 | Grieg / Schumann: Piano Concertos by Stephen Kovacevich
Buy used from: £4.95 Probably two of the most popular piano concertos - regularly performed in concerts too.
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 | Prokofiev: Alexander Nevsky/Lieutenant Kijé
Buy new: £5.98 / Used from: £5.00 Prokofiev was one of the most inventive composers. The Nevsky cantata is immediately attention grabbing and dramatic. The Kije suite contains some of the best known tunes of all time.
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 | Dvorák: Symphonies 7-9
Buy new: £7.78 / Used from: £38.11 Dvorak's most popular music and deservedly so. If you like these then you may also like Sibelius (Finlandia, En Saga & Symphonies)
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 | Rapsodie - French Music for Clarinet and Piano
Buy new: £4.89 / Used from: £13.62 Clarinet music at its best. Especially the Debussy Rhapsody and the Saint-Saens & Poulenc sonatas. If you like these, then also explore Clarinet Concertos (Weber, Mozart, Copland, Nielsen)
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 | Beethoven: Symphonies 7 & 8
Buy used from: £7.05 If you like these two, then buy all of the 9 symphonies as a box set. Beethoven 5th & 9th are the famous ones.
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 | Schubert: Trout Quintet/String Quartet No.14
Buy new: £7.48 / Used from: £4.29 Chamber music at its finest. You may also like to try Mozart's "Haydn" quartets, Beethoven's "Razumovsky" and Ravel's Quartet
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 | Beethoven: Favourite Piano Sonatas by Alfred Brendel
Buy new: £8.98 / Used from: £11.41 4 of Beethoven's most accessible piano sonatas. If you like these, also try solo piano music by Chopin, Schubert, Liszt, Schumann, Mozart, Debussy
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 | Best Of Arvo Part by Arvo Part
Buy new: £4.98 If you want to explore contemporary classical music, then try this. If you like it also try Philip Glass' violin concerto and soundtrack to "The Hours"
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 | Brahms: Complete Symphonies
Buy new: £52.98 / Used from: £33.74 The essence of Brahms is captured in these orchestral works. This CD covers a whole spectrum of his ideas and periods of his musical development
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![Marriage of Figaro (highlights) [IMPORT]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/4128BJPYRPL._SL75_.jpg) | Marriage of Figaro (highlights) [IMPORT]
Buy new: £7.79 / Used from: £2.20 If you're not sure of Opera, then try this first. If you like it then explore some more - check out the "Rough Guide to Opera" (book)
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 | Stravinsky: Le Sacre du Printemps / L'Oiseau de Feu by The Cleveland Orchestra
Buy new: £6.98 / Used from: £4.89 The Firebird is beautiful and very much of the Russian School (Rimsky Korsakov influence heavily heard). The Rite of Spring may be shocking at first but it's one of the most important works of 20th C.
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 | Mozart - Symphonies Nos 40 & 41 'Jupiter' by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Buy new: £4.89 / Used from: £2.74 Good introduction to Mozart's orchestral work. The composers' composer.
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 | Strauss - Four Last Songs 12 Orchestral Songs
Buy new: £6.48 / Used from: £5.25 Richard Strauss (unrelated to the waltz Strausses) was a 20th Century Romantic, broke as well as maintained a lot of rules (musically speaking). If you like this, try the tone poems and Horn concerti
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 | Tchaikovsky: Symphonic Poems; "Manfred" Symphony by Russian National Orchestra
Buy new: £17.59 / Used from: £8.97 Good introduction to a wide range of Tchaikovsky's music. You should also try the Ballet suites ASIN: B000001GX7 which contain some of the most popular Tchaikovsky works.
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 | Bach: Brandenburg Concertos 1-6
Buy new: £8.98 / Used from: £4.00 Good set as an introduction to Bach. If you like these, then try Bach's other concertos (keyboard and violin) and also solo keyboard works and choral works such as the Great Mass in Bminor.
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 | Mahler: Complete Symphonies Nos 1-9 / SOLTI /DECCA/10 CD BOX SET by Gustav Mahler
Buy new: £55.79 / Used from: £37.95 No Classical collection would be complete without Mahler's symphonies. Numbers 1 and 5 are the most accessible to start with. No.7 is my favourite at the moment.
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 | Haydn: The 12 London Symphonies by London Philharmonic Orchestra
Buy new: £26.98 / Used from: £14.50 These symphonies are probably the pinnacle of Haydn's work and he taught Beethoven and was admired by Mozart, so he must be good!
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 | Mozart: The Great Piano Concertos Vol. 1 by Mitsuko Uchida
Buy new: £5.78 / Used from: £7.44 If you like these then buy volume 2 (or Brendel or Barenboim sets are superb too). Mozart transformed the piano concerto form into what we know today and he set the benchmark for later composers.
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 | Rachmaninov: Piano Concertos Nos. 1-4 by Vladimir Ashkenazy
Buy new: £7.78 / Used from: £3.99 The archetypal romantic - I don't know anyone who doesn't like Rachmaninov's piano concertos (especially 2 and 3)
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 | Gershwin - Works for Piano and Orchestra, Etc
Buy new: £7.98 / Used from: £3.94 Gerswhin bridges the divide between Jazz and Classical music. Unashamedly optimistic music and thoroughly good fun.
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 | Wagner: Overtures and Orchestral Highlights
Buy new: £4.78 / Used from: £3.36 Wagner is a giant of the Romantic period and influenced so many after him (e.g. Gustav Mahler, Richard Strauss)
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 | Schubert Lieder by Elizabeth Watts
Buy new: £11.98 / Used from: £6.50 An absolute delight, I didn't appreciate lieder until I heard Elizabeth Watts. Schubert was a master song composer. Another top lieder interpreter is the famous Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau
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