Try listening to classical stations on the radio. If you can find a public station that plays classical music you can expose yourself to less mainstream stuff.
I’ll toss in my 2¢ worth and recommend Edvard Grieg’s Holberg Suite – a romantic interpretation of Baroque musical forms. Grieg wrote it for piano, but the version for string orchestra is more widely known – and stunningly beautiful, IMO.
Im posting this without reading what people have suggested prior, so please forgive me if i repeat someones suggestion
You like Beethoven,
Get his 9 symphonies played by The Cleveland Orchestra conducted by George Szell, they put re released this boxed set a couple of years ago so it should be easy to find. Another great recording is Bernard Haitink with the London Symphony Orchestra, just released this past year. This series is live and filled with a beautiful energy, from a conductor who wasen’t exactly noted for his conducting of the classical era rep.
also get as many of his piano sonatas as you feel you can listen to, all are very enjoyable and interesting.
Mozart get Symphonies 35-40, as well as The Magic Flute and Don Giovanni, Two staples of the opera rep to get you dipping in to that genre.
Next go to Brahms. Get the four symphonies, I will recommend Cleveland/Szell again for this, or Philly Orchestra with Eugene Ormandy. Also look for his Haydn Variations
Tchaikovsky, Symphonies 4,5,6 Look for recordings by ANY Russian orchestra, or anything conducted by Miravinsky.
then jump to
Mahler - Symphonies 1 and 4. Mahler is not casual listening. If you can commit to listening to these works then move on to the rest of his symphonies. Its awful background music but very rewarding if you commit and listen to the entire work. I like Haitink or Chially conducting here.
Bartok - Concerto for orchestra and Music for Strings Percussion and Celeste, Great pieces, Look for Chicago and Reiner for the concerto and Chicago with Boulez for SPC
Stravinsky - The Rite of Spring, The Firebird, Petrushka. All great you will enjoy these very much look for Cleveland with Boulez, Chicago with Boulez and Concertgebouw with Chially.
This is just a small small sample of the accessible stuff, which is easy to locate and will give you a broader knowledge of classical music, dig beyond this if you get into it
In terms of more Opera, and you don’t like Puccini…(I do not believe that)
Try Puccini one more time with La Boheme. any recording will do
Get into The barber of Seville by Rossini, its very accessible and fun.
Verdi opera is very huge, Id look to Aida for starters.
and also Try Wozzeck by Alban Berg, Quasi serialism, very dissonant and Extremely effective writing to go with the original play.
with Opera look to DVD or live shows. recordings are a great refrence, or if you just want to hear selece chorus’s or arias. but with recording only, you just get half the equation. It never really does the work full justice.
(sorry if this is really really scattered, im on a new lap top and still getting used to the keyboard 
)
Not to be ignored is Youtube. Lots of stuff there by young, aspiring professionals and historic performers. Check out the Bach cello suites performed by Rostropovich, or #1 performed by Casals.
You like the Brandenburgs? You’ll probably like the violin concerti - BWV 1041, 1042 in E major (quite enjoyable), 1043 and a few others. Also possibly the orchestral suites - #2 in B minor is popular.
Opera? Bach didn’t write any, but he did write vocal music. Cantata BWV 147 contains “Jesu Joy of Man’s Desiring”. Magnificat in D major, St. Matthew Passion (long, challenging), Mass in B minor (not as long but still challenging). Much more.
Mozart? Try his “Exsultate, jubilate” for soprano and orchestra. Last section is his famous “Alleluia”.
Don’t like Schubert? I don’t care for his orchestral music, myself - too repetitious. Try some of his songs: Der Erlkoenig, Die Forelle (The Trout), Fischerweise (Fisherman’s Song). Or his piano music such as Impromptu in G-flat major, op.90 no.3.
Thanks all.
This has been very informative. And I have a tidy little shopping list including a couple of books that will hopefully help me link one thing I like to the next thing I should look for.
Any specific classic recordings that I should look out for (other than the handful that were mentioned?) or possibly specific conductors etc?
I’m doing the same thing basically. I started late because I’m tone deaf.
First, don’t try to exhaust a composer. I love Beethoven, and I’m trying to build a complete catalog, but stuff by new composers is more interesting than that last string quartet. Listening to all of Mozart could be a lifetime occupation.
My first advice was from my father-in-law, who is a composer and was a music teacher. He worked from the stuff I liked, but it didn’t always take. Then I got a book that was an introduction to classical music. The second half has a whole bunch of pieces arranged in various groups. What I’ve been using is the index of compositions, as a start of a list of pieces that are at least interesting. I’m going to the library and getting about eight CDs a week with some of these, and playing it in my car. The stuff I like goes onto my computer and MP3 player. The stuff I really like I’ll probably buy on CD.
As for conductors and orchestras, I’m at the level where I can tell the difference only for Beethoven symphonies. I like Bernstein on these quite a bit.
