The Classical Download Thread

[Catison]

Lots of great Black Friday deals at Amazon this week.  I just picked up the complete Glazunov symphonies for $5!!

http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html/ref=amb_link_86142811_3?ie=UTF8&docId=1000455711&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=left-1&pf_rd_r=0D95BF5M9BDJVGMQSMDR&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=501397631&pf_rd_i=2236008011

[Teresa]

  This weeks free album download at classical.com is "Moross - The Big Country, High Noon, Bonanza" with Carl Davis and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra http://www.classical.com/free-classical-music.php  I've played it, the music is great and it sounds very good.   

The is the first thing I have downloaded from classical.com and the tag information is really poor.  There is no picture of the album, all track numbers say number 1 and the title of the recording is incorrect, it should be called "Great Western Themes".  I found the album cover to add to the music files using google image search.  I numbered the tracks on the album and retitled it with the correct name.  Is this just a fluk or all of the downloads at classical.com like this?

Avoid the other free download of the Mendelssohn/Bruch Violin Concertos as it is full of skips.   

[Brian]

LARGE NUMBERS OF FREE THINGS

Amazon is currently selling an MP3 download album called "I Love the '80s (1880s)". It contains Naxos recordings of the following:

Brahms Symphony No 3 (Alsop/LPO; half-decent performance which the Hurwitzer loved)
Mahler Symphony No 1 (Halasz; haven't heard this CD)
Tchaikovsky Symphony No 5 (Wit/PNRSO; really solid playing if unspectacular)
Dvorak Symphony No 6 (Gunzenhauser/Slovak PO; one of the best recent recordings)
Borodin Symphony No 3 (Gunzenhauser; haven't heard this CD)
Saint-Saens Organ Symphony (unsure who's playing; ditto)
Bruckner Symphony No 9 (Tintner; celebrated recording)

This five-hour album is totally free. 500 megabytes.

[Opus106]

LARGE NUMBERS OF FREE THINGS

Amazon is currently selling an MP3 download album called "I Love the '80s (1880s)". It contains Naxos recordings of the following:

Brahms Symphony No 3 (Alsop/LPO; half-decent performance which the Hurwitzer loved)
Mahler Symphony No 1 (Halasz; haven't heard this CD)
Tchaikovsky Symphony No 5 (Wit/PNRSO; really solid playing if unspectacular)
Dvorak Symphony No 6 (Gunzenhauser/Slovak PO; one of the best recent recordings)
Borodin Symphony No 3 (Gunzenhauser; haven't heard this CD)
Saint-Saens Organ Symphony (unsure who's playing; ditto)
Bruckner Symphony No 9 (Tintner; celebrated recording)

This five-hour album is totally free. 500 megabytes.

I, for one, am very grateful to you (and amazon.com ), sir.

[Opus106]

I, for one, am very grateful to you (and amazon.com ), sir.

Wait -- I guess I spoke too soon.

Amazon MP3 Purchases are limited to U.S. customers.

Edit: No, I can actually get around these geographical limitations quite easily.

[Brian]

Edit: No, I can actually get around these geographical limitations quite easily.

Glad to hear that!

[George]

Edit: No, I can actually get around these geographical limitations quite easily.

Opus 106 is everywhere.  0:)

[Benji]

Opus 106 is everywhere.  0:)

Opnipotent....omnopustent.... darn it doesn't really work but you get the idea

[Catison]

LARGE NUMBERS OF FREE THINGS

Amazon is currently selling an MP3 download album called "I Love the '80s (1880s)". It contains Naxos recordings of the following:

Brahms Symphony No 3 (Alsop/LPO; half-decent performance which the Hurwitzer loved)
Mahler Symphony No 1 (Halasz; haven't heard this CD)
Tchaikovsky Symphony No 5 (Wit/PNRSO; really solid playing if unspectacular)
Dvorak Symphony No 6 (Gunzenhauser/Slovak PO; one of the best recent recordings)
Borodin Symphony No 3 (Gunzenhauser; haven't heard this CD)
Saint-Saens Organ Symphony (unsure who's playing; ditto)
Bruckner Symphony No 9 (Tintner; celebrated recording)

This five-hour album is totally free. 500 megabytes.

Thanks for the tip!

They have a lot of other non-classical samplers for free too.

[Brian]

"Very Best of Naxos Early Music" is another great free sampler.

And Brett, another of the $5 deals is Mravinsky conducting Shostakovich 5, 6 and 8! I might have to pick up that and the Glazunov both...

[George]

A recent article written on this topic by the guy who started the Yahoo Classical Recordings group:

http://www.macworld.com/article/145050/2009/12/classical_downloads.html

[Teresa]

Between now and January 10 at amazon.com, each time you purchase an MP3 album priced $7.99 or higher, you'll get a credit good for one of the 800+ $5 MP3 albums Free.

One of my free choices was Musique de la Grèce antique by Gregorio Paniagua conducting the Atrium Musica de Madrid.  Fantastic album!

I also discovered another great advantage of computer audio, If I don't like the album art I can replace it.  The Album art used for the Musique de la Grèce is the same as used for the CD, however the artwork for the LP is full size and looks beautiful, so I replaced the artwork.

