Charity shop Karajan Beethoven

[silvestrione]

In Oxfam in Skegness, Beethoven Syms 1 2 3 4 7 + Egmont in a case for 99p. The late digital recordings.

Like and indeed love many earlier Karajan recordings of the Symphonies, but never heard these, and a first listen to no 4. bears out what I've heard...a little stodgy.

BUT...played the Egmont Overture, and that is stunning! In performance, virtuosity, dramatic power, and visceral recording! Worth much more than 99p on its own.

Looking forward to trying the version of the Eroica, which if I remember rightly, had some admirers.

[Extended Play]

In Oxfam in Skegness, Beethoven Syms 1 2 3 4 7 + Egmont in a case for 99p. The late digital recordings.

.

Talk about a bargain! And it raises the question of pricing in charity shops. There's one not far from where I live which has a huge, and frequently refreshed, selection of LPs, each for £1. I often go in just to browse for a nostalgia trip. But another branch of the same charity, equally close, sells some LPs for £10 or more, embellished with a hand-written sticker "RARE!!" I guess it all comes down to who's doing the sifting in the back room.

[Petrushka]

Haven't been to Skegness since July 1967 when no-one had heard of charity shops!

I only have the 9th from that late Beethoven set and think it's rather good. All we get in our local charity shops in the classical field are endless BBC MM discs.

[EdgeleyRob]

I only ever see 'now that's what I call music' cds.

[cloughie]

I only ever see 'now that's what I call music' cds.

...and you look at them and think 'that's not what I call it'!

[Flay]

I picked up a pristine 1963 vinyl box of the War Requiem for a quid in Byers Road the other month (Fischer-Dieskau and Pears, BB & the LSO)

[silvestrione]

Talk about a bargain! And it raises the question of pricing in charity shops. There's one not far from where I live which has a huge, and frequently refreshed, selection of LPs, each for £1. I often go in just to browse for a nostalgia trip. But another branch of the same charity, equally close, sells some LPs for £10 or more, embellished with a hand-written sticker "RARE!!" I guess it all comes down to who's doing the sifting in the back room.

Yes, and I also bought the Barbirolli Mahler 5 for 99p (and a 'rare' Johanna McGregor recital of Bartok, Debussy and Ravel from defunct Collins Classics label, 99p) so whoever priced there had little idea of even asking more for a set of 3 discs!

Half way through the 'Eroica'...I think it's terrific, though as always regret the lack of first movement repeat.

[umslopogaas]

The pricing of secondhand vinyl by charity shops does very much depend on the optimism of the pricer. Oxfam used to be a great source of bargains, but they got wise to the fact they were selling stuff for a pound that went on ebay for fifty, and started to employ someone to do their pricing. This person has sometimes inflated ideas of a record's worth. I think they take little account of condition - the top price is for near mint condition, not the beat-up wreckage you sometimes find in a charity shop. I also suspect that they add a bit extra on, because its a charity and they expect people to be a soft touch. I've never found anything collectible in any charity shop other than Oxfam, and their prices made me turn pale and flee.

I suspect there are three sources of price information: other dealers' stock, ebay and the Rare Classical Record Price Guide 2006 (now out of print). Some discs do go for very high prices on ebay (someone just got £881 for SAX 2366, Bizet conducted by Cluytens, and £3766 for SAX 2386, Brahms vc played by Kogan). Nearly four thousand quid for a record is a lot of money, even if it is Kogan. I was neither buyer nor seller, I hasten to add. However, its worth noting that most records are priced at 99p and attract no bids, its only a small proportion that are collectible. And its a declining market, the old generation of collectors is dying out and the next generation isnt interested.

[techniquest]

I got hold of the Barbirolli Mahler 5 on vinyl in perfect condition for a pound at a charity shop. I also picked up (on a separate occasion) part of the Karajan Beethoven CD-set i.e symphonies 5,6,8,9 plus Fidelio, Leonore III and Corilan for 99p. I love going into charity shops - yes there is a heck of a lot of rubbish, but sometimes a gem can be found.
A few years ago my local library had a sale of all it's vinyl and I was able to pick up a stack of records and box-sets at a pound each including Scriabin symphonies (Inbal), Orff 'Antigonae', Khachaturian 'Gayeneh' (Tjeknavorian on RCA) and the Tchaikovsky symphonies (Karajan).

