[Poddy]

Im just starting to get into classical and would like some recommendations as to what pieces and recordings in particular i should be looking at.
Recommendations in the order of stereotypical classical pieces as well as some more atmospherical perhaps some would say dark or black pieces would also be much appreciated.
Cheers

 

[myke]

Barber's Adagio for strings. The adagietto movement (is it the 4th or 5th movement) form Mahler's 5th Symphony. Rachmaninov's Isle of the dead. Charles Ives' The Unanswered Question. Schoenberg's Veklarte Nacht. Bet there are few others which I can't think of right now.

BTW, those are all dark pieces- on a lighter note:
Benjamin Britten- A Young's Person Guide to Orchestra
" " - Simple Symphony
Brahms- Variation on the theme of Joseph Haydn

 

[Masonjar]

some basics:

Light stuff:

Dvorak - Symphony #9 - my favorites are conducted by Raphael Kubelik and Fritz Reiner.

Tchaikovsky - Symphony #4 - Lorin Maazel & the Cleveland Orchestra

Richard Strauss - Till Eulenspiegels Merry Pranks - there are lots of decent versions of this one..

Bartok - Concerto For Orchestra - I'd suggest a performance by Pierre Boulez

Stravinksy - The Rite of Spring - Antal Dorati and the Detroit Symphony, or Michael Tilson Thomas and the London Symphony

Darker stuff:

Mahler's 6th - lots of good ones out there, I'd suggest Christoph von Dohnanyi's version with the Cleveland Orchestra

Bruckner's 8th - there are many good ones out there, you might want to try Tintner's version on Naxos..

Richard Strauss - Death and Transfiguration - many good versions of this one too.. Andre Previn has always been good with R. Strauss in my book, or else try Herbert von Karajan.. one of the truly great conductors of the 20th century, you can seldom go wrong with him..

-Mason or Jar or Masonjar