Expert: Pat G - 9/21/2009

Question
QUESTION: Hi once again Pat. I think I found a box set of Beethoven Symphonies that I might be interested in. You probably remember me writing you recently that I was looking for a slower set to compliment my Karajan faster set, and that I'd like to have one that doesn't ignore any notes or repeat signs.

There is a set on Amazon that includes the piano concertos, overtures, choral fantasy, and one of his string quartets in addition to his symphonies, although I really only care about his symphonies, I already have all that other music on other box sets and I am happy with them. Anyways, the link is here http://www.amazon.com/Beethoven-Complete-Symphonies-Piano-Concertos/dp/B00004YA0

I'm just curious what you think of this set. There's nothing in the music samplers that tells me not to buy it or that it's not the right set for me. On the other hand, music samplers cannot possibly show everything. There's nothing in the reviews that tells me one way or the other if Klemperer ignored any repeat signs or not. Would you know for sure what the case is here, or be able to direct me to someone who would know??

From the samples that I heard online, I enjoy the slow tempo, and the clarity of the instruments stands out. And there's lots of passion and fire in the music even though it's slowed down. I can hear all that passion and fire even though I can only hear small short sections online. One thing I am worried about is the sound quality. The reviews say the sound is near perfect despite it's age, but online I hear lots of distortion but I can't tell if that's how it's recorded or if Amazon might have toned down the online sound quality as many websites do to maintain fast servers. I hope the latter is the case.

Anyways, any advice / information / ideas / opinions that you may have are greatly appreciated, and I thank you for your time.

The price for this set is very good, and actually at the canadian amazon site which I would be ordering from being a Canadian, it's even cheaper.... 38.99 for all ten disks. Nonetheless, I like to know how satisfied or unsatisfied I'd be with the product before deciding to purchase or not purchase.

Darrin

ANSWER: Hello, Darrin,

I have no opinion whatsoever on that set. And the cheapest price I saw was $45. I'm assuming that you saw that with conversion, it would be $38.99 Canadian. However, last I had looked, the US dollar was worth more than the Canadian dollar. It was several weeks ago, and things are constantly shifting. My husband checked, and they're very close to equal at the moment.

As for the sound quality on Amazon, most likely what you are hearing is how it was dumbed down to keep their server fast. The only thing I can tell you is you'll have to get it and see. You shouldn't have any problem if you buy a used copy and it plays at all. The recording is digital, so the quality will be unaffected.

Klemperer is a good conductor, too. And I'm sure they processed the sound somewhat, although a recording from back then simply won't have quite the same quality as the most modern. And there are even people who are fussy about things like whether or not the sound quality matches on vinyl or on CD. The frequency response is different. I've had enough adversity in my life that I never developed into that kind of aficionado, and I will even listen to a poor quality sound to get the music, if that's all I can get. My imagination works well. Other family members will yell, "Turn it off!" This is all a matter of personal opinion, and yours and mine aren't going to agree. That's life. My own playing is far from perfect, and if I'm going to put up with myself, I have to choose to value it anyway. Regardless, my own perspective is that classical music is a priceless jewel that I will seek to possess regardless of whether it has dirt on it or not! :)

WCPE does play a Beethoven symphony fairly frequently (not as frequently as Mozart, whom I could do with less of, aggravated by the fact that he is very, very popular. My personal opinion is that he's more fun to play than to listen to; too bad he didn't live longer, because the depth of his composing was very much developing and had a long ways to go, in spite of how innovative he was). And you can always ask for a Beethoven symphony on All Request Friday or Saturday, but of course, you might have to take whatever recording they have. You can certainly ASK for your favorite recording. And you have to listen when they decide to play it. If you want something that specific, you'll just have to invest some money. Personally, I prefer to acquire decent recordings of as much as I can afford, and listen to the radio most of the time. But if you want, you COULD ask them to play that particular recording of a symphony, and see how it sounds coming from them. Their sound quality is good, as those things go. You can hear if there are repeats or not.

Anyway, good luck. I'm still very much in the middle of a huge project, and I've got a second one going, and it will be months before I can come up for air.


