bought on recommendation

This disc of music for flute, harp and strings by French composer Jean Cras is wonderful! A recent Gramophone Editors Choice the composer is completely new to me. The music is not challenging by any stretch but is fresh and very engaging with echoes of Ravel and 20thC Brit composers.

It's on Spotify (where I usually trial before buying) and is now in the post heading my way.

78RPM wrote.

2. Elgar's 2nd: Boult (Lyrita): trying a better approach to this work as I like the first very much (a gramo rec).........

when it comes to Chopin's piano works, Moravec is a safe bet, isn't it?

Although I haven't done a detailed comparison Boult's Lyrita Elgar symphonies are possibly even better than his EMI versions despite (or perhaps because of) Boult's anger at the producer's insistence of non antiphonal violins against  Boult's usual preference.  I was fortunate to get the LPs in last year's Lyrita LP auction; quite superb.

Ivan Moravec certainly deserves to be much better known but then he's no showman with a vast publicity & PR machine behind him like certain of today's piano players. And presumably as he wasn't a party member the Czech government didn't allow him out too often in the communist days.  His recording of the Ballades is simply outstanding and the finest I have ever heard (VAI) whilst his set of the complete nocturnes too (Warner) is one of the best. Here is a deeply thinking musical intellectual as well as a pianist. I should have included him my comment on the Beethoven post as a great Beethoven interpreter too.

Forgive the diversion, but that reminds me of a discussion I once had with a friend on femininine pulchritude in relation to film stars (as one does). I said that Catherine Deneuve was extremely attractive, at which he reacted strongly, saying "She's absolutely awful! I can't stand her eyebrows". I'd say that was the definition of 'picky'.

Sorry chaps, back to the music.

I'm also influenced by critics, though I tend to use them more to screen out bad recordings than for subtle differentiation between acknowledged masterpieces. In the end, for me, it often hinges on price and availability.

I tend to buy a lot of used CDs. I live in the Los Angeles area, so there are still a few used record/CD stores around. Used classical CDs are pretty cheap, averaging around $3.99 to $5.99 (US). There's usually a selection of cut-rate discs for $1 – mostly "greatest hits" compilations, which I normally skip unless they include complete versions of pieces. When I find a disc I'm interested in, I'll scan the bar code on the front or back side with the Amazon app on my iPhone and do a quick check of the Amazon reviews. If the reviews are tepid, I'll move on to something else. If the reviews are pretty solid and I don't own another version, then I'll usually buy it, even if there may be a superior recording available on Amazon. I figure I can't go too wrong with a $4 investment. I can always buy the superior version sometime down the road.

I will occasionally consult the Gramophone archives to help me make a decision. This usually isn't too convenient on the iPhone, but sometimes I'll do it back at home. I've made a few purchase when there were no Amazon reviews but a favorable – or at least lukewarm – review in the Gramophone archives.

These days I mostly use Amazon for the (very) occasional new release, for a boxed set or for recordings I'll likely never find in the used bins (say, anything by Handel that ISN'T Messiah highlights or Water Music). I tend to be much more selective at this point and will consult a wider range of reviews.

But get to know your reviewers, Lance. We all have our biases and as much as there are excellent reviewers on Amazon, there are lulus too. And try Amazon in different countries. There are national biases - opera fans in your country tend to dislike modern productions, dismissed as 'eurotrash'.

Parla

I agree with your assessment fully. The same happens with online reviews to some extent.

When I first started listening to classical music I replied on Gramophone and a worn copy of the Penguin Guide. That quickly ended when I realised that there were some critics I just found plain wrong headed. In the beginning I was also stuck a little on labels - 'if its by DG it must be good' etc. After a few years I realised that I was just happier going on my instincts. If it is new repertoire for me then I might search out a few reviews and sample, but with music I am familiar with the deciding factor will be if the artist interests me. One of the best aspects about exploring contemporary music is that often you find there is only one (or perhaps two) recordings, so choosing is far easier.

One thing I have also noticed is how important that first recording can be; it really can have a powerful effect on how you view a piece. Take for example something as varied and magnificent as the Goldberg Variations. My first recording was Gavrilov and I listened to it over and over again for two years before trying other interpretations. Coming back to that first recording is a little like getting some home cooking after being away for a while.

Reviews are often best taken with a pinch of salt and as I get older I take them less seriously (or am more likely to disagree with them), certainly for mainstream repertoire when I know what I like (or like what I know).Look at the controversy on here when Rob Cowan chose Davis's LSO Live Fantastic Symphony for example on BBC Record Review. I do have a dog eared second edition Penguin Guide (and one or two more recent ones) and have taken Gramophone almost continually for over 40 years. One gets to know whether one can trust a reviewer and with a significant collection of piano recordings, probably my main interest, I know for example that will often exclude Bryce Morrison's recommendations but not Jeremