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The Music Room => General Classical Music Discussion => Topic started by: bassio on February 15, 2008, 06:22:36 PM

Title: First Recording bias
Post by: bassio on February 15, 2008, 06:22:36 PM
Anyone guilty of this charge?  ;D

Examples please.
Title: Re: First Recording bias
Post by: paulb on February 15, 2008, 06:26:18 PM
Quote from: bassio on February 15, 2008, 06:22:36 PM
Anyone guilty of this charge?  ;D

Examples please.

Is there anyone here innocent?
Even after they know better they still hang on to their *first love* like a  kid on mama's apron strings.
Title: Re: First Recording bias
Post by: david johnson on February 15, 2008, 06:42:26 PM
i'm guilty  ;D

leinsdorf/bso mahler 1, klemperer/mahler 2, bongartz/gewandhaus bruckner 6, ansermet/osr danse macbre,
mitropoulos/nypo shosty 5, serafin's la boheme recording on london

dj
Title: Re: First Recording bias
Post by: hautbois on February 15, 2008, 06:52:54 PM
Who isn't?

Kondrashin/Concertgbouw - Scheherazade
Klemperer/Philharmonia - Mahler 2
actually, too many to list....but i am glad most of my 1st bias listenings turned out to be great recordings according to most people.
;D

Howard
Title: Re: First Recording bias
Post by: Bonehelm on February 15, 2008, 08:24:19 PM
I'm biased towards HvK's LvB 5, 7, 9, Tchaik 4, 5, 6, Bruckner 5, 7, 8...
Title: Re: First Recording bias
Post by: J.Z. Herrenberg on February 16, 2008, 01:01:40 AM
I recognise this...

Bruckner 2 - Giulini
Bruckner 1 - Neumann
Wagner Rheingold - Karajan
Rachmaninov First Symphony - Ashkenazy
Schumann Manfred Overture - Giulini
RVW Pastoral - Boult
Holst Perfect Fool Ballet - Boult

et cetera.
Title: Re: First Recording bias
Post by: Holden on February 16, 2008, 01:44:48 AM
In my case, not any more. Most, in fact almost all, of my first 'imprints' have been superseded. There are a couple of exceptions but these are of recordings that for which I have deliberately not sought improvements because I can't really imagine how this could be done. That said, I'm prepared to be surprised.
Title: Re: First Recording bias
Post by: Que on February 16, 2008, 01:57:11 AM
Quote from: Holden on February 16, 2008, 01:44:48 AM
In my case, not any more. Most, in fact almost all, of my first 'imprints' have been superseded. There are a couple of exceptions but these are of recordings that for which I have deliberately not sought improvements because I can't really imagine how this could be done. That said, I'm prepared to be surprised.

This goes for me as well. Of course some "first time" discoveries are still going strong, but not for nostalgic reasons.

Q
Title: Re: First Recording bias
Post by: hornteacher on February 16, 2008, 04:15:48 AM
My first Beethoven 9th was Zubin Mehta's live performance with the NY Phil.  Its a great recording and still my favorite in spite of the fact I own several other "better" recordings.
Title: Re: First Recording bias
Post by: Sergeant Rock on February 17, 2008, 04:24:13 PM
Most of my first recordings have been superceded but there are exceptions: first loves I simply will not let go:

Berlioz Requiem - Davis/LSO
Nielsen 3 - Bernstein/Royal Danish
Beethoven 3 - Bernstein/NY Phil
Janáček Sinfonietta - Szell/Cleveland
Vaughan Williams 8 - Barbirolli/Hallé
Vaughan Williams 4 - Bernstein/NY Phil
Wagner Lohengrin - Kempe/WP
Tchaikovsky 4 - Szell/LSO
Beethoven Sonata Pathétique - Gilels
Bruckner 4 - Karajan/Berlin Phil (EMI)
Elgar Cello Concerto - Barbirolli/du Pré
Elgar Sea Pictures - Barbirolli/Baker
Ives 2 - Bernstein/NY Phil
Mozart PC21 - Anda/Cam Salzburg
Rachmaninoff PC2 - Wislocki/Richter
Sibelius 1 and 4 - Maazel/WP
Haydn 93 and 94 -Szell/Cleveland

Sarge
Title: Re: First Recording bias
Post by: (poco) Sforzando on February 17, 2008, 04:35:53 PM
When I first started getting into classical music almost 50 years ago, there weren't so many recordings available as there are today, and one's chances of getting a turkey were next to nil (since everyone and his uncle weren't recording all the Beethoven symphonies, Strauss tone poems, Mozart operas, and the rest of it.) In fact, my first Ring cycle, starting in 1960 with Rheingold and finishing some 6-7 years later with Walkure, was the Solti, and not only did I "imprint" on it but it was the only set widely available, each component of the cycle being a major event when it was released. Now, of course, everyone and his uncle are putting out Ring cycles, and the appearance of yet another is just a big yawn.

So I was lucky. I grew up on Toscanini's Beethoven and Verdi, Rubinstein's Chopin, Walter's Mahler 1 and 4, Munch's Berlioz, Solti's Ring, Craft's Webern and Schoenberg, Steinberg's Brahms on Command Classics, Biggs's and Gould's Bach keyboard works, etc. Not a clunker among them. (One of the few oddities was an Ormandy Scheherazade where a big chunk was cut from the third movement. I still find the presence of that passage jarring when I hear an uncut version.)
Title: Re: First Recording bias
Post by: jwinter on February 18, 2008, 06:32:16 AM
Yes, I can see some of that... some firsts that are still favorites:

Wagner orchestral music -- George Szell
Beethoven Moonlight sonata -- Gilels
Beethoven 5 -- Karajan (1970s)
Mahler 1 & 2 -- Bruno Walter
Chopin Nocturnes -- Rubinstein (stereo)
Bruckner 9 -- Bruno Walter
Prokofiev 5 -- Bernstein, Israel PO
Bach Mass in B minor -- Karajan
Title: Re: First Recording bias
Post by: Holden on February 18, 2008, 11:01:00 AM
Here are the firsts that are still tops for me

Chopin Nocturnes - Rubinstein 
Deutsches Requiem - Klemperer
Carmina Burana - Previn (EMI)
Bach Inventions and Sinfonias - Koroliov
Peer Gynt Incidental Music - Barbirolli/Halle
Liszt PCs - Richter
Schubert Fantasy in F minor - Lupu/Perahia
Title: Re: First Recording bias
Post by: Novi on February 18, 2008, 11:22:49 AM
Just a couple.

Arrau's Beethoven sonatas - just randomly picked this set off the shelf a couple of decades ago. Had no idea back then who he was, but still have a soft spot for him. This set and Gould's WTC were my first classical cd purchases, if I remember correctly.

Ok, this one is a bit more embarrasing:

Solti's St Matthew Passion. Have to confess that I still like it, even if it's a bit big and operatic. I do have to say that I prefer others (Herreweghe or McCreesh).