What was your first classical LP or CD?

[eljr]

this LP, early 70's.

I was in college and asked the store owner what would be a good introduction to classical. He gave me this, then, new release.

[Senta]

Okay - don't laugh, but...





Well, it wasn't really *my* album, it was my parents' - but definitely the first I remember hearing of "classical" which was around the time I started school (and also piano lessons).

The first classical CDs I remember buying consciously with my own money were before I even owned a CD player, I was probably about 12, had to play the CDs via PC!

This right here, I picked up in the bargain bin and my gosh, I have fond memories of listening to this disc while playing Minesweeper - the Rite of Spring excerpt alone was enough to hook me on Stravinsky for good:



https://www.amazon.com/Telarc-Collection-Vol-6/dp/B000003D6D

And on that same visit to Best Buy, picked up this box set, which really was my gateway - 10 CDs, each highlights a different composer, these were all so well-loved and played, but especially the Wagner. If you could wear a CD out it would be that one!


https://www.amazon.com/Masters-Classical-Music-Johann-Sebastian/dp/B000001VU5

A little later, with a real CD player, I finally graduated to "real" albums as I encountered various pieces through band and such - the next CDs I purchased were on the CBS Great Performances label, also bargains:

Wagner: Great Orchestral Music from "The Ring" (Szell/Cleveland)
Holst: The Planets (Bernstein/NY Phil)

That next year, as a freshman, we played a wind version of Carmina Burana, so I set out to buy a recording - this was the first time I consciously remember being in search of "the best recording" as I was starting to grasp how different in quality and interpretation various recordings could be.

So, faced with 4 or 5 different Carmina Buranas staring at me, what did I do as a 14 year old?

Bought the most expensive, fanciest looking, yellow labeled disc, boasting "4D" sound 

(Though certainly the fact that it was a live recording with the Vienna Philharmonic was a factor too!)



And it's still a wonderful recording I really enjoy - in fact, I've never gotten around to buying another Carmina

[LKB]

Okay - don't laugh, but...

I was working at Tower Records as classical clerk and part-time buyer when that was released. If l was working and someone asked for that recording, l had to take my time responding because the immediate impulse would have been something like:

" Are you f___ing kidding me??? You expect me to sell you this disco-fied atrocity as opposed to a valid recording featuring the intended version of one of the pieces misrepresented on this commercially-inspired drivel? "

Or words to that effect. 

In actuality, Hooked on Classics probably did lead at least a few folks into the world of serious music, who otherwise might not have ever been attracted to it. So I'm glad, looking back on that time, that l was always able to take a deep breath, hold my tongue and present my customer with the requested recording.

But it really did take a lot out of me...

Chuckling,

LKB

[springrite]

Okay - don't laugh, but...

Someone gave me that for my birthday. It was useful as I ended up tracking down every piece represented in that recording and purchase a proper recording.

[Maestro267]

The first classical purchase I made was the complete Beethoven symphonies. Philadelphia Orchestra/Muti on 6 discs.

[LKB]

Someone gave me that for my birthday. It was useful as I ended up tracking down every piece represented in that recording and purchase a proper recording.

Good, makes me feel better even now, decades later. 

Cheers,

LKB

[Pizzicato-Polka]

The first classical music album - or rather the first classical+other genres mix album, since it's electric/pop too - I've listened to was The Violin Player by Vanessa Mae. Not on CD, but on a casette tape played by my dad for little me. To this day I absolutely love electric versions of classical pieces, especially in metal style, they're always bangers!

The first CD, and proper classical music, I listened to was something from the budget Classical Collection/die Klassiksammlung by DeAgostini. Probably the Vivaldi album: https://www.discogs.com/master/529700-Vivaldi-H%C3%B6hepunkt-Des-Barock

I also loved Tschaikovsky from this series as a child ( https://www.discogs.com/release/1105042-Tschaikowsky-Die-Meisterwerke ), and Strauss II ( https://www.discogs.com/master/529703-J-Strauss-Der-Wiener-Walzerk%C3%B6nig ). I adored the bright colors of them, I'd search my favorites not really by names but more by colors, like "the green one" or "the yellow one". 

And finally, the first 2 classical CDs I personally bought for myself (both at once) were:

Virtuoso by Leonidas Kavakos ( https://www.discogs.com/release/8792231-Kavakos-Virtuoso ), still one of the CDs I listen to the most. Absolutely love the choice of contents there.

