[Makiah S]

I second the Amazon Suggestions, I've got a few great Amazon Imports for super cheap.  

 

[maggior]

Do you know specifically what you are after?  If not, the library is a great resource, especially if your county has a larger system where you can browse the entire library system's collection and borrow from any library in that system.
 
Another great resource which can help is a music on demand subscription such as Rhapsody or Spotify.  Both have decent classical collections.  If you have a smart phone, an ipod touch, or an android based music player, you can use the Rhapsody or Spotify app to download the music to your device and listen off line.
 
Used record shops are great too.

 

[slayerming2]

Quote:

Do you know specifically what you are after?  If not, the library is a great resource, especially if your county has a larger system where you can browse the entire library system's collection and borrow from any library in that system.
 
Another great resource which can help is a music on demand subscription such as Rhapsody or Spotify.  Both have decent classical collections.  If you have a smart phone, an ipod touch, or an android based music player, you can use the Rhapsody or Spotify app to download the music to your device and listen off line.
 
Used record shops are great too.

I'm mostly looking for all the big symphonies, violin concertos, piano concertos, sonatas for violin and piano and etc.

 

[Punnisher]

I don't own this but It's definitely a good deal when you compare price per album. A good box-set is hard to beat if you are looking to spend very little. I got the "111 years of deutsche grammophon" 55 cd box set years ago and I'm glad I did.
 
http://www.amazon.com/Greatest-Classical-Masterworks-Royal-Philharmonic/dp/B00447KI1G/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1376071703&sr=1-1&keywords=royal+philharmonic+masterworks
 
I may pick this one up eventually.

 

[slayerming2]

Quote:

I don't own this but It's definitely a good deal when you compare price per album:
 
http://www.amazon.com/Greatest-Classical-Masterworks-Royal-Philharmonic/dp/B00447KI1G/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1376071703&sr=1-1&keywords=royal+philharmonic+masterworks
 
I may pick this one up eventually.

Huh that's interesting you know what is in it?
 
I think probably the best value album ever made was probably this http://www.amazon.com/Heifetz-Supreme-Jascha/dp/B00003CWJU/ref=sr_1_7_title_0_main?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1376072621&sr=1-7&keywords=Heifetz+the  Brahms, Tchiakovsky, Scottisch Fantasy,Bach Chaconne, etc played by the master Heifetz and only for $8.00!!!!!!! Best bargain in the world!

 

[Punnisher]

I can't be sure but here is a listing of discs in that set:
 
http://www.systemrecords.co.uk/royal-philharmonic-orchestra-great-classical-masterworks-p-1052387.html

 

[bigshot]

That Royal Philharmonic box doesn't look good at all. No conductor's credit. Conductors are everything in classical music. This is probably just a repackaging of radio broadcasts with third tier conductors.

 

[Punnisher]

Not much info is available online. Perhaps there is more on the packaging.

 

[chrisjackson]

Quite possibly that's a box of these :
http://www.allegro-music.com/rpm.asp

 

[bigshot]

The Royal Philharmonic is a sessions band that does everything from backing up soft rock acts like Yani to playing with top rank conductors. They can be really good or really awful. If you see no conductor, or a no name conductor listed, you can be sure that it's the FTM* work.

(* For The Money)

 

[chrisjackson]

http://translate.google.co.uk/translate?hl=en&sl=ja&u=http://www.aria-cd.com/arianew/shopping.php%3Fpg%3Dlabel/royalphilbox&prev=/search%3Fq%3DMembran%2B233253%26sa%3DX%26nirf%3DMembrane%2B233253%26biw%3D1280%26bih%3D911

 

[bigshot]

Charles Mackerras is a good conductor. Barry Wordsworth is OK. I kind of like his Mozart symphonies on Naxos. I've got a few CDs of Yuri Simonov with the Moscow Philharmonic. They really aren't that good. Not good odds in this box.

 

[chrisjackson]

Maybe this judgement on a few of the conductors is better than your earlier judgement on the contents of this boxed set. Or maybe it isn't. At least following the link in post #24 will allow folks to listen to samples and perhaps try and judge for themselves whether they'd enjoy the set.

 

[slayerming2]

Quote:

That Royal Philharmonic box doesn't look good at all. No conductor's credit. Conductors are everything in classical music. This is probably just a repackaging of radio broadcasts with third tier conductors.

Good point, which is why I tend to stay with fairly smaller boxes, unless it's the complete edition of really great artists. 

 

[Punnisher]

If the OP is just beginning to explore classical then I would absolutely not throw composers into the mix. Yes composers have a lot to do with how the orchestra performs but I think that's too much to think about early on. I would rather start by exploring all time periods, composers and styles. Getting a couple bargain sets may help to discover some new things. Then, after the OP's preferences have been narrowed down he/she can focus on composers, recording quality etc.
 
Also I would recommend using Pandora or similar services to help discover some new material. I have bought dozens of albums based off of what I have heard on pandora in the past.
 
Just my opinion.