Charity Shop Trawl

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  • Dave2002
    Full Member
    • Dec 2010
    • 18049

    Originally posted by visualnickmos View Post
    Hello again. It's not just me, then! I hadn't realised that Foyles took SH cds. Thanks for the tip. Even if I just get a few quid for a few cds, that's a bottle of wine!
    What kind of plonk are you drinking then?

    Comment

    • visualnickmos
      Full Member
      • Nov 2010
      • 3615

      Originally posted by Dave2002 View Post
      What kind of plonk are you drinking then?
      Here in France a few quid will get you a very fine plonk, indeed!

      Comment

      • Anna

        This morning from The Red Cross shop, two historical recordings.

        Benno Moiseiwitsch playing Rachmaninov's 2nd PC and Paginini Theme, £1.00 (EMI)

        14 cd box set Artur Schnabel playing Beethoven, 32 Sonatas, 5 Concertos, Variations, Bagatelles, etc. LSO, Malcolm Sargent. £3.99 (Dante)

        Comment

        • amateur51

          Originally posted by Anna View Post
          This morning from The Red Cross shop, two historical recordings.

          Benno Moiseiwitsch playing Rachmaninov's 2nd PC and Paginini Theme, £1.00 (EMI)

          14 cd box set Artur Schnabel playing Beethoven, 32 Sonatas, 5 Concertos, Variations, Bagatelles, etc. LSO, Malcolm Sargent. £3.99 (Dante)
          Great stuff Anna - I'd be interested to hear about what those Dante releases sound like when you've had time to listen to some of them

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          • Ferretfancy
            Full Member
            • Nov 2010
            • 3487

            Originally posted by amateur51 View Post
            Great stuff Anna - I'd be interested to hear about what those Dante releases sound like when you've had time to listen to some of them
            Ams

            I haven't heard the Dante releases, but the Schnabel complete Beethoven sonatas on Naxos sounds very good, with Mark-Obert Thorn doing his usual excellent job

            So much depends on where the original material came from before re-mastering. M-O Thorn seems to have tried where possible to obtain American pressings, which were quieter than British pressings at that period. I wonder what source Dante used ? this can be quite a minefield.

            Comment

            • Anna

              Originally posted by Ferretfancy View Post
              I haven't heard the Dante releases, but the Schnabel complete Beethoven sonatas on Naxos sounds very good, with Mark-Obert Thorn doing his usual excellent job

              So much depends on where the original material came from before re-mastering. M-O Thorn seems to have tried where possible to obtain American pressings, which were quieter than British pressings at that period. I wonder what source Dante used ? this can be quite a minefield.
              Ferret, I don't know. An initial search reveals this from Audiophile and similar from ClassicalWeb: Seth Winner’s transfers for Pearl still sound very fine; there is more shellac noise, but there is also more body to the piano sound and a far clearer and focused room ambience. Dante’s Schnabel edition was also well-transferred, possibly from EMI LPs, but it lacks the immediacy of the Pearl. More recent transfers include Mark Obert-Thorn’s fine edition for Naxos Historical, which achieves a fine balance between piano tone and surface noise, and faithful to the original releases

              We shall see once they are played. But at £3.99 for 14cds they're worth a gamble, and The Red Cross gains. If I find too much snap, crackle and pop then I won't keep them and another charity shop will benefit!

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              • Ferretfancy
                Full Member
                • Nov 2010
                • 3487

                Originally posted by Anna View Post
                Ferret, I don't know. An initial search reveals this from Audiophile and similar from ClassicalWeb: Seth Winner’s transfers for Pearl still sound very fine; there is more shellac noise, but there is also more body to the piano sound and a far clearer and focused room ambience. Dante’s Schnabel edition was also well-transferred, possibly from EMI LPs, but it lacks the immediacy of the Pearl. More recent transfers include Mark Obert-Thorn’s fine edition for Naxos Historical, which achieves a fine balance between piano tone and surface noise, and faithful to the original releases

                We shall see once they are played. But at £3.99 for 14cds they're worth a gamble, and The Red Cross gains. If I find too much snap, crackle and pop then I won't keep them and another charity shop will benefit!
                Thanks for that information Anna. I bought the Naxos CDs one at a time, so they do take up quite a bit of shelf space. You certainly have quite a bargain!
                I often think that there's something rather special about historic piano recordings, possibly because the pianist had to approve approximately four minute sections, and that was the nearest they came to editing. To my mind this gives an integrity to the performances, certainly in the best cases. A good example is Egon Petri's 1937 recording of the Brahms Paganini and Handel Variations, I don't think they have been bettered.

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                • Ferretfancy
                  Full Member
                  • Nov 2010
                  • 3487

                  It's not exactly a charity shop I know, but on Saturday at Gramex I bought ten CDs for £40. These included a fascinating Kempe recording from the 1970s of Britten's Sinfonia da Requiem coupled with the Firebird Suite, and a two disc set of Mozart Piano Concertos with Finghin Collins. Perhaps the most interesting bargain was a live recording with Barbirolli and the Bavarian RSO, Brahms 2 and Vaughan Williams 6. This was possibly the maestro's last recording, and as far as I can tell
                  he never made a stereo recording of the sixth, so it was quite a find.

