Classical Music / recordings

[admin_exported]

I'm venturing into Classical music seriusly for the first time.
Can anyone recomend a the best recordings I should buy?
My interests are from Bach to Beethoven with Prokoviev thrown in.

 

[Crossie]

Bach - Goldberg Variations - Glen Gould piano

Sheer genius.

 

[Andrew Everard]

The Gramophone Archive contains all the magazine's reviews, and is fully searchable. It also has useful features, such as this one on Prokofiev...

 

[John Duncan]

...and will be even better when we get the Classical Music Guide (aka Good CD Guide) on there...

 

[Andrew Everard]

... not to mention getting the Gramo forums up and running again, so people can ask questions such as the OP's of those more focused on the comparison of various recordings.

 

[John Duncan]

This week, all being well...

 

[Andrew Everard]

 

[matthewpiano]

The EMI Great Recordings of the Century series is a great way of picking up some excellent recordings, as is DG's 'Originals' series. I've got some absolute gems from the EMI series and the sound on most of them is superb.

Also worth a look is the Naxos Music Library online. You can subscribe and it gives you the ability to listen to anything in their catalogue before you buy.

Haymarket have also just published a guide to the great composers with recommended recordings in it. I saw it in WH Smith yesterday and I would say it is ideal for someone starting to explore the repertoire. It has been very well done as you would expect from the publishers of Gramophone.

Finally, get to know Radio 3. It remains a superb radio station.