If you fall in love with classical music and want to systematically buy a batch of CDs for collection and appreciation, what is the shortcut to get started? Today is an era of unprecedented abundance of goods, with supply exceeding demand. When you go into a record store, you will see a dazzling array of classical music CDs of various brands and prices, which makes you feel at a loss. If you buy blindly, you are likely to regret it in the future. Based on years of accumulated experience, the author makes the following suggestions to friends who are just starting to collect classical music:
The first step is to build a basic CD library
Don’t just rely on magazines and books. Piecemeal recommendations and random purchases. The so-called basic repertoire refers to the classic repertoire that has been the most popular, performed the most in concert halls, and recorded on CD the most times, such as the symphonies of Beethoven, Brahms, and Lao Chai, the four major violin concertos, and the ten grand pianos. Concertos, operas "La Traviata", "Carmen", and so on and so forth. These most classic pieces are still a must-have for lovers of classical music. Even if you don't think you like a certain composer now, his greatest works should still be collected. Even if you don't feel the need to collect it, it's very likely that as time goes by and your mind matures, you will eventually fall in love with it!
What needs to be added here is that you should not blindly buy some works that you are not very familiar with, especially if you are not familiar with the author, conductor and performance of this work, because this is very likely to happen. When you buy it, you will find that it is not suitable for you at all, and what is even worse is that it has no collection value at all.
When building a basic repertoire library, my advice can be summed up in one sentence: buy a "cheap double series" from a big-name record company or a Naxos CD to get the maximum coverage at the minimum cost. The repertoire should comprehensively cover various styles of various development periods of classical music such as Baroque, Renaissance, classical transitional period, late romantic period, national music school, classic opera, etc.
The so-called "cheap double series" refers to the cheap series of CDs launched by big-name record companies, such as the Gemini series of Deutsche Grammophon (DG), the DUO series of Philips of the Netherlands, the Little Angel series, etc. . These series of CDs come in a set of two, and are sold for the price of only one genuine CD. The reason why they are cheap is that firstly, the recordings inside are all old versions that have been published, and the copyright fees are relatively low, so the manufacturers' profits It is relatively easy to satisfy; the second is to adapt to the needs of market competition. As we all know, classical music is different from popular music. Old recordings are often more exciting than recent ones. Especially when some classic versions that have been proven to be excellent through the test of time appear in the "cheap double series", they are especially worth buying and collecting, which is much more cost-effective than spending a lot of money to buy recent recordings.
To be more specific, DG features repertoire by German and Austrian composers, and its interpretations are almost all performed by German and Austrian performers, conductors and orchestras. However, in general, the quality of DG's recordings is not outstanding. . Philips of the Netherlands' DUO series recordings are of excellent quality, with exquisite timbre and intimate atmosphere. The most exciting thing is the small-scale chamber music, almost all of which are high-quality. Chamber music lovers should pay more attention to the DUO series. DECCA's specialty is large-scale music and opera. Its recordings in the 1960s are famous for their outstanding sound effects. Friends who like large-scale symphonies and operas can focus more on Double Decca. EMI's recording effect is relatively average, mostly warm and thick style. The Forte series has many treasures, and the performances and repertoire are relatively classic. Although the price is more expensive than other companies' "cheap double series", it is still worth the money.
Let’s talk specifically about the cheapest Naxos CD
Many music fans, especially some senior music fans, have always had a certain prejudice against Naxos CDs, thinking that performers and The band is not well-known, and the recordings are uneven. It is better to buy a cheap double record from a big-name company.
I also agree that these concerns are reasonable, but in general, the quality of Naxos recordings has been getting better and better in recent years. For newer recordings made after 1992, you can basically rest assured that the quality is very few. There are many failures, especially the works of small-scale productions. There are many fine works. The large-scale symphonic music of large-scale productions is relatively worse, but there are also many successful works. You can refer to the evaluation in the authoritative "Penguin Record Guide" in the UK. Anyone rated three stars will generally not be disappointed.
As for the performers, everyone should know that the reason why Naxos CDs are cheap is largely because they rely on performers and orchestras who are not yet famous but have excellent standards. Their asking prices are much lower than those of big-name stars, but often their artistic standards are not as good as those of big-name stars. Many music fans who admire big-name celebrities only listen to the performances of big-name celebrities. The star effect has preconceived psychological implications for them that "the master's performance must be wonderful." As a result, even if the master's performance is not good, he will be blind. cheers. If we put aside the psychological implications and listen to some wonderful performances of Naxos CDs without any prejudice, we should admit that there are indeed many good things in Naxos!
Be sure to get a Naxos CD catalog before buying the Naxos CD series, because it details the reviews and awards received by each CD. This information is an important guide and reference for choosing and purchasing films. After all, within a group that mainly focuses on high-quality products, there will also be some things that make people unhappy.
When building a basic repertoire library, pay special attention to the so-called "Best of XXXX" that are packaged in a very fancy way. It’s not that you can’t buy this kind of “selected collection”, but you should pay attention to the identification. Many of the songs in the collection CD are indeed classic, but they are a small section of each work, such as a movement, and some even a partial movement, and are combined into a hodgepodge that seems to have many tracks and rich content. . I don’t recommend buying this kind of out-of-context “selection”, because you will almost certainly regret it and throw it away in the future. Even if you have songs you like very much, spending a large amount of money on those two songs is too much investment. The input and output are not proportional, and the gain outweighs the loss.
