How to go about collecting Classical Music


At age 68 I’ve started to like Classical Music. It’s been mostly Jazz, Rock n Roll, and R&B up to now. I’m familiar with those genres, know their history, artists, and how to best and most economically acquire their recordings. Not so the Classical repertoire which covers a much longer time period and encompasses so many styles and forms.

What genres and/or periods of Classical music should I be exploring? I’m not looking for recommendations on particular composers or artists, only genres or periods. In Classical music there is orchestral music, chamber music, opera, church music and who knows what else to try out. Maybe you could advise me, if you wouldn’t mind, of some types to try? Or maybe you could recommend a book on the subject that would help a rookie get a start understanding what’s out there.

In buying classical music, for any one work, there may be innumerable recordings by various artists, orchestras and ensembles. How do you sort out which recordings you want in that respect. For example, I looked up Stravinsky’s Rites of Spring on Ebay last night to get some idea of pricing and what classical music available there. There were so many recordings of that work, I would have no idea how to sort out which would have been a good choice. Are there web sites where there are recommendations on which recordings are most exceptional? Or alternately, are there classical record labels you can rely on routinely to provide superior quality recordings? I’ve heard Deutsche Gramophone may be a reliable label for one, but that’s about it. Could you recommend any other labels to look for?

There seems to be a lot of Classical music in SACD format relative to Jazz or Rock n ’Roll. Is there some reason for that? Should SACD be the format of choice for purchasing Classical music, or is there good classical material in Redbook format to be found? I prefer to stay away from used vinyl due to condition issues, or new vinyl due to cost. I’m guessing the better dynamic range of CD’s lends itself to orchestral music. Is there any market for used classical SACD’s? Are there any sites you prefer to purchase your Classical CD’s, either new or used?

I grew up on Long Island. On one trip to midtown Manhattan I walked into an old church not too far from St. Patrick’s to view its’ magnificent stained glass window. Once inside I heard some equally magnificent classical organ being played. I discovered the church’s incredible organ was being played by some of New York City’s finest classical organists who would book time to practice on it. That large church was always deserted, and I went back many times for what amounted to free private concerts. I’d like to know what kind of music that was to try and replicate that experience to some degree at home, From what I’ve read here and elsewhere there surely is a plethora of other wonderful Classical music to explore and enjoy. Thanks in advance for any advice,

Mike






skyscraper
don’t collect it, stream it.

i’m 69 years old, and love Classical Music. i do happen to own plenty of Classical CD’s, SACD’s, and vinyl.

but if i was jumping into it now i would absolutely put streaming Roon + Quboz + Tidal at the top of my list. there are thousands of Classical recordings on Quboz and Tidal, and Roon makes searching and learning simple and fun. you will be able to search by composer, or artist, and you will see linked similar titles suggested that will lead you to new types of music. many of the titles have information about the recording, and there is info on the composers too.

the sound quality can be top notch with streaming if you invest in high level gear. which is a whole different question for a different thread.

why limit yourself to physical media?

btw; Quboz has high resolution Classical up to 192/24 and that is what i would be targeting as the ultimate in streaming sound quality. MQA on Tidal can be good, but personally i prefer the high rez on Quboz.

you can see on my system page, i have lots of turntables and tape decks. but my most frequent listening is to streaming classical. it’s wonderful.

Good luck.
If you are not streaming already, I would recommend an inexpensive streamer like the Node2i. That's what I did and it enabled me to listen to all genres of classical music and then add to my lp or CD collection when I wanted the physical media.
When I started looking into classical music, one of the things I found that I really enjoyed was "How to Listen to and Understand Great Music" from The Great Courses (used to be called The Teaching Company).  It serves as both a For Dummies and as a college course introduction.

One thing I'll say, the "full price" for these courses are ridiculous, and they're often "75%" off.  Also, Audible (Amazon) has them for more reasonable prices. 
Mike, for orchestral music I can suggest you look for just about anything that performed by Berlin, Vienna and also by London Philharmonic orchestra. Von Karajan, in my opinion, is the very best conductor there is and was.
If you want to hear cello you will want performances by Rostropovitch.
Opera: Carmen by Bizet, Peer Gynt by Grieg, La Boheme by Puccini,
Handel - Messiah ( orchestra and chorus ), powerful stuff.