Do you have too many CDs?

[Sergeant Rock]

  Do I have too many cds?

I am beginning to suspect that I have too many operas (50+ and rising every week).  My sister says I have a problem, that I am in denial, that owning every Wagner opera (on cd and soon on DVD)  and  every other Verdi opera (both on cd and soon on DVD), most of Puccini's operas (on cd and soon on DVD), a substantial amount of R. Strauss' operas (on cd and soon on DVD)  is bordering on Obsessive Complusive Hoarding

Nonsense. Your sister is the wacko. One HAS to have EVERY opera by the composers you mentioned. Now, if you had ten each of every opera, then I would agree with her..probably...maybe...well, it's a slight possibility anyway.

Marvin, you haven't even begun to collect! Show your sister some of the true loons that hang out here (like that guy who owns eight Rings). She'll never bother you again 

Sarge

[Mark]

Show your sister some of the true loons that hang out here (like that guy who owns eight Rings). She'll never bother you again 

Or the guy who has nine Sibelius Violin Concertos (not to mention 13 versions of Rachmaninov's 'Vespers')

[George]

 


Myself, I will only determine when I have too much based on my standards, not Sarge's, not my girlfriend's, not anyone's. It's like any other "problem," I can always find someone that's got it worse. Someone who smokes more, drinks more, sniffs more airplane glue...That doesn't mean that I don't have a problem. Then again, it doesn't mean I do have a problem. It's my life so I get to decide when I have a problem. If other people have a problem with it, it's their problem, not mine. In this day and age, I think people forget that. I think there's too many people in the world who don't simply live their own lives and leave it up to others to live theirs. It's a sickness that is becoming so widespread that it's in danger of simply becoming the norm.   

[marvinbrown]

 

  Thanls guys for seeing it my way.....

  marvin

[bhodges]

I have probably 6,000-7,000 CDs, and I never think I have too many.  But I view my collection as part listening pleasure, and part reference library as well.  Even if I only hear a recording once, I like having it in case someone else comments on it or I want to revisit for another reason.  (That's also one reason I never cull.)

One assumption here is that many recordings go out of print rather quickly.  If you want to find it or acquire it later, it may be tough.

--Bruce

[Mark]

I have probably 6,000-7,000 CDs, and I never think I have too many.  But I view my collection as part listening pleasure, and part reference library as well.  Even if I only hear a recording once, I like having it in case someone else comments on it or I want to revisit for another reason.  (That's also one reason I never cull.)

One assumption here is that many recordings go out of print rather quickly.  If you want to find it or acquire it later, it may be tough.

--Bruce

In many ways, Bruce, I actually share your view - though my actions (i.e. infrequent small culls) might lead people to think otherwise. But a part of me reasons that, if I own a terrible set of Zimmermann's String Quartets Nos. 1-3 (I did, until yesterday), and I haven't had the slightest inclination to hear them again in over 18 months, then they're taking up shelf space better given over to something I DO want to hear. And besides, culling Naxos discs (happening more frequently these days) is never an issue: one can always hear them again online, or download them from at least two well-stocked sites. So in that respect, I don't feel like I've lost anything ... but I do appreciate the space I've gained.

[bhodges]

So in that respect, I don't feel like I've lost anything ... but I do appreciate the space I've gained.

As a typical space-challenged New Yorker, I can well empathize...

--Bruce

[Mark]

Bruce, you should see our place. It's tiny.

[marvinbrown]

I have probably 6,000-7,000 CDs, and I never think I have too many.  But I view my collection as part listening pleasure, and part reference library as well.  Even if I only hear a recording once, I like having it in case someone else comments on it or I want to revisit for another reason.  (That's also one reason I never cull.)

One assumption here is that many recordings go out of print rather quickly.  If you want to find it or acquire it later, it may be tough.

--Bruce

 I do not have the heart to cull either, Bruce.  I am well aware that my musical tastes have changed over the years and will continue to do so.  There are some recordings at present that I am not fond of (like Solti's Mahler Symphony Cycle-I am not particularly fond of Mahler's music let alone Solti interpretation)  but I'd like to think that 5 years down the line I could change my mind (why should I deprive myself of that opportunity?)

 marvin

[Harry]

. But a part of me reasons that, if I own a terrible set of Zimmerman's String Quartets Nos. 1-3 (I did, until yesterday),

I am flabbergasted, you mean to say that you sold this wonderful set with the Zimmerman Quartets.
I found it great, not to say utterly delicious to have and to hold, and you sold it?
Were is the world going to I wonder.

