My first CD - what was yours?

2140 Views 70 Replies 51 Participants Last post by jegreenwood, 1 d ago

orquesta tipica

Discussion Starter · 12 d ago

Jewel case Font Blank media Data storage device CD

This is the first CD I ever bought. Okay, my dad gave me the money, so then I could pick out the one I wanted. I was 14.

Oh, I remember that time. It was so exciting, this new silver disc that was more durable than vinyl, and less bulky, more purity of sound, and a lot better than cassette tapes also. It seemed ideally suited for classical music - and I believe it still is.

People trying to tell me nobody wants CDs anymore. But they listen to popular music. It's different. You don't need a CD for popular music. Usually only one or two songs are any good anyway, and the rest are "fillers." And the appeal of popular songs wears out pretty quickly too, because there's not much to it beneath the veneer. So might as well buy a download instead, right? It's much cheaper. And if you still believe you really like something, you can get it on vinyl. Vinyl is making a comeback these days. Streaming doesn't give you the cover art, or anything tangible to hang onto.

But CDs on the other hand are made for classical music. You can listen to a whole Bruckner symphony without having to turn it over. And if I love a certain recording enough, why do I want to rent it via streaming when I can own it via a CD? And CDs have little booklets with interesting insights, and pictures too.

I hate all the talk about CDs being worthless. That's the pop music people talking. I listen to classical. This should not be a one-size-fits-all world. Different rules apply.

I treasure my CDs, and I'm not giving them up.

See less See more

Reactions: 5

1 - 20 of 71 Posts

Art Rock

· #2 · 12 d ago

I'm pretty sure it was this one:

Schubert: Symphony 8 (completed by Brian Newbould) by the Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields under Neville Marriner.

It was 1986, I was 29 and just getting into classical music, nicely coinciding with a switch from grammophone to CD player.

Almost 40 years later, still playing CD's and still buying them (mainly from thrift stores nowadays). No streaming for me, I love my collection.

See less See more

Reactions: 5

mbhaub

· #3 · 12 d ago

I still vividly remember buying my first CDs - I picked up the new Yamaha player in late 1984 and then headed down to the local record store: Circles on Central Avenue. Bought three: Tchaikovsky Symphony no. 5 and no. 6 with Maazel and the Cleveland Orch on CBS, and the Dvorak New World with Neumann and the Czech Phil on Denon. I still have all three, and they still sound fantastic. I will never part with those disks.

Lately I've dipped into streaming and it is quite enjoyable when walking the dog, riding the bike and now in the car. But for home listening, nothing beats the real disc. I've collected way too many, and I realize that when I croak most of them will sadly wind up in the landfill. But they brought me a great deal of pleasure - what more can one expect?

Reactions: 5

arpeggio

· #4 · 12 d ago

I think my first CD was following:

See less See more

Reactions: 2

Becca

· #5 · 12 d ago (Edited)

Around 1984/85 - Sibelius Symphony #5 & Night Ride and Sunrise - Philharmonia Orchestra with a wet-behind-the-ears guy named Simon Rattle

See less See more

Reactions: 2

Forster

· #6 · 11 d ago

orquesta tipica said:
People trying to tell me nobody wants CDs anymore. But they listen to popular music.

My first CD was "popular" music, and I still buy "popular" music CDs, so please stop talking like it's something you just trod in.

My first classical CD was Orff's Carmina Burana. Halle Orchestra conducted by Maurice Handford. It was a gift from my son, so I still have it, but I only ever liked a couple of tunes...the rest seemed like filler...and I don't listen to it any more.

13hm13

· #7 · 11 d ago

First "classical" CDs, early 1986 -- even before first CD player purchase were John Wiilliams OMPS to Star Wars ,ESB and ROJ (London Symph Orch).
And then maybe this Telarc:

See less See more

Reactions: 1

John O

· #8 · 11 d ago

I think it was Vaughan Williams Tallis Fantasia, Lark Ascending etc with Marriner and the ASMF on the Argo label in 1985.

