What was the first Classical Cd you bought?

[DanielFullard]

For some of you this will be a long time ago, for others it may be very recently....but what was the first Classical CD you bought?

Mine was this in December 2002....

[MaestroDJS]

Classical music began to interest me in 1968, when I was 11. The film 2001: A Space Odyssey captivated me with its scenes of spaceflight accompanied by Strauss waltzes. This led me to explore my father's old classical records, and my appreciation grew, so his collection laid the foundation for my collection. Finally in 1972 I bought my very first classical record, Symphonies Nos. 94 and 103 by Franz Joseph Haydn. I liked Haydn so much that I bought the new 48-LP set of all his symphonies with Antal Doráti and the Philharmonia Hungarica. That's 104 symphonies plus a few odds and ends; not the thing a typical teenager would buy. That started my record collection which now numbers about 3000 LPs and 1000 CDs and growing.

Dave

David Stybr, Engineer and Composer: It's Left Brain vs. Right Brain: best 2 falls out of 3
http://members.SibeliusMusic.com/Stybr
Tango: Summer Night in Montevideo for Violin and Piano (3:20)
http://www.SibeliusMusic.com/cgi-bin/sh ... reid=78610

Personal Assistant and Der Webmeister to author Denise Swanson
http://www.DeniseSwanson.com
Murder of a Smart Cookie
Penguin Putnam ~ Signet, New York, NY

[Brendan]

I know the first CD I bought was a 24-carat gold mobile fidelity remastering of Pink Floyd's Dark Side of The Moon. First classical CD was probably Beethoven's Ninth. . . Roger Norrington recording . . .

This is why recalling early purchases isn't always fun. I can't stand Norrington's Ninth. Oh, yeah, the first copy of the Cello Suites I got was Yo-yo's; the first Four Seasons Nigel Kennedy; this is just embarrassing . . .

[Muriel]

Du Pre's Elgar Cello concerto.

[CharmNewton]

This is why recalling early purchases isn't always fun. I can't stand Norrington's Ninth. Oh, yeah, the first copy of the Cello Suites I got was Yo-yo's; the first Four Seasons Nigel Kennedy; this is just embarrassing . . .

If the Cello Suites are Ma's first recording, well I find that one a very good set, one of the best of the modern style readings.

I saw Kennedy play the Four Seasons in Chicago in 1988 and enjoyed his performance. I've never heard his CD (I think he recorded it twice). Kennedy's been around for quite awhile now.

John

[CharmNewton]

My first purchase was actually six CDs on the same day I purchased my first player in March, 1986.

Mahler 9th (Walter/Columbia Symphony)
Mozart Symphonies 40/41 (Walter/Columbia Symphony)
Verdi/Puccini arias (Kiri Te Kanawa)
Songs of the Auvergne, Vol I (Frederica Von Stade)

I'm not absolutely certain about the sixth disc.

With sales tax, this purchase set me back over $100.

The Von Stade disc sold me on CDs. Never before had I heard vocal recordings sound so clean. She had also made a great impression on me as an artist when I saw her in recital five years earlier. Kiri was another singer I found very moving in recital.

John

[Barry]

Don't remember the first CD, but the first recording, on cassette, was Beethoven's fifth by Klemperer and the Philharmonia.

[Brendan]

Charm

Ma's was the first set of Cello Suites that I bought, not his first recording - and I now much prefer Casals or Fournier, although I also like Gendron, Tortelier and even prefer Rostropovich, Schiff and Maisky's recordings over Ma's. If you know someone who wants it and will pay the postage, I don't (probably should try giving it away for Xmas).

Kennedy's Jimi Hendirix impersonation on the recording grates on my ears these days.

I knew those names at the time because they were almost "crossover" in attempting to attract a popular audience. After their initial success, I moved on to artists I much prefer.

[Harvested Sorrow]

If I recall correctly it was one of those $6 compilation discs "Wagner's Overtures and Orchestral works" I believe.

[GK]

About a dozen CDs from one of those BMG offers

Outstanding
2 Maria Callas recitals
Franco Corelli recital
A Copland CD/Zinman
El Amore Brujo etc,/Hugh Wolff
Death and the Maiden/Brodsky Qt.

Disappointments
Brahms #1/Sawallich
Sibelius #2/Jansons

Then I bought a lot of Pilzes for under $1

[Gregg Deering]

My first classical records (at age 14) were Richter’s recording of Liszt PC 1 & 2, and the Szell recording of Beethoven 5 and some Mozart on Phillips. I think quickly followed by Karajan’s Symphony Fantastique and a record of Ormandy favorites with Danse Macabre.

My parents has a few classical cassettes (why I don’t know) and a friend who introduced me to a broader range of classical music. As for the first CD? Tatrai recording of Haydn quartets and some terrible Previn recording of Janacek - never trust audio magazine classical reviews.

Not long after I bought my CD player I bought a Penguin guide to catch up on all the classical i’d missed, I was a jazz/swing listener for years and relied on a few hundred classical records from high school and college days, the guide was another mistake. Maybe good for some not standard rep composers - and English composers (same thing? - only joking), but most recordings suggested were mediocre.

By the way I heard a Norrington broadcast recently from Vienna - the Vienna Phil makes anyone sound great, but I think he's gotten better. Though I only heard part of one concert.

Gregg

[miranda]

The first classical cd I ever bought was Glenn Gould's 1955 version of J. S. Bach's Goldberg Variations. I first bought it in 1994, and have rebought since then because my original copy got scratched.