The MP3 / CD Artwork


The LP artwork

[Chris]

Might I ask if anyone here uses Napster? I use their subscription service and it's great as a resource for sampling recordings before buying them on CD. I has most of the Naxos library, along with DG and the others.

[classicalmusicfan]

We are all moved by the tragic earthquake in Haiti. As a way to keep the people of Haiti in our hearts and minds, please take this free download of the Haitian national anthem from COL and share with your friends and loved ones.

[stingo]

I have an MP3 credit from Amazon - any recommendations on for items that are download only? (I prefer having the disc, but if the disc isn't available, then the MP3 will suffice.)

[MN Dave]

I have an MP3 credit from Amazon - any recommendations on for items that are download only? (I prefer having the disc, but if the disc isn't available, then the MP3 will suffice.)

Go into the mp3 area, go to the classical section, sort by average rating and start shopping. That's if you trust your fellow Amazonians. 

Oh, and hunt for bargains. I've found 10 "disc" box sets for $9.99!

[Coopmv]

Go into the mp3 area, go to the classical section, sort by average rating and start shopping. That's if you trust your fellow Amazonians. 

Oh, and hunt for bargains. I've found 10 "disc" box sets for $9.99!

I tend to view average ratings taken across fewer than 5 reviewers with a dose of skepticism and ignore ratings with fewer than 5.  I have found ratings with at least 30 reviewers much more accurate.

[Teresa]

I finally have all of my music on my computer.  In Classical music that breaks down to 291 composers.  In have 2,907 items/compositions/songs which breaks down as follows:

• Classical - 1488
  Alternative - 52
  Americana - 13
  Blues - 119
  Christmas - 2
  Comedy - 18
  Country - 131
  Dance - 3
  Easy Listening - 101
  Folk - 152
  Holiday - 15
  International - 28
  Jazz - 137
  Latin Music - 2
  New Age - 62
  Pop/Rock - 359
  R&B - 2
  Reggae - 2
  Soundtrack - 161
  World - 58

My high resolution 88.2kHz and 96kHz tracks are mostly from HD Tracks and the BSO.
Most of my MP3 downloads are from Amazon and emusic.
Plus I burned the CD layer of my SACDs at 320kbps.

I have deleted a lot of what I download, I would say about 75% of the free downloads from Amazon and iTunes gets deleted.  And about 20% of the downloads from monthly subscriptions such as emusic.  The 15 to 30 second previews are really not long enough to tell if I really will like something.

The companies in Classical music with my heaviest delete rate are Deutsche Grammaphon, Naxos and BIS.  I no longer download anything from these three companies even for free.  I used to get the weekly free track and the monthly $1.49 Naxos samplers from Classics Online but I don't anymore as I have deleted most of them for poor sound quality. 

I have discovered MP3's from Telarc, Reference Recordings, Lyrita and a handful of others are always excellent and standup to repeated listenings so I look for these first.

[mahler10th]

Teresa, it is always interesting to see how others collect and organise their music.  I had a massive amount of collected digital recordings last year, but lost them due to their becoming a pyre in a fire...I started collecting again immediately after, many people in here helped me, and now I have an ever growing collection of both digital and cd recordings.
I am surprised you have deleted much Naxos downloads due to sound quality.  I learned that somewhere in the mid-1990's Naxos polished up their mastering, and indeed I have found this to be accurate as the naxos recordings I have reflect a sound quality which is far better balanced and clear than a lot of their old stuff.

I have discovered MP3's from Telarc, Reference Recordings, Lyrita and a handful of others are always excellent and standup to repeated listenings so I look for these first.

[Teresa]

Teresa, it is always interesting to see how others collect and organise their music.  I had a massive amount of collected digital recordings last year, but lost them due to their becoming a pyre in a fire...I started collecting again immediately after, many people in here helped me, and now I have an ever growing collection of both digital and cd recordings.
I am surprised you have deleted much Naxos downloads due to sound quality.  I learned that somewhere in the mid-1990's Naxos polished up their mastering, and indeed I have found this to be accurate as the naxos recordings I have reflect a sound quality which is far better balanced and clear than a lot of their old stuff.

John I am sorry to hear about the fire, some people recommend backing-up off site.  I would loose everything as well, all of my SACDs and DVD-Audios and all of my computer audio.  I back up to DVD+R but they are stored in a drawer, perhaps I should get a fire-proof safe?

I have found one Naxos SACD I like, Shostakovich Hamlet, it is powerful and exciting but still has that cold sound that I associate with Naxos and most modern major label classical recordings.  All the other Naxos SACDs I didn't like at all and some were absolutely terrible.  I have downloaded perhaps 40 or so MP3 tracks from Naxos, all but two have been deleted.  Most were from the six $1.49 new release Naxos Samplers from Classics Online I purchased over the last year, these were recorded between 2008-2009.  I agree most of the worst Naxos were from the 1990's but I don't care for them even for free.   There might be another decent Naxos out there but for me it is not worth the search. 

I would never want to attempt to diminish the joy others may get from Naxos, I or anyone else wouldn't be able to anyway.  I'm just sharing my experiences.