The appreciation of classical music is about completeness. Take out a section from each work (often the best section) and piece it together. At first glance, it seems very condensed and very suitable for "first-time listeners" , but first-time listeners must grow up and mature, and will not stay at the primary stage forever without understanding classical music. Once a first-time listener matures, he must know the complete picture of the work and must listen to the entire work. At that time, these patchwork "selection collections" will lose their value and can only be relegated to the sidelines. Isn't it a waste? It is better to buy a more complete "selection collection" from the beginning. In this way, this CD will still have value in the future and there will still be opportunities to appreciate it.
So what I recommend everyone to buy are those "selection albums" that collect complete tracks. The Philips DUO series does this very well. There are many Best of XXXX CDs that contain complete works, and the song selection is very precise, which reflects the level of the record producer and is worthy of praise.
The second step can also be summed up in one sentence: narrow the scope.
Find your favorite composers and performers in the vast sea of ??classical music. As we all know, in the process of building a basic repertoire library, you will naturally come into contact with many composers from various periods and genres of classical music, and you will also get to know many first-class bands, conductors, performers and singers. . As long as you are an attentive person, record your thoughts while listening, and refer to some auxiliary books that introduce musicians and music history. They don’t have to be very difficult professional books, just simple introductory books, and you will be able to build a basic repertoire library. In the process, you will gradually become familiar with the characteristics of the composers' works and the performance characteristics of the performing artists, so that you can choose the works and interpretations you like and avoid the ones you don't like. A classic book that the author highly recommends is "Appreciation of World Famous Music" (Shanghai Music Publishing House) edited by the late Yang Minwang.
Slowly, you will connect the development lines of classical music from the 17th century to the 20th century: from the Baroque period (Bach, Handel) when the vibrant polyphony style dominated , to the simple and elegant early classical period (Haydn, Mozart), to the music of Saint Beethoven who opened up a new world, to the beautiful and fresh early romantic heyday (Schumann, Liszt), and to the extravagant and gorgeous period of the late 19th century. The confrontation between the two camps between the late Romantics (Wagner, Bruckner and Mahler) and Brahms who returned to the classical style... You can't like them all. All you need to do is to find the best one as soon as possible. That part of your personality. In this way, future film purchase and appreciation can be greatly narrowed down.
Slowly, you will also know that the styles of the orchestras are also very different: the style of the German orchestra is thick, steady and grand, good at performing German and Austrian classics, the French orchestra and the Italian orchestra The orchestra style is more loose and free, or more "romantic". American orchestras are bold and rough, tend to be enthusiastic and extroverted, and are not as delicate and timbre-oriented as the top European orchestras (but there are exceptions such as the Boston Symphony Orchestra). Slowly, you will also be able to distinguish the differences in timbre and interpretation of violin masters such as Heifetz, Stern, and Grumio, as well as the differences in the timbres and interpretations of violin masters such as Yubinstein, Richter, Serkin, Kempf, and Brendel. The difference in piano art….
Although appreciating classical music means appreciating the work itself, and theoretically the performer should be secondary, an undeniable fact is that the charm of the performer has always been an important factor in attracting music fans. Many times, music fans, especially experienced and senior music fans, not only want to listen to the works, but also pay special attention to the performers. In recent years, some world-renowned performers have come to perform in China, especially in the concert halls of Beijing and Shanghai. Perlman, Zuckerman, Stern, Mutter, Zheng Jinghe, Xia Li, Di Tu have been left behind. The footsteps of famous conductors such as Watts. When these big-name performers come to hold concerts, do you think more fans come to listen to the repertoire, or do more fans come to listen to the performers?
As your familiarity with musical performers gradually increases, you will also understand a truth; no orchestra, one conductor, or one violinist is omnipotent and can perfectly perform all classical music. Every musician and every orchestra has its own specialty - the Chopin played by Rubins is far more charming than his Beethoven, and the works of Heifetztra's Romantic period are better than those of Terat's classical music. Appreciate For Fu Cong's piano art, he can basically only listen to Mozart and Chopin. It is best to listen to the works of American composers and listen to American bands... and so on. Knowing this, when you choose different interpretations of the same piece of music, it will be easier to find the version with a better interpretation. Of course, reading materials such as the "Penguin CD Guide" are also very instructive in this regard.
The third step, that is, based on the second step, purposefully purchase "works by your favorite composers performed by your favorite performers".
By this time, buying CDs should have become a very directional behavior, no longer as blind as the first step of "building a basic track library". Because you already know something about classical music works and classical music performers, you know what suits your taste and what doesn't suit your taste, and you also know who is suitable for playing which piece. Take myself as an example. Among violinists, I particularly like Heifetz, Milstein, Grumiou and other senior masters who have passed away long ago, so I selectively buy the repertoire that they are best at - Ruhai. Fitz performed classical music works by Brahms, Wieniawski, Glazunov, Grumiola's Mozart, Bach, Beethoven, Mills, etc.
Please note that I do not recommend buying a certain performer's "The Complete Works of Heifetz" or the "Complete Works of Grumio" produced by Philips, unless you have too much money to spend, or The fanaticism for a certain performer has reached a fever pitch. The reason is simple: no performer is omnipotent, and there must be only some wonderful performances in the complete recording, which must include some "tasteless" performances.
Finally, I hope that friends who have just entered the classical music palace can find what they need and avoid detours when buying records. I wish you all can bathe in the long river of classical music forever!