# Purchases you regret.



## Cortision (Aug 4, 2009)

The vast majority of my CD collection has given me more enjoyment than I could have predicted (even the non-classical ones). I am allergic to spending money, but usually after listening to my purchases a few times any sense of regret dissipates completely.

However, I bought one CD based on other people praising it voluminously, and I have not yet been able to compel myself to listen to it all the way through. It is called 'Yanni live at the Acropolis'. I'm not sure what it is I dislike so much - it could be that ridiculous moustache.  Or it could be the way the music sounds like it comes out of a tin can. Anyhow, I am struggling to justify the money I paid for it.

Have any of you made purchases you regret?


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## Mirror Image (Apr 20, 2009)

I wish I could indulge you, but I've been very happy with all my purchases. I'm very careful about what I buy and I do research on the recording before I buy. Audio samples only go so far, but it's nice to hear a little bit of the recording before you buy.


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## Guest (Aug 31, 2009)

I must admit there are about half a dozen that I regret buying they were in store impulse buys by composers that I was not familiar with perhaps one day they will click but I doubt it, there are some collectors that purchase quite large amounts and have yet to hear their purchases, they languish in their cases just waiting for that day


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## Mirror Image (Apr 20, 2009)

Andante said:


> there are some collectors that purchase quite large amounts and have yet to hear their purchases, they languish in their cases just waiting for that day


What collectors are you referring to, Andante?


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## Guest (Aug 31, 2009)

Mirror Image said:


> What collectors are you referring to, Andante?


I am sorry if I am confusing you MI.
The collectors I refer to are those that purchase quite large amounts of CDs and have yet to hear all of their purchases I hope that is a little clearer.


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## Mirror Image (Apr 20, 2009)

Andante said:


> I am sorry if I am confusing you MI.
> The collectors I refer to are those that purchase quite large amounts of CDs and have yet to hear all of their purchases I hope that is a little clearer.


I purchase a good amount of CDs and haven't heard a lot of recordings I own yet, so I guess you're referring to me. I'm making headway though. I'm slowly, and I do mean slowly, getting caught up.


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## scytheavatar (Aug 27, 2009)

Off the top of my head:

Gardiner's Beethoven

Gould's Goldberg Variations

Rubinstein's Chopin (and I though that it would be impossible to be disappointed for the price)

Kempff's Schubert Sonata (and does anyone know of a good Schubert Sonata set? All of them are bloody unlistenable except Uchida)

Klemperer's St Matthew Passion


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## tahnak (Jan 19, 2009)

Claudio Abbado's Mahler's Fifth with Berlin


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## Chi_townPhilly (Apr 21, 2007)

scytheavatar said:


> Rubinstein's Chopin (and I thought that it would be impossible to be disappointed for the price)


Interesting you mentioned that-

A while back, I borrowed a Rubinstein/Chopin album from the local library, and I didn't hear _anything_ that made me anxious to acquire his renditions.

Anyway- here are my answers-
1) A sin of my youth: Ferde Grofé's _Atlantic Crossing_. blech!
2) A later, slightly more forgivable sin: Semyon Bychkov's version of Shostakovich's 5th.


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## Aramis (Mar 1, 2009)

> Rubinstein's Chopin (and I though that it would be impossible to be disappointed for the price


I think it's rather impossible to me disappointed with Rubinstein's Chopin for someone who really digs what Chopin is all about. I belive Rubinstain is one of those performers who play his music just like he would like it to be played.


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## Sid James (Feb 7, 2009)

Can't say I've been seriously dissapointed by, or regretted, any purchase. Maybe some of the lesser known composers on Naxos don't engage me as the more well known ones do, but I have space for diversity, so it's ok. The only way I am dissapointed is if I keep acquiring multiple cd's of the same composer. Eventually, I get bored of the stylistic trademarks, and want to move onto something new. I suppose I have phases like anyone else, just now I bought 2 Ligeti cd's & I've ordered a 3rd one. But after about getting 3 good cd's of a composer's work, I tend to move on. There's so much out there to explore, & I also hear a big variety of classical on the radio, plus from my friend's collection, when he brings it over weekly. So I collect a diversity of composers, which always keeps thing fresh for me. It's always great to explore composers/works I haven't heard before...


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## Rondo (Jul 11, 2007)

Probably the classical albums I _truly_ regret purchasing are:

*Britten's Young Person's Guide, among others*-- Neeme Jarvi/Bergen Philharmonic
*Bruckner Symphony No. 1 (Unrevised Linz Vers. ed. Hass/Carragan)* -- Titner, Royal Scottish Nat'l Orchestra


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## Kevin Pearson (Aug 14, 2009)

I don't know if this counts in this thread , but I regret I ever having bought the Beatles albums. Mainly because I have listened to them so much, and have heard them so many time on the raido, I can no longer tolerate them! 

