# Latest Deletes / Culled Albums



## brotagonist

We have threads on currently listening and on recent purchases, but there is no thread on albums that have been culled (deleted) from our collections.

What did you get rid of? Why?

I rarely need to delete classical albums, but I do make occasional impulse purchases, trade for used albums that turn out to be poor choices, make new purchases that obsolete older albums, etc.

I recently culled:

Mendelssohn _Symphonies 3 & 4_ (Szell/Cleveland)
I bought the Complete Symphonies (Dohnanyi/ViennaPO). If I were mad about Mendelssohn, I would have kept both performances.

Pauline Oliveros _The Roots of the Moment_
I found it wore thin over the years. No longer my thing.

Rossini _6 String Sonatas_ (Solisti Veneti/Scimone)
I found them kind of ho-hum. An immediately regretted impulse buy.

Mozart _Organ (Church) Sonatas_ (German Bach Soloists/Chorzempa/Winschermann)
Disappointed, as the organ plays a minor role. Another immediately regretted impulse buy.


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## Art Rock

In the first year of classical music buying (1986) I bought without looking at reviews. Since then, I check first and have not really been disappointed. I ended up culling two CD's from that first year though, replacing them with superior versions. One was Mahler's 9th under Levine (very bad sound quality) and one was Brahms' second piano concerto in a version that has slipped my mind (on CBS - funny, that detail stuck).


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## joen_cph

- Hanns Jelinek: Zwölftonwerk 2LP, Amadeo label. OK, but not distinguished, rare and worth a bit.

- Faure, piano pieces + Schumann Humoreske / Grant Johannesen, LP EMI mono ca. 1955. OK, but not very interesting compared to other versions, and I´ve got some other Johannesen Faures. Worth a bit.

- Schubert: String Quintet / Amadeus4, EMI LP mono. Only heard some of the first movement, but not very interesting compared to my other recordings, though famous. Will probably try to sell it.

- Brahms: Händel variations, Piano Pieces op.117-119. John McCabe. Oryx LP. A fine pianist-composer who did a great Nielsen piano works set, for example, but this not exceptional IMO.

- Mahler 3rd Symphony / Mitropoulos /movimento musica 2LP 1960. Just not interesting enough and poor sound, compared to others, IMO.


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## joen_cph

Art Rock said:


> In the first year of classical music buying (1986) I bought without looking at reviews. Since then, I check first and have not really been disappointed. I ended up culling two CD's from that first year though, replacing them with superior versions. One was Mahler's 9th under Levine (very bad sound quality) and one was Brahms' second piano concerto in a version that has slipped my mind (on CBS - funny, that detail stuck).


Maybe Andre Watts/Bernstein. Didn´t have a very good sound either. Or Serkin/Ormandy (or was it Szell).


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## Kleinzeit

Good thread! Hope it lasts for years.









Haven't culled much anything in years. Gave away Maazel's Sibelius symphonies cycle as a Christmas present. Maazel's no good with Sibelius.


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## brotagonist

Kleinzeit said:


> Good thread! Hope it lasts for years.


Thanks. I hope so, too 



Kleinzeit said:


> Gave away Maazel's Sibelius symphonies cycle as a Christmas present. Maazel's no good with Sibelius.


To someone you don't like very much ;-)

Seriously, those can often be good testers to see if people not usually receptive to classics might turn out to be interested after all.


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## Blancrocher

Kleinzeit said:


> Gave away Maazel's Sibelius symphonies cycle as a Christmas present. Maazel's no good with Sibelius.


Very generous! Was this a good friend of yours, Kleinzeit?

:lol:


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## Kleinzeit

Like sex & pizza, Sibelius is still good even when he's played bad. Even Liberace couldn't totally ruin him. But Maazel just didn't have any horseradish in him. 

I gave the set to an ex-girlfriend actually. We're friends again, on different coasts. She's one of those friends, if your life was an action movie, you'd meet her in a bar in the tropics and she'd be willing to rent you a bazooka and a helicopter. But first she'd say, "Snake Plissken?! I heard you was dead."