Polskie dzieła wielkich mistrzów, a 4 CD set with works of Polish composers, ed. Soliton ( https://sklep.dalmafon.pl/polskie-dziela-wielkich-mistrzow ). Unfortunately, I ended up listening to it less often than I had hoped for. I remember not caring too much about its selection of Chopin pieces for example, I need to refresh my memory.

[Mirror Image]

Not sure if I posted my first classical CD, but here it is:



I've been hooked on classical music ever since. My first classical listening memory, however, was when I was in my early teens and I heard Strauss' Eine Alpensinfonie with Karajan and the Berliners. This was certainly what got that ball rolling without a doubt.

[Iota]

This LP:



.. by which I was completely gobsmacked. A rather battered copy, I have no idea where it came from, my parents had no LP's and weren't in the habit of getting us any. Perhaps from a jumble sale or a distant elderly relative who liked to chew LP covers. The truth alas is now unlikely ever to be known.

[foxandpeng]

I'm pretty certain that mine was Schubert's Death and the Maiden, in this 1988 Naxos performance by the Mandelring Quartet. I played this a lot while doing night time feeds with my firstborn in 1991-2. It's a lot of years since I last listened to it, to be honest.

[classicalgeek]

I'm pretty certain that mine was Schubert's Death and the Maiden, in this 1988 Naxos performance by the Mandelring Quartet. I played this a lot while doing night time feeds with my firstborn in 1991-2. It's a lot of years since I last listened to it, to be honest.

That's a fond memory, I'm sure! I have memories of playing Clair de Lune for my infant daughter when she needed to sleep... it always did the trick! (she's now 16)

As for my first classical music purchase, it was Schubert for me too! A cassette tape, bought with $3.50 of my own money when I was ten years old! I was taking piano lessons at the time and somehow drawn to classical while other kids were listening to Michael Jackson and Madonna. Despite the cringeworthy title, the tape had some really good performance. A complete Unfinished with Bernstein and New York - good stuff!



I collected tapes for about three years before I finally bought a CD player (again with my own money - that took a while to save up for!) By then, I was a Mahler-obsessed teenager , and my first CD was Mahler 4 with Ozawa (as I lived in New Hampshire at the time, the BSO was sort of my 'hometown' orchestra.)

[DavidW]

My first purchases were on audio cassette, but I'm sure the OP won't mind.  I purchased them at the same time in a music store (remember those?) oh I guess it was 1995.

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

My mother's record. I was a lead guitarist in a band playing Zeppelin, Stones, etc., in junior-high school. So I hid that I was listening to classical music.

[Mirror Image]

My mother's record. I was a lead guitarist in a band playing Zeppelin, Stones, etc., in junior-high school. So I hid that I was listening to classical music.

A good idea as kids can be cruel. Don't worry, no one knew what I actually listened to either.

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

A good idea as kids can be cruel. Don't worry, no one knew what I actually listened to either.

Tchaikovsky piano concerto as well around the same time. We were even playing Sex Pistols. How could I tell other kids?

[Mirror Image]

Tchaikovsky piano concerto as well around the same time. We were even playing Sex Pistols. How could I tell other kids?

Yeah, your bandmates wouldn't have appreciated your tastes in music that's for sure. All of my friends were into alternative rock or electronic music (but not the good kind of electronic music a la Tangerine Dream or Jean-Michel Jarre). I doubt they would've been interested in classical music.

[foxandpeng]

That's a fond memory, I'm sure! I have memories of playing Clair de Lune for my infant daughter when she needed to sleep... it always did the trick! (she's now 16)

As for my first classical music purchase, it was Schubert for me too!

[Irons]

The first record I ever purchased I did not get to hear! A 45 of Chris Montez "Let's Dance" from a record shop in Chiswick High Road. I then went on to a chippie nearby for some fish and chips and made the mistake of placing both purchases in a plastic bag hanging from the handlebars of my bicycle. Time I got home "Let's Dance" was good as a fruit bowl.

The first classical acquisition I remember well, and a positive experience. The Harry Hayes record shop in North End Road, Fulham had a classical department in a basement. Being a complete "virgin" I had literally zero knowledge of the genre (slightly less then now!). A lucky dip in every sense of the word. Fortunately the choice was good, a CBS LP of Daniel Barenboim conducting Tchaikovsky's 5th Symphony. I wonder how things would have turned out if my random pick was something I didn't like.    

[The new erato]

With regard to classical I am pretty sure it was this LP in 1972 or 73:

[Maestro267]

First major purchase was Beethoven's complete symphonies, Philadelphia Orchestra under Riccardo Muti.