What was the first big addition to your collection?
Mine was Beethoven's Nine Symphonies. The set that I bought was the '63 Karajan.
Same here, it was my first major classical music purchase: Beethoven's complete symphonies (Harnoncourt/COE)
Mine was Rogg's HM set of Bach organ works.
Borrowed the complete Beethoven piano music (on LPs) from a friend. I was 6 or 7.
First major CD acquisition—given to me as a present—was the Bartók quartets (Tákacs Qt) + miniature score. I was 10.
First major CD purchase I made myself, with my own money, was, I think, Petrassi's Concerti for Orchestra. I was 19. I was pretty reliant on the donated collections of family members and friends up until that point, and for some reason there weren't a whole lot of Petrassi fans among them ;) Ok, it's only 2 CDs, but it was a "major" addition considering the amount of difficulty I had trying to get it delivered from the US to the UK, where I was living at the time. Eventually had to have it delivered to my mother in the US, have her rip it and e-mail me the tracks individually (I picked up the physical CD when I next visited her, but that wasn't for some months). Of course I've since discovered about 20 easier ways I could have gotten it ::)
Quote from: amw on October 15, 2013, 01:36:42 PM
Borrowed the complete Beethoven piano music (on LPs) from a friend. I was 6 or 7.
There you go. You were borrowing Beethoven while I was throwing rocks at the heads of other kids.
I believe it was the Kempff LvB stereo cycle.
My first Ring. Bought during the first year I lived in Germany (1974):
(http://photos.imageevent.com/sgtrock/june2010/RingBoehm.jpg)
Slightly bulkier than the CD box I bought several decades later 8)
Sarge
When I first got interested in music full price discs were £2.10shillings and I earned £8 a week. One of my first big purchases was the Solti Rosenkavalier, four Full price LPs. Not a huge set, but more than a week's pay.
Mike
Beethoven SQ's (Endellion) & Symphonies (Immerseel) were the first big sets I got.
I bought the Beethoven Complete Piano Music in 4 or 5 Vox Boxes by Brendel, and then the complete Mozart piano sonatas, also in Vox Boxes, by Walter Klien. I lived a couple hundred miles from a CD store and wasn't buying online yet (that was a thing of the future, and I don't mean for me!!) so a chance to actually get into a real store was big for me. My first big acquisitions, one hell of a lot of great music for $25 full price!! :)
8)
Quote from: Sammy on October 15, 2013, 01:40:49 PM
There you go. You were borrowing Beethoven while I was throwing rocks at the heads of other kids.
I seem to grow less mature by the year, however. I imagine I'll get to throwing rocks at the heads of other kids when I'm 60 or so ???
James, Stockhausen was early for you? I'm impressed. I was never that adventurous.
My first landmark? That's a tough one but I would say the first work I heard that completely blew my mind was Ravel's Daphnis et Chloe. This ballet is still a sentimental favorite of mine. I can't really explain why I was so captivated by it. I suppose the dazzling colors of the music played a huge part and the orchestration alone just floored me. How Ravel got such incredible textures from the orchestra is beyond me. I also was attracted to the harmonic language. Those minor 9ths and 11ths, etc. I was still heavily into jazz music around this time but Daphnis et Chloe really opened my ears.
The recording that still remains my reference is Dutoit's with the MSO:
(http://store.universal-music.co.uk/content/ebiz/universalmusic/invt/7./7./1./0028945860527d/0028945860527d_medium.jpg)
Two other recordings that blew my mind in the beginning were the following:
(http://www.coverdude.com/covers/ives-symphony-n-2-leonard-bernstein-front-cover-28266.jpg)
(http://0.tqn.com/d/classicalmusic/1/0/j/4/bartok-wooden-prince.jpg)
The first classical work I remember actually sitting down and seriously listening to was Berlioz's Roman Carnival Overture (I believe I was about seven years old at the time). The second was the finale from Mahler 1, which I listened to immediately after the Berlioz. From then on, I was hooked and quickly developed into the lunatic I am today! ;D
Quote from: kyjo on October 15, 2013, 06:11:02 PM
The first classical work I remember actually sitting down and seriously listening to was Berlioz's Roman Carnival Overture (I believe I was about seven years old at the time). The second was the finale from Mahler 1. From then on, I was hooked and quickly developed into the lunatic I am today! ;D
Good ones, Kyle! :)
I REALLY was hoping though that your first landmark work (or purchase) was a
Richard Strauss CD! ;D Keep on dreaming....Ray. :laugh:
Quote from: ChamberNut on October 15, 2013, 06:12:35 PM
Good ones, Kyle! :)
I REALLY was hoping though that your first landmark work (or purchase) was a Richard Strauss CD! ;D Keep on dreaming....Ray. :laugh:
:P
I remember the first couples times I listened to Strauss' music, I was angry with myself for not liking it because it would seem natural that I would like his music since I love all the other late-romantic composers. But, over time, I began to realize the problem was Strauss', not mine! :laugh:
I do enjoy your little jokes.
