Jammy - what sort of 'classical' music would you like to delve into? If you like the big film scores (which there are many superb ones I admit) then much of what you're hearing has been 'pinched' (not always in a bad way) from large-scale orchestral works of yore.
Of course there are many compositions which could be included in a 'My first Classical collection' list, but I sometimes think that delving into certain
genres can be a good introduction. It's a bit like listening to mainly heavy rock music, for example, then after a while having a dabble with other stuff ie Prog, jazz, fusion etc etc. Call it a broadening of taste over time.
If you like large-scale film scores (Williams/Goldsmith etc) then you may like to have a listen to these:
Vaughan Williams- Symphonies No's 4 & 6. Good recordings are LSO/Hickox (Chandos) or LPO/Haitink (Decca).
Rachmaninov - *Isle of the Dead/Symphonic Dances. Concertgebouw/Ashkenazy (Decca)
Britten - *Sinfonia Da Requiem/Four Sea Interludes. LSO/Bedford (Naxos)
**Shostakovich Symphony No.11 LPO/Haitink (Decca)
*Very dark, real goosebump material. The Britten has some awesome moments, especially the opening of the Sinfonia. 4 Sea Interludes are very atmospheric, especially 'Morning'.
*Isle of the Dead was written after Rachmaninov saw Arnold Bocking's famous painting of Charon ferrying the dead across the River Styx to their final resting place. The 5 beat time signature mimics the rocking of the boat on the waves, and puts the listener in the position of riding in the boat. Wonderfully dark stuff that's always exciting to listen to. The Symphonic Dances is a superb pairing, being of similar scale but much more up-beat in mood.
**This can be hard work but stick with it - if you're familiar with the film 'Dune' you'll immediately realise where the film score got much of its material from when hearing the first movement of the symphony. It's a long symphony, perhaps best to listen to it one movement at a time (as I usually do if I'm honest). Movements 3&4 are segue though.
The Vaughan Williams Symphonies are absolute gems and only now, after all these years, is the world truly waking up to what a brilliant symphonic composer RVW was. Each of his symphonies has a different flavour, but 4 & 6 are probably most closely related in terms of style & scale. Jerry Goldsmith openly admits to pinching some of the 4th Symphony for his soundtrack to Star Trek II - he reckoned it was 'too good not to'.
All of the above can be found on Spotify (if you have an account) and I think all these recordings are on there, for a taster.
