Conference cookie::notes$archive:cd_v1

    One problem with clasical Discs is that they are always re-issuing
    "Great Performances".  For those of us who only listen to a little
    clasical music, we don't want some old performance from the 60s.
    
    I check the copyright date to find a 1980s disk, or look for DDD
    on the label.
    
    Would you look at your "Masterworks" disc, and post the copyright
    date.  I'd like to know if my theory is right.
    
    Jeff

    
    
    	I basically agree with .1. You don't have to restrict yourself
    	to Telarc. I have many CBS disk with fantastic sound. The
    	recording is also in DDD in most cases. Many companies can
    	only do the best mastering job they can with what source they
    	have. Some are a success and other are really bad. If I were
    	you I wouldn't buy anything lower than ADD unless you are a
    	collector of some sort. That is the first thing I look at
    	before laying down the cash.
    
    john//

    This ties right in with 832 ("Overmiking")...
    
    Telarc is one of the most obvious practitioners of minimal miking
    techniques and just listen to the results!
    
    Edd

    Re: .1
    	I wouldn't underestimate those "oldie moldies".  I have a CBS
    Masterworks from 1954 and 1956 that is VERY clean in comparison to
    some cd's that are recorded in the the 80's.  I have a DDD version of
    Samuel Barbers "Adagio For Strings" and while the sound is very clean,
    and the performance good, you can hear what I believe to be the
    conductor (or someone) pounding out the time on the podium during
    the quiet section (ah the wonders of DDD recordings!). I would rather
    hear a little source hiss on an otherwise clean cd then that.
    (I know...I should try to find a recording without the annoyance.)
    	Also, many of those old recordings are by brilliant musicians
    during their peak performing period which we'll never get to hear
    the likes of again.  I realise that many people are very critical of
    what they hear on their stereos (tape, record, or cd) because they
    are "audiophiles" and take a certain pride in everything being clean,
    and others who are more critical with the performance of the music.
    I try to be a little of both.  Not trying to raise any hackles,
    just one opinion on some of those oldies.
    
    _stew-

    I'm new to the classical world also, but here are some labels I have 
    found to have good discs:
    
    TELARC  
    L'oiseau-Lyre 
    Archiv
    Deutsche Grammaphone
    Chandos
    Sheffield Labs
    
    I also have heard many CBS Masterworks discs and think they are also
    excellent -- but if they copyguard that is going to be a definite
    problem. I also find that certain groups or artists have a high
    probability of "goodness" including: 
    
    Academy of St. Martins
    Trevor Pinnock and the English Concert
    Christopher Hogwood
    
    I'm sure there are tons of others, but these have worked well for
    me.  
        
    One of the things I did was to rummage through the review notes in this
    conference to provide a guide.  There are a lot of reviews and opinions
    in notes here that can provide a good guide to different pieces of
    music.
    
    D 

One of  the  best  sources  of  classical  disks  is (getting to be) Musical
Heritage  Society.  They  will send you their monthly mailings free, but you
have  to  keep  sending  postcards  back in if you don't want their featured
selections  to  follow  automatically.  However,  the  monthly  mag also has
articles about the music and makes nice reading. Most disks are $12.99 or
$14.99  but  you  have  to  pay  shipping.  Their performances and recording
quality is consistently excellent.

If you buy $15 worth of stuff they will also send you their complete catalog
free. 

    When I first got interested in classical CDs I was totally confused
    as to what to purchase.  Some labels are better than others, but
    sound is a combination of the quality of the cd mastering and the
    actual performance.  In some instances one may outweigh the other.
     For information on classical CDs I found the best source to be
    "Digital Audio"  This magazine does monthly reviews of classical/jazz/
    blues/soundtracks/pop/rock CDs.  They also have a terrific year
    end issue that outlines all CDs reviewed during the previous year.
    For new classical listeners, they have a series of articles of what
    pieces should be musts in your collection, giving a list of different
    performers who have CDs that include this music.  They give two
    ratings on performance and sound quality.  Both are subjective areas
    but for the most part I've found them to be accurate.
    
    Debbie
    

    TELARC consistantly seems to have the best sound of any record label.
    However, TELARC has a lot of so-so performances by second tier
    orchestras ( notably Dallas and St. Louis ).  The  clear sound does
    not allow the engineers to cover up the flaws in the performances.
    Getting a CD with good performers is more important than getting a
    good record label.
    
    John
    
    P.S. Try the Saint-Saens Symphony #3/Ormandy/Philadelphia/Telarc. 
         No better combination could ever be assembled.

    
    It's a point:
    
    I have three of those old CBS Great Performance CDs, the Tchaikovsky
    suites, Wagner's Symphonic Music from the Ring (Szell and the Cleveland
    Symphony), and Holst's The Planets (Berstein and the New York
    Philharmonic).  All of them are old recordings, and if you turn it up
    too much you can hear the hiss. 
    
    But for me, these are *the performances* of these pieces.  I can
    remember listening to that Tchaikovsky stuff on a stereo demo record
    my Mom had when I was little.  I wanted these performances forever.
    In these cases, that was more important than the quality of the
    recording.
    
    DFW

Thank you all for the your responses.  I have found them to be 
very helpful.  I will now beging to explore beyond the world of 
Telarc.

Re .1

Sorry but I got rid of my Masterworks disc.  It was done by
Bernstein and the NY Philharmonic, but I am not sure of the date.