She sings lieder, but I didn't think she'd notice Maazel's badness.


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## BurningDesire

Prince's album Emancipation. Total crap, Prince is too good a musician to seriously peddle this kind of music. Thankfully I managed to trade it in for David Bowie's Heroes


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## brotagonist

*Mention any music you have removed (or would like to remove) from your collection, including digital files!*

The other things I got rid of on the same day:

Memphis Slim _Steady Rolling Blues_
Although I have had this for nearly 20 years, I doubt I have listened to it more than 3-4 times. I am not a bluesman. I like the blues organ, which was the main reason I had kept it, but it was just not enough of a draw for me.

Fats Waller _Ain't Misbehavin'_ (the Quadromania set)
Despite being 4CDs in length, it lacks most of my favourite songs. A couple of months ago, I got another 4CD set on Proper Records called _Handful of Keys_ that has the songs I love. This was redundant.

Sun Ra _St. Louis Blues_
A solo piano album that is good, but lacks the crazy exuberance of the Arkestra.

I might have a couple more albums to cull. Stay tuned


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## Garlic

I've never got rid of any music. I still have some terrible nu metal, pop-punk and gangsta rap albums from when I was young. Some day I will have a major cull.



brotagonist said:


> Pauline Oliveros _The Roots of the Moment_
> I found it wore thin over the years. No longer my thing.


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## techniquest

Currently culled and awaiting disposal (probably to a 2nd-hand shop or a charity shop):

Respighi - Fountains / Pines of Rome - Berlin PO / Karajan (DG)
Shostakovich - Symphony No.13 - CBSO / Okko Kamu (Chandos)
Bloch - America (An Epic Rhapsody) - Slovak Radio SO, Lucnica Chorus / Dalia Atlas (Naxos)
El-Khoury - New York, Tears & Hope 'in memory of the victims of 9/11' - LSO / Harding (Naxos)
Meridith Wilson - Symphonies 1 & 2 - Moscow SO / Stromberg (Naxos)
George Frederick McKay - From a Moonlit Ceremony, etc - National SO of Ukraine / John McLaughlin Williams (Naxos)
Zhukov - Concerto Mystery / Concerto Grosso - Residentie Orchestra / Geirge Pehlivanian (Chandos)
Nino Rota - Concerto Soiree, etc - Orchestra Citta Di Ferrara / Grazioli (Auvidis)
Beethoven - Symphonies 5,6,8,9 (part of the complete set) - Berlin PO / Karajan (DG)
Brahms - Symphony No.1 / Tragic Overture - NYPO / Masur (Apex)
David Sawer - Byrnan Wood - BBCSO / Davis (NMC)
Shostakovich - Symphony No.5 - San Francisco SO / Tilson Thomas (SFS Media)
Britten - Plymouth Town + Grace Williams - Ballads for Overture - BBCSO / Llewellyn + BBCNOW / Bostock (BBC Music)
Berlioz - Symphonie Fantastique - BBCSO / Davis (BBC Music)
Mahler - Symphony No.10 (Cooke version) - BBCNOW / Wigglesworth (BBC Music)

I either have other recordings that I prefer (e.g Respighi, Shostakovich, Berlioz) or I simply don't get along with the music.


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## joen_cph

I´d find some of those interesting too ... The Mahler 10th/Wigglesworth is one my two preferred recordings, together with Rattle/Bournemouth. I find Kamu usually a good conductor (Sibelius, Pettersson, for instance).

Zhukov - is that Igor Zhukov, the excellent pianist, apparently with less flattering KGB-connections, who then also composed??


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## techniquest

> Zhukov - is that Igor Zhukov, the excellent pianist, apparently with less flattering KGB-connections, who then also composed??


No, it's Sergey Zhukov who was born in Zhitomir, Ukraine in 1951


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## Bas

I need to cull an accidental double buy: Glenn Gould Golberg '55. If anyone wants to trade it for '81 I would be glad (I wnated both versions but was not paying attention...)
Besides this mistake I almost never have to cull, I'm a very critical buyer.


