Why are classical albums so cheap?

You're looking at $3 worth of music right here. 

The whole basis for this blog is the contention – supported by lots of inexpensive evidence – that it is possible to amass a respectable collection of classical music without going broke. Vinyl these days is inexpensive, if you know where to look. I’m not talking about the 180g records that new artists now release alongside their CDs. That’s a welcome marketing strategy, believe me, but I didn’t start this blog to write about new records.

My interest lies in the forgotten gems: albums that you can find in the $1 bin at a thrift store, yard sale or music store. Because if you search those bins, the only records available are:

1. lousy pop/rock/easy listening records; or
2. classical albums by the likes of Mozart, Brahms, Ravel and others.

This is not to say that classical music is inherently great and pop music is inherently bad. I love all kinds of music. But once you reach into the bargain bin, the choices seem to be reduced to the above. Given a choice between Ronnie Milsap and Leonard Bernstein, which would you choose?

Yeah, me too.

Part of it may lie in the ubiquity of classical recordings. For one thing, they’ve been around longer than rock ‘n’ roll albums, which only date to the 1950s. And the works of the great composers have been performed and recorded over and over again. So perhaps there’s a glut in classical music that doesn’t exist in later genres.

You could go your entire life without acquiring every recorded version of, say, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. But there are only so many versions of “London Calling” by The Clash, for instance, or “Abbey Road” by The Beatles. Record collectors are more willing to hold on to rock records – I suspect, based on no scientific evidence.

You know what they say: One man’s trash is another man’s treasure. The upside is that classical albums are more accessible than pop, rock or jazz records – if you have a turntable. (Of course, you can still find bargain-basement classical CDs cheaper than some rock albums).

Since I’ve started this blog in January, I have spent maybe $20 on classical albums. At a respectable independent record shop, that will get you one copy of “Heaven is Whenever” by The Hold Steady and it won’t even buy you the reissue of “Exile on Main Street” by The Rolling Stones. In terms of both quantity and quality, music lovers get a better deal when they go with classical.

Other sites, like the excellent Classical Convert and Get Into Classical, explain why the genre is not just for snooty elitists. So I won’t do that here. But I maintain that if you want to acquire music cheaply, classical is the way to go. Then there’s the added benefit of getting to listen to great music.

In a later post I’ll explain how I get the music from my record player onto this blog, if you’re interested.

Charles Munch and the Paris Conservatory Orchestra: "Bolero"

Like the music or not, you have to admit the album cover's got style.

Proper classical critics never ask the juicy questions, like:

Who was a better French composer: Maurice Ravel or Hector Berlioz?

Luckily, I am not a proper classical critic and thus have no qualms about comparing the two composers, whose lives never overlapped. 

Berlioz, of course, is most famous for his “Symphonie Fantastique” and Ravel for works like “Bolero” and “Sheherezade.” The two men wrote in different styles, in different eras. It’s like comparing Alice Cooper to Mozart or something.

Maybe it’s unfair. But a comparison between Ravel and Berlioz seems inevitable, when the former’s “Bolero” is placed on the same album as two Berlioz overtures: “Corsair” and “Benvenuto Cellini.”

I have to admit – and this is no fault of the recording itself – “Bolero” doesn’t interest me much. Conductor Charles Munch and the Paris Conservatory Orchestra do what they can with limited material, playing the single melody from a single woodwind to a majestic finale with the full sound of the orchestra. But it takes a long time to get from point A to point B, and the journey doesn’t take enough interesting detours.

Again, I blame the source material; “Bolero” was written as a single melody, so conductors had to do what they could to stretch it to an appropriate length (in this case, just over 16 ½ minutes). Ravel may have been ahead of his time with this piece; I bet “Bolero” would make a great basis for an electronica piece.

Side two features the two Berlioz overtures, starting with “Benvenuto Cellini.” Both it and “Corsair” have greater range in mood, though both pieces are shorter than “Bolero.” That’s to be expected from an overture, I suppose, but both work well as stand-alone pieces. Here’s a sample from “Benvetnuto Cellini:”

Despite the scratchiness of the album, the songs are in pretty good shape. The strings stand out in particular on “Corsair,” which has a wonderfully playful bit featuring the strings and brass toward the end:

From what I can tell, this recording of “Bolero” by Charles Munch and the Paris Conservatory Orchestra dates to 1954, according to a University of California-Davis website detailing the orchestra’s chronology and discography. But it must have been recorded before then. Another website indicates Munch was conductor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra starting in 1949 and was conductor of the Paris Conservatory Orchestra from 1938 to 1946.

So I’m inclined to think this particular recording dates to before 1950, even if the packaging comes from later.

Finding copies is tough, unless you happen upon the LP, as I did. Amazon has several CDs and mp3s featuring “Bolero” with Munch as conductor. A British website has copies of Munch conducting the Paris Conservatory Orchestra on The Corsair Overture. But I would look for the vinyl copy if you’re really interested in this particular recording of these particular pieces.

In my opinion, it’s even suitable for framing.

103rd Bach Festival continues this weekend in Bethlehem, Pa.

If you happen to be in the Bethlehem, Pa., area this weekend, be sure to check out the 103rd Bach Festival, held at various locations. The Bach Choir of Bethlehem is the oldest Bach choir in the United States, according to its website. This is the last weekend of the spring celebration of all things Bach and Baroque.

The centerpiece of the weekend is Saturday's Mass in B Minor, but there are other recitals, concerts and events going on. See the full schedule at bach.org.

And, as a bit of self-promotion, I'm including a link to a story I wrote about the festival for my newspaper, the Express-Times.

You can listen to the Kyrie eleison of Bach's Mass in B Minor below: