The field is so vast and diverse that you should sample as much as you can to get a handle on what kind of music, period and styles you like the most. I would suggest listening to the radio, particularly internet stations, or even the classical music offered on cable tv channels.
The guides mention above, such as the Penguin guide, are good resources for finding specific recordings of compositions you are interested in, but, you would have to know the piece of music you are looking for; it is not a guide to the music itself. I like a book called "1001 Classical Recordings You Must Hear Before You Die." It is arranged in chronological order and it is good for finding specific composers and pieces of music as well as the particular recordings of that music that the editors favor. I think the selections are quite good. |
Another resource is the on-line classical CD seller Arkivmusic. They have an enormous listing of available CDs searchable by artist, composer, label, etc. They also offer recommendations on particular recordings that can be helpful.
I agree that much of the DG catalogue from the 1970s and 1980s were not particularly good as far as sound quality, but, many of their remastered CD offerings of those recordings are better. Some of the performances in their catalogue are quite important, so, I would not rule out purchasing DG recordings (e.g. Carlos Kleiber recordings of Beethoven's 5th and 7th Symphonies). |
If your Bach box is from the Brilliant label, I have that one too. There are so many works of his that are sublime. In many polls of classical music listeners and critics, his B minor mass is considered the single most important work. I would be inclined to agree. The only kind of work he did not undertake is opera. Complete works of composers like Beethoven, Mozart, and Schubert would also not contain any "dogs."
But, at any early stage of collecting, I would suggest surveying a wide range of composers and composition styles, including 20th and 21st century composers.
|
label 19,
I agree with you completely about not overlooking chamber and other smaller works of any composer. While symphonies and concertos paid the rent, a lot of composers felt more free to be inventive and not worry about public appeal when they composed such works. I too, particularly like Schubert's Winterreise (I have nine versions on CD and a couple more on lp) and other song cycles and his quartets and quintets. One of my all-time favorite pieces is his D. 956 string quintet. If all he composed was what he did in the last year of his life, he would still rank among the best composers of all time. Of all the Beethoven recordings I have, I listen most frequently to his late quartets and his sonatas for violin and piano. For Brahms, as magnificent as are his Symphonies and piano and violin concerti, I think my favorite single recording is a set of Chorlieder (Kolner Kammerchor/Peter Neumann).
It's really hard to even suggest a path for discovering favorite music because it is so hard to predict what will catch anyone's fancy. Someone in my office asked me to bring in some selections for him to get started with classical music. On a hunch, I included something that is somewhat out in left field, and it turned out to be what he liked the most; it is a recording of Harry Partch's "Delusions of the Fury." |
If sound quality is a big concern, there are a number of boxes covering some of the labels with the best recording quality, such as the box of Mercury Living Presence, Decca Sound, RCA Living Stereo, Chandos Milestones, and Harmonia Mundi 50th anniversary. The boxes I have from these labels have around 50-60 CDs each. The sound quality is quite good and there is a fair sampling of different musical styles and types. |
While I think some of the guidelines offered above are helpful in making initial selections, they should not be treated as "rules." One of the best things about classical music and performances thereof is how wide open and varied are the possible choices.
Should performances try to adhere to original interpretations (however that may be divined) and be played on original instruments? I have many recordings that purport to be such "historically informed performances" and I do like some, but, I also appreciate performances that are decidedly not in that camp. For one example, I would not rule out Glenn Gould piano performances of Bach keyboard pieces just because the piano had not yet been invented. I even like some modern transcriptions, such as Bernstein's string orchestra version of Beethoven's late string quartets (No. 14 and 16, I believe). |
I have no problem with taking the original instrument/historical performance approach. But, for anything composed before the 19th century, this will not be easy. For early opera and other vocal music, it would mean castrati singers (not many, for obvious reason, exist today). For Bach, Haydn and Mozart, no conventional piano (harpsichord, or for late Mozart and Beethoven a fortepiano). What many consider conventional instruments and practices is really a modern development and a rough consensus of how something should be played. I would guess that Beethoven, if given a choice, would prefer a modern Steinway or Bosendorfer piano over the fortepianos available in his day. |
You can do research on "historically informed performance." I don't know if there are particular labels that specialize in this, certain performers, such as the conductors Nikolaus Hanoncourt, Trevor Pinnock, Phillippe Herreweghe, Christopher Hogwood, and John Eliot Gardiner are popular practitioners.
There is another performer/composer that is particularly interesting and unique that I personally think is worth looking into--Jordi Savall. He is a student of early music (medieval, renaissance and baroque) and a student of musical practices from a wide range of cultures (European, middle east, african) and has made some amazing recordings that include his own original compositions based on different periods and locales. This is, not strictly speaking "authentic," but his music is based on his research and is so compelling I say "so what?"
|
I have that Mozart box too, and it is certainly a good way to become familiar with his works. He is one of those composers whose every known works is topnotch. After finding favorites, you can then search for alternative performances. That is a big part of the fun--hearing different interpretations of the same work.
Every collector of classical music collects different performances of the same works. It helps to know learn how a conductor or performer interprets a work and how that interpretation is translated into specific ways of playing the piece. There are recordings that include extra material where the performer discusses the performance. For example, Benjamin Zander has issued some CDs that include an extra CD with such explanation with samples from the performance. I have performances of Mahler's Fifth and Ninth Symphonies with such extras from Mr. Zander and I recommend them highly. |
I don't know how much of the box I've listened to because I don't make it a point to listen to everything in such a large box; I tend more to pick out favorite works to hear the particular performances contained in the box. It is only when a box contains works I am not familiar with that I make it a point to listen to all of the box (like the amazingly good box of 6 cds of Villa-Lobos string quartets on Brilliant).
For Mozart, I would suggest starting out with the following:
Piano Concerti: (No. 17, 20, 21, 23, 24, 27)
Violin Concerti: (all of them, many complete versions available)
Clarinet Concerto (one of my all time favorite works)
Requiem Mass (another all time favorite)
Jupiter Symphony (#41)
Magic Flute (opera)
Marriage of Figaro (opera)
Don Giovanni (opera)
Serenade #10 ("Gran Partita") for woodwind orchestra.
Eine Kleine Nachtmusik
Horn Concerti (particularly #4) |