Kevin


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## Mirror Image (Apr 20, 2009)

Rondo said:


> Probably the classical albums I _truly_ regret purchasing are:
> 
> *Britten's Young Person's Guide, among others*-- Neeme Jarvi/Bergen Philharmonic
> *Bruckner Symphony No. 1 (Unrevised Linz Vers. ed. Hass/Carragan)* -- Titner, Royal Scottish Nat'l Orchestra


Jarvi is NOT a good English music conductor and Georg Tinter is one of the worst Bruckner conductors I've heard. Truly terrible.


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## StlukesguildOhio (Dec 25, 2006)

Only one that I can think of recently... Stephen Hartke's _Tituli/Cathedral in the Thrashing Rain._ I've generally been quite pleased with any ECM discs I have purchased and I was both intrigued with the concept (a choral work constructed on fragments of ancient texts the composer came upon in some Etruscan ruins) as well as with the snippets I could hear before purchasing... but after playing the disc through twice I can only say "yawn". Wimpy is the best work I can think for it. I'll probably give another listen down the road... but somehow I doubt my opinion will change.


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## StlukesguildOhio (Dec 25, 2006)

Gardiner's Beethoven

Gould's Goldberg Variations

Rubinstein's Chopin (and I though that it would be impossible to be disappointed for the price)

Kempff's Schubert Sonata (and does anyone know of a good Schubert Sonata set? All of them are bloody unlistenable except Uchida)

Klemperer's St Matthew Passion 



I'm especially floored with regard to Gould's Goldbergs and the Rubinstein.


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## Kevin Pearson (Aug 14, 2009)

StlukesguildOhio said:


> I'm especially floored with regard to Gould's Goldbergs


Is it his humming in the background that puts you off? LOL Drives me batty too! Excellent musician though!

Kevin


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## Cortision (Aug 4, 2009)

Good for you MI, from now on I will follow your example and be more careful. Good to know I'm not alone though.


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## scytheavatar (Aug 27, 2009)

StlukesguildOhio said:


> Gardiner's Beethoven
> 
> Gould's Goldberg Variations
> 
> ...


The problem isn't so much as to how they are bad, but how incredibly overrated and disappointing they are. Gould's Goldberg and Rubinstein's Chopin are always recommended as THE reference performance to get, always, to the extent that everyone else gets drowned out and barely gets mentioned. Note that I bought them, using my hard earned money, cause they are so highly rated I though it's impossible to go wrong with them. For Gould's Goldberg his humming is certainly annoying but the fundamental fact is that if Perahia's Goldberg is 10/10 Gould's would be 6/10 at best, he's so pretentious and attention-seeking with his Goldberg. Similarly there's so many great Chopin performances, from Ashkenazy, Pollini, Moravec, etc, that Rubinstein's Chopin are coasters in comparison.

There are lots more recordings which I got and which I consider to be not exactly worth the price, but these are the worst offenders.


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## haydnguy (Oct 13, 2008)

The one I probably most regret is the Haydn Piano Sonata CD put out by Mark Andre Hamelin. He plays MUCH too fast to the point where it doesn't sound like Haydn to me.


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## bassClef (Oct 29, 2006)

No major disappointments lately - being able to preview via the internet has put an end to that. I do still make impulse buys at music shops though, but normally only cheapies, so not much to regret.


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## Padawan (Aug 27, 2009)

> Rubinstein's Chopin (and I though that it would be impossible to be disappointed for the price)


Unfortunately, I bought the same one and I'm not happy with it either.


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## Guest (Sep 1, 2009)

Mirror Image said:


> I purchase a good amount of CDs and haven't heard a lot of recordings I own yet, so I guess you're referring to me. I'm making headway though. I'm slowly, and I do mean slowly, getting caught up.


How could I be referring to you ?? Surly if you have not been disappointed with any of your purchases you must have heard all of them, but I guess there would be quite a few people that have still to hear and therefore judge each and every one of their collection.


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## Mirror Image (Apr 20, 2009)

Andante said:


> How could I be referring to you ?? Surly if you have not been disappointed with any of your purchases you must have heard all of them, but I guess there would be quite a few people that have still to hear and therefore judge each and every one of their collection.


Well, I still haven't heard all the classical CDs I bought, but of the ones I heard, I have not been disappointed. I still have a lot to listen to.

Jazz, on the other hand, is a little bit different. I've bought and sold a lot of jazz during the years, but I still have a large collection (around 5,000 or so).


