# S.F. Classical Music Examiner Introduction



## scottlf (Jan 7, 2009)

Hello All,

I am the author of "S.F. Classical Music Examiner", a column which runs regularly on Examiner.com in San Francisco. My column covers all aspects of the classical music scene (except that I don't write concert reviews).

Articles include an expansive history of the San Francisco Symphony's discography, a series on classical music downloading sites and CD stores, and quite a lot else, including articles on individual works or composers.

The site can be found here:

http://www.examiner.com/x-373-SF-Classical-Music-Examiner

The site accepts comments, if you're so inclined, and I'll be posting here regularly as well.

Greetings, and happy holidays,
Scott


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## shamrock (Feb 4, 2009)

Good afternoon from the island of Maui. I just joined this interesting forum yesterday

I am planning an initial posting on some thoughts of mine on different recorded performances of the Beethoven Piano Concerti. Before doing so I decided to look through the postings on the forum, for I do not want to duplicate what has already been covered.

During my brief exploration, I happened to locate your posting regarding your musical articles published in the SF Classical Examiner.com site. I have browsed very briefly through the contents of your articles, and plan to read them in toto.

In the 1970's I lived in San Francisco, and frequently attended both faculty and student recitals at the Conservatory. Last summer I was in the Bay Area and noted the Conservatory had acquired a new home. I was also searching for retailers of classical CD's with stocks of unusual recorded works and located one only, Ameoba, which I found to be located in a still very depressing area of the city. I found the stock of the Borders store on Powell Street to be outrageously poor. The classical stock in that store was appalling, and I suggested to Borders, in writing, that they should exit the classical cd business immediately at the Powell location. You possibly are aware that the Borders store in Santa Rosa remains well stocked, and the San Rafael store fairly well stocked.

I do not wish to delay you further. I appreciate being made aware of your contributions to "examiner.com".

Respectfully, Irvine Shamrock.


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## david johnson (Jun 25, 2007)

sorry i'm late in my welcome to you, we've been amidst an ice storm.
it's a little better now.

hi!



dj


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## scottlf (Jan 7, 2009)

Hi Irvine -- thanks for the post. I agree with you that the downtown Borders (both Powell Street and the newer one in the Westfield Centre, over on Market where Emporium used to be) has a horrible selection, and it's also very poorly maintained. The downtown Virgin Megastore is better, but the stock is inconsistent; apparently they restock in big gulps rather than constantly. With the demise of Tower Records -- I really miss the big Classical Annex at Columbus & Bay -- we really don't have a good CD store. Amoeba remains the best bet but it's a lousy part of town and one has to deal with an awfully spikey feel in the place, esp. now that the classical section isn't in a separate room.

There is another Amoeba in Berkeley which has a separate classical section that feels like an island of sanity (even if the desk clerk typically likes aggressively avant-garde music). Rasputin's, also in Berkeley, has a smallish but decent selection in the basement.

There are also the two Streetlight Records locations (Castro and Noe Valley) both of which have extremely small classical areas, but the selection is pretty good given their very sharp limitations as to space and all.

Still, all in all, online is the way to go these days; between ArkivMusic, Amazon, the big European vendors like Crotchet, Presto, and mpc, Buywell in Australia, and the better download sites like ClassicsOnline, iTunes, and (recently) ArkivMusic, I'm visiting CD stores less and less, even for used stuff.

Incidentally, the new Conservatory building is stunning -- eight floors, three concert halls, lots of space. It isn't perfect (not enough practice rooms, but there never are) but the change from the sweet but cramped old place on Ortega and 19th is dramatic.


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## scottlf (Jan 7, 2009)

david johnson said:


> sorry i'm late in my welcome to you, we've been amidst an ice storm.
> it's a little better now.
> 
> hi!
> ...


I've been out here in California so long I've almost -- but not quite -- forgotten about ice storms and all that winter stuff. Here in San Francisco, it just gets kind of wet and windy. Then again it's often like that during the summer as well...


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