New to piano music

[yie]

Hi , I am new to this forum and Classical piano music.

I understand there are Baroque, Classical, Romantic, 20th Century and even 21st Century era piano music, each with their unique characteristic, which I am now struggling to understand and appreciate 

There are just too many albums I need to purchase ! Which era should I start?

I am lost. Any recommended piano albums or solo piano music composers to recommend?

Prefer no concerto,symphonies, in which the blend of different instruments confuse me even more  because I am trying to understand piano music.

[n00bhippy]

hey.
there really is almost an infinite vast sea of works for piano out there...i'll provide some suggestions that i think are good starting points

Bach - Well Tempered Clavier
Mozart - Piano Sonatas [there are a lot; personally i am not so much a fan of this era in classical music, but many people think it is amazing, and so i am sure someone else can provide you with more exact recommendations]
Beethoven - Piano Sonatas
Chopin - Nocturnes - Preludes - Various Etudes
The Piano Music of Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel
Charles Ives - Piano Sonatas
Shostakovich - Preludes & Fugues
Ginastara - Piano Sonatas - Danza De Argentinas
Gyorgy Ligeti - Piano Etudes

I hope you may enjoy some of these suggestions

[jgallag]

I would look for the variety collections. My fav is the #1 Piano Album (That's actually what it's called). This way, you can be exposed to many different composers and then you can follow your tastes from there. All of the recordings on this particular set are high quality (Kissin, Argerich, Richter, Horowitz...) and it will take you from the classical era through modern. It's got famous works such as Chopin's Heroic Polonaise, Mozart's Sonata in C, Liszt's Liebestaum, Mendelssohn's Rondo Capriccioso, Balakirev's Islamey, Ravel's Tocatta, Debussy's La Fille Aux Cheveux du Lin, and much more. Overall a fantastic set, IMO.

[rc]

You could also cruise around youtube to explore to your hearts content.

My whole journey began with buying a CD of Beethoven sonatas out of curiousity one day.  That was 6 years ago.  Now I've got a shelf full of classical CD's and I practice as often as I can.

Enjoy the music!  There's a reason it's lasted so long, it's great stuff!

[dr. j]

You might want to check out the music of what this forum has found to be the most popular classical piano composers:
Bach - Beethoven - Brahms - Chopin - Debussy - Grieg - Haydn - Mendelssohn
Mozart - Liszt - Rachmaninoff - Ravel - Schubert - Schumann - Scriabin - Tchaikowsky

Dr. J - The More You Play the Better Your Day