chrisjackson
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Depending on what appealed, maybe even Lalo's Symphonie Espagnole.
Of course, then there's this little monster: http://www.amazon.com/Living-Stereo-60-Collection-Box/dp/B003UCPEJ2/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1301609635&sr=1-1
An extremely good value.
- Ed
Stravinsky Firebird Suite and Rite of Spring
Mussorgsky Pictures at an Exhibition and Night on Bald Mountain
Tchaikovsky Marche Slav and Symphony no 6 Pathetique
Borodin On the Steppes of Central Asia
Anything in that Living Stereo series with Reiner and Munch is a safe bet for a great performance. It doesn't have to be an XRCD or SACD. The regular CDs sound just as good. If you can invest $150, get that 60 CD Living Stereo box set linked above. It's one of the best introductions to classical music that you'll ever find.
Deutsche Grammophon also put together an anniversary box of 111 years (55 CDs) of recording, much from an era when big labels of this sort basically wrote the canon (simply by what they recorded). All good stuff, I look forward to comparing it to the Living Stereo 60 CDs.
Since the OP was taken by Scheherezade, I would second the suggestion of Richard Strauss symphonic poems. I'm a pretty big fan of Strauss (who, married to a singer, wrote some of the best music ever, I think, for female vocals), but as entry-points to classical music I would not mention Romantic music first, which can become "too much" after a while, but the kind of "classical" classical music that to me remains beyond reproach no matter how grumpy I get about interpretations: Haendel, Bach, Mozart. On palate-cleansing days, just some piano (or solo cello). On exuberant days, full orchestra. And nothing fits a truly sad mood like Mozart's Requiem as transcribed for string quartet...
Deutsche Grammophon also put together an anniversary box of 111 years (55 CDs) of recording, much from an era when big labels of this sort basically wrote the canon (simply by what they recorded). All good stuff, I look forward to comparing it to the Living Stereo 60 CDs.
I recently acquired this CD and really enjoyed it; went through it in one 45 minute sitting.
I'd like to find some more pieces with this kind of style but I'm not sure what era or category this particular piece falls under. Anyone know? Have any recommendations? Or any general advice starting out with classical?