Reddit reviews Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 5 & 7

Keep in mind that the term "classical" is very vague. If you ask someone to recommend a good "rock" album, you could get styles ranging from ACDC to Britney Spears, from Beatles to Lynard Skynard. Same thing when you use a broad term like "classical" - you'll range from Gregorian chants to atonal avant-garde. Don't give up on classical music just because you didn't like the first few things you heard - there's a huge range of styles and composers.

Here's a starter list where I've tried to give you an idea of several styles and eras, staying in the realm of "popular" classical music - nothing here is too obscure or fringe. You can get some quick samples from the Amazon links, or try searching Grooveshark for the full pieces.

• Barber: Adagio For Strings Op.11 - Slow yet intense string piece.
  
  
• Dvorak: New World Symphony - Good symphony with a wide range, from slow moving parts to more bombastic parts. (this piece is sometimes referred to as the "Star Wars" symphony, it has a similar tone at certain parts)
  
  
• Rachmaninov: Vespers - One of my personal favorites. Choral music - intense, haunting at times, interesting harmonies founded on that trademark Russian low bass.
  
  
• Mozart: Le Nozze di Figaro A very accessible opera, and one of Mozart's most famous, perfect for a beginning opera listener.
  
  
• Beethoven - Symphonies 5 and 9. Easily two of Beethoven's most famous symphonies. Beyond the parts you hear in movies and commercials, very moving and complex pieces. The 9th has massive depth, particularly the 4th movement. I literally have over a dozen recordings of this piece alone, and hear something new every time I listen to it.
  
  
• Vivaldi: Four Seasons. You'll recognize this in quite a few places. Try the Winter suite, especially the third movement.
  
  
• Bach: Brandenburg Concertos. A good example of Bach's counterpoint style in Baroque string music.
  
  
• Rachmaninov: Piano Concerto #2. Intense and melodic, this piece transitions from sweeping melodic lines building to full frenzy - almost chaotic at times.
  
  
• Beethoven: Piano Concerto #5 - Emporer. You could call this a "fancy" piece - several running lines across the piano, including heavy ornamentation and embellishments, particularly in the 1st and 3rd movements. The 2nd movement is more reserved, and it's tranquility bridges the more lively movements.
  
  
• Stravinsky: Rite of Spring. Fascinating, driving intensity - asymmetrical rhythms make this very interesting, unconventional.
  
  
• If you're feeling adventurous and want to delve into a longer piece of a different style, Handel's Messiah or Mendelssohn's Elijah are two great oratorios.

I read your comment and thought: "there are lots of commercially unknown orchestras with great recordings....". Then I went to the amazon page for the Beethoven collection pictured: http://amzn.com/B00012QMDG

Listen to the opening of Beet 5. Yuck. I'm not trying to be an elitist or anything. It just really really sucks even compared to other cheap CDs. Shit, you can get the entire 1963 Karajan Beethoven cycle used for about $15 on amazon: http://amzn.com/B000001GBQ

If you like classical music as background music while you work or whatever, fine. But if you want to hear it the way it's meant to be heard, you can do much better for the same amount of money.

EDIT:
I'll be constructive and recommend a few cheap and great recordings (buying used off amazon, nothing more than $5). Others might be able to do better....

Mozart Symphonies 40, 41

Mozart Symphonies 32, 35, 39

Beethoven 5, 7

Bach cello suites

Bach Brandenburg 1-3

https://www.amazon.com/Beethoven-Symphonies-Nos-5-7/dp/B000001GPX

This is awesome

I did this very same thing, my friend. Here's what I did:

• Listened to this album (a lot)
  
• Read the book The Rest Is Noise by Alex Ross, and listened to a bunch of the recommended recordings, and followed his blog
  
• Listened to lots of EMI's "Great Recordings of the Century" series
  
• Read lots of stuff online about composers I liked, including Wikipedia and this website and this one too. I also started to learn about the different forms/genres within classical music, and the different time periods as well
  
• But mostly, just listened to lots and lots of classical music. The more times you hear the same piece, the more you will feel you understand it and the better it becomes - and there is no upper limit to this. Explore!
  
  I still love rock and metal for the record, they are not mutually exclusive :P