It is kind of a hard genre to get into i feel like. But i find that I really like quite a bit of Bach’s work. The next two obvious composers to try are Beethoven and Mozart, but for the most part i find their work kind of grandiose and insincere; which seems to be a problem with a lot of the classic music i’m listening to; so i’m looking for i’m looking for recommendations where the composer isn’t trying to be so “forceful” might be a good word to describe it.
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One option is to find a Public Radio live stream that has a good classical music segment. I started listening to NPR classical music to have playing while studying. Thirty years on I still do this. I like WVTF (out of Virginia Tech) and WETA (in Washington,DC) both to which I am a contributor. You can listen through a web browser or through your favorite player with these links:
http://stream.weta.org:8000/listen.pls
Drop one of the playlists from the following link in Clementine for WVTF
Then make notes on what you like. I have also found that if you email the stations, they are usually interested in making recommendations.
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A lot of times I am in group therapy and they play new age “relaxation” music that infuriates me.
I much prefer Classical where I can watch the orchestra.
Bach is Baroque, Mozart and Beethoven are Classical (and into Romantic).
Keeping with the Baroque theme, Vivaldi, Handel, Scarlatti, Cavalli, and Schutz are some of the more popular ones.
My personal choices are Tchaikovsky, Mussorgsky, Rachmaninoff, Mahler, Dvorak, and Strauss, but they are all mid- to late-Romantic period composers, so they might not be up your alley.
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Chopin - Spring Waltz
Moonlight Sonnata because it is amazing:
Gustav Holst is a must:
Dvořák Symphony No 9
Would recommend George Winston - December (Piano only)
When it comes to Baroque, I find that Telemann tends to be rather under appreciated. This is one of my “Desert Island” selections:
As someone that is new to classical music, you can’t go wrong with Beethoven.
There are a couple classical radio station over here in the UK. It might be worth finding out if you can get the internet version where you are. It may help with discovery, the more exposure you have the better feel for what you like and don’t will develope.
- BBC Radio 3 (can be a little stuffy, it takes itself very seriously) https://www.bbc.co.uk/radio3
- Classic FM (more approachable and might be a better place to start) http://www.classicfm.com/
I think its less that i like Baroque in particular and more that I dislike some Mozart and Beethoven.
I’m listening to the Tchaikovsky Symphony no 6 linked above and am quite enjoying it. I was also listening to Schubert’s 9th symphony earlier which i quite liked as well.
Here is another classical radio sation, https://www.classicalmpr.org but for individual songs, I really like Symphony No. 3 by Camille Saint-Saëns, also known as Organ Symphony. Also I really like Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, and the Queen of the Night Aria
I like to listen to WQXR when I can’t find anything interesting in youtube and I’m trying to focus on something (classical music helps). Try their different live streams and see which one you like best:
For a more entertaining take on the subject (and some history tidbits), check James Rhodes Radio on Spotify. He does swear a bit from time to time, but his insights are priceless:
Cheers! 
I listened to some Rimsky-Korsakov yesterday and though it was pretty good. A little less Russian than other Russian composers.
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My wife got me into Chopin. It’s my favorite.
Erik Satie covers it pretty well.
This might sound as a weird recommendation, but, if you happen to own Burnout Paradise, there’s a whole selection of great classic pieces, you could listen to that, take note of what you like and start from there.
The other thing I could add: Try listening to the whole thing. Listening classical like it’s a track from an album sometimes gets the hype out of it. As an example Vivaldi’s 4 seasons has some repeating melodies and themes that ramp up progressively until they blow up. More or less like a baroque version of a dubstep drop.
You might find it more accessible to work your way backwards.
For instance, Vivaldi’s Four Seasons is kind of dull to jump into without any context. It’s Baroque, so it’s very old and it’s sort of a trite example of “Classical Music”.
So I recommend starting with Vivaldi’s Four Seasons Recomposed by Max Richter. Max Richter is a highly regarded contemporary composer, so he is able to re-contextualize the classic piece and expand upon it in a way that’s interesting for a modern audience. It’s not pop music, but I think it might be more engaging for you. Afterwards, you might find new appreciation for the original pieces that it’s based on.
My personal favorite contemporary composer is Arvo Pärt.
From there, you can work your way back through the 20th century: Phillip Glass, Steve Reich, John Cage (mid 20th Century)
Then to Samuel Barber, Aaron Copland, Igor Stravinsky (early 20th Century)
By then you’ll have gotten to the Romantic period where you can catch up with Beethoven, Liszt and others that are generally associated with “Classical Music”.
You’ll end up at Bach and Vivaldi, and you’ll have come full circle going backwards, which is kind of a musical way of going about discovering music.
Hope that’s helpful. Enjoy!
You might like Brahms as well. Don’t forget the more modern composers like Grieg, Ravel and the jazz influenced Gershwin.
For something “classicalish” you might like Zoe Keating and Ludovico Einaudi. She’s a cellist who plays her own compositions and he’s an Italian composer that also does movie scores. Interesting stuff.
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He is fantastic