It remains one of my favorite cd's that I own to this day; I play it often.

[CharmNewton]

Charm

Ma's was the first set of Cello Suites that I bought, not his first recording - and I now much prefer Casals or Fournier, although I also like Gendron, Tortelier and even prefer Rostropovich, Schiff and Maisky's recordings over Ma's. If you know someone who wants it and will pay the postage, I don't (probably should try giving it away for Xmas).

I don't like Ma's second recording either. It strikes me as mannered with forced expression and isn't well recorded either.

Kennedy's Jimi Hendirix impersonation on the recording grates on my ears these days.

I knew those names at the time because they were almost "crossover" in attempting to attract a popular audience. After their initial success, I moved on to artists I much prefer.

When I saw Kennedy play in Chicago he performed lively and well. I don't think he was doing rock back then although one of his early CDs had a piece of Ellington coupled with the Bartok solo sonata. I like his musicianship on the few discs I have of him, but for me he lacks the polish of really great violinists.

John

[daycart]

I can't remember my first CD. But my first vinyl was as a high schooler in about 1972: Brahms' 4th Walter/columbia on a cheapo "Odyssey" reissue.

[Wanderer]

My first ever classical music purchases, when a teenager: Beethoven Symphonies Nos. 1 & 3 (Harnoncourt) and Missa Solemnis (Levine).

[val]

The first recording I had, was offered to me, when I was 12. It was an LP with Bach Cantatas BWV 4, 54, 59, conducted by Kurt Thomas in the Gewanthaus Leipzig.

[Ralph]

The first CD - very far back - was a DG release of classical excerpts. It was about all I could find the day I bought my Technics player. I also bought a DG release of opera choruses.

In the early days of CDs even Tower Records had few interesting selections. A colleague and I bought from a mail order outfit no longer in business. There was a discount if one ordered ten discs but, invariably, half the order couldn't be filled.

[Lark Ascending]

My first classical music purchase was by Vaughan Williams, an 8 CD box set of his nine symphonies and other orchestral works.

[Irish_Graham]

I know the first CD I bought was a 24-carat gold mobile fidelity remastering of Pink Floyd's Dark Side of The Moon. First classical CD was probably Beethoven's Ninth. . . Roger Norrington recording . . .

This is why recalling early purchases isn't always fun. I can't stand Norrington's Ninth. Oh, yeah, the first copy of the Cello Suites I got was Yo-yo's; the first Four Seasons Nigel Kennedy; this is just embarrassing . . .

Thats funny cos I remember just when I was looking for Beethoven's symphonies, there was a box set of Norrington's of all 9, and one beside it of Karajan conducting the Berliner Philharmonica, Norringtons cost €19, Karajan's was €120, couldnt get my head around it at the time.

Norrington's arent great, and the 9th sounds very lacklustre and isnt anywhere near raucous enough when the chorus hits.

On the subjecy, my first cd was "Essential Bach", good stuff and a nice introduction to this music.

Now, as well as books, its what I spend nearly all my spare money on.

[malfromoz]

I don't remember the first CD, but the first music DVD was Jacqueline Du Pre in Portrait. She was already my favourite musician and as soon as I saw the DVD I had to have it. Problem was I didn't actually have a DVD player so that had to be rectified. Fortunately, the players are fairly cheap. However, I found that it would not connect to my ten year old TV. One DVD player, one new TV, several hundred dollars and several hours later I was finally watching her play Elgar. I won't say that I wept tears of joy, but I was rather emotional.

She has since been joined by Fournier and Rostropovich, and the wonderful pianists Gilels, Richter, Rubinstein, Argerich and Michelangeli (my favourite), among other delights.

Cheers
Mal

[Volodya]

First classical cd I bought was Mozart Symphony No. 35 and 41 conducted by Bernstein. It was apart of the Penguin Classics series.

[dirkronk]

The first CD I ever purchased was in...oh, 1999 or 2000: the sampler set of the Great Pianists of the 20th Century, complete with book, all for about eight bucks. Prior to that, I'd adhered to a 17-year personal ban on buying all CDs and digitally encoded material (I'll spare you the analog-vs.-digital tirade), but buying the GPOC sampler was just a whim. The first REAL CD purchase came a few months later. I'd heard several performances from the Richter in Prague 15-disc set and decided that I didn't want to do without these performances. Since the likelihood that they'd ever see the light of day in analog form was essentially nill, I swallowed crow and ordered the set. Since then, I've accumulated about 700 more, most (but not all) items that I either cannot acquire or afford in analog/vinyl format.

Now, as to the first classical recording I bought for myself? IIRC, it was 1969 at the University of Texas Co-op--a Seraphim LP of Rodzinski doing the Tchai 1812 and other potboilers. I was a college sophomore at the time. I didn't immediately engage in a classical buying orgy--that would begin about eight or nine years later. But I did subsequently acquire another 8 or 9 thousand LPs. After getting married I whittled it down to a more manageable 2,500 or so. Now it's swelled back to something like 3,500--and I'm currently in the process of purging again.

For those of us who are truly demented yet committed to a relationship, it works like this. For those NOT in relationships, there are no barriers whatsoever. I have one acquaintance who owns 25,000+ jazz LPs. Another with AT LEAST 60,000 classical LPs and CDs...no one really knows how many, because after his house and large detached garage+quarters became completely filled, and he no longer allows anyone to come over.

Yes, it can get scary.

Dirk