Poll: Booklets that come with CDs - Firewood or Essential Reading?

[mc ukrneal]

There has been some interesting disagreement on the value that is added by the booklets that come with the CDs or Boxes. I thought it might be interesting to see how we all feel.

[Willoughby earl of Itacarius]

Its easy accessible when the booklet gives us the info we need, and in this instance I want it. On the other hand, the text is so small that I often have to revert to internet, where I can enlarge the info, and to be honest there is more to be found as in the booklets. So I am in two minds about it. What is really essential for me as a added enjoyment, is artwork, this I appreciate and praise.

[Archaic Torso of Apollo]

Really good liner notes are a joy. They formed an important part of my musical education. (Maybe that sounds pathetic, but it's true.)

Certainly one should always have the text of a vocal work. Yes I can look it up on the Internet, but that's annoying. I want all that info in one convenient place.

One of the advantages of LPs was that the liner notes were often excellent. The size of the medium gave writers a lot of space to fill up.

[The new erato]

Text to sung works is the absolute minimum needed, in particular if it is works where the texts are not easily available, or the musical work in question uses a heavily edited version of a standard text. The second requirement is background to works which are rarely recorded, or so marginal in the composer's production as not to be commented upon in standard texts (when and in which circumstances was it composed, why is it generally overlooked, perhaps also some backgrund on performance history).

What we don't need is further copies of eg mass texts, general composer biographies or performer biographies (which anyway quickly goes out of date and usually can be found updated on the net).   

[Archaic Torso of Apollo]

I agree with all of New Erato's post. Also, if a work is well-known, I like it if the notes take a different angle rather than just repeating stuff everyone knows. A good example is the original DG release of Carlos Kleiber's Beethoven 5th, which reprinted part of ETA Hoffmann's review of the symphony when it was brand new.

I also like it if the writer doesn't tell me what the music sounds like (hey, I can hear that myself), but informs about the context in which it was created, its significance in the composer's oeuvre, some specific "what to listen for" pointers, or maybe a bit about the performance history if that's interesting enough.

[North Star]

Sung text, preferably with translation if not in English, Swedish, Finnish, background of the compositions, some words on the interpretation, instruments (if a soloist or a chamber group, although I don't mind in the least reading of all the instruments of AoAM and the organ Egarr used for Handel recordings). Some excellent stuff on Beethovens symphonies by Immerseel in the box (considerations of the authentic performance practice and concert halls, Berlioz's reviews of the symphonies originally published separately in early 1838, in which, BTW, Berlioz indicates that the finale of the 5th symphony was the most popular of the movements back then), good art, in the cover and inside the booklet, is always nice.

But I don't consider the booklet at all when thinking of buying (at least not more than on the basis that how good booklets the label usually has)

[Bulldog]

Booklets never play a role in my acquisition decisions.  However, better to have them than not.

[prémont]

I find the information about the musicians and the instruments used essential. Almost equally valuable are often liner notes written by the artist in question.

[Todd]

They're not important at all for me, though I may read them for works and composers new to me.  For vocal works (excluding masses), they are nice, but it's usually possible to find text online. 

[Mirror Image]

I generally like reading the booklets for information, but they are not a necessity of mine. It's always nice to have them though, but it isn't a make or break thing that keeps me from buying the recording.

[Lethevich]

Simply put, I won't buy a digital download unless the full liner notes are available - so I suppose that I value them highly - although I don't buy the same Mozart symphony over and over, so it's nice to have written pointers about the mystery stuff I pick up. For obscure repertoire, a lack of documentation is unacceptable, which is why some of Brilliant's reissues bug me.

Edit: I don't mind if the notes are online-only, but this requires a reliable label. Brilliant's website (perhaps due to licencing issues) removes even old entries, let alone concerns about hosting and reproducing booklets.

[listener]

I enjoy my LP collection as much for the liner notes as for the performances, and prefer them for operas.  On the other hand, I've been buying Alia Vox CDs because of the extensive (sometimes humungous ) notes.

[Bogey]

Its easy accessible when the booklet gives us the info we need, and in this instance I want it. On the other hand, the text is so small that I often have to revert to internet, where I can enlarge the info, and to be honest there is more to be found as in the booklets. So I am in two minds about it. What is really essential for me as a added enjoyment, is artwork, this I appreciate and praise.

This is why we need to bring back gatefold vinyl, Harry!

[Szykneij]

This is why we need to bring back gatefold vinyl, Harry!

Seconded!

[SonicMan46]

Its easy accessible when the booklet gives us the info we need, and in this instance I want it. On the other hand, the text is so small that I often have to revert to internet, where I can enlarge the info, and to be honest there is more to be found as in the booklets. So I am in two minds about it. What is really essential for me as a added enjoyment, is artwork, this I appreciate and praise.

Just voted - I enjoy having the booklets w/ CDs if the information is useful, and like the artwork when available - however, I virtually never make a decision to buy a CD based on the booklet - of course I purchase most of my stuff online so cannot use the booklet to make a judgement.

But I do agree w/ Harry above, i.e. the print is often TOO DAMN small!  I wear glasses, so my solution is to attached a small pair of magnifying sewing glasses (old pair of Susan's who does a lot of sewing, needlework, etc.) - generally works out well for me. 

[Cato]

No matter which composer is being discussed, the professors hired by CPO must be some of the worst commentators ever.   

At times I thought that the translation from German might have been at fault, but then I examined the nearly impenetrable, thorn-filled, maze-like jungle of German and saw...no, it is just as bad, if not worse!

And if you can understand what the writer has penned, most of the time it is eye-poppingly bizarre.

[Szykneij]

I enjoy having the booklets w/ CDs if the information is useful, and like the artwork when available - however, I virtually never make a decision to buy a CD based on the booklet - of course I purchase most of my stuff online so cannot use the booklet to make a judgement.

It used to be easier to make a judgement from liner notes when buying vinyl albums. Not only is the type on vinyl albums much easier for us old guys to see, you can read it through the shrink wrap. With new, shrink-wrapped CDs, all you can see is the cover.

[Holden]

Really good liner notes are a joy. They formed an important part of my musical education. (Maybe that sounds pathetic, but it's true.)

..and mine in so many ways. It was through liner notes that I first heard of LvB's Heiligenstadt Testament, expanded my Italian and German language skills and learnt so much about classical music as a newbie. Reading liner notes has enabled me to continue to be a life long learner in the classical music sense. This forum has also significantly contributed to that education!

[North Star]

No matter which composer is being discussed, the professors hired by CPO must be some of the worst commentators ever.   

At times I thought that the translation from German might have been at fault, but then I examined the nearly impenetrable, thorn-filled, maze-like jungle of German and saw...no, it is just as bad, if not worse!

And if you can understand what the writer has penned, most of the time it is eye-poppingly bizarre.

Or how about that gem of a liner note in Carolin Widmann & Dénes Várjon's Schumann violin sonatas album - every other page is in German, and belongs to a Schnittke or DSCH album, IIRC. Great stuff...

[Cato]

Or how about that gem of a liner note in Carolin Widmann & Dénes Várjon's Schumann violin sonatas album - every other page is in German, and belongs to a Schnittke or DSCH album, IIRC. Great stuff...

Quality control!  My daughter works in Duesseldorf right now, and has been working in Germany for a decade, which experience has prompted her to opine that the legendary German work ethic has faded in our decadent, "entitled" times.