Re .8

I am interested in giving Saint-Saens Symphony #3 a try.  Pardon 
my lack of knowledge but can you tell me who the artist is or how 
I would find the disc?  I believe that Ormandy is the conductor, 
Philadelphia is the orchestra, and I'm sure that Telarc is the 
label.  Do I look under Saint-Seans, or something else?  Thanks 
for the suggestion.

Dave

    The most important characteristic about classical music to me is
    how it sounds IN MY LIVING ROOM.  I am not interested in listening
    to a "famous" orchestra, just because of the name.  The New York
    Philharmonic may be better than the Cleveland Symphony in the concert
    hall, but it's a totally different ball game listening to them in
    my apartment.  Therefore, I tend to purchase disks where the upmost
    care has been made to produce a better performance at home.
    
    
    						-Paul
      

    Re: .-2
    
    Yes, you should find that Telarc under Saint-Saens.
    
    Other labels that I've been generally impressed by are:
    
    	Chandos
    	BIS
    	Delos
    	Nonesuch
    
    Generally you won't do bad with anything from the any
    of the Polygram discs.  These include Philips, DG, Argo
    London, Archiv and L'Oiseau-Lyre.
    
    Somewhere in this conference are my review (use the keyword
    REVIEW).  It lists some of my favorite discs.  I'm planning
    to a add a bunch of short "I liked these alot" soon.
    

RE:  Saint-Saens Symphony #3.

The Ormandy version on TELARC is a very good recording, but if you want *THE
DEFINITIVE RECORDING* try the old RCA Red Seal version by Charles Munch and
the BSO -- it is great.  The sound is not as good (what the hell it's almost
30 years old), but the performance is outstanding.

RE:  In general -- I buy CD's to listen to classical music -- that's MUSIC,
not to listen to the presence or absence of background noise.  Buying 
performances of a piece based on sonic quality of the CD over the value
of the performance of the piece is, to me, ludicrous.  Obviously, if the
sonics are so bat as to interfere with the sound, then that's something
else.

In this regard, while may TELERC discs have excellent performances, just
as many are only average (or even worse).  Listen to the performance before
you buy.

Some other labels which I have found to be excellent:

	Hungaroton
	TELDEC
	Suprafon


Also, for those that live within driving distance of Sudbury, MA:

Try 'The Electric Grammophone'  they have just about the best/most complete
selection of CD's around.  Even better, Rick Oakley (the owner) will let you
listen to any CD he has without having to buy it first.  He is extrememly
knowledgeable (and biased) about almost all forms of classical music.  I
have never been disappointed in any CD he has recommended to me.  His prices
are on the outrageous side, but you do get service and lots of good info.

Good luck

Dirk

    I repeat my recommendation of Stevenson's CD Review.  This magazine
    compiles reviews from many other publications, and ranks classical
    cds based on the overall reaction that several different reviewers
    have had.  The latest issue includes some show/soundtrack music,
    and some international music as well.  Stevenson also includes an
    "honor roll" of discs that have received *** ratings for performance
    and sound quality from at least 4 reviewers.
    
    On the strength of this, I just bought a 1956 recording or Karl
    B�hm conducting Mozarts 40 and 41 symphonies.  Of the five recordings
    of these that I have, I do like B�hm's the best.
    
    The subscription info is in note 246.48.

    A good place for a novice to begin in the Classical music field
    would be with the "Basic  Repertoire", a list of "essential"
    ( at least in the view of Stereo Review's reviewer ) works with
    suggested performances and recordings.  This list has been updated
    to include the CD format.  To get a copy, just look in any Stereo
    Review and you'll see the ad's for it.  It cost a dollar I believe.
    ( No flames, please, about the "quality" of Stereo Review's
    record reviews.  I find some of their Classical reviewers much 
    more knowledgeable and their reviews much more useful than most
    in Digital Audio.  But, you could have just the opposite experience.
    The point is that the Basic Repertoire listing was my "starting
    point", almost twenty years ago, into the wonderful world of
    classical music.  It still serves that purpose quite well.)
    
    re the comments about good labels.... 
    
    Telarc does, indeed, have some of the highest production values
    in the industry.  They also have the largest stable of grade "B"
    performances extant.  Some of their recordings are quite good.
    "Side B" of their (in)famous 1812 Overture ( Cossack Dance and
    Mazeppa ) are among the best perfomances of these late Romantic
    works you will find.
    
    Other classical labels of note:
    
    Phillips... especially for solo piano works.  Someone in the 
    engineering section at Phillips understands how a piano should
    sound.  Try any of the Mozart piano sonatas by Mitsuko Uchida.
    
    RCA ( the Red Seal line )... again, for some special things, in
    this case classical guitar works.  The "Classical heritage" series
    by Julian Bream is especially good.
    
    The other labels mention above are good, as well.
    
    Good luck and happy listening.
    
    						Regards
    						Doug Dickerson
    

    Hello,
    I am quite a new user of notes, so that's why I react only now.
    Some recordings on CD I really can recommand to you are the
    very famous "Also sprach Zaratoustra" by DSO conductor Antal
    Dorati and "Le Sacre du Printemps" by the same performers.
    Although rhe music of both Richard Strauss and Igor Stravinsky
    (the composer of these works) is quite difficult for a starting
    lover of classical music, you may not miss them. But perhaps you
    have had ample time to devellop your taste in the past two month.
    
    By the way, these performances are published on DECCA, a lable with
    very many good performances 

    BTW: DECCA is known as the "London" label in the USA.