which recording?

[Tash]

right, i'm in a cd store looking for a recording of something or other, and they have about 50 different recordings (actually they don't it's probably more like 2 or 3 if that), and i always get stumped as to which is the better recording.
i know that naxos is generally the budget label, so does that suggest the performers aren't as good as others or it just doesn't have as good quality?
Grammaphone's a pretty good brand i think...
so in the end i'll end up picking whichever has the nicest looking cover (yes i choose a book by its cover) and whether i like the sound of the performersplaying (depending on whether i've heard them or not).
so can anyone give me some info as to what are the better recording labels and orchestras etc? thanks!

[xvimbi]

It completely depends. I don't think one can go by label, as much as one can go by orchestra or even soloist. I usually look at the reviews at amazon.com. If there is something obviously wrong with a recording, chances are it's being stated in one or more of the reviews. That gives me some idea. If possible, I listen to the snippets on amazon and iTMS to get a better idea. In the end, I have practically never regretted purchasing a CD, even if it wasn't absolutely stellar, because I could always get something interesting out of them. There are some exceptions: now, I am extremely cautious when it comes to unknown performers. I've been disappointed more often than pleasantly surprised.

[brewtality]

i wouldn't be overly concerned about the label if i were you.  Naxos' low prices do not necessarily mean that the recordings are inferior, example the historical range of cds cost 10 bucks each yet contain recordings by some of the greatest artists ever. Generally you should choose a recording based on the performer. Also to save money i would recommend buying over the internet not from cd stores as there is somethimes a large discrepancy in price.

[dmk]

Hey Tash,

you live in Sydney don't you?? If you do go to Michael's Music Room in Town Hall Arcade right near Town Hall station.  There sales people are so nice and really knowledgeable, if you want a good recording of something they will generally give you a leg up on what is most reliable.

If you are talking about piano works, I generally pick these by the pianist....

good luck

dmk

[galonia]

If you are interested in reading reviewers' comments (and not everyone is), then you can look in things like The Penguin Guide to Compact Discs.  UNSW library has a copy - if you go to another university, they'd probably have one too.  They have one out every couple of years, I think.

[Regulus Medtner]

For reviews you can also consult the Gramophone magazine's online database. (www.gramophone.co.uk).

[Tash]

dmk- yes i absolutely love michael's music room i want to work there! mmm yes i should try asking them sometime...
galonia- i will look at the penguin guide being a unsw girl and all that's a good idea thanks! do you go to unsw? ha that's the coolest if you do, we could have walked past each other one day and not even known it!
ok so basically i shuld just go do some research before i buy a cd, and not look down at labels and covers- yes naxos's historical cds are bril, so thanks everyone i shall stop being so ignorant now!

[galonia]

dmk- yes i absolutely love michael's music room i want to work there! mmm yes i should try asking them sometime...
galonia- i will look at the penguin guide being a unsw girl and all that's a good idea thanks! do you go to unsw? ha that's the coolest if you do, we could have walked past each other one day and not even known it!

Yes, I go to UNSW, I'm now doing my 2nd degree there - I live in the Red Centre.  The other funny thing is, I go to work in the building above Michael's Music Room...

[Tash]

oh the red centre's the building that was designed to be environmentally friendly and have some crazed type of heating and air-conditioning that doesn't work right?! i think that was like the first building at unsw i ever went in like years ago when my sister was doing an eisteddfod and me n dad went on a treck around the place.
i live sometimes in the webster building, but mainly off at COFA- did you go to the choir carols concert? cos i was in it!!
wooo now i know where to find galonia mwahaha wow that's funny being so close to someone here, it being so international and all...

[galonia]

Yes, Red Centre is environmentally friendly.  The lights have motion sensors, so if there is no one in the room for a long time (or if you fall asleep in a room), the lights turn themselves off.  There is no air-conditioning, instead the louvres are designed to allow maximum air flow into the room on hot days, and there are fans to help.  Then there are the big metal blinds which keep out the hot sun.  But that doesn't mean we don't swelter sometimes... In winter, you have to remember to close the louvres or else everyone freezes because of the air flowing in so freely.  But in general, the building is actually quite well designed.  At least they realised (just before our School moved in when it was first built) that see-through walls may be very trendy and aesthetically pleasing, but not that practical for the toilets.

Webster - is that the building with the Carl Vine cantata on the windows?

[Tash]

LOL at the toilets

webster, if it has the Carl Vine cantata on it i've never noticed! it probably does i'm just blind and never actually look at the building- it's the grey one that's basically opposite your building, at a right angle to the science theatre and opposite the cafe. yay lower campus rocks!
so what degree are you doing?

[galonia]

I'm doing a degree in Statistics, having formerly completed one in Pure Maths.  Hence all the time spent in the Red Centre.

Yes - if Webster is the building across the Main Walkway from the Red Centre, then if you look at the side of the building which faces Red Centre - this side is completely made of glass, which means you can see everyone in their offices inside the Webster building.  Anyway, don't look at the people, but look carefully at the glass, and it looks like it has nasty black scratches on it.  The scratches are apparently a digital representation of some composition by Vine.  At least, that's what I was told when I was a Yellow Shirt (those crazy Orientation Week people - yes I was one of those once!) - and that's what all the Yellow Shirts say to their little first year tour groups.

I should walk across the Main Walkway and do a music subject, but too lazy to work out the enrolment procedures or the pre-requisites.  So I just take all my electives within my own school (and within my own department if possible, so all my enrolment is done for me).

[dmk]

Yes, I go to UNSW, I'm now doing my 2nd degree there - I live in the Red Centre. The other funny thing is, I go to work in the building above Michael's Music Room...

All you UNSW folk......I never could understand UNSW talk...although plenty of cheap and cheerful restaurants on Anzac Parade!!!!!

Where did you work,  isn't town hall right above Michael's Music Room or is that the QVB.....

[Tash]

oh i bet you were a fafa sydney uni student- i love the competition of whose uni is better- maybe it's just us being stuck-up ex private school kids now in our own worlds, but we have this great thing with unsw vs maquarie (incredibly international vs maquarie's entire population of the north shore) and then sydney vs uts (an entire city of a uni vs a building) hahaha as for the rest of the uni's can't say i really know anyone at them so we just ignore them, gosh we're such mature brats!

anyway i'll check out the scratches next time i'm walking past. haha wow you must know some random things after being a yellow shirt person...funny people...i could get onto a whole story here but i won't. can't say i plan on being one of them...how can you be too lazy to take up a music subject! just do it as a gen ed and there are no prerequisites cos you're not already taking any music subjects. and the lecturers are bril too!

[galonia]

how can you be too lazy to take up a music subject! just do it as a gen ed and there are no prerequisites cos you're not already taking any music subjects. and the lecturers are bril too!

In my undergrad degree, I did take a music gen ed, was quite boring, actually.  But it did help further develop my interest in opera, for which I'm grateful.  But in general, I think gen eds are a waste of time.

 

[Tash]

really? i wanted to do a couple of gen eds except cos i do a double degree it cut them out which was a bum. what gen ed was it?