---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hi friend,

Wow! You are fast with your replies! I always get your response within just a couple or few hours. Yes, you are right, you would think that with the conversion rate I would be paying much more than 38.99, but for some odd reason amazon.ca is listing this set for only 38.99 canadian (which is where I order from), far less than the same set on amazon.com which is listing an american price which would yes, be more in Canada when factoring in the exchange rate.

Ya, I see what you are saying about some of the reviews critics leave. Yes, I myself have even read criticisms that something doesn't sound the same on cd as it does on vinyl.... to me that's being too critical. If I can enjoy the music, whether it be fast, but too fast for critics, or if I can enjoy it slow, even if it's too slow for critics, everyone has a different opinion, and I'll just listen to what I enjoy. I do enjoy my fast Karajan set, but I believe I can also enjoy it done slower as well. Normally, I'm not too set on whether repeat signs are missing, it's just with Beethoven being my favorite symphonist, I suppose I have a bit higher of a standard for myself when buying Beethoven than I hold myself to when buying other composers.

I've listened to music sometimes for music's sake. Your story where your family would tell you to turn it down or turn it off made me laugh because both my younger brothers who have very much different tastes in music did that a lot to me as well. To begin with they don't usually enjoy anything classical, and if I start digging through my 8-tracks, many which have horrible sound well that gets them upset with me. Fortunately they are both married now and out of my house, lol and I can play what I want :).

I decided to buy this set after all. Even if there are some sound blemishes, I know I will enjoy the music, and that's the main thing. Sometimes we talk too much about the music and forget to just listen and enjoy it for music's sake. But talking is fun too, in moderation. :) After I listen to them in a couple weeks when they arrive, I'll be sure to let you know how it went for me, and how it turned out.

Awesome so theclassicalstation.org takes music requests once in a while. When Canada still had a wonderful coast to coast classical radio network, there was a daily three hour show that took classical music requests. I remember making my first request when I was twelve. I may have been their youngest listener. And I kept making requests right over the next several years, and even a few in my twenty's, right up until they switched music formats, and no longer have a classical request show. I must have made close to or more than fifty requests.

Yes, Mozart is played a lot on classical radio. And I think he got more airtime and publicity, and hype in 2006 when he turned 250 years old. At least in Canada he did, they called it the year of Mozart and they played a lot of him in 2006, and it was March 2007 that the Canadian classical network started to revamp it's entire programming and slowly phase out all classical music from their line-up which has now officially happened as of September 2008. Yes, he did die quite young, and it would be interesting to see what he might have been able to accomplish had he lived a full life, or even another ten years.

Awww, sorry to hear you are swamped with work projects. I know how that feels. Good luck with all of that.

Thank you for sharing your musical experiences and preferences with me.

Darrin


Answer
Hi, Darrin,

Just a short note. I think you hit the nail on the head when you said we should just enjoy the music.

Our family didn't complain about classical. They just didn't like low fidelity. That said, some of our kids would surreptitiously listen to soft rock and people like Enya. At least because we raised them on classical, they didn't turn to anything truly ugly. Some of our kids are still very much into classical music. One son actually got a degree in voice performance, and performs opera. He was married for a little while to a woman who had a master's degree in piano performance, and who has become quite accomplished. The oldest is also very intense about it, and married a woman who is also intense about it. I personally think our local classical station caused a lot of harm by playing some really dissonant raucous stuff without warning, now more frequently than ever. I KNOW one of our kids turned against listening to it for that reason. She told me so. My husband learned to appreciate classical music just before we started going together. Interestingly, his favorite symphonies are the Beethoven as well.

The request times on WCPE are Saturday evenings, and all day the last Friday of the month. They give a number you can call, and you can also go to the web site and leave them a message. They tell people the first name of the asker, and their city. I've not heard anyone from Canada, so I think they would be delighted. They always make a huge fuss over it when I call because I live about 2500 miles away. But some people live in Hawai'i and Japan and places like that. They also have listeners in the war zones in Iraq and Afghanistan.

You're welcome. Take care.