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                  • Anna

                    As I was passing the British Heart shop I saw a book in the window I had thought of buying new at £6.99 - and there is was at £1.50!! (and it looks unread)
                    Back on topic: So I had a quick look at the cds and came away with a 2 cd Mahler 1 & 2, Georg Solti, LSO, (Heather Harper, Helen Watts) Decca £2.99. This is because I've never really got into Mahler and have only the 5,9 and 10th. I also bought (although I really don't need any more Beethoven), the 9th 'Choral', Colin Davis, BRSO (Philips) 99p, as I have a soft spot for Davis. If anyone was looking to increase their collection of Copland or Vivaldi today they would have been delighted - obviouisly someone had a clear out!
                    Unfortunately with my stereo playing up discs are having to languish for the mo

                    As to the historic recordings mentioned above, I have quite a few of various and love them - you can do far too much cleaning up and tweaking I think.

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                    • hafod
                      Full Member
                      • Nov 2010
                      • 740

                      Originally posted by Anna View Post
                      As I was passing the British Heart shop I saw a book in the window I had thought of buying new at £6.99 - and there is was at £1.50!! (and it looks unread)
                      Back on topic: So I had a quick look at the cds and came away with............
                      Interesting you should mention the British Heart Foundation as over the last three months or so, I have noticed that some branches from time to time have had batches of classical discs in fine condition. The numbers have not been startling but more than other charity shops in the vicinity. This has been particularly noticeable because hitherto it had been my experience that BHF shops rarely provide anything of interest.

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                      • Petrushka
                        Full Member
                        • Nov 2010
                        • 12337

                        Originally posted by hafod View Post
                        Interesting you should mention the British Heart Foundation as over the last three months or so, I have noticed that some branches from time to time have had batches of classical discs in fine condition. The numbers have not been startling but more than other charity shops in the vicinity. This has been particularly noticeable because hitherto it had been my experience that BHF shops rarely provide anything of interest.
                        Never anything at our local BHF. The local hospice charity shop is much better and I've bought some good bargains from there. I suspect that someone donated a large collection to them and they dribble out a few at a time. Is this the way charity shops operate does anyone know?
                        "The sound is the handwriting of the conductor" - Bernard Haitink

                        Comment

                        • Dave2002
                          Full Member
                          • Dec 2010
                          • 18049

                          Originally posted by visualnickmos View Post
                          Here in France a few quid will get you a very fine plonk, indeed!
                          You'll have to give me some tips.

                          In the UK a "few" quid doesn't normally get much, and then there has recently been the "scandal" of the half price wines at supermarkets - i.e wines advertised at around £10-14, then reduced to half as "offers", but in fact never really worth the full price in the first place.

                          Today, Oxfam:

                          Pascal Rogé + Dutoit, Saint-Saëns, piano concertos (2 CDs)
                          A debut piano recital by someone with an unpronounceable name on EMI. (Alex Slobodanyik, Chopin Sonata 3, Schumann Papillons)
                          Some early Spanish music (c. 1700) with voice. Maybe details later.

                          Comment

                          • Flosshilde
                            Full Member
                            • Nov 2010
                            • 7988

                            From Headington (can't remember which shop) - complete Liszt Hungarian Rhapsodies, played by Michelle Campanella. Brand new, still wrapped, Decca Double for £1.99

                            Oxfam in Broad St, Oxford - Handel, Judas Maccabaeus; Heather Harper, Helen Watts, Alexander Young & John Shirley-Quirk, ECO. Brilliant Classics, £4.99

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                            • cloughie
                              Full Member
                              • Dec 2011
                              • 22212

                              Originally posted by Flosshilde View Post
                              From Headington (can't remember which shop) - complete Liszt Hungarian Rhapsodies, played by Michelle Campanella. Brand new, still wrapped, Decca Double for £1.99

                              Oxfam in Broad St, Oxford - Handel, Judas Maccabaeus; Heather Harper, Helen Watts, Alexander Young & John Shirley-Quirk, ECO. Brilliant Classics, £4.99
                              Kertesz Rossini Stabat Mater on Decca Ovation as part of 6 for £1 at Cornwall Air Ambulance Shop in Camborne.

                              Comment

                              • LeMartinPecheur
                                Full Member
                                • Apr 2007
                                • 4717

                                Three pleasing oddities this morning in Launceston:
                                - Margaret Price Mendelssohn songs (helios);
                                - Schreier Schumann songs on Orfeo (both Liederkreise(s) plus Dichterliebe with Andras Schiff - had to be worth a punt);
                                - Jordi Savall doing WAM 'Serenate Notturne' (K239, 525, 286 & 522 Musical Joke).

                                3 x £1.99 = megabliss, hopefully
                                I keep hitting the Escape key, but I'm still here!

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