# Your most disappointing CM purchases of 2020



## Rmathuln (Mar 21, 2018)

We have a thread of favorite CM purchases for 2020.
Lets hear about the stinkers too.

These are my clunkers for the year.



















I expected both of these to have new 192k remasters. I believe some listings said exactly that too.

But the Kleiber turned out to be the same remaster as the one in the Complete DG recordings set, and the Karajan was the same remaster as the one in the complete Ring BluRay edition.


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## bavlf (Oct 4, 2020)

But that's normal ; the quality is already remarkable with the cds remastered; buying your recordings on another medium - ie Blu-ray Dics, here - obviously adds nothing musically.


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## eljr (Aug 8, 2015)

Rmathuln said:


> Your most disappointing CM purchases of 2020


I have no disappointments when purchasing classical music. Instead, I simply enjoy some things more than others.

Peace


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## Merl (Jul 28, 2016)

A poor cycle. I expected way better from Jordan.


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## Knorf (Jan 16, 2020)

The following is a wonderful album. That's not the disappointment.










The disappointment: after having enjoyed for years at my parent's house the copy that I purchased for my mother, I finally ordered a copy for my wife and me, from Amazon.

Amazon sent an off-label CD-R, very cheaply made and shabbily printed. Note that there was absolutely _no_ indication this wasn't a new CD, as an original label release from Harmonia Mundi. 

The good news is that I complained and Amazon gave me a no-return full refund.


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

None that I can think of, but then I've bought only about twenty albums all year. Disappointment usually manifests itself in the way some cd cases are damaged in transit due to careless handling.


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## CnC Bartok (Jun 5, 2017)

Only a couple I can think of, ones that I expected better of, but cannot see the attachment or fuss of others.
Kurt Sanderling's Brahms cycle from Dresden. It just sounds too plodding, literal and inflexible to my ears, despite strong recommendation here.
Ernst Toch String Quartets. I admire this composer, but I simply cannot get a grip on these works, and stamina hasn't been my strong point during covid year, sorry.


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## Handelian (Nov 18, 2020)

Mine was when a package arrived empty - the CDs removed!


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

CnC Bartok said:


> Only a couple I can think of, ones that I expected better of, but cannot see the attachment or fuss of others.
> Kurt Sanderling's Brahms cycle from Dresden. It just sounds too plodding, literal and inflexible to my ears, despite strong recommendation here.
> Ernst Toch String Quartets. I admire this composer, but I simply cannot get a grip on these works, and stamina hasn't been my strong point during covid year, sorry.


I think most of Toch's quartets are quite early, aren't they? Perhaps as a whole they aren't as advanced as the symphonies because of that.


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## Bulldog (Nov 21, 2013)

elgars ghost said:


> I think most of Toch's quartets are quite early, aren't they?


Of Toch's 13 string quartets, only the last two were composed in the 1940s-50s. His symphonies were written in the 1950's.


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## Luchesi (Mar 15, 2013)

Merl said:


> A poor cycle. I expected way better from Jordan.
> 
> View attachment 147767


Occasionally I'll purchase an 'unexpected' performance just like that -- and then in a few years I go back to it and it becomes my favorite interpretation. 'Funny how that happens..


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## Rogerx (Apr 27, 2018)

Least favorite is the term.


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## Granate (Jun 25, 2016)




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## thejewk (Sep 13, 2020)

The only thing approaching a disappointment for me is the Glenn Gould big set I got from Supraphonline for very little money. Personally speaking, it wasn't worth the hassle of downloading and tagging it, other than some excellent Bach, and even then I find his wittering over the playing very distracting. While familiarising myself with Beethoven's Sonatas, I've been regularly dipping into the Gould versions to compare and I find them, almost without exception, pointlessly contrary and frequently ugly.

Oh well, no great loss.


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## bavlf (Oct 4, 2020)

A video on YouTube, that would be enough, it's so bad


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## Ich muss Caligari werden (Jul 15, 2020)

Knorf said:


> The following is a wonderful album. That's not the disappointment.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Ha-ha - When I first saw your post, I thought, hey, wait a minute, that's a great recording! Curious thing about Amazon - they won't allow your average person to sell such things as CDs and DVDs precisely because of CD-R copying concerns.


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## Luchesi (Mar 15, 2013)

thejewk said:


> The only thing approaching a disappointment for me is the Glenn Gould big set I got from Supraphonline for very little money. Personally speaking, it wasn't worth the hassle of downloading and tagging it, other than some excellent Bach, and even then I find his wittering over the playing very distracting. While familiarising myself with Beethoven's Sonatas, I've been regularly dipping into the Gould versions to compare and I find them, almost without exception, pointlessly contrary and frequently ugly.
> 
> Oh well, no great loss.


So you're looking for beauty. Gould didn't care about pleasing his record buyers.


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