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## brotagonist

Bas said:


> I need to cull an accidental double buy...


I did that a couple of months ago 

I love Nico, but I actually forgot that I already had her _Chelsea Girls_ and ordered another copy. I got a big smile at the local shop where I take them. He said he wouldn't have any trouble unloading it.

Now that I think of it, I also culled Nico's _The End_, one of her top three albums that I had only just purchased late last year, but a 2CD remastered version was released this spring. I wanted the extra disc, but it wasn't as essential as I had hoped.


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## brotagonist

techniquest said:


> Respighi - Fountains / Pines of Rome - Berlin PO / Karajan (DG)


I might be checking out that shop ;-)


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## techniquest

> I might be checking out that shop ;-)


I don't know what the rules are here about swapping or giving away CD's, but you're welcome to it if you want it


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## StlukesguildOhio

Outside of the duplicate purchases... which were insidiously easy to make with that damned "One Click" purchase on Amazon... and which I have put a stop to by first checking my inventory of what I have now on the computer... I have only culled a few discs in recent years. In the past I got rid of a lot of recordings which I realized were but mediocre, but now I tend to do a decent bit of research before buying. The area where I have made the most eliminations recently has been Modern/Contemporary music. There are composers that I have made a concerted effort to appreciate (Schoenberg!) but now I think "screw him!" I turn to music for pleasure... and if I get nothing after a good many attempts there are any number of other composers to explore. The only discs I tossed almost immediately after getting them were the "classical" works by Karl Jenkins. Pure treacle. Gave 'em to a friend who didn't know any better. He thought they were great examples of modern choral music. :lol:


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## brotagonist

techniquest said:


> ...you're welcome to it if you want it


Much appreciated! That's very nice of you 

However, I could pick one up from Amazon Marketplace for only a couple of bucks and I'm not really that serious about it.


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## brotagonist

StlukesguildOhio said:


> The area where I have made the most eliminations recently has been Modern/Contemporary music.


Me, too. I was really overloaded on modern composers in the late '90s and rashly downsized that area of my collection. The ones I recall are:

numerous Tristan Murail albums (I regret _Gondwana_, perhaps)
a Ferneyhough (I could have given it another chance)
some Donatoni (I ought to have kept one)
a Birtwistle (a mistake that I probably will undo)

Overall, my interest has shifted to composers from about baroque to about 1950; modern has become less of a passion.

Schoenberg has been a favourite since the 1970s, but I did get rid of _Gurrelieder_, _Book of the Hanging Gardens_ and the _Cabaret Songs_. Lieder are not a major love.


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## BurningDesire

How does one accidentally buy a CD more than once? o3o


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## brotagonist

BurningDesire said:


> How does one accidentally buy a CD more than once? o3o


When you're rebuying a collection, it's easy to lose track. I wasn't paying attention to which former LPs I had already replaced on CD. As I spend most of my time listening to classical, it slipped my mind that I had already replaced that non-classical album.

To complicate matters, I sometimes purge albums that I later want to have again. In the late '90s, I had gotten myself very overdosed on modern classical, so I got rid of a good number of albums by more recent composers. With the hindsight of a bit over a decade, I see that I had gone too far. I am being much more selective as I rebuy a few of them, though.


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## Centropolis

I haven't started buying classical CDs until about 2 months ago and now trying to get rid of my mistake purchases. All those compilation CDs I bought for $1 each now seems to worth about $0.25 only.


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## Vaneyes

Bas said:


> I need to cull an accidental double buy: Glenn Gould Golberg '55. If anyone wants to trade it for '81 I would be glad (I wnated both versions but was not paying attention...)
> Besides this mistake I almost never have to cull, I'm a very critical buyer.


A "Trading Post" at TC might be a good idea.


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## Vaneyes

techniquest said:


> Currently culled and awaiting disposal (probably to a 2nd-hand shop or a charity shop):
> 
> ....Mahler - Symphony No.10 (Cooke version) - BBCNOW / Wigglesworth (BBC Music)
> 
> I either have other recordings that I prefer (e.g Respighi, Shostakovich, Berlioz) or I simply don't get along with the music.


