Musical regrets?

[Mark]

Inspired by a comment George made in another thread - he said he wished he'd followed his own instincts in the early days of his collecting, rather than acquiring so many of the works considered to be 'core repertoire' - I thought I'd pose the following two questions:

1) Have you ever bought a CD, played it and wished you'd saved your money?

2) Are there any composers whose works you took time to explore, only to later consider it time wasted?

[gmstudio]

Inspired by a comment George made in another thread - he said he wished he'd followed his own instincts in the early days of his collecting, rather than acquiring so many of the works considered to be 'core repertoire' - I thought I'd pose the following two questions:

1) Have you ever bought a CD, played it and wished you'd saved your money?

DEFINITELY the PMD Naxos Quartets!   And I was silly enough to buy the first TWO volumes at the same time!

[karlhenning]

DEFINITELY the PMD Naxos Quartets!   And I was silly enough to buy the first TWO volumes at the same time!

Ouch! I just hope you don't feel permanently burned on living composers.

[Kullervo]

Luckily I was able to sell all my Messiaen.

[BachQ]

1) Have you ever bought a CD, played it and wished you'd saved your money?

No, even if I ultimately decide I don't like a composer, such as Elgar, then:

1. I can cross it off my wish list and avoid future purchases of this composer;
2. I will at least have fodder for discussions with 71 dB.

[Que]

1) Have you ever bought a CD, played it and wished you'd saved your money?

Many times. Mostly in case of generally established "primary" choices.
You know, the must-haves in the guides, the "legendarys".
Lesson learnt: try before you buy and trust your own instincts.

2) Are there any composers whose works you took time to explore, only to later consider it time wasted?

Never. I'm very quick in detecting if a composer is for me or not.

Q

[Harry]

To both questions, ehhhh no....

[stingo]

If I play a recording and find it's not to my current tastes, I shelve it and revisit it again at some remove. Certain composers, such as Messiaen ironically enough, have been re-heard with new ears.

[71 dB]

1) Have you ever bought a CD, played it and wished you'd saved your money?

2) Are there any composers whose works you took time to explore, only to later consider it time wasted?

1) Yes, may.

2) Rossini, Britten, Ropartz, Paisible and Harty.

[Great Gable]

Never with classical - and rarely with rock. In terms of classical, I know exactly what I like and within my limited range of time periods (baroque to classical) I can usually have an educated guess as to what I will be getting when trying a new work. The only chance of disappointment nowadays would be with interpreter - soloist or conductor.
When starting out properly with classical I spent a long time making short-lists of composers/compositions using the Penguin Guide as a reference. I then went to the local library and borowed at least three works from every composer that I was interested in. Once I had established favourites I was able to take the plunge and started buying the works that I had discovered. I also found that I had established some favourite solists by this time as well.

[Harry]

1) Yes, may.

2) Rossini, Britten, Ropartz, Paisible and Harty.

Not Britten and not Hamilton, and no not Ropartz, common you ignore the fantastic piano music from Rossini , Paisible I do not know......

[beclemund]

I generally can find something to like about almost everything I have purchased. Usually, if I am iffy on a selection, I try to see if I can find a performance through emusic (about 25 cents a track) or some other inexpesive digital outlet before committing to a full-priced CD purchase.

Usually, I spend a good deal of time researching new composers or works and base my decisions on recommendations by GMG'ers and other review sources, so I am never disappointed. And should I encounter a bad performance or composition in the future, I definitely will not allow it to keep me from continuing to search for new and wonderful sounds.

[The new erato]

Each disc bought I consider a learning experience. As such, it's mission accomplished if I find out this wasn't for me. But I usually find most discs useful.

[71 dB]

Not Britten and not Hamilton, and no not Ropartz, common you ignore the fantastic piano music from Rossini , Paisible I do not know......

I haven't heard Rossini's fantastic piano music. These composers just aren't my cup of tea/I don't understand their music.

[some guy]

The answer to question one is that I've bought lots of CDs I didn't like. Some of them I returned for credit. I certainly wouldn't say I regretted buying them. I don't know what I'm going to like ahead of time, though after around forty-six or seven years of listening, I have a couple of suspicions....

I'd like to substitute a variant of question two to answer: Have you ever heard something you didn't like only to find later that you couldn't get enough of it?

Yes.

Mahler for starters. I'd "discovered" Bruckner rather late, probably twelve years after I'd started listening to "classical music." And so Mahler seemed to me for a long time to be just a citified Bruckner. Pffft. How wrong can one be?

Then there was Scelsi. I first heard Scelsi rather late, too, about ten years after Bartók's Concerto for Orchestra precipitated me into the twentieth century. (Bruckner and Bartók were simultaneous discoveries for me.) Nothing about Scelsi moved me. Indeed, for a long time, he was the only modern composer I would actively avoid, and even make foolishly rude remarks about.

Again, a large buffet of various crow-related delicacies was waiting for my delectation. Scelsi, as many of you already know, is one of the century's greats, and for good reason: his music is uniformly exquisite and superb. Pffft.

So while I'm quick to say what I like, I'm very slow to say what I don't.

I guess that would be my regret: that I allowed a quick negative judgment of Scelsi to deprive me of years of listening pleasure.

[Great Gable]

I'd like to substitute a variant of question two to answer: Have you ever heard something you didn't like only to find later that you couldn't get enough of it?

Yes.

I am pretty sure that since starting my classical journey c1984 I have never come around to liking a single composer that I didn't like back then. The same can be said about the types of works - I didn't like chamber music then and I still don't.

This might be deemed limiting but it makes life so much easier.

[karlhenning]

1) Have you ever bought a CD, played it and wished you'd saved your money?

2) Are there any composers whose works you took time to explore, only to later consider it time wasted?

1) Elgar, The Apostles

2) Hardly any;  if I expect limited returns from a composer, I'll select other composers to explore;  then again, even if I find little of interest in this or that composer whose work I explore, (a) I won't let it reach a point of genuinely wasted time, and (b) sometimes if I hear music for which I have no use whatever, my Muse will whisper to me, "What should we write today, instead of this piffle?"  If the end result is that I write a piece and I am happy with the music, there's no question of the time having gone to waste.

[not edward]

1. Quite a few. Where the interpretation seems to be at fault, I tend to trade the disc away: if I am unsure of the composition I shelve it for a while and take it out at intervals till I'm sure it won't do anything for me.

2. Not really. So far the composer I've put most effort into without getting much back is Schumann. But I'll keep trying, since people I respect like his music.

[mahlertitan]

2. Not really. So far the composer I've put most effort into without getting much back is Schumann. But I'll keep trying, since people I respect like his music.

have you tried his symphonies? I find the 1,2,4th very accessible.

[Catison]

I bought the Brilliant Masterworks box for Vivaldi.  I am hoping I am not wishing for my money back.

There are few composers with good recordings that I don't like.  I keep buying Carter CDs, though, and I keep listening in the hope that one day I'll understand his music completely.  It comes in little pieces of understanding.