# Random classical purchases, and how well they work out for you?



## Manok (Aug 29, 2011)

I'm just curious, if you have ever bought a classical cd on a whim, and did you like it, or enough of it to justify the purchase? For me, when I have it has usually turned out well.


----------



## Guest (Oct 29, 2012)

I buy quite a lot of stuff I don't know anything (or very little) about.

It's always justified, even if I don't end up liking or keeping the disc.* I'm not a big fan of having other people decide for me what I'll listen to. I feel already as if record companies, even the tiny ones that I favor, have way too much control over what I'll get to hear.

And though I go to hundreds of concerts a year, I feel the same about concert programming. But I do the best I can with what I'm offered. And make lots of friends with composers and performers so I can get CDs from them with music that has not been commercially released.

I get by.

*There are lots of things I'm not interested in, and lots of things I'm pretty sure I won't like, so it's not as risky as it sounds. Still, I have jettisoned dozens of discs over the years. But dozens as opposed to the thousands I've kept.... I guess that's not too terrible a ratio.


----------



## Manxfeeder (Oct 19, 2010)

Most of the time it works out, sometimes really well.

I remember being at a book store and seeing Tchaikovsky's 6th symphony by Rozhdestvensky, and I bought it for no particular reason other than the novelty that it was in a book store. This was unusual, since I didn't care for Tchaikovsky, especially the 6th. But after hearing his interpretation, suddenly it made sense. From that, the composer's works opened up to me.

Then I was at Barnes & Noble, and their media guy pointed out they were having a sale. I mostly wanted to buy something for his sake, because he's informative and enthusiastic about music, and I wanted him to keep his job, so I got Szell's Beethoven Symphonies 1 and 6, though I was thinking I didn't need _another_ Beethoven recording. It turns out I really liked it and drove back there several times that week to pick up the rest of them.


----------



## realdealblues (Mar 3, 2010)

I would say probably 50% of what I buy are recordings or composers or works I've never heard before.

And of those I would say about 50% are things that I enjoy.

It's pretty much like flipping a coin for me. As dumb as it may be, I still buy lots of things based on the Album Artwork. Sometimes I buy recordings based on the name.

A few examples:

Poul Ruders "Solar Trilogy"
I thought the name Solar Trilogy sounded interesting. Gave it a listen and Loved It!

Henryk Gorecki - "Symphony 3: Symphony Of Sorrowful Songs"
Again I thought the name Symphony Of Sorrowful Songs sounded interesting. Gave it a listen and Loved It!

Just the other day I saw an album cover from a composer I'd never heard before:








I'd never heard of Cyril Scott but enjoyed this very much and only gave it a listen based on the album artwork.

On the other side of the coin I have bought recordings of composers whom I'd "heard of" but never heard.

I bought this one a while back because I like Leonard Bernstein:








I hated it and is currently residing in my "Too Sell" pile.

So it varies. I tried to focus on the ones I enjoyed more than the ones I didn't.


----------



## Chi_townPhilly (Apr 21, 2007)

Manok said:


> I'm just curious, if you have ever bought a classical cd on a whim[?]


Sure.

Mostly, it works out fine, although (with experience) I've limited adventuresome impulses to more budget-oriented CDs.


----------



## cwarchc (Apr 28, 2012)

Isn't that Amazon marketplace was designed for?


----------



## Lunasong (Mar 15, 2011)

It is not unusual for me to buy a CD based upon an amazing piece I heard on the radio. My radio station has an playlist online just for people like me that identifies the exact CD. I am rarely disappointed but try not to make a habit of this. ($$$)

I am looking forward to an annual big sale in town here where used CDs are just a buck! 2 more weeks! I have augmented my collection a lot through this sale.


----------



## Ukko (Jun 4, 2010)

realdealblues said:


> [...]
> I bought this one a while back because I like Leonard Bernstein:
> 
> 
> ...


Aha. Willing to part with it for $5 including shipping?


----------



## moody (Nov 5, 2011)

When I was young there were hundreds of second hand record shops in small alleys in London always run by two ancient gents.
You could potter about in dark and dusty corners and find all sorts of weird and wonderful things (to me then).
You could talk to the ancient gents who new everything and were always helpful.
They lasted until about twenty years ago and now only one, probably the best is left.I'm sorry for modern young folks who apparently only have Amazon and suchlike in their musical world. Oh, by the way you could listen to the records so that you knew what the music was like.


----------



## HarpsichordConcerto (Jan 1, 2010)

Random classical purchases - I do that all the time, music from the pre-Baroque to contemporary (in different amounts). Some fine examples are the complete Schnittke symphonies, complete quartets of Vagn Holmboe to short opera buffa of Pergolesi, usually when these items are on sale. It can be fun, and is certainly listening experience enriching. Though I am not as adventurous as wanting to buy the Merzbow-noise crap (but it isn't classical anyway, which is not what this thread is about).


