto. Her’s is a sad story when she was diagnosed with MS cutting her career short and which led to he early death at 42.

This is a fantastic recording of her.

 

[Shadowfax]

IMHO - I am not an expert and are a n the journey. I am still learning and may always be. My advice, start with easy stuff. Don’t try to jump into the big guns. One of the confusing things to me was trying to understand which pieces I liked only to also have to learn which recordings and performances are ‘the best’.

So my advice is start with what music you like. Don’t worry if it’s the best recording or the the best performance. Figure out if you like Concertos, Symphonies, Chamber, etc.

Here’s something I was introduced to that gives me joy and a story to go with it.

Jacqueline DuPre, one of the best cellists of all time, playing the Elgar Cello Concerto. Her’s is a sad story when she was diagnosed with MS cutting her career short and which led to he early death at 42.

This is a fantastic recording of her.

Thank you, I am not worried about best recorded, just something I can wrap my head around.

Jacqueline du Pré performs the Elgar Cello Concerto

A chance to watch the first movement of the cellist's legendary 1967 performance, captured by Allegro Films

www.thestrad.com

 

[MikeCh]

Hey Brian. Start easy, listen to some great symphony's and then drill down to smaller, more intimate venue's if you like what you hear on a large scale. This is how I started...and quite honestly, still enjoy the "large scale". Here's a few starters that hooked me:

Berlioz - Symphonie fantastique (some performances are better than others)
Mozart - Symphony No. 41 (nicknamed Jupiter Symphony)
Haydn - Pretty much any of his Symphony's...and there are many. Easy to listen to and follow.

Boccherini: 6 Symphonies - Raymond Leppard