hello all

[A1_DAN]

Hi, seeing as I am spending more and more time on this forum I just want to say hello and also a big thank you to everyone who contributes here.
Always been into music but its taken a while for classical music to click with me but its got its hooks in now.
Chopin nocturnes & Goldberg variations were my gateway. There is just so much I want to listen but just not enough time. Its not a bad compliant 

[Ken B]

Hi, seeing as I am spending more and more time on this forum I just want to say hello and also a big thank you to everyone who contributes here.
Always been into music but its taken a while for classical music to click with me but its got its hooks in now.
Chopin nocturnes & Goldberg variations were my gateway. There is just so much I want to listen but just not enough time. Its not a bad compliant 

Welcome and Erin go bragh.

[A1_DAN]

Also a question someone here may be able to guide me in the right direction. I've pretty much listened to nothing else all week but Otto Klemperer's 'Wagner Orchestral Highlights'. I love it and would love to hear more. Was Wagner a one off or were there other composers from that time writing orchestral music of a similar standard. Thanks
[asin]http://www.amazon.com/Orchestral-Highlights-Richard-Wagner/dp/B006LL034A/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1393799469&sr=8-2&keywords=klemperer+wagner[/asin]

[bhodges]

Hi A1_DAN, and you are absolutely right: too much music and not enough time. And Bach and Chopin - can't ask for better starters than those. Enjoy the ride - you have a great one ahead of you.

--Bruce

[Ken B]

Also a question someone here may be able to guide me in the right direction. I've pretty much listened to nothing else all week but Otto Klemperer's 'Wagner Orchestral Highlights'. I love it and would love to hear more. Was Wagner a one off or were there other composers from that time writing orchestral music of a similar standard. Thanks
[asin]http://www.amazon.com/Orchestral-Highlights-Richard-Wagner/dp/B006LL034A/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1393799469&sr=8-2&keywords=klemperer+wagner[/asin]

Well, Wagner was one of a kind, but ...
Some names in a somewhat Wagnerian vein

Bruckner
Richard Strauss
Sibelius
Franz Liszt
Rachmaninov

For others of that time
Brahms
Dvorak
Tchaikovsky
Bruch

That's just orchestral.

You picked a good time to get interested, since so much stuff is available so cheap these days.
If you like some more as you hear it, think about one the big boxes specials from the various labels. Lots on this site or just ask. Don't pay a lot! The best stuff is cheap these days.

[knight66]

Welcome Dan. There was never another quite like Wagner, but you could try the Richard Strauss orchestral pieces. The spans of music will be longer than the orchestral extracts of Wagner's operas, but the sound world is similar in scale.

The Strauss: Alpine Symphony, Also Sprach Zarathustra, Death and transfiguration....amongst others.

Mike 

[Que]

Welcome!

A contemporary of Wagner writing orchestral music?

Johannes Brahms,  I would think..

Q

[amw]

You could also try some of Wagner's operas—they're basically the same thing, except with more singing, and dragons. DVD is the best way probably, since you can pause it to go to the bathroom and eat reheated pizza while you watch, neither of which is an option in the National Concert Hall.

[mc ukrneal]

Welcome! Some good recommendations on the Wagner front. You may like the music of Verdi's opera, Otello, as something that incorporates some of Wagner's style in his own to create some wonderful Verdi (but with clear influence from Wagner).