----------



## Manxfeeder (Oct 19, 2010)

Lunasong said:


> It is not unusual for me to buy a CD based upon an amazing piece I heard on the radio.


When my daughter was a teenager and at the time into country music, we were riding home flipping the radio dials when we heard an orchestral piece featuring a bunch of harps going crazy. We were spellbound. The next day I drove to Tower Records and got Granville Bantock's Celtic Symphony. That was her first classical CD. What started as a totally random event turned into a great memory.


----------



## Guest (Oct 30, 2012)

HarpsichordConcerto said:


> Though I am not as adventurous as wanting to buy the Merzbow-noise crap (but it isn't classical anyway, which is not what this thread is about).


But you still managed to sneak in a swipe at it, which is your chief joy in life anyway, isn't it?

I did want to put in a plug, though, inspired by realdealblues, for keeping things you don't like.

That "working out" thing, I've found, doesn't always happen right away.

I bought a disc of M. Behrens _Final Ballet_ about twelve years ago. Didn't like it. Took it out about once a year for a spin. Nothing.

Then a couple of years ago, after I'd become very intrigued with some extremely minimal stuff by Radigue and Lopez and Sachiko M, among others, I took out _Final Ballet_ for another spin.

Magic!

I have to be very sure that I will never like it, ever, to get rid of a CD. If there's any doubt, I keep it.


----------



## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

For some crazy reason, I recently bought two sets of Scriabin piano music without ever hearing these works before. I'm waiting for a melody to break out after going through several discs.

I took a chance on some Takemitsu which turned out really good. Same for Hartmann, Schuman, Schnittke, and Honegger symphonies. All great stuff I had never heard.

I bought the Ligeti Clear or Cloudy box without knowing anything, and there's loads of great stuff on this set!


----------



## joen_cph (Jan 17, 2010)

Lots and lots of especially cheap LPs with lesser known names - except from minor operas, minute Baroque composers, and provincial American composers .


----------



## joen_cph (Jan 17, 2010)

moody said:


> When I was young there were hundreds of second hand record shops in small alleys in London always run by two ancient gents.
> You could potter about in dark and dusty corners and find all sorts of weird and wonderful things (to me then).
> You could talk to the ancient gents who new everything and were always helpful.
> They lasted until about twenty years ago and *now only one, probably the best is left*.I'm sorry for modern young folks who apparently only have Amazon and suchlike in their musical world. Oh, by the way you could listen to the records so that you knew what the music was like.


Where should one go these days in London ? I know of Harold Moore´s, probably still around but pricey, and there was a big mixed place near the Notting Hill station quite a few years ago, don´t remember the name right now ...


----------



## moody (Nov 5, 2011)

The place to go is Gramex which is in a street called Lower Marsh behind Waterloo Station,it's more like a club than a shop.
The boss is Roger who must be ancient by now,you can find it on line and there is a video on YouTube.
As for Harold Moore---he's a rip-off artist!


----------



## mud (May 17, 2012)

I ordered a CD of orchestrations by an obscure French composer that I like. It was only available from its German record label, and the shipping was very expensive. No sound samples were online, and I had not liked all of his works, so it was a 50/50 proposition. It turned out to be one of the better recordings I have for that composer! I think it appeared on amazon the next year, but you never know.


----------



## Vaneyes (May 11, 2010)

I can vouch for moody's Gramex (in London) recommendation. I was there in 2011, on two consecutive mornings. CDs are everywhere. On shelves, on tables, on the floor. Maybe some older material on the shelves is priced, but mostly not for everywhere else. The incoming just moves too fast. Roger or the other gentleman quickly give more-than-fair price quotes.

That would be the place for totally random purchases, but I seldom do such anymore. I must know something about the work, or artist, or label, for me to buy it. I'm looking for little excess these days. Usually, just an occasional hole to fill, or a replacement.

Over the decades, I've made thousands of random and selective purchases. The latter have fared better...significantly so. But it was fun for all. No one got hurt.


----------



## palJacky (Nov 27, 2010)

<<Mostly, it works out fine, although (with experience) I've limited adventuresome impulses to more budget-oriented CDs. >>>
same here.
used bins were a great place when they existed.
Vox and nonesuch labels in the days of LPs and Naxos in their 'earlier days' ($6/disc) made things worth the risk....
strange----Now cds are so cheap that I go a bit higher.
I guess this makes up for the lack of 'used bins' in the local stores.


----------