[Dave2002]

The pricing of secondhand vinyl by charity shops does very much depend on the optimism of the pricer. Oxfam used to be a great source of bargains, but they got wise to the fact they were selling stuff for a pound that went on ebay for fifty, and started to employ someone to do their pricing. This person has sometimes inflated ideas of a record's worth. I think they take little account of condition - the top price is for near mint condition, not the beat-up wreckage you sometimes find in a charity shop. I also suspect that they add a bit extra on, because its a charity and they expect people to be a soft touch. I've never found anything collectible in any charity shop other than Oxfam, and their prices made me turn pale and flee.

I suspect there are three sources of price information: other dealers' stock, ebay and the Rare Classical Record Price Guide 2006 (now out of print). Some discs do go for very high prices on ebay (someone just got £881 for SAX 2366, Bizet conducted by Cluytens, and £3766 for SAX 2386, Brahms vc played by Kogan). Nearly four thousand quid for a record is a lot of money, even if it is Kogan. I was neither buyer nor seller, I hasten to add. However, its worth noting that most records are priced at 99p and attract no bids, its only a small proportion that are collectible. And its a declining market, the old generation of collectors is dying out and the next generation isnt interested.

A few years ago I noticed that a few of our local charity shops had some good LPs. I had the idea of buying them and then trying to sell some on eBay - who hasn't thought of this?! Before doing so, I checked the prices of some on eBay. Guess what? I found that most were going on eBay for the same or less than they were being sold for in the charity shops, though there are some, such as the Kogan violin concerto LPs which sometimes go for a lot. Also, even if some were going for slightly more than the charity shop prices, the cost of posting out such LPs and the time involved suggested that it's not a viable business model. Having noted the price of the Kogan LPs I was able, a few weeks later, to buy an equivalent CD for about £5 in one of the now defunct CD shops in central London. Some collectors even dump their LPs. A friend of mine put all his LPs in the bin after trying to offload them to various outlets. [OK - I would have taken some, but ...] I assume that he'd recorded anything which he really wanted that he hadn't replaced on CD.

I still occasionally buy LPs in charity shops if there is something which I think is rare enough or interesting enough, but I reckon the chances of making any money out of this is very low. I only do this for pieces which I personally want and I'm not intending to sell things on. I have recently bought a few LPs of Glazunov symphonies from eBay - around £20 for 2 if I recall correctly. I did this because I felt that the LPs had a better chance of sounding OK than CDs made from 40-50 year old deteriorating master tape.

Pricing in charity shops is somewhat hit and miss anyway. I've had great CD bargains from charity shops including one which was selling 3 or 4 for a pound, but then the same shop had a change of policy and started selling them for £2 per CD - even the ones which come free with magazines. Policies change, depending on the manager, and the degree of ignorance or not of those involved. I still wish I'd picked up the Bruno Walter LPs of Schubert symphonies though - I was amazed that they sold within a day.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

I got hold of the Barbirolli Mahler 5 on vinyl in perfect condition for a pound at a charity shop. I also picked up (on a separate occasion) part of the Karajan Beethoven CD-set i.e symphonies 5,6,8,9 plus Fidelio, Leonore III and Corilan for 99p. I love going into charity shops - yes there is a heck of a lot of rubbish, but sometimes a gem can be found.

And welcome to the Forum, techniquest.

[hafod]

Charity shops can provide some good pickings but less so in recent years in my experience. Last week's haul though was particularly good when I stopped off in Stow-on-the-Wold on the way to the Peak District on holiday. Mackerras Glagolithic Mass on Chandos; Janacek String Quartets (Le Quator Talich on Calliope); Benjamin Grosvenor Chopin/Liszt/Ravel recital on Decca; Ute Lemper sings Kurt Weill v2 on Decca all £2 each. A catholic mix but then that is one of the benefits.

[Bryn]

In Windsor a couple of days ago, the BBCMM COver disc of Shostakovich Second Symphony & Prokofiev Cantata for the 20th Anniversary of the October Revolution (BBCSO&C, Mark Elder), and Alkan Esquisses, Op 63 (Steven Osborne), at £1 each.I already had the BBCMM disc, but am sure I can find someone deserving to give it to.