Deutsche Grammophon.

[Barbirollians]

When I started becoming interested in classical music the only places to go in my little Essex town were W H Smith,Woolworths and Martins. The local record shops did not sell classical releases .

As an impecunious teenager with the exception of those gatefold sleeve mid priced items that included Gilels in the Brahms concertos most of my buying was HMV Concert Classics, EMI Eminence and CFP .

Lucky that EMI released so much good stuff on those labels.

[BBMmk2]

DG was the tops. Still is in the top five as well, imo.

[vinteuil]

When I started becoming interested in classical music the only places to go in my little Essex town were W H Smith,Woolworths and Martins. The local record shops did not sell classical releases .

As an impecunious teenager with the exception of those gatefold sleeve mid priced items that included Gilels in the Brahms concertos most of my buying was HMV Concert Classics, EMI Eminence and CFP .

Lucky that EMI released so much good stuff on those labels.

... call that impecunious? All I could afford as a teenager was Saga, or (if in funds) - Supraphon.

Like you, in my nearest little Wiltshire town all we got was WH Smith and Woolworths. (Tho' Bath was only ten miles away - and there, there were the wonders of Milsom's and the splendidly-named Duck, Son & Pinker... )

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[mikealdren]

When I started becoming interested in classical music the only places to go in my little Essex town were W H Smith,Woolworths and Martins. The local record shops did not sell classical releases .

As an impecunious teenager with the exception of those gatefold sleeve mid priced items that included Gilels in the Brahms concertos most of my buying was HMV Concert Classics, EMI Eminence and CFP .

Lucky that EMI released so much good stuff on those labels.

I was always fond of Heliodor - DG re-releases including the wonderful Tibor Varga Nielsen violin concerto which (as far as I know) has never been issued on CD.

[MickyD]

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... no, for me the yellow DG label was not the magical one. The silver Archiv one, yes : for a time, when it represented the best thoughts in early / historically informed performance - but it was soon eclipsed for me by the much more exciting productions of Seon, l'oiseau-lyre, harmonia mundi, hyperion, cpo - and more recently glossa, aparte, alpha and the like. For me DG remained - remains - stuck in a rather smug, slick, and over-plush time-warp.

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Oh, my thoughts entirely! Any new Florilegium release was always cause for excitement.

[cloughie]

I was always fond of Heliodor - DG re-releases including the wonderful Tibor Varga Nielsen violin concerto which (as far as I know) has never been issued on CD.

...or Kubelik and the Stockholm PO Stenhammar Serenade! There were three incarnations of Heliodor. Two were from the 60s, the mono 478/479 series, then the 89 series most of which were phony stereo and then in the 70s the 2548 series.

[mathias broucek]

The DG labels were very classy and the discs produced to a very high standard . In fact I can't remember ever buying a technically duff one. Still have 1976 Beethoven Edition Piano Edition ( largely Kempff ) , Symphones (Karajan ) and countless operas and bits and bobs...

It was important to avoid "made in the UK" DG discs which were never such good quality

[Ein Heldenleben]

Sorry meant this as a reply to Beef Oven #10

I meant technically duff in the sense of badly pressed but I agree with you that technically the recordings were of a high standard as well. The rumour in the industry is that it was HvK's insistence on recording the RING which led to DG's financial problems which when you think about it is replete with Wotanesque irony....

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

When I started becoming interested in classical music the only places to go in my little Essex town were W H Smith,Woolworths and Martins. The local record shops did not sell classical releases .
As an impecunious teenager with the exception of those gatefold sleeve mid priced items that included Gilels in the Brahms concertos most of my buying was HMV Concert Classics, EMI Eminence and CFP .
Lucky that EMI released so much good stuff on those labels.

Mine was a similar experience in North-East Lancs in the '70s: my pocket money limiting me to bargain labels and second-hand LPs (and it's remarkable how few "duff" performances were released on CfP). The full-priced DGG releases looked beautiful, but were way out of my budget (unless I saved up, which meant getting fewer LPs) - but then, one week, the local(-ish) branch of Boots mis-priced two of these and put them on the CfP "carousel" at £1.25 - so I immediately bought the Kempff/BPO/Leitner Beethoven 2 & 4, regretfully leaving the Kubelik Mahler #1. To my joy, it was still there (or it had been sold and replaced with the same error) the next time I visited. Glorious records, wonderful performances.

And every time I went into Blackburn, I'd make a "pilgrimage" to Reidy's ("Home of Music" - these days, more like a bedsit) just to look at the gatefold double LP of Stockhausen's Momente. I'd gaze at the illustration of the kidney drum and try to imagine what this Music could possibly sound like. It was there for well over a year, and then suddenly it wasn't ....

(Ooh! And seeing a girl from my school buying Karajan's '60s Brahms First - I fell head-over-heels in love with her after that! )

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

The DGG sleeve designs oozed a feeling of quality. However, over time I came to the conclusion that the sound quality was not always as good as the company's reputation suggested, and this go much worse in the early digital era. Decca had the quality that DG somehow lacked. And I often found that the best HvK recordings were those on Decca and EMI.

[richardfinegold]

When I was an impecunious teenager, my greatest delight was going to my local classical record shop and perusing the completely unobtainable Deutsche Grammophon discs. These were, for me, the pinnacle of classical recordings which were only to be purchased for birthdays and Christmas. (I remember my mother suffering my agonised deliberations on my 16th birthday as I chose FOUR discs from the DG catalogue! Karajan/Schwalbe Vivaldi Four Seasons, Karajan Berliner Philharmoniker Tchaikovsky 5 and Shostakovich Symphony 10 & the 1977 Beethoven 'Pastotal' symphony!)

The question I have is am I the only person who still has a slight shiver when I see a new release from Deutsche Grammophon? Or, for that matter, coming across a DG disc in a charity shop?

I am right there with you, PG. when I first started buying records DG and Phillips were unobtanium, as they both commanded premium prices. They also both had the quietest vinyl. For the price of 1 album I could purchase 4 Columbia budget lps, featuring Conductors such as Szell, Ormandy, Bernstein and Walter, so purchase of DG or Phillips was a special treat. I remember celebrating my acceptance into Medical School by purchasing Karajan Mahler 6, a huge box with a rainbow
—somehow the second part of my post disappeared when I hit save-it must be proactive Editing

[John Wright]

As a teenager in the late 1960’s I was just discovering classical music on Decca and CFP albums that I could afford. With just one record shop in my town I just could not get my hands on enough Bach and Vivaldi.
I still remember being flushed with summer job money and taking a train to Edinburgh where I discovered Deutsche Grammophon and quickly selected a double album of Vivaldi concertos - cost me £7 - which might be £100 today, what was I thinking. But I’ve loved that album and it still gets a play now and again.
Orchestre de Chambre, Paul Kuentz, Vivaldi’s L'Estro Armonico Op 3 - Deutsche Grammophon 2726 001. Of course today you might get this on eBay again for just £7 !
Now living in the Midlands with probably 20 charity shops nearby, my desire for Deutsche Grammophon is easily satisfied usually for £1 a piece. Looking at my shelves, I see 16 years of charity shop trawling has acquired about 50 albums (and many more Decca and CFP :o)

[pastoralguy]

Now living in the Midlands with probably 20 charity shops nearby, my desire for Deutsche Grammophon is easily satisfied usually for £1 a piece. Looking at my shelves, I see 16 years of charity shop trawling has acquired about 50 albums (and many more Decca and CFP :o)

Much as I love finding CDs in charity shops for as little as 50p or a £, there's a slight tinge of sadness that often it's discs or repertoire I simply couldn't afford back in the late 70's. I do remember lusting after the Kempf/Leitner Beethoven piano concertos which remained out of reach until I was 18 and received a large cheque from my favourite uncle to celebrate this milestone. So it was a little sad to buy the cd re-issue in a charity shop for 0.75p. Back in the 70's and 80's charity shops were pretty grotty affairs, at least in Edinburgh, so there was rarely anything decent to find.

What prompted this thread was finding a spotless copy of Myung-Whun Chung's 'Scheherazade' & 'Firebird' for 99p yesterday. Of course, the young person discovering classical music today would simply stream the entire catalogue.

[Beresford]

And every time I went into Blackburn, I'd make a "pilgrimage" to Reidy's ("Home of Music" - these days, more like a bedsit) just to look at the gatefold double LP of Stockhausen's Momente. I'd gaze at the illustration of the kidney drum and try to imagine what this Music could possibly sound like. It was there for well over a year, and then suddenly it wasn't ....

The wife of a colleague in the 1970's worked at Reidy's. She got me the Telefunken boxed set of Bach Violin and Harpsichord sonatas by Alice and Nicholas Harnoncourt, and Herbert Tachezi. I still love it more than any other recording, even Isabel Faust. (But Rachel Podger is playing some of them live in Sheffield on 6th December).

[cloughie]

As a teenager in the late 1960’s I was just discovering classical music on Decca...

Ace of Diamonds was an aptly named label, most of them were absolute gems!