Top 10 Essential Classical Music CDs
1 Beethoven: Symphony No. 5 -- Carlos Kleiber
The most famous piece of classical music ever written.
Beethoven's Fifth is perhaps the most famous piece of classical music ever written, and deservedly so. The famous opening four note motif serves as the thematic material for the whole first movement, and it reappears in the third and fourth movements to make the symphony into a unified whole rather than a collection of four individual movements. This unity is apparent in other respects as well: the stormy opening movement is in a dark minor key, and the mood gradually shifts through the middle two movements and culminates in a glorious brass fanfare that opens the finale. Carlos Kleiber's recording with the Vienna Philharmonic still stands as one of the all-time greats.
and some more...
2 Mozart: Piano Concertos 20, 21 -- Vladimir Ashkenazy
Symphonic brilliance and pianistic virtuosity.
3 Beethoven: "Pathétique" and "Moonlight" Piano Sonatas -- Alfred Brendel
Beethoven's more intimate medium of expression.
4 Bach: Brandenburg Concertos -- Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment
Baroque bravura.
5 Brahms: Piano Trio No. 1 -- Eroica Trio
A chamber masterpiece 25 years in the making.
6 Stravinsky: Rite of Spring -- Igor Stravinsky
A scandalous ballet.
7 Schubert: "Death and the Maiden" String Quartet -- Amadeus String Quartet
A dying man's outpouring of grief.
8 Tchaikovsky: "Pathétique" Symphony -- Mariss Jansons
So tragic it must have been written by a Russian.
9 Haydn: Lord Nelson Mass -- David Willcocks
A joyous celebration of life.
10 Bizet: Carmen -- Victoria de los Angeles, Sir Thomas Beecham
The world's most popular opera.
If you are new to western classical music give yourself some time with these CD's. Of course not to mention to really enjoy this music you also need a good system.