Good rec., that Mahler 10. :tiphat:


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## bigshot

BurningDesire said:


> How does one accidentally buy a CD more than once? o3o


When you can snatch this pebble from my hand, grasshopper...


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## brotagonist

I pawned 2 albums today.

In the late '80s/early '90s, when the cowboy craze took root, I gingerly tiptoed though the pastures. It was a short-lived flirtation, but a few artists, Brooks and Dunn, Aaron Tippin, Dwight Yoakam and Alan Jackson, caught my ear enough to buy. I still have albums by all of them and admire Yoakam, in particular.

Aaron Tippin never really achieved great fame, but I liked his old-fashioned country twang, that made him sound more genuine than the 'industry' stars. He also wrote pretty much all of his own songs that exhibit his own brand of humour. Nevertheless, over the years, 4 Tippin albums just didn't seem to be reflective of my interest, so I pawned his second, _Read Between the Lines_, and his fourth, _Lookin' Back at Myself_, leaving me with only his first and third.

So, what did I find?









I have yet to listen to it.


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## Oreb

The market in used CDs here in Australia has collapsed - no where wants to buy them.

That's great news for those of us looking to pick up ridiculous bargains, but a drag for those times when one realises a cull of the shelves is in order (the perennial curse of collectors ... space).

Net result is my local St. Vincent de Paul Shop often gets a nice selection of donations from St. Oreb.


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## brotagonist

I know of 5 stores here. All are good for anything but classical, which is pretty well all I buy these days, although I am waiting with bated breath for another Rammstein studio album  Fortunately, the mammoth of the stores does have quite a lot of classical, but it is thoroughly picked over by me. Classics go for $5 per disc and they occasionally acquire an estate collection that whets my appetite.


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## Sonata

I know there is plenty that I will delete from my Big Handel Box. Especially recitatives from his oratorios. Haven't gotten around to it though


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## Blancrocher

Rilling's Bach cantata set.

I bought it on the strength of positive reviews and its relatively low price, but it doesn't sound right on my stereo. I'd recommend that potential buyers read audiophiles' commentaries before purchasing.

Fwiw, Gardiner remains my preferred conductor in this repertoire.


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## realdealblues

I'm doing a mass overhaul on my collection. I sold off a few more box sets recently.

Bach: Orchestral Works - Pinnock
View attachment 57502


Mozart: Complete Symphonies - Pinnock
View attachment 57503


Vivaldi: 55 Concertos - Pinnock
View attachment 57504


Mendelssohn: Complete Symphonies. Piano Concertos, Etc. - Masur
View attachment 57505


So many more things to get rid off...


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## Figleaf

I'm mulling over what to do with a few hundred cassette tapes which I now have no means of playing. The easy recordability was really the only good feature of that format: they aren't that robust and the hissy sound is horrible. The only reason I have them at all after 20 years is that I'm an inveterate hoarder, but I'm moving next year and I will be severely disappointed with myself if I haven't parted with them by then.

CDs: when people hear you like opera they tend to give you well-intentioned but hideous gifts of albums by popera singers and tenors who come in threes. Unlike the tapes I have no sentimental attachment to these, but I'm too embarrassed to take them to a charity shop in person and I'm afraid that if I dump them outside the shop and scarper, I'll get done for littering :devil:

I seem to have three copies of Symposium's Charles Dalmores/Louis Cazette CD, which I don't remember acquiring or indeed listening to. 

Recently had to delete some mp3s in order to prioritize backing up my most important files. The Callas Poliuto was the first to go, since I'm not a fan of Corelli and his presence on the recording was putting me off listening to it. No doubt if I change my mind it will still be on YouTube.


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## BartokPizz

Kleinzeit said:


> Haven't culled much anything in years. Gave away Maazel's Sibelius symphonies cycle as a Christmas present. Maazel's no good with Sibelius.


I just came upon the thread and by coincidence I just resolved to cull Maazel's Sibelius as well. I guess this suggests something about Maazel's Sibelius. . .


