Unplayed CDs - confess your guilt!

[Dave2002]

You probably don't want another set but you might like the Van Swieten on Brilliant Classics which I have really enjoyed listening to. There is a strong case for playing them with a fortepiano. The cello almost always duplicates and reinforces the fortepiano's relatively weak bass sound and the violin is often in unison with the keyboard's right hand. A fortepiano must come nearer to providing the texture, colour and instrumental balance that Haydn had in mind.

http://www.mdt.co.uk/haydn-complete-...ics-10cds.html

For "only" around £80 more you can get this, which I suspect may contain the same recordings - http://www.selections.com/haydn-edition-150cds.html Intriguingly, I've noticed that several sites refer to this as volume 1. Buy this, or its successor, if there ever is one, and you'll probably have a resource of unplayed CDs for many years to come!

I can't in fairness comment on recordings of the piano trios since I don't have a set, other than to say that most people seem to really like the Beux Arts Trio, irrespective of whether the performances are authentic, or HIP etc. There may be other versions with different keyboard instruments which are worth hearing. Thanks for drawing our attention to one of them.

[MickyD]

You probably don't want another set but you might like the Van Swieten on Brilliant Classics which I have really enjoyed listening to. There is a strong case for playing them with a fortepiano. The cello almost always duplicates and reinforces the fortepiano's relatively weak bass sound and the violin is often in unison with the keyboard's right hand. A fortepiano must come nearer to providing the texture, colour and instrumental balance that Haydn had in mind.

http://www.mdt.co.uk/haydn-complete-...ics-10cds.html

Yes, I got hold of this set some time ago and would really recommend it to any fellow HIPsters.

[hafod]

You probably don't want another set but you might like the Van Swieten on Brilliant Classics which I have really enjoyed listening to. There is a strong case for playing them with a fortepiano. The cello almost always duplicates and reinforces the fortepiano's relatively weak bass sound and the violin is often in unison with the keyboard's right hand. A fortepiano must come nearer to providing the texture, colour and instrumental balance that Haydn had in mind.

http://www.mdt.co.uk/haydn-complete-...ics-10cds.html

I agree - this is a great set but get it from jpc where it can be had for €9.99 plus €6 delivery i.e. almost half that of mdt when the £3 delivery charge is factored in.

http://www.jpc.de/jpcng/SESSIONID/42ba805c415dff156cf075336c161f8d/classic/detail/-/art/Joseph-Haydn-1732-1809-Die-45-Klaviertrios/hnum/9150885

Currently jpc has some other Brilliant Classics sets worth considering to add to all those unplayed (or partially played) boxes e.g a 10cd Tallis set for €15 (one delivery charge of €6 applies irrespective of the number of sets).

http://www.jpc.de/jpcng/classic/detail/-/art/Thomas-Tallis-1505-1585-Complete-Works/hnum/9902644

Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau romantic songs 6cd for €7

http://www.jpc.de/jpcng/classic/detail/-/art/Dietrich-Fischer-Dieskau-Romantic-Songs/hnum/2937683

Tafelmusik/Weil 5cd Haydn Masses for €8 (a wonderful set imv)

http://www.jpc.de/jpcng/classic/detail/-/art/Joseph-Haydn-1732-1809-Messen-Nr-27910-14/hnum/4558963

Villa-Lobos String Quartets 6cd €8

http://www.jpc.de/jpcng/classic/detail/-/art/Heitor-Villa-Lobos-1887-1959-Streichquartette-Nr-1-17/hnum/4650919

I am unclear as to why unplayed cds is a matter for guilt. If a good deal comes up and it is affordable, then it seems both sensible and reasonable to go for it whether it is for something one knows and likes, something one wishes to explore or perhaps could not afford otherwise. The fact that one may already have a number of unplayed cds is for me irrelevant. It's the same with books. Last week I bought 4 music books in a charity shop to add to the queue of a dozen unread ones I already have. One of these (for £4 and like new) was Mortimer Frank's 'Toscanini the NBC Years' - a happy coincidence as it now jumps the queue to be read as the evenings draw in as a prelude to listening to the new(ish) Toscanini - the Complete RCA Collection bought largely speculatively over 3 months ago for £60 from Amazon.es. That set remains unplayed except to check that the first disc contained the correct Eroica (it didn't and I was able to get an immediate replacement thanks to the email address supplied by Bryn )

Many items are played straight away but others are simply 'laid down' for whatever reason. It works for wine (yes, I know that many wines improve with age) so why not cds and books? Nobody in their right mind would think of drinking their cellar dry (unless of course it was because of misplaced guilt through having shedloads of unplayed discs ). Indeed, digging out an unplayed disc or set purchased a while ago where the cost has been swallowed up by the mists of time, is really satisfying. The same goes for a dusty bottle of wine found at the bottom of the (large) wine rack in the corner of the garage (unfortunately most modern houses don't have cellars).

[martin_opera]

Many items are played straight away but others are simply 'laid down' for whatever reason. It works for wine (yes, I know that many wines improve with age) so why not cds and books?

