Deryk Barker suggests for starting explorations into composers:

>Orchestral: A Faust Symphony.  Horenstein on Vox is as good as any (and
>better than all but Beecham and Horenstein IMHO) and cheap.

I would suggest to start with Les Preludes, or some of the more manageable
tone poems.  Masur on EMI is a reliable exponent.

>Keyboard: Piano Sonata in B minor.  Can anyone recommend a modern
>versoin?

While I too like a preponderance of older versions, there is a modern
(though not digital) Arrau on the Great Pianists, Zimerman on DG, the ever
mercurial Argerich on DG, as a starting place.  Also, look for the Mephisto
waltz: Earl Wild on Vanguard or Kapell, some of the Transcendental Etudes
and/or Hungarian Rhapsodies (Lazar Berman or Gyorgy Cziffra).

>>Chopin
>
>When I was young I hated Chopin. Pollini's recording of the Polonaises did
>it for me.

Did what? Confirm you hated Chopin ;-)? (I actually like much of his
Chopin, especially the Polonaises!)

Joseph Previte