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## brotagonist

Thanks for reviving my thread  I haven't culled anything for a while.


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## Vaneyes

I think it's important to cull. Life's too short to surround yourself with mediocre recs. I culled 40-something a month or so ago. First time in a while. Works I was tired of. Extra recs. of a work. Recs. from the past few years that just didn't work out.Etc., etc. Music's dynamic, and so is collecting.:tiphat:


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## brotagonist

I used to get overenthusiastic and I ended up regretting it and it cost me dearly  I have had some crazes, eg., ancient music, that I grew out of, but I shouldn't have been so hasty about culling them, because I do occasionally wish I could still hear them again. But, yes, I do agree. Ill-considered purchases are best dumped and exchanged for something more suitable.


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## starthrower

I only have a few classical CDs I don't like, but it's not worth the hassle trying to sell them for peanuts. My problem is trying to find time to listen to what I bought in the past year. Several operas I have no time to enjoy, and I picked up a lot of other vocal music I wanto explore. Some composers I still haven't decided whether I like or not, for instance Per Norgard and Xenakis.

One thing I don't do anymore is buy current prog rock stuff all the fanboys rave about at Progressive Ears. So many of these bands that can play great, but can't write a melody to save their lives. Or the neo proggers that sound like old 70s bands.


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## brotagonist

True, you only get a few bucks for them, but the stores around here sell classical music from about $3 to $5 and up, so trading in is worth it to me—and there's no shipping to pay.

I agree that opera takes a lot of time commitment. I bought about two dozen or more last winter and have only just begun giving them a second listen. It will be a project of decades—but I chose works I am interested in by composers I like, so it was a worthy investment. Already, I can say that I really should get some more of Strauss' operas, but I'm going to give the two I have a bit more attention before I buy more.

Xenakis has been a favourite since the '70s and I have collected loads  I was initially rather intrigued by Nørgård's Infinity Series, but the few pieces I've listened to so far haven't merited the fascination. I've got his music on the back burner and might revisit it later on, but, for now, my interest has cooled.

Yeah, I like prog rock, too, but I cool to rock pretty quickly these days. I just don't see the point in buying music that doesn't mean more to me than a few spins. With classical, there are just so many levels of appreciation  that it never wears out.


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## SixFootScowl

brotagonist said:


> I used to get overenthusiastic and I ended up regretting it and it cost me dearly  I have had some crazes, eg., ancient music, that I grew out of, but I shouldn't have been so hasty about culling them, because I do occasionally wish I could still hear them again. But, yes, I do agree. Ill-considered purchases are best dumped and exchanged for something more suitable.


Yeah, I have about 40 Beethoven Ninths to show for my over enthusiasm. And now I only listen to the Ninth with the whole cycle.

Prog rock? I wouldn't know what it is. I am not much a fan of rock. I do like the band Deep Purple but haven't listened to them in several years. Just too much else to listen to.


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## starthrower

I have the Xenakis orchestral set on the Timpani label. I like dissonance, but not the way he uses it. It just doesn't sound interesting to my ears. Sounds too industrial or crude.


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## starthrower

Deep Purple is old school hard rock. I need some rock music for the energy, but mostly it's modern jazz and classical.


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## brotagonist

Florestan said:


> Yeah, I have about 40 Beethoven Ninths to show for my over enthusiasm. And now I only listen to the Ninth with the whole cycle.
> 
> Prog rock? I wouldn't know what it is. I am not much a fan of rock. I do like the band Deep Purple but haven't listened to them in several years. Just too much else to listen to.


40 versions is a lot! I have two versions and comparison listening is still a major hurdle for me.

When I was about 14-20, I had every Deep Purple album. I don't think I've heard them since 1975  My prevailing prog favourite was and remains Van Der Graaf Generator.



starthrower said:


> I have the Xenakis orchestral set on the Timpani label. I like dissonance, but not the way he uses it. It just doesn't sound interesting to my ears. Sounds too industrial or crude.


