classical record labels

bottleneck

bottleneck

talks a load of rubbish
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Hi Classical fans :)


After dipping my toe in the classical vinyl world for a year or two, I'm trying to expand my horizons.

What I have discovered so far -

1) I like small pieces of music , so you can hear clearly placed instruments - a bit like a Jazz trio.
2) I like the Cello a lot.
3) I really like a Beethoven pastoral symph no 6, Jacqueline Du Pre in Haydn and Elgar are nice. Male voice I really do like a lot.
4) I really like John Taverner (tears of the angels etc) - but have done him to death.

..a lot of the vinyl is poor quality sound that I have bought.

... so what's a ''safe bet'' - deutsche gramaphon?
other labels?

What labels should I look for on Ebay - I'm doing the odd £30 for 50 album type thing' - and looking to get as much good sound quality as possible. If the sound quality is poor with classical I find it hard to listen to.

Hoping to start an ongoing thread which I can dip-into, so welcome thoughts....

especially looking for sound quality, and trying to combine that with a bulk-purchase...

Feel free to peruse Ebay for me :D
 
Lots to choose from, bottleneck! Look for old Decca's FFSS, RCA's Orthophonic recordings and Mercury's. EMI is a safe bet for sound quality as a rule of thumb. I like Philips recordings too and some of the old DG ones as well. Try to avoid the "Digitally recorded" or "Digitally remastered" ones, as they usually sound grainy, thin and disgusting. Get a CD instead, especially with piano or strings. Simply unbeareable.

Decca's "Ace of Diamonds" or "Ace of Clubs" aren't always what they look like and many CBS recordings aren't my cuppa tea either. Many good music and musicians recorded for the label though.

Some of the Eastern European ones are worth looking for. If you find any Hungaroton pressing, just snap it up. Supraphon's quality varies a lot and Russian Melodya's wear faster than usual, even though there's some wonderful music to be heard there, with composers, orchestras and musicians at the very prime of their art. The cover artwork is usually praiseworthy, as a collector's item to be held in your hands while listening, I mean. You'd rather hold a pint instead, who knows...

There are some specialised "audiophile-recording" labels, like BIS or Opus 3, or even new pressings of ECM New Series. Worth a shot too.

I hope it helps. Happy hunting :cool:!

Regards,

Vincula
 
Anyone fancy doing a -

''desert island classical vinyl'' - sound quality and music combined..

Would give newbies like my good self a start :)
 
Hi
Why are most classical muscisians the least open-minded to listening to other genres of music?I'm not saying that is the case for some classical musicians but I find that most classical musicians do not like listening to other types of music besides classical music. A lot of them think that other genres besides classical are too corny, simple, and predictable. I just want to know why they feel that way.
 
jammydoug said:
Hi
Why are most classical muscisians the least open-minded to listening to other genres of music?I'm not saying that is the case for some classical musicians but I find that most classical musicians do not like listening to other types of music besides classical music. A lot of them think that other genres besides classical are too corny, simple, and predictable. I just want to know why they feel that way.
Click to expand...

This is slightly changing for the better. Most of my musicians friends (educated at Classical Conservatories) listen broadly and get their inspiration from many different sources. Many enjoy rock, folk and jazz.

Classical music is an incredibly demanding task, so most of those people were disciplinated and used to playing and styding many hours a day, everyday throughout many many years. So their natural reaction to so-called simple music is the one you expose above. Some of them get lost in technique and virtuosism and lose the essence of their core subject, namely music. Besides, many of them couldn't improvise and create anything, so a good portion of envy's at place as well. This is slowly changing.

There's a social motivation too. Many (of course not all!) classical musicians were upper-class people and wannabees, and thought other genres as rock, pop, jazz or folk as simply and despectively vulgar (from Latin vulgus=folk, common people). Nice for casual parties and the pintoresque only, albeit nothing serious. You can imagine their proper boys and girls" upbringing, locked in a glass cage, :rolleyes:

I believe some of those issues are things or the past. Or maybe not?

Regards,

Vincula
 
jammydoug said:
A lot of them think that other genres besides classical are too corny, simple, and predictable.
Click to expand...

They think that because it's true. That isn't to say that other forms of music are not without merit and enjoyable. (excepting Rap and 'Crossover' :chunder:)




Bach beats Buddy Holly, but I enjoy both.
 
I've mostly always had good fortune with fidelty to the source with labels Astree, EMI, and various Scandanavian (i.e. BIS, etc.). Cheers.
 

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