[Steve]

I am flabbergasted, you mean to say that you sold this wonderful set with the Zimmerman Quartets.
I found it great, not to say utterly delicious to have and to hold, and you sold it?
Were is the world going to I wonder.

I too own this set, Harry, and find it rather agreeable. 

[Mark]

Marvin, don't bin the Solti Mahler just yet (oh, you weren't going to ). I have them, and they really grow on you ... well, they did on me.

I never used to cull classical CDs. It felt as wrong as throwing away books still does. But maturing tastes and lack of space make small culls inevitable for me these days. Besides, you should hear how many CDs I once culled in a year: 400! Not classical, just stuff I'd amassed as I was growing up, much of it bought on impulse.

[Harry]

Luckely I don't have to cull, not that I ever would do that mind, rather use all the space for music, then culling it.
Decided to build my own home, and there will be more than enough space to store my collection, making additional space for at least 25,000 cd's.

[Mark]

Harry, Steve, with all due respect, those Zimmermann String Quartets are pretty pedestrian ... as works, and as performances on that Naxos disc. And the recorded sound is diabolical! It's a wonder I let that CD languish on my shelves for as long as I did.

If anyone can be bothered to sample these works, they're here.

Incidentally, I didn't sell any of the CDs I culled. Just took them to a charity shop. It's where half of them came from in the first place.

[Drasko]

Marvin, don't bin the Solti Mahler just yet (oh, you weren't going to ). I have them, and they really grow on you ... well, they did on me.

Fungus can grow on you as well, if you let it. Cull.

[Sergeant Rock]

There are some recordings at present that I am not fond of (like Solti's Mahler Symphony Cycle-I am not particularly fond of Mahler's music let alone Solti interpretation)  but I'd like to think that 5 years down the line I could change my mind...
marvin

Good call. Although I prefer my Mahler a little more subtle nowadays, there are still good performances in that Mahler cycle: 1, 2, 6, 7, 8 are especially worth having, and hearing occasionally.

I pray every day for Karl's eventual conversion to Mahlerism. I'll include you too now in my prayers  0:) 

Sarge

[Harry]

Harry, Steve, with all due respect, those Zimmermann String Quartets are pretty pedestrian ... as works, and as performances on that Naxos disc. And the recorded sound is diabolical! It's a wonder I let that CD languish on my shelves for as long as I did.

If anyone can be bothered to sample these works, they're here.

Well with due respect back Mark, you should seriously upgrade the quality of your equipment, for the sound of this disc is very good.
Pedestrian you say, oke explain that to me on pure musical/technical grounds. For in my long listening history, haven't found one recording that is just that.
You simply did not like it, but I think it rather harsh to put such a label on it, and tell us basically to shut up.

And its a denigrating statement to say if anyone can be bothered!
Let me tell you this my friend, the Zimmerman disc was a absolute bestseller concerning the sales statistics.

[Mark]

Fungus can grow on you as well, if you let it. Cull.

I have only one issue with the Solti: peak distortion in Symphonies Nos. 5 & 7. Not a real bugbear, but it spoils otherwise well-captured performances.

[Sergeant Rock]

Fungus can grow on you as well, if you let it. Cull.

Drasko is channeling M 

Sarge

[Mark]

Well with due respect back Mark, you should seriously upgrade the quality of your equipment, for the sound of this disc is very good.
Pedestrian you say, oke explain that to me on pure musical/technical grounds. For in my long listening history, haven't found one recording that is just that.
You simply did not like it, but I think it rather harsh to put such a label on it, and tell us basically to shut up.

And its a denigrating statement to say if anyone can be bothered!
Let me tell you this my friend, the Zimmerman disc was a absolute bestseller concerning the sales statistics.

Harry, you do make me chuckle.

I didn't mean to offend. And I thought those works ... well, okay. But there are many, many finer pieces in that form from that period in history. As for arguing for or against them on technical points of order, I'm unqualified.

And yes, a good system may help. Mine sucks.