I think it was the industrial aspect that first appealed to me when I was in my late teens. He's just been such a big part of my musical life, that I grew with him. I thought the Timpani set sounds less crude, more symphonic, than some of the older recordings. I'm really enjoying that set!


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## starthrower

I'll hold onto it. Maybe I'll enjoy it in the future? Funny you got rid of Book Of Hanging Gardens. I love that piece. Stupid thing is I haven't even listened to the CD I bought. I've only listened to it on YouTube.

I like Fats Waller too. I have two of those 4 disc sets on the JSP label. That set you got rid of had a lot of obscure cuts on it. I don't listen to a lot of early jazz, but I love Fats!

One other set I'm not sure about is the Magnus Lindberg orchestral box on Ondine. I don't play it much. But I love his clarinet concerto, which is not in the box set.


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## brotagonist

starthrower said:


> I'll hold onto it. Maybe I'll enjoy it in the future? Funny you got rid of Book Of Hanging Gardens. I love that piece. Stupid thing is I haven't even listened to the CD I bought. I've only listened to it on YouTube.
> 
> I like Fats Waller too. I have two of those 4 disc sets on the JSP label. That set you got rid of had a lot of obscure cuts on it. I don't listen to a lot of early jazz, but I love Fats!
> 
> One other set I'm not sure about is the Magnus Lindberg orchestral box on Ondine. I don't play it much. But I love his clarinet concerto, which is not in the box set.


I got rid of Book of the Hanging Gardens!? I bought two versions last winter: Gerhaher and Jarnot (from the 4CD Schoenberg Complete Songs set on Capriccio). I adore that song cycle! I should get a female voice version, too. I didn't buy two male voice versions intentionally, but the Jarnot was part of the box, so I ended up with it. I'm not sure which one I prefer, because I got both sets only some months back and haven't heard them since then (I have loads of albums ).

I don't listen to much early jazz, either, except Fats. The one I got rid of was the budget 4CD set on Quadromania (they also issued a second volume, but I've never heard it). It had mostly piano solos and lacked the vocal songs I liked. I used to have the Bluebird series on LP and, later, I got three cheap Conifer CDs that had the same songs as the Bluebird LPs, but were not remastered, so the sound quality was lacking. The Bluebird series never came out on CD, as far as I know 

Just before I sold off the Quadromania Waller set, I purchased another 4CD Fats Waller set on a British label called Proper Records. It is a wonderful set, with loads of my favourite tracks, that made the disappointing Quadromania set redundant.










I love Fats and it's his vocal numbers that I cherish the most  He had such a poignant sense of humour!


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## brotagonist

Ok, I see what you're referring to. I think I might have been referring to my great music holocaust of the mid-'90s. From the 1970s onward, I had been listening to mostly 20th Century music, plus the major works by the major composers. In the '90s, I went through a Minnesänger/Troubadour phase for a few years and, afterward, got heavily into Bach and the Common Practice Era in general. I had felt overloaded with 20th Century works and I culled a fair number, most that I later regretted and replaced, where possible.


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## elgar's ghost

I've never felt the need to get rid of many - the three I immediately recall are:

1/ Cherkassky's recordings of Tchaikovsky's piano concertos 1 & 2 on DG (couldn't handle the mono sound and I found Shura too idiosyncratic at the time).

2/ Dohnanyi's recording of The Flying Dutchman on Decca (no libretto which was a real pain back then in my pre-online days, so I bought Klemperer's on EMI which I ended up liking more anyway).

3/ A disc of Prokofiev suites (two ballet, one opera) by Jarvi on Chandos. Nothing wrong with it as such, but I ended up buying the complete versions of the three featured works which made this recording somewhat redundant.


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## starthrower

I have several of those Proper jazz sets. Clifford Brown, Bud Powell, Fats Navarro, Dexter Gordon, Gerry Mulligan. If I was retired and had the time to listen, I'd buy all six sets of the Complete Recorded Works of Fats Waller series.

I need to listen that Capriccio Schoenberg set. I bought it last December. There's a beautiful female version up on YouTube.


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