I have the Murray Perahia recording of the Op. 10 and Op. 25 Preludes.  It's good but not mind-blowing.

For both Debussy and Ravel, I don't think there's a pianist currently active who can touch Jean-Efflam Bavouzet.  He's done the complete solo piano works of both composers, Debussy for Chandos and Ravel for MDG.

One of my favorite string quartet recordings of recent years is the Quatuor Ebene album with the Debussy, the Ravel, and the Faure.

If you ask ten people to name their favorite complete set of the Beethoven sonatas, you'll probably get at least ten answers.  I'm a Paul Lewis guy.  My favorite recording of any Beethoven work for piano is the Rubinstein/Boston Symphony recording of the "Emperor Concerto" from the mid-60s.  I recently got a mint vinyl copy (not a first pressing, a reissue from the early 1970s, but still sounds great) for $1.99.  Buying used classical records at stores that cater to punkers is just unfair.

Complete Rubenstein collection is really definitive for Chopin's piano works and will take a long time to digest.  Ashkenazy is also one of the better performers of the Beethoven Sonatas, so you've definitely made a good start in some major players.


For Debussy, I'm personally a Michelangeli fan.  JEB is good as are many others - I'd just steer clear of Arrau, he slows everything down way too much.  I have this Debussy set and it has a very good cross section of pieces/performers, though it misses a couple. 


For Ravel, I always liked Gieseking for playing it more dynamically than many others.  The Decca set is also nice.  I'd also check out this recording of Martha Argerich.   


Never been too much of a Satie fan so I'm not too familiar with different editions.  He's famous for his gymnopedies so I'd check out those I guess.


The Tcherepnin I posted was missing his Bagatelles and Etudes which are some of my favorite works.  I've got those too, they're available on Amazon but its not like there are many versions to choose from.


This is all off the top of my head while I'm crunched for time, but there's a lot more out there.  If you don't want to spend much, amazon has these periodic online download deals with box sets of composers for like $1.99.  Absolutely ridiculous. 


I'd also say that if you're starting out, not to worry too much about who is playing as really differentiating that well comes with time - the more important thing is to find the styles of classical music you like (just like any genre, you'll probably be uninterested in the bulk of it and only truly captured by certain styles), the composers you prefer within those styles, (baroque, romantic, impressionist, minimalist, etc) the works you prefer by those composers, and only then the versions you prefer of those compositions. 

Thanks for the input, I find that classical music does require more digesting than any other music I listen to.  I will work my way through your suggestions.  So far I have been going to the record store and just grabbing things that look interesting.

You are right about the different versions.  There is no point in getting caught up worrying about it.  At this point I am trying to get exposure to music that goes beyond the "standards" that they play on the local classical radio station.  Even in the last year I find that my tastes have changed quite a bit.  I am going to go to some concert's this year as well.  It will be nice to experience a live orchestra for the first time.

Do you guys have any experience with Nikolai Kapustin?  My girlfriend is kind of obsessed with some of his compositions, but I am not sure what to think at the moment.  It is so hard to describe, kind of like classical jazz fusion?  Maybe it is to modern for me.

Are you fuckign kidding me.  I've been obsessed with Kapustin for the past 7 years.  The guy is a genius, and he's still alive.

His earlier stuff is just like that, jazz idiomed music, most people would never peg it as classical.  his later stuff is not that out there though.  Some of his earlier sonatas maybe fit that, kind of Prokofiev like, for example his 3rd, 4th, and 5th Sonatas.

His music is becoming hugely popular with pianists now because it's techinically demanding but has so much jazz influence in it too that it is sure to be a hit with crossover audiences, some of his pieces are now popping up on the competition circuit quite often now, but it's mostly his early/mid stuff like his Concert Etudes, his Variations you can find all over youtube with Yuja Wang playing it.  his writing is also extremely pianistic, as difficult as it is it also fits very well under the hand, his fingerings are very intuitive for technically proficient pianists.  Marc Andre Hamelin only has 1 dedicated disc out unfortunately, and plays the 2nd Sonata on his "IN a State of Jazz" album (this is a great jazz-influenced jazz album, Weissenberg's sonata is an amazing piece).

He has a saxophone concerto, I've only heard one recording of it, it's a great piece, the album also pairs it with another great sax concerto by Eshpai:





Stapsy I suggest the above because it is not modern, it only gets to about the level of French impressionism, the rest is all big band and 70s funk sound mixed in.  Very accessible.  Plus it shows off his great compositional and orchestration ability.

Yay, a classical thread!

Well, I think I'll suggest a few things here and there that might be good for a person building a classical collection. Also, maybe it'll stimulate discussion and sharing.

I'll start with a set of Beethoven's 9 Symphonies--everybody who can hear sounds should have that, pretty much.

One of my very favorite Beethoven symphony cycles is also one of the cheapest, George Szell conducting a surprising very, very good Cleveland Symphony: http://www.amazon.com/George-Szell-Conducts-Beethoven-Symphoni/dp/B00EC0VVRA/ref=lh_ni_t?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A1ETYDD1CAMS1V



IT'S 15$ BUY IT RIGHT NOW.