Poll
Question:
When you want to hear a recording of a piece of music that's new to you, do you refer to...
Option 1: your favorite reviewers?
votes: 4
Option 2: your favorite performers?
votes: 7
Option 3: Both.
votes: 8
Option 4: Neither.
votes: 10
Yes, another poll but I'm curious. :)
I don't have favourite performers, so I look for what well-informed people (WIP?) have to say.
...I listen to it. ;)
I often find new composers by simply browsing the Naxos website or something similar, or doing "related items" on sites like Amazon or eMusic. My primary sources for new composer recommendations, however, are Que, Gurn, Harry, Manuel, Mark, and all the folks in the Braga Santos thread. :D David Hurwitz has also brought a lot of things to my attention, including the symphonies of Kurt Atterberg, and I usually turn to his reviews to find out where to start with a new composer (for example, beginning with Atterberg's Third or Braga Santos' Fourth).
I usually wait until Mackerras conducts it or Hilary records it. ;D
Failing that, I sample as many versions as I can on iTunes and pick the one I think has the best sound quality, then I order the CD off of ArkivMusic.
Usually there will have been a discussion here about it. I will take a recommendation that the majority agree on. While ordering, usually at amazon, I will read the evaluations there and anywhere else I can find some.
When the CD arrives, I read the booklet that comes with it. If there are good liner notes, I may highlight and underline things to pay attention to. Usually this takes 2 to 3 sessions, or more before I'm comfortable.
Finally, I'll start listening and trying to hear the things everyone was talking about. Sometimes I'll listen immediately to the CD but it doesn't do much good until I have read about it.
As a rule, I'll look at several of the sites I frequent, and look for a consensus to emerge. For example, when I decided - for whatever reason - that I really wanted to look at the Sibelius 7th, a consensus seemed to emerge that the Vänskä disc on BIS was a solid choice, though there were better. I've since settled on the 1933 Koussevitzky recording as my personal preference, but the various websites began to point me in that direction, too.
The main reason I come tho this site, and one of the main reasons I listen to classical radio, is to hear "new" music or find recommendations for something that might interest me. If something's provoked my interest in an unfamiliar piece, I often go to Naxos or Rhapsody or even a torrent so I can hear it enough to determine whether to buy a recording. If so, then I turn to GMG, CMG, Gramophone, Classics Today, Amazon, Musikweb, etc., to help select a recording--though that choice may also be determined largely by my past experiences with performers, orchestras, record companies, etc. Shaham or Argerich with Abbado, for instance, are virtually no-brainers (YMMV).
When I want to hear a new piece of music... I visit this thread, thereby extracting and processing all of the information contained herein.
For impulsive purchases, it's usually performers that seal the deal for me, with regards to new music: if someone whose work I appreciate chooses to record something, I often want to see what it's about. :)
If I'm actively searching for new music, though, it's usually a combination of instinct, trusted reviewers and word of mouth.
Where's the "PM mn dave for a hot pick" option? 0:)
Quote from: hornteacher on June 05, 2008, 02:56:54 PM
Failing that, I sample as many versions as I can on iTunes and pick the one I think has the best sound quality, then I order the CD off of ArkivMusic.
Great minds think alike hornteacher I do the same as well. Although I buy from amazon marketplace sellers ;).
marvin
A lot of different potential scenarios there, but the one that occurs most often is that I will hear about a new piece that I am intrigued by, find it on Amazon or Arkiv, and see what performances there are. If one of them is by a person or ensemble that I know and like, it will be my first choice. It is only when 2 or more performances, both or all by groups I like, happen to exist, that I run into choice issues. :-\ I don't care a damn what reviewers think, but other like-minded people often can tip the scales for me. :)
8)
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Listening to:
German Chamber Symphony / Saraste Olli Mustonen - Bia 441 Op 61a Concerto in D for Piano (after Violin Concerto) 1st mvmt - Allegro, ma non troppo
Quote from: George on June 07, 2008, 02:30:40 PM
Where's the "PM mn dave for a hot pick" option? 0:)
Oh, that's rich. :D
Quote from: jochanaan on June 05, 2008, 01:25:43 PM
...I listen to it. ;)
Me too, finding streaming audio is just too easy. I don't trust reviewers to pick music for me and my favorite performers may not have recorded or be the right conductor for this new piece of music. And anyway if it is new, there usually is only one version anyway.
So I voted neither as I listen to streaming audio previews.