In terms of listening, rather than buying, my first live experience was when I was about 11. My father was friends with some of the Glasgow Grand Opera Society. He dumped me into a matinee of William Tell, then joined me in the evening for Traviata. I am amazed that did not put me off.....but it did not.
Mike
One of my earliest classical memories was listening to the LP of Beethoven's Fifth that my parents had (Czech Philharmonic, Paul Klecki). They did not have many classical records, there was Eine kleine Nachtmusik, Toccata and Fugue D minor, Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1, Bolero, and Pictures at an Exhibition.
Then I seriously got into opera and I was recording a lot of tapes from the radio. My first CD purchases were two discs of Verdi's overtures from Naxos and Anna Moffo's live recording of La Traviata from 1964.
But what really started my CD collection was Haitink's box of Shostakovich's symphonies. I currently have around 600 CDs (the bix boxes included), which is probably just a fraction of the collections most of you have. :)
Quote from: knight66 on October 15, 2013, 09:54:28 PM
I do enjoy your little jokes.
I'm glad somebody finds me funny!
Quote from: James on October 15, 2013, 03:08:41 PM
I hit all the 'right notes' in the very formative stages of my 'art music' obsession ..
It isn't like you, to pat yourself on the back....
With me it was two purchases on the same day in 1989.
Mendelssohn/Bruch : Nathan Milstein/Leon Barzin EMI cfp &
Mahler : Symphony No.5 RLPO/MacKerras EMI eminence
Although boxy sound the playing by Milstein still amazes. MacKerras introduced me to Mahler, with the 5th. These two cds got me started into classical music and were my first purchases.
The first box set, shortly after was the 1980's Karajan cycle on DG
(http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mxSTqwSXxHg/TV0JLfvTuLI/AAAAAAAAAEc/GIOt_HCP27E/s1600/Beethoven_Sym08_Fma_op93_Karajan84_DG439200.jpg)
Quote from: Fafner on October 15, 2013, 10:55:03 PM
But what really started my CD collection was Haitink's box of Shostakovich's symphonies. I currently have around 600 CDs (the bix boxes included), which is probably just a fraction of the collections most of you have. :)
I'm thinking of acquiring that box set. I love his recording of the 8th symphony.
There is a lot to like in that Haitink set!
Quote from: DavidW on October 16, 2013, 04:20:11 AM
I'm thinking of acquiring that box set. I love his recording of the 8th symphony.
Same here, it is thrilling!
Quote from: DavidW on October 15, 2013, 01:18:08 PM
What was the first big addition to your collection?
Mine was Beethoven's Nine Symphonies. The set that I bought was the '63 Karajan.
Same here! Also when I bought Sibelius Ashkenazy Philharmonia Symphony 4, that completed 'another' collection...of Classical
records and tapes. ??? (There are, of course, none of those old fashioned technologies in my hoose these days,
***sniff***...) But it will always be
that Beethoven set. It was
that very set that propelled me into the actual 'collecting' of our music.
It is exactly what Karajan had in mind during his conducting capers, to make recorded music more accessible to the wider public, so I've become just one wee part of his realized vision. 0:)
The DGG Eugen Jochum Bruckner Seventh Symphony, a 2-record set filled out with 3 Motets and the Psalm 150.
Amazingly, it was for sale in the record department of "Rike's" a large department store in Dayton.
"Amazingly" - not because it was in a department store in downtown Dayton, but because I had a few weeks earlier come across the Nowak score in the public library and knew that I just had to hear the work. A few days later, the library offered the DGG record, and then I saw I could have my own copy! I believe this was in 1964.
I later bought the Nowak scores for all the symphonies and the major choral works.
Quote from: Cato on October 16, 2013, 04:52:55 AM
The DGG Eugen Jochum Bruckner Seventh Symphony, a 2-record set filled out with 3 Motets and the Psalm 150.
Amazingly, it was for sale in the record department of "Rike's" a large department store in Dayton.
"Amazingly" - not because it was in a department store in downtown Dayton, but because I had a few weeks earlier come across the Nowak score in the public library and knew that I just had to hear the work. A few days later, the library offered the DGG record, and then I saw I could have my own copy! I believe this was in 1964.
I later bought the Nowak scores for all the symphonies and the major choral works.
It just struck me: that was almost
50 years ago!!! ??? ??? ???
Quote from: Cato on October 16, 2013, 07:56:22 AM
It just struck me: that was almost 50 years ago!!! ??? ??? ???
I think we should all contribute to a GMG fund to buy
Cato some kind of support mechanism to help him in his
clear and present crumbling old age. :P ;)
:-[
My landmark was Berio's Sinfonia at about 16 or so, the recording below. (Note, the link leads to an CD-R that includes the Concerto for Two Pianos, which was not on the original release - I just wanted to show the cover). The funny part: I heard the Berio some 10 years before hearing the Mahler 2, on which the middle movement is based. The Berio LP had a small sampler record of different composers' works, and I ended up buying all of them, most of which I still enjoy to this day. My parents still joke about how the Reich pieces almost drove them crazy.
