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In Reply to: Classical Recording Guides - Any Recommendations? posted by Frank Hardly on November 14, 2002 at 14:32:54:
Just like hifi equipment, go out there and listen and try. That is the best way. Getting some recommmendations from friends who have a similiar taste as you do also help a great deal.
Follow Ups:
1. Try your public library (I presume you have one where you live) for both classical music guides, which you can probably check out and read to see whether you respond to the recommendations and style of the writer/editor, AND for CDs. Here in San Antonio, the main library has a large media room of CDs, videos, etc., most of which can be checked out for a week (limit is 5 per person at a time). Even smaller branch libraries have CD collections with several hundred CDs in them, and they all have classical sections. True, your selection may be limited, but you can sample the music for free! Also, in the realm of printed guidebooks, my library has a couple editions of the Penguins, the "Good CD" guide, the new classical guide by Morin, and at least two or three others. In fact, they have multiple copies of some of these--some on the checkout shelves and some on the reference ("does not circulate") shelves.2. Check your area for used CD stores. Here in Texas, Wherehouse (nationwide chain) and CD Exchange (regional chain) have multiple locations. Wherehouse carries both new and used, but are rapidly building their used inventory so that it far outstrips new in some locations. With only a few exceptions, CD Exchange is all used stuff. Both places have CD players with headphones available for customers to sample any open CD--which included virtually all used merchandise.
Hope this helps.
Happy hunting and happy spinning.
Given the lack of universality of CDs and esp classical CD's its impossible to "trust your ears" as you so helpfully suggest as most stores don't have demo versions. Normally its not possible to return a CD if you don't like the sound quality or performance, hence its a very expensive proposition to trust your ears. Your admonition may work very well for audio equipment, but its unhelpful wrt recordings. The advice to trust friends etc goes without saying.
Frank,You may not want to hear this, but if you like classical music you should buy a turntable.
For now I will forget about the whole vinyl vs. CD debate. Not even gonna bring it up.
But with a TT, now you can fill a wheelbarrow with vinyl records for the same price that you pay for a single compact disc . You never have to worry about about buying a record and then not liking it because you've only paid $0.50 (CDN $0.75) for it.
If you liked jazz, I would be less likely to advise you to buy a TT because jazz records are relatively harder to find and much more expensive.
But in my experience there is a mountain of used classical vinyl out there and most of it is in mint condition. People who played classical records tended to take better care of their record collection than, say, people with Grateful Dead records. Moreover, it seems like people bought a lot of boxed sets and never even opened them! Just last night I was playing some wonderful Schumann piano music by Peter Frankl on Vox; 4 LPs, never played, paid USD $2 for it. No tics, no pops. I'd have to pay at least $20 and maybe as much as $30 to get the same music on CD.
If you like opera it's even better. Tons of boxed sets out there, mostly unplayed.
I bought a turntable three years ago and it has helped open up a whole new world of music that I would not have bought before because I didn't want to pay USD $12-$19 for a single CD. And if a record is in good shape, there is nothing to worry about with tics and pops.
Anyway, sorry for the unsolicited advise.
Oh, you said you wanted a guide -- if you buy a TT, just to find an old Penguin guide from the late 1970s or early 1980s.
Good luck,
Darryl
Very strange, doesn't the CD shop allow you to test the CDs before buying?
Of limited help are sites that contain streams such as CDNow, Amazon, TowerRecords etc. Sometimes label websites have a more complete version (e.g. Naxos)Lastly, you can try mp3 servers such as Kaaza and the like. If you're lucky you may get to download it.
Thanks for the more helpful advice. My problem is that I haven't found shops to be very conducive to accurate listening as the demo gear isn't of a quality that I could readily judge the performance. I imagine I would have a similar issue with MP3. Neverthless, thanks for the input.
What kind of equipemnt do they have?? To judge performance, a discman is more than enough! So anything better than that is already a fantastic bonus. If you need to listen to details, maybe you can bring along a decent pair of head or ear phones. In the abscence of room acoustical factors plauging almost all audio systems high end or otherwise, using head/earphones are as good as it gets. Just that you have no proper representation of soundstage maybe.Anyway, I just shared with you how I look for my CDs and music. Typically the length of time for me to look for something vary quite a fair bit. From 15 seconds (i.e. the Kreisler play Kreisler) to 4 months (Chopin Ballades) to 2 years (Beethoven's violin concerto)
Don't mean to 'ram' my opinion down your throat but it does seem that you concerns seemed quite contrary to evaluating the musical performance.
You know, it really seems a stretch to imagine that a record store would tolerate me opening a dozen different versions of a particular piece to compare performances. Especially when it means opening their factory packaged shrink-wrap etc. Hence, the value of a good guide to narrow the field - precisely the question I opened this dialogue with. Perhaps, you inhabit an extremely tolerant version of reality where such actions are encouraged. Not in my part of the world.
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