On Mon, 9 Dec 2002 15:14:31 -0500 "Steve Smith" <ssmith36@sprynet.com> wrote:
Actually, your question isn't such a small one; in fact, I'd say the overwhelming glut of choice is probably one thing that keeps more people from buying classical recordings, especially since not everyone has access to a store that has a courteous, knowledgeable and quick-thinking clerk like Joseph Zitt behind the counter.
And not everyone knows a versatile, erudite, and lucid commentator like Steve Smith to crib from :-) That said, I strongly agree with Steve's recommendations of Naxos and the budget reissue series from the other labels. I keep seeing customers go into sticker shock looking at the newly recorded CDs on the non-budget lines, and usually end up recommending that they go for the less expensive versions. The corporate gurus would probably be peeved on an immediate-income level, but I've already had a few customers come back to tell me that the inexpensive discs were wonderful and to ask for more, so it adds up, evens out, and all that. I'm also finding a customer-base that I hadn't expected: lots of younger musicians who are about to perform pieces in schools or in lesser-known groups (the Bay Area is awash with orchestras, chamber societies, and the like), and who want to get a performance of something just to get a sort of template in their heads of "how the piece goes". They're often quite pleased to find good inexpensive recordings. Almost all the people who are looking for particular artists are either tourists looking for performers from their countries or people insisting on the Big brand Names (Boccelli, Galway, Church, Three Tenors, and the like). There are a few connoisseurs who are looking for very specific performances -- I usually try to strike up conversations with them to plumb them for info and opinions, though I do so with a grain of salt. (I'm starting to suspect, for many of the regulars, that the usefulness of their info is directly proportional to the distance from which I can smell them. Ah, city life.) n.p. An MP3 I just downloaded of a recent jam, where I sang with three laptop-players and bass guitar. http://www.undertheradar.net/mp3/SET1.MP3 -- | jzitt@josephzitt.com http://www.josephzitt.com/ | | GPG: A4224EFA http://www.mp3.com/josephzitt/ | | == New book: Surprise Me with Beauty: the Music of Human Systems == | | Comma / Gray Code / VoiceWAVE Silence: the John Cage Discussion List |