Steve Reich: It's Gonna Rain and Violin Phase
Conlon Nancarrow: Studies for Player Piano
Lasry-Bachet: Structures Sonores
Harry Partch: Castor and Pollux
Terry Riley: A Rainbow in Curved Air
[asin]B00F8ONW5S[/asin]
--Bruce
Quote from: knight66 on October 15, 2013, 09:54:28 PM
I do enjoy your little jokes.
In terms of listening, rather than buying, my first live experience was when I was about 11. My father was friends with some of the Glasgow Grand Opera Society. He dumped me into a matinee of William Tell, then joined me in the evening for Traviata. I am amazed that did not put me off.....but it did not.
Mike
One thing I admire about your posts it's that your memories, even the small ones, are always very "personal" and highly evocative... I just wanted to say that. :)
Quote from: Scots John on October 16, 2013, 08:01:45 AM
I think we should all contribute to a GMG fund to buy Cato some kind of support mechanism to help him in his clear and present crumbling old age. :P ;)
:-[
This is about the only thing that would work:
(https://www.profilesinhistory.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/backtothefuture-delorean.jpg)
Quote from: Gordon Shumway on October 16, 2013, 08:36:42 AM
One thing I admire about your posts it's that your memories, even the small ones, are always very "personal" and highly evocative... I just wanted to say that. :)
That's very nice of you, thanks.
Mike
Box set of Mozart's operas with:
Così fan tutte (Karl Böhm/Wiener Philharmoniker)
Le Nozze di Figaro (Erich Kleiber/Wiener Philharmoniker)
Don Giovanni (Josef Krips/Wiener Philharmoniker)
Die Zauberflöte (Ferenc Fricsay/RIAS Symphonie-Orchester Berliner)
Quote from: Scots John on October 16, 2013, 04:40:43 AM
Same here! Also when I bought Sibelius Ashkenazy Philharmonia Symphony 4, that completed 'another' collection...of Classical records and tapes. ??? (There are, of course, none of those old fashioned technologies in my hoose these days, ***sniff***...) But it will always be that Beethoven set. It was that very set that propelled me into the actual 'collecting' of our music.
It is exactly what Karajan had in mind during his conducting capers, to make recorded music more accessible to the wider public, so I've become just one wee part of his realized vision. 0:)
Nice! :)
I got the St Matthew Passion when I was about 16 and it took me the best part of five years to crack it, but once I did, the floodgates of Bach opened.
Mike
3 early classical recordings that hooked me completely on classical music :
Tallis - Spem in Alium / Salve intemerata (Oxford Camerata)
Mahler - 1st symphony (Maazel/VPO), especially the last mvt.
Beethoven - 9th Symphony (from the HVK 1963 cycle, my first boxset), more specifically the first 2 mvts.
My real landmark : The Bertini Mahler cycle because it paved the way for a cute addiction 0:)
I'm seeing a trend it seems that Beethoven was a gateway to... Mahler for some of us!
Quote from: DavidW on October 16, 2013, 04:36:53 PM
I'm seeing a trend it seems that Beethoven was a gateway to... Mahler for some of us!
"Beethoven, the gateway drug."
Anyways.......The Karajan's 63 Beethoven box. I am SOOO original.
Even Karajan's strongest critics must admit he got alot of people into cm!
Quote from: DavidW on October 16, 2013, 04:52:18 PM
Even Karajan's strongest critics must admit he got alot of people into cm!
So it would seem!
I'm not 100% certain, but I think the first proper box set I bought was Chopin's complete solo piano music by Ashkenazy.
The Karajan Beethoven symphonies from '63 entered my life earlier than that, but it was technically my father's purchase rather than mine. I bet I listened to it more than he ever has.
Quote from: DavidW on October 16, 2013, 04:52:18 PM
Even Karajan's strongest critics must admit he got alot of people into cm!
Yes! That hair! :D
A 1965 BBC broadcast of three Ives pieces (Tone roads no. 3, Over the pavements and The unanswered question - especially the first two) performed by the orchestra of South West German Radio conducted by Bruno Maderna.
Quote from: Dax on October 16, 2013, 07:08:39 PM
A 1965 BBC broadcast of three Ives pieces (Tone roads no. 3, Over the pavements and The unanswered question - especially the first two) performed by the orchestra of South West German Radio conducted by Bruno Maderna.
Another Ivesian initiation! Excellent! :D
I'd heard broadcasts of Ives previously eg., Easley Blackwood playing the Concord Sonata c1961. But that Maderna broadcast kept me off the streets for some considerable time.
Quote from: Dax on October 16, 2013, 07:20:22 PM
I'd heard broadcasts of Ives previously eg., Easley Blackwood playing the Concord Sonata c1961. But that Maderna broadcast kept me off the streets for some considerable time.
I imagine it did. :)
I'm going to choose my father's Karajan '63 Beethoven cycle as well! :)
My own milestone purchase? I have no idea.
Interesting thread.
Mine was Boult's LP set of the Vaughan Williams symphonies on EMI c. 1972
Quote from: Papy Oli on October 16, 2013, 02:59:45 PM
Mahler - 1st symphony (Maazel/VPO), especially the last mvt.
Me too (though in a different performance)!