I found that there is some stuff I just don’t like (I listened to Appalachian Spring yesterday and was bored out of my gourd) and some I love (like Mendelsson - there is an extra h in there somewhere) and Hayden for some reason. Handel’s Royal Fireworks Music was cool also. So, get variety cheaply, from the library, and then decide what stuff you like.
Extra bonus - thinking “ah, that’s where that music comes from!”
Glen Gould’s Goldberg Variations (Bach) – the 1955 version.
HA, it is actually hearing a snippet of that recording being played on NPR the other day that got me thinking about wanting to learn more again.
It is on my to buy list.
Also, the library idea is a great one. I always forget that you can get music there too these days.
Just don’t buy anything by Joyce Hatto.
Absolutely! Ten years ago, a then-teacher of mine embarked on a project to listen to all of his CDs, in alphabetical order. When I left school a year later, I think he’d got as far as C.P.E. Bach. Saw him a few years ago, and he’d had to go back to the beginning to fill in the gaps of all the stuff he’d bought in the meantime. A year ago, he was back onto the Bachs again.
No, get the box set with both recordings, and then argue about the merits of each…
As far as recordings/conductors/performers/singers are concerned, a lot of it is personal preference, and it’s something you will need to find out for yourself. Some people like flamboyance, others a precision and sense of proportion. Some want historical recordings of classic performers, some prefer recordings done with the latest technology. Oh-so-very conveniently 
, the Glenn Gould set I suggested above is a good way to acquaint yourself with just how different two performances can be.
Comparing different recordings of the same piece by the same artist is a level of dedication I personally can’t muster. YMMV, of course.
That’s where those recordings are the exception. When one lasts twenty minutes more than the other, it’s hard to miss.
And now, for something entirely different, listen to Arvo Part. He is better known for his choral work (which is fantastic) but he also has a lot of orchestral work that is worth listening. Classical doesn’t have to mean dead people.
And now, for something entirely different (really different), listen to Tan Dun. An acquired taste, to be sure. Worth the listen, though. He is better known for his wire-fu musical scores (Crouchin Tiger, Hero) but he has a many other works, both classical-classical (ETA: even if very contemporary) and Asian-flavoured.
And for the up and coming (I told you this is not about dead people), listen to Jay Greenberg. He is not yet 20 and is already being compared to Mozart, whom you like.
Liking people who are still around means that you can always look forward to new pieces.
I’m with GMan. I’ve had the box set for a couple of years now and the comparison is fascinating. Of course, I’ve owned a copy of the 1955 version for at least 20 years and I know it like the back of my hand, but I’d never really listened to the 1981 recording until I bought the box set. I really appreciated hearing Gould take a fresh look at the material, one that’s more stately and introspective than the rapid-fire approach taken in 1955.
An interesting point (although it does help to have an appreciation of music history to understand the context of new works). I don’t really follow a lot of contemporary classical music outside of film composers like Michael Nyman, Howard Shore, etc., but I did want to mention some contemporary pieces I love:
Affairs of the Heart / Postcards From The Sky / The Passion Of Angels by Marjan Mozetich. They’re stunningly gorgeous works of neo-romaticism that may even be considered a little sappy by some modern standards (but not by me).
Edit: links contain sound. Do not access from work.
Some essentials:
Grieg - Piano concerto, Peer Gynt suite.
Sibelius - Violin concerto. Incredible or meh, depending on recording. I recommend Oistrakh (http://youtube.com/watch?v=3SvAf-QbuvQ), or Midori.
Tchaikovsky - 4th and 6th symphonies
Schubert - Death and the Maiden (http://youtube.com/watch?v=2Yy9szBIKCw).
Mahler - Symphonies 5 and 6, Kindertotenlieder with male vocalist (http://youtube.com/watch?v=Z8TzIxOvuZ4&mode=related&search=, or Thomas Hampson if you opt for a CD).
Rachmaninoff - Slavonic Dances, 2nd piano concerto (get the Cliburn recording of this + Tchaikovsky’s first)
Chopin - 1st piano concerto, nocturnes performed by Vasary or Rubinstein
:::Shudder::: One of my favs. A bitch to play though. :eek:
I’ve developed an interest in classical music over the last few months and now have a rapidly expanding collection and a surround sound system to listen to it.
I went about discovering the things I might like by picking up CD’s, including samplers, from charity shops and then using things like the rough guide book or a monthly magazine to check out what are considered the definitive recordings.
When I buy I’m generally looking for a good orchestra/conductor combo.
I also have to give a big shout out to the Royal Philharmonic series of budget priced 5.1 surround sound series.
I’d shy away from mentioning that around any hardcore audiophiles. They tend to pooh-pooh anything that purports to “enhance” on the binaural experience. Just a suggestion, not a criticism.
Every CD store on the planet probably has cheap series of classical music. I got into iClassic’s For Your Life series, and expanded my collection from the songs I really like.
Check out used CDS too.