Classical Guidance

I'd recommend the Naxos historical stuff very strongly.

What's the status of your classical collection now? Weber is an unusual place to start, IMO. Do you already have the B's covered? Dvorak? Tchaikovsky? Mahler? Stravinsky? Sibelius? Bartok? Gershwin? MOZART!?

If you can be clearer about what counsel you want, you'll get better counsel.

Personally, I like orchestral stuff; if you like chamber, solo instrument, or opera, others need to provide lists. I don't know if this will be useful to you, but I feel like listing my favorite stuff. I wouldn't want to be without any of the following:

Bethoven Symphonies 3-7 (I couild skip 1-2 and 8-9; skip the 4th at the peril of foregoing great musical pleasure!) - Naxos has Toscanini, who is matched, but not beaten performance-wise. (I love Furtwangler, too.) You may have to buy 1-2, 8-9, which is not a loss - it's just that I listen to 3-7 most.

Beet Piano Concerti 4 & 5 - I think Naxos has Schnabel, and you could do a lot worse. Hard to do better, performance-wise. 1-3 are really good, too, except when compared with 4 or 5 or Brahms.

Beet Violin Concerto, for sure.

Brahms - all symphonies, pno cti, vln cto.

Mozart - late symphonies and pno cti, Magic Flute, Marriage of Figaro, Don Giovanni (even if you hate opera!)

Bach - Brandenburgs

Bartok - Cto for Orchestra

Strauss - Death and Transfiguration, Also Sprach Zarathustra

Mendelssohn - violin cto

Tchaikovsky - violin cto, syms 4-6 (esp 4 & 5)

Mahler Sym 1 & 4

Gershwin - Pno Cto, Rhapsody in Blue

Puccini - Turandot

Dvorak, Syms 7-9

Sibelius - Vln Cto

and some Gilbert and Sullivan, of course....

This is just a start. Don't ask about the best performances unless you want to see fur fly.

Have fun.

Phil

Naxos is an interesting label. With their ever expanding catalogue and their very reasonable price policy they have successfully asserted themselves on the classical market and secured their piece of the cake. Not only is it positive that the prices have always remained constant over the years, but also that the sound quality of their recordings has noticeably improved on average though their particular worth still varies a lot from cd to cd. There are astonishingly good interpretations, but also pretty lousy ones with unsatisfactory sound quality. But in general it is thanks to Naxos that nearly the entire history of music has been made available at very low costs (except, of course, if you buy all Naxos-CDs at once ;-)) and especially that more public attention is drawn to many relatively unknown or almost forgotten composers away from the mainstream and the big names. By the way, there´s another low-priced series I reckon even better when it comes to acquainting oneself with major works: ELOQUENCE - featuring very good recordings by the "upper-class" labels Deutsche Grammophon, Decca and Philips, all of which now belong to the giant Universal Music Company.
And here are some personal Naxos recommendations:
1) Ralph Vaughan Williams: Symphonies 5+9 (Pretty "old school" in the face of the fact that he composed his ninth 1956/57 during the "golden age" of anti-traditional serialism, but, nevertheless, an intriguing and important work of the 20th-century, which holds the serene maturity of an outstanding composer´s late style.)
2) Anton Bruckner/ Georg Tintner: Symphonies 0+8 (For the famous conductor Celibidache Bruckner´s eigth was "the zenith of symphonic writing". I do agree, apart from Mahler´s masterpieces. Just indulge yourself in the eternal stream of the heavenly adagio and feel its pure perfection and transcendental quality. The superb experience of this "symphony of symphonies" is "redemption through music". One mustn´t die without having undergone it! - By the way, Tinter is only the second - after Inbal - to record the original 1887 version of the eigth, and he did a very good job. So every true Bruckner fan cannot but buy it!)
3) John Cage/ Boris Berman: Sonatas and Interludes for Prepared Piano (Pretty "exotic", but an extraordinary acoustic experience. Who would have guessed that a manipulated piano could produce such unexpected sounds?!)
4) Witold Lutoslawski: Orchestral Works 1-6 (6 single CDs), especially the CD containing his 4. Symphony (In my opinion one of the most important composers of the 20-century. Unjustifiably, he is less known in the West than his Polish compatriot Penderecki. It´s about time that he is granted the worldwide fame he really deserves. He is one of my personal favourites. Highly recommended!)
5) Krzysztof Penderecki: Orchestral Works 1-3 (3 single CDs) (Containing his five symphonies and his famous "Threnos".)
6) Béla Bartók: Mikrokosmos (Piano music, contains the short, but revolutionary "allegro barbaro", which is seldom recorded.)
7) Alfred Schnittke: Piano Quintet+String Trio (Another favourite of mine. The most important Russian composer after Shostakovich. To me the most important composer of the last 30 years in general.)
8) Bohuslav Martinu: Symphonies 1+6 (most important Czech composer after Dvorak. Developed an original and unique style blending colourful impressionism and the expressive Slavic tradition. An immensely prolific composer, whose works covering all genres have yet to be discovered. Especially, he is an outstanding and still underrated symphonist!)

If you know very little about classical music my suggestion would be that you go along to a bookshop and have a look at two books that might help you.

For someone who knows little, the Classic FM Guide to Classical Music is excellent (IMO). It starts with an intro to classical music itself; tells you a little about, probably, 100 or so composers and then, most importantly, guides you to a starting point for each and goes on to list the most relevant of their work. Thus rather than thinking you will try a bit of Bruckner, for example and taking pot luck on which bit, it tells you that his symphony No 4 is "the best to start with and regarded as the most accessible." A view I share and I suspect one that most would agree with. I bought this book as a gift for my wife years ago and I still keep dipping into it!

I would also recommend the Penguin Guide to Compact Discs - new 2002 edition is just off the press. I know it is slagged off by those in the know on rec.classical music recordings but I have used it for many years now and have only rarely been disappointed with its recommendations. So, having established what interests you from the Classic FM book you could refer to Penguin to see what it has to say about different recordings. They often rate Naxos highly as do I. But sometimes they do not.

And that brings me to something I regard as important with classical music. It is better not to have a piece at all than to have a poor recording of it. Hmm.....not very well expressed. What I am saying is that a poor recording of, say, a Beethoven Symphony - missing some of the emotion and power of his music etc could put you off that piece for ever. So sometimes Naxos is not the one to go for just for the sake of having the piece of music whatever the price!

You could also dip into the rec.cmr newsgroup but they seem to relish finding obscure recordings half the world can't buy!

Have a look at the two books I have suggested. For the cost of only a few cds they could help you go the way that would suit you best and, in the long run, more than repay their cost.

Hope this helps

Cheers

Max

Oh yes also there used to be a Penguin Guide to Bargain Compact Discs but I am not sure how often they bring out a revised edition.

I started listening to Classical about 14 years ago on radio. Take your time getting to know and tune your ear to it, your tastes will change. When something comes on that really just drops your jaw, write it down and find it. In LA we have Jim Svejeda who has written a book of composers and his witty and sometimes wild comments of performers is wonderful. Entertaining stuff and he has great taste. I like more aggressive stuff like Stravinsky and Bartok, but recently heard Andreas Scholl and Barbara Bonnie sing Pergolesi's Stabat Mater and bought it three days later. Check out John Adams' Chairman Dances on Elektra/Nonesuch for some entertaining contemporary work that is really engaging.

Take your time and open up your mind, it will entertain you for many years to come.

There is also the Grammophone Guide to Classical Cd's which has lots of info and recommended versions. You will probably find last years edition for £5 in the remainder bookshops.