The Most Expensive Recording in your Collection

[springrite]

I bought most of my CDs from BRO and online, and paid retail or under retail, $1.99 to $14.99, with only a couple of CDs at about $20. But I know many people would pay over retail for hard to get recordings. One of my friend lost a CD he had of Bloet's Liszt Transcendental Etudes and paid Ensayo $45 for a new copy. He also paid an online retailer $80 for an out of print CD that I forgot the title of.

For those of your hardcore collectors, what is the most expensive recording you have? How much did you pay for it, and why?

[Gurn Blanston]

Single disk?  $50 for the Savall "Eroica".

Box?  $150 for the 19 disk "Mozart Complete Symphonies" / Hogwood.

Alright, I'm not proud of it, but I did it, so there you go. 

The fact is, HIP recordings are usually OOP in a heartbeat, and the only way to get them is from people who screw... uhhh, cater to collectors.  Unless you have made some very good friends over the years...

[not edward]

I don't think I've ever paid over market price for a disc. I just stalk ebay and amazon marketplaces till a good price appears.

[Bogey]

Probably this:



$115 on Ebay.

[Gurn Blanston]

Probably this:


$115 on Ebay.

Geez, Bill! That's pretty well up there. And it isn't even Mozart!!

[PerfectWagnerite]

Single disk?  $50 for the Savall "Eroica".

Holy Schniky ! I paid $6 for mine (it was new but was in a secondhand store) and I thought I overpaid !

[Gurn Blanston]

Holy Schniky ! I paid $6 for mine (it was new but was in a secondhand store) and I thought I overpaid !

Yeah, I was late to the game there. That's what I meant about disks like that going OOP quickly. When I finally decided to shop for it (after recs from half a dozen people), I found 2 copies on Amazon and none elsewhere. A used one for $35 and a new one for $50. What the hell, if you're going to pay $35, you might as well pay $50...

(I'd a given you $12 for yours, and paid postage, as I understand you don't like it.   )

[PerfectWagnerite]

(I'd a given you $12 for yours, and paid postage, as I understand you don't like it.   )

Well, I don't like it now. I may like it later
There are some recordings that I used to not like and sold, and then later wanted to kick myself (like Stokowski's Scheherazade with the LSO).

[beclemund]

Gardiner's Bach Cantatas are the only ones I can think of that come with a slightly premium price... but then, they're usually double disc sets, so still around $15 per CD.... I almost paid $30 for Sinopoli's Bruckner 5th about a year ago, but the Amazon marketplace seller couldn't find the copy he was selling. I bought it a few weeks ago for around $10 from another Amazon reseller.

[George]

$51 for this:

[Heather Harrison]

The most expensive recording in my collection isn't even classical.  Original LPs of pop/rock-type music from the 1950's and 1960's often go for a small fortune.  My most expensive is an LP entitled "The Sound of Kathy Young".  She was known for the hit "A Thousand Stars".  Many years ago, when I got it, the going rate was about $300.  I haven't checked to see what the current value is.  Back then, the only way to get recordings like this was to buy the original LP.  Nowadays, there might be a CD available, but I haven't looked.  The LP is in near-mint condition, and I have copied it onto CD.  The sound is as good as can be expected from a 1950's recording on a minor record label.



My most expensive classical recording is the LP pictured here.  If I remember correctly, it was about $90.  This was the recording that got me interested in classical music, and it got destroyed when I was a child (children are very destructive).  I was overjoyed when I found this copy.



Heather

[MishaK]

I've never paid more than regular retail price for anything. Speaking of expensive CDs.... I have been looking for a CD version of Barenboim's first CSO Bruckner cycle on DG, which I love, to reduce wear on my LPs. But this is plain insane.

[Daverz]

I'm a real cheapskate.  I don't think I've ever spent, pre tax and shipping, over $18 for a single CD.  Actually, I'm having trouble thinking of something I've payed over $16 for, as you can usually get even the most expensive labels for under that if you shop around on the web or wait for a sale.  I suppose I've passed up many things that I really wanted, yet I still have many thousands of wonderful CDs to listen to.

I've actually spent more on an Lp.  On impulse, I paid $20 at Amoeba for a new Parlophone of the Beatles Revolver because it was the one Beatles Lp I was missing.  But it doesn't sound very good  (it's one of those Direct Metal Mastered Lps).

Another question is: how much have you spent on reissues of a single recording.  I really resist replacing things this way unless the differences are reported to be dramatic.

[Daverz]

I've seen it go for $125 143.75.  I'm sure it would fetch even higher prices if Leibowitz were better known.  I wish Sony/BMG would issue it on CD, but that seems really doubtful when they keep reissuing the Reiner year after year.

[Steve]

As far as single disks go, I rarely find myself paying more than $18

As for boxed sets, I've spent nearly $100 for the Barshai Shostakovich Symphony Cycle as well as the Beethoven's Piano Sonatas (Goode)

[orbital]

I've never paid more than regular retail price for anything

Me neither.

I think the highest valued CD I have is that Robert Smith - Alkan Piano Works on EMI which sells for around $80 at amazon marketplace. I probably bought that for $8-9 maximum.

[Bogey]

Geez, Bill! That's pretty well up there. And it isn't even Mozart!!

Of course I did not pay that much for it...I think it was 15-20 out of FSM magazine.   Still sealed...never gotten around to listening to it.

[Que]

I recently paid € 27 for an OOP Mozart/ L'archibudelli recording....
(Gurn knows which.  )

I've been very lucky otherwise.

Q

[FideLeo]

I recently paid € 27 for an OOP Mozart/ L'archibudelli recording....
(Gurn knows which.  )

The Quintets K. 593 & 614?
For that I would gladly pay  € 27 or more as well. 

[rubio]

$51 for this:

Was it worth the price? I have ordered the Vista Vera vol. 4, 8 and 9 recently.