Any good starters for "difficult" classical music?

Shostakovich is a great composer to start with. Cello Concertos and Violin Concerto's are a great place to start. Rostropovich or Maisky in the Cello Concerto's. Oistrakh or Vengerov in the Violin Concertos.

Or now for something completely different, try classical minimalism.

Steve Reich - Music For 18 Musicians

Verklärte Nacht is probably the least Shönbergian Schönberg.


Vengerov has both the Prokofiev and Shostakovich Violin Concertos together,(Rostropovich conducting the LPO) bundled together (2 cds, one with concertos no. 1 and the second with concertos no. 2). Those are really terrific recordings with very good Russian feel.




You may also enjoy Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet especially if you love the ballet, or incidental music from the Love for Three Oranges (such as the Kije Suite). Try Barber's Adagio, Bernstein has a great recording of it. Bartok's Concerto for Strings is probably one his most accessible works, but perhaps not suitable as a starter.

Try some chamber music by Alfred Schnittke. It may take a couple of listens to appreciate his stuff, but after you do its magical.

MJ

Bartok Rocks

Bartok - CONCERTO FOR ORCHESTRA. One of the best pieces of Orchestral music of the 20th century. Antal Dorati was one of the master conductors of Bartok. Bartok's MUSIC FOR STRINGS, PERCUSSION and CELESTA is also amazing.

Mahler - Hard to say where to start.. why not start in the middle with the 5th.. it's not too long, but has a bit more modern flare than his earlier symphonies.

Since no one mentioned Stravinsky, I will. Do you have THE RITE OF SPRING? If you don't, you should. Another masterwork of the 20th century. Pretty much every movie composer has ripped off this work, esp. John Williams. As for performance, my favorite is a 70's recording by Michael Tilson Thomas and the London Symphony. Antal Dorati w/ Detriot is another that I remember as being quite extraordinary.

And while we're at it, you need a copy of THE PLANETS by Gustav Holst. Again, pretty much every movie composer has ripped off ideas from this great work. Hear the original. There are tons of great recordings of this piece, hard to tell you where to start. Herbert von Karajan's 80's recording on DG is one of my favorites.


-jar

In my case, it was Mahler's No.1. Before it, my experiences for classical music had been limited to some Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert something. I did not understand the music at the first time, actually it took a bit long time. After that I seldom felt the 'difficulty' while listening to classical music at least before 12-tone music (next barrier was Schoenberg's orchestral varitaion).
Because you like 'Transfigued night' I believe you will like Mahler's works. My suggestion is to try No.1, No.5 and No.9 first. (So many recordings and reviews.)
Bartok is another nice starting point. Works to begin with would include Concerto for orchestra (how about Reiner?), Piano concertos (Anda is nice) and String quartets (try Juilliard 60s recording).
If you're interested in some more 'modern' music, the course would be to try second viennese school first, and then go to so called avantgard music of 50-60s. I'd say Schoenberg's Orchestral variation (Karajan's 3cds set is a classic, I think it's reissued in Originals), Wind Quintet (I'd pick VPO members/DG), Alban Berg's Orchestral 3 pieces (Karajan or Abbado?) and Violin concerto (hard to pick one modern recording, I'd say not to miss Krasner/Webern if you don't mind historical recordings), etc.
Among more accessible works of postwar composers, I'd like to mention Ligeti's earlier works (Musica Ricercata, String Quartet No.1 - the course alike Shoenberg/Bartok taken by a quarantined composer), Messiaen's Turangalila symphony, Berio's Folk songs, some Henze's works (how about Undine? It's virtually in late romanticism).

I have to agree with Masonjar! Definitely look at Stravinsky, (I love his Firebird) and also Darius Milhaud. You are probably well familiar with Erik Satie as a pianist, if not pick up some of his works on sheet music first!

For the non Russians there are also Hindemith, Benjamin Britten (St. Nicholas Cantata is a good start, it was written for children), Ralph Vaugn Williams, Samuel Barber, Roy Harris, Ives, Cage, Babbit and ofcourse, if you are very brave George Crumb.

Do you have access to a record library? That might be the best way to sample things and find what you like before spending all of those Euros.

After hearing samples, I'm interested in Alfred Schnittke, as suggested above. Also, still need to work on obtaining some of George Crumb.

My recommendations are: Edgar Varèse Amériques, Bartók The Miraculous Mandarin, Olivier Messiaen Chronochromie/La Ville d'en haut and various works by György Ligeti, Magnus Lindberg, Kaija Saariaho. There are many others.

Such art sounds difficult, as it reflects life today. Maybe difficult isn't exactly the right word, it's also odd.

I've been looking for a good performance of the MM, but can find no reviews to send me in the right direction. Help greatly appreciated!

Great recommendations Bunny! I would definately second the Stravinsky and also Hindemith, Cage and Barber. Satie is also good but I would say his piano music is far superior to his orchestras works. His music also seems to be very easy to listen to as well as play. Great recommendations though.

Try Bartok's string quartets, and if you like them, then try Beethoven's also.