I like this philosophy, but wonder whether those who ascribed to it when collecting cassette tapes are now a little concerned at the wasted pennies on technically inadequate sound. I am 39 and tell myself that I'll have more time to listen to x, y and z when the kids leave home (they're 2 and 4) or when I retire! My view is that those Kurt Masur Lizst Complete Orchestral Works CDs on EMI (unplayed) will never sound better than they do now and as recorded in 2003. So when I retire I just need a player to do them justice. Am I kidding myself?

[amateur51]

I like this philosophy, but wonder whether those who ascribed to it when collecting cassette tapes are now a little concerned at the wasted pennies on technically inadequate sound. I am 39 and tell myself that I'll have more time to listen to x, y and z when the kids leave home (they're 2 and 4) or when I retire! My view is that those Kurt Masur Lizst Complete Orchestral Works CDs on EMI (unplayed) will never sound better than they do now and as recorded in 2003. So when I retire I just need a player to do them justice. Am I kidding myself?

Well if you are, I'm in with you

I'm 60 now & love the fact that I have a library of books & CDs that I've collected over the years that sustains me in a time of personal financial constraints.

Go for it, I say

[martin_opera]

Go for it, I say

Thank you. I'll tell my wife that Miss Marple made me do it!

[hafod]

I'm 60 now & love the fact that I have a library of books & CDs that I've collected over the years that sustains me in a time of personal financial constraints.

Precisely. Those of us drawing public service pensions have not seen them nibbled at yet but if it happens then new purchases will become a thing of the past. So get them while you can.

[mathias broucek]

I like this philosophy, but wonder whether those who ascribed to it when collecting cassette tapes are now a little concerned at the wasted pennies on technically inadequate sound. I am 39 and tell myself that I'll have more time to listen to x, y and z when the kids leave home (they're 2 and 4) or when I retire! My view is that those Kurt Masur Lizst Complete Orchestral Works CDs on EMI (unplayed) will never sound better than they do now and as recorded in 2003. So when I retire I just need a player to do them justice. Am I kidding myself?

Don't wait! Sadly a friend's husband planned to spend his retirement years listening but died a few months in. I inherited some of his discs so they're in a good home but it's a sad tale all the same.

(I'm an actuary by training and sadly a small proportion of apparently healthy people do die rather suddenly not long after retirement.)

[amateur51]

Thank you. I'll tell my wife that Miss Marple made me do it!

[teamsaint]

Don't wait! Sadly a friend's husband planned to spend his retirement years listening but died a few months in. I inherited some of his discs so they're in a good home but it's a sad tale all the same.

(I'm an actuary by training and sadly a small proportion of apparently healthy people do die rather suddenly not long after retirement.)

My first job was at Calor Gas. It was well known that the average Calor gas pension was drawn for a mighty nine months before the erstwhile LPG worker was driven off to Folkestone Crematorium. (check out its power source).
It was clear, even at the time, that daily black pudding and bacon rolls at 10 AM in the works canteen weren't just the lucky choice of some well trained chef !!

So, get those CDs bought NOW !!

[LeMartinPecheur]

I have an Erato set of Fauré’s Penélopé that I’ve had since the 1980s yet haven’t listened to at all. I feel ashamed of this, since I like Fauré. I can’t even explain why there’s been this protracted lapse, except perhaps that it was more difficult to find time to listen to an opera before I retired.

One of the positive things about the R3 Forum is that you’re encouraged to listen (often after a long absence) to so many things you’d forgotten about. Perhaps that will work with Penélopé.

I got that set cheap 10+ yrs ago from Selections. Did play it and found it pleasant but unmemorable, and I'm afraid it's still awaiting its second spin...

[Pianorak]

I used to be quite good listening to all my LPs, tapes and CDs until I joined The Radio 3 Forum and came across a certain thread, when the order of the day became Buy - Buy - Buy, and Listen - Listen - Listen took a back seat. However, I have now mended my ways and haven't looked at that thread for weeks and weeks. It can be done I have you know!

[teamsaint]

I used to be quite good listening to all my LPs, tapes and CDs until I joined The Radio 3 Forum and came across a certain thread, when the order of the day became Buy - Buy - Buy, and Listen - Listen - Listen took a back seat. However, I have now mended my ways and haven't looked at that thread for weeks and weeks. It can be done I have you know!

Thats what they all say Pianorak... it won't last

[mathias broucek]

I used to be quite good listening to all my LPs, tapes and CDs until I joined The Radio 3 Forum and came across a certain thread, when the order of the day became Buy - Buy - Buy, and Listen - Listen - Listen took a back seat. However, I have now mended my ways and haven't looked at that thread for weeks and weeks. It can be done I have you know!

I know what you mean. Am proud to say that I've ordered nothing for just over two weeks although stuff is still arriving in the post (Jochum ICON, Art of Sinopoli).

[teamsaint]

I know what you mean. Am proud to say that I've ordered nothing for just over two weeks although stuff is still arriving in the post (Jochum ICON, Art of Sinopoli).

That is exactly what I told Mrs Teamsaint.

She doesn't believe me.