I'm working my way through Shostakovich's string quartets. Up to #4 now. They've all been good, and I particularly thought three was great. I've only listened to each once so far, however.

The other day I heard Chopin's 1st Piano concerto on the radio and it was excellent.

Gustav Mahler wrote some damn fine symphonies.

I need to spend some more time with the one I have. The one good thing to come out of Bruce's travesty of a thread is that Dreww's youtube links for some of Bach's keyboard concerto has kicked off a Bach obsession.

Holy crap, The Rite of Spring is amazing. First time in a while that I've heard something that, like, floored me on the very first listen. So much of my (far too short) journey into classical music seems to be me poking around at different styles and composers, feeling out what they're like and what they're trying to do, and enjoying a good deal of it, but not really loving a whole lot of it. I'd be hard pressed to point to any classical works that rank near my very upper echelon of Great Music. I imagine a lot of stuff will grow on me as I come to know the forms and idioms of classical music better and as I discover more things, but it's nice to have something like The Rite of Spring immediately jump out at me. I've listened to it about five times in 24 hours and I just can't get enough.

Previn's recording of The Planets. Jupiter brings tears to my eyes.

i've posted videos of this young genius in the jazz forum already... then, i thought, why not here...

I often listen to Exploring Music with Bill McGlaughlin on my way home from work (it's on from 7-8 in Dallas but is syndicated all over) and it is one of the coolest shows on the air and a great way to get exposure to classical music. He does a great job discussing the music and its context without being obtrusive.

I must have missed this before. It's unusual music and kept my interest. I can't say I'm a huge fan, at least on first listen. Tangentially, his technique is underdeveloped. The way he plays the instrument leads me to believe he learned to play on his own. I wonder if that partially explains the individuality of his compositional voice.

I heard a kind of classical "mash-up" the other day on NPR where an intense piano section slowly dissolved into a heart wrenching string rendition of Greensleeves. It gave me chills. I just wish I could remember who the artist was.

I'm working my way through the Well Tempered Clavier Book II performed by Glenn Gould. Excellent stuff.

of course... likewise, if you judge paco de lucia by classical guitar standards, he is also heavily flawed...
and yes, he is mostly self-taught (though i know he did have some schooling, too) but plays within the jazz idiom. the main i reason i posted that here was to spread the word. if that intrigued you, check out his other stuff (and think more "jazz/fusion")...

e.g.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xeKzrN-rJT8