For reasons that are to complicated to explain, we, three new graduates sharing a house , had acquired some expensive hi fi and also a reverb and echo box .
We attached the ech box into the hi fi and programmed it was negative echo ( pre-echo that happens before the sound) and played the Talllis Fantasia through it.

Reactions: 1

Kreisler jr

· #9 · 11 d ago

First three discs, a week or so before my father bought a CD player for the family in late 1988, all Beethoven: Piano concerti 3+4 with Ashkenazy/Solti, PC 5 + op. 111 with Kempff, sonatas op.31/2 and 106 with Kempff. When my father bought the player he brought along 3 cheapish discs from the DG Resonance series, one Chopin anthology, one with separate Mozart movements and one with opera choruses.
For Christmas that year I got the complete Beethoven symphonies (Kegel/Dresden, this was the cheapest "full digital" one and Bernstein's recording of the Missa solemnis (DG, this was probably one of the most expensive ones, but the aunt who gave it to me was very generous).

Reactions: 1

jegreenwood

· #10 · 11 d ago

I started big with five. There weren't all that many choices in 1983.

Mozart Piano Concertos Serkin/Abbado - can't remember which ones (20 and 27 maybe) as I got rid of the disc many years ago.
Schubert 9th - Solti/VPO
Bach Violin/Double concertos - Hogwood/AAM
Linda Ronstadt's Greatest Hits
Springsteen - Born to Run

Reactions: 1

dko22

· #11 · 11 d ago

no idea --- I generally didn't buy CD's until new vinyl largely disappeared which was after Christmas 1989. They were more expensive so what was the point?

CnC Bartok

· #12 · 11 d ago

Ole Schmidt's Unicorn incarnation of the Nielsen symphonies. Bought it before owning a CD player - God they were expensive back then - and got a friend to copy them onto tape for me! I was at university, so it must have been 1985 or 1986? They were actually relatively cheap, only £15, which was well below normal selling price at the start of the CD era.

I've still got them, they haven't bronzed, and they are still an excellent set of those wonderful works.

Reactions: 3

Enthusiast

· #13 · 11 d ago

I'm not sure what my first CD was but my first LP - I was around 10 - was Mozart's 35th and 40th symphonies conducted by Bruno Walter.

Reactions: 3

Manxfeeder

· #14 · 11 d ago

My first CD was Beethoven's 7th symphony by Karajan and the Philharmonia.
My wife bought me a CD player for my birthday, so I went to Sam Goody's and dug through their discount CD box for a classical CD, and that's what I found.

Reactions: 2

wkasimer

· #15 · 11 d ago

Parsifal, 1962 Bayreuth, on Philips.

Reactions: 3

Nenad

· #16 · 11 d ago

Wagner's overtures/preludes and Siegfried Idyll, HvK and Wiener Philharmoniker. Isoldes Liebestod sung by Jessye Norman also included. Bought it out of pocket money 31 years ago. Still functioning with no issues.

Musical instrument Musician Classical music Music Entertainment

See less See more

Reactions: 3

VladAlfred

· #17 · 11 d ago

What are CDs? I purchased my fourth cassette tape player not all that long ago.

Reactions: 5

Forster

· #18 · 11 d ago

VladAlfred said:
What are CDs? I purchased my fourth cassette tape player not all that long ago.

I think I only ever bought two music cassette tapes, though I did own a player. An opera overture compilation and a film themes compilation. The player was bought for listening to audio books, especially the BBC's adaptation of The Lord of the Rings.

No, I went from vinyl to CDs.

Vasks

· #19 · 11 d ago

The decrescendo at the end of the introduction blew me away. I had to play it for a number of my friends.

Rectangle Font Gas Astronomical object Space

See less See more

Reactions: 4

VladAlfred

· #20 · 11 d ago

To answer the question ... when DJs on classical FM stations still had a voice in programming, I was introduced to Julia Migenes' version of the song "Smile" decades ago -- each of three verses sung in a different octave. I believe "Smile" was my first CD purchase. Lovely album by a terrific singer.

1 - 20 of 71 Posts