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## World Violist (May 31, 2007)

Solti's Mahler 8 and Lorin Maazel's Sibelius are the first two that come to mind... so overrated, IMO.


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## Mirror Image (Apr 20, 2009)

World Violist said:


> Solti's Mahler 8 and Lorin Maazel's Sibelius are the first two that come to mind... so overrated, IMO.


Absolutely, I never thought Maazel was a good Sibelius conductor. Sotli is a better Mahler conductor than most give him credit for. I'm not a big fan of his Mahler, but he certainly has a big following and the "Who's Your Favorite Mahler Conductor" thread is evidence enough of that. I think Solti is still winning.


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## Fergus (Aug 25, 2009)

These days I tend to be careful about what I buy, but back in the 90's, I would frequently buy cheap classical albums without hearing them first. For example, I once bought a large package of randomly selected Pilz CDs for only $2.00 per CD. It had a lot of good stuff in it, but I eventually got rid of the opera, because that doesn't interest me. I once bought a series of CDs that the local supermarket, Wegmans, was selling. Each CD featured a selection of works by a different composer. It had some good stuff in it, but much of it has become either superfluous or uninteresting to me, and the Chopin CD led to a general lack of interest in Chopin. I've also bought some bargain Bach CDs that featured his works on harpsichord, which didn't interest me nearly as much as the same works on piano. For a while, I found the Goldberg Variations and the Well-Tempered Clavier dull, because these were the only recordings I had of them. When I joined the Musical Heritage Society once, I got a set of Beethoven's complete symphonies by Walter Weller and the City of Birmingham Orchestra, but I don't think it is that impressive of a Beethoven symphony cycle.


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## Fergus (Aug 25, 2009)

I once bought Gorecki's 3rd Symphony by David Zinman, the London Sinfonietta, and Dawn Upshaw, and a friend of mine liked it so much that he insisted I trade it to him for one of his CDs. Although I like the CD I got in the trade, Babel by Klaus Schulze and Andreas Grosser, I generally regretted making the trade. Fortunately, I now have another copy of the same recording of Gorecki's 3rd symphony. But in the meantime, I bought the Naxos recording, and I didn't like it as much.

Sometimes, the sequel to a great recording hasn't been as good as the first. I bought Aria 2 and Aria 3 by Paul Schwartz but didn't like either one as much as I liked Aria. I bought Switched-On Bach II but didn't enjoy it nearly as much as Switched-On Bach.


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## Guest (Sep 2, 2009)

Fergus said:


> For a while, I found the Goldberg Variations and the Well-Tempered Clavier dull, because these were the only recordings I had of them. .


The Goldberg Variations are a must for me, the best I have is Rosalyn Tureck, one of the best Bach players IMO you would never be disappointed with her interpretations


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## Mirror Image (Apr 20, 2009)

You know what? I did purchase one recording many months ago that I regreted. It was Gorecki's "Symphony No. 3 - Symphony of Sorrowful Songs." I don't know if it's just me or the actual music itself, but I hated this symphony.


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## Cortision (Aug 4, 2009)

Mirror Image said:


> You know what? I did purchase one recording many months ago that I regreted. It was Gorecki's "Symphony No. 3 - Symphony of Sorrowful Songs." I don't know if it's just me or the actual music itself, but I hated this symphony.


It's good to know that you're human, MI. I don't feel so bad now. Except that Yanni is a horrible mixture of Pop/ speudo classical crossover so I probably should have known better.


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## Guest (Sep 2, 2009)

Mirror Image said:


> You know what? I did purchase one recording many months ago that I regreted. It was Gorecki's "Symphony No. 3 - Symphony of Sorrowful Songs." I don't know if it's just me or the actual music itself, but I hated this symphony.


I am with you I do not like this work, but hate is a bit strong for me


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## Mirror Image (Apr 20, 2009)

Andante said:


> I am with you I do not like this work, but hate is a bit strong for me


Okay, I disliked it immensely. How's that for ya?


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## Mirror Image (Apr 20, 2009)

Cortision said:


> It's good to know that you're human, MI. I don't feel so bad now. Except that Yanni is a horrible mixture of Pop/ speudo classical crossover so I probably should have known better.


Everybody knows Yanni is a hack. Shame on you!


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## Cortision (Aug 4, 2009)

Mirror Image said:


> Everybody knows Yanni is a hack. Shame on you!


I promise I'll never do it again


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## Fergus (Aug 25, 2009)

Andante said:


> The Goldberg Variations are a must for me, the best I have is Rosalyn Tureck, one of the best Bach players IMO you would never be disappointed with her interpretations


I have been very happy with Pnina Becher's piano performance of the Goldberg Variations. I also have an excellent synthesizer version called New Age Bach and Jacques Loussier's jazz interpretations of the Goldberg Variations. So I've been enjoying them a lot more than I used to.


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## Guest (Sep 3, 2009)

I was always a fan of Loussiers I have the 40 year anniversary CD 'The Bach book' very disappointed as an Electric bass is used,


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## Vaneyes (May 11, 2010)

This thread kind of sputtered out after three pages in 2009. I thought I'd bring it back, to see if there are any newer regrets regarding classical recording purchases.

Personally, I've tried to put the hundreds if not thousands of CD culls out of my head as soon as they're gone. But a few linger on, and occasionally pop to the front of my brain.

Walter Klien Mozart Piano Sonatas was an early goner. What an awful-sounding piano.

Any others? Do tell.


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## science (Oct 14, 2010)

What I regret most is when I buy a CD and then find out that I could've gotten it as part of a box set at a much better deal.

But that's about all I can think of. Even if I don't enjoy the music, I usually don't regret the purchase.


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## Guest (Feb 29, 2012)

No I am much more careful to day no more of "Loussiers 40 year anniversary CD 'The Bach book' I did try to give it away but no one wanted it so I use it as a bird scare on the fruit tree.


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

Mirror Image said:


> ...and Georg Tinter is one of the worst Bruckner conductors I've heard. Truly terrible.


I wonder why this long-gone contributor didn't expand on what pissed him off about Tintner - his Naxos recordings are solid as a cycle on the whole and I thought he was especially good with the early ones (00-3).


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## Vaneyes (May 11, 2010)

elgars ghost said:


> I wonder why this long-gone contributor didn't expand on what pissed him off about Tintner - his Naxos recordings are solid as a cycle on the whole and I thought he was especially good with the early ones (00-3).


For the time, it was a valued cycle. Not much Bruckner was available, as it is now. Though playing and sound could be harsh, some different editions were used, and the cost reasonable. It faded as Skrowaczewski finished his cycle on Arte Nova, the Jochum cycles prices were reduced, and Bruckner became more popular and widely recorded.


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## Sid James (Feb 7, 2009)

I usually end up regretting buying - and eventually culling - rehash. *Rued Langgaard *was a notable one, but there have been others. I do dip my toes in the water with these kinds of composers, & the outcome of that kind of determines whether I go further or not. Now I am buying only what I need, not just virtually everything I want. Like the old Mick Jagger song goes. Same with live concerts. I don't force music onto myself, I just go with what has a fair chance of gelling with me in some way.

Having said that, I have not been disappointed with any big names in music (apart from maybe a very few), I am okay with hunting out works that I'm virtually guaranteed to like, after a few sniffles around. & with Australian composers, I have warmed to them immediately, no surprises there as to why...


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## NightHawk (Nov 3, 2011)

Langgaard Complete Symphonies - just oddities, in the end. 
Carrissimi 'Jepthe' Oratorio - a wonderful early 17th c., oratorio, but the ensemble, Consortium Carrissimi, is simply awful.
Enescu - Romanian Rhapsodies - Romanian Radio and Television Orchestra - also an awful performance. Sub-professional.


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## opus55 (Nov 9, 2010)

Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro recording by Levine/Met on DG. I think the performance is very bland, I don't like voices, I still don't like operas. I could never finish listening to even one CD (tried all three discs but same result..eject)


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## neoshredder (Nov 7, 2011)

The only thing I regret is that I bought too many too quickly. I have many cd's lying around on the backburner. I will one day get to them. But Baroque and Classical Era cd's always come first in my listening.


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

I once bought a CD by a bunch of Germans trying to play funk-jazz. It's been collecting dust for several years now!


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## GrosseFugue (Nov 30, 2011)

Robert Simpson's Symphony No. 9. Ended up giving it away.


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

I bought this years ago:










I listened to it once and filed it under *"never again."*


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## bigshot (Nov 22, 2011)

R


scytheavatar said:


> Off the top of my head:
> 
> Gardiner's Beethoven
> Gould's Goldberg Variations
> ...


You have a very high quality of disappointments


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## Vaneyes (May 11, 2010)

ComposerOfAvantGarde said:


> I bought this years ago:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


FWIW I have the NMC rec of E3, and quite like it.


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## Vaneyes (May 11, 2010)

Removed for another thread.


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## FrankieP (Aug 24, 2011)

Neeme Jarvi/Royal Scottish National Orch recording of Prokofiev 7 - LOVE the interpretation, but I bought it online and something must have gone wrong as only 3 movements downloaded, all of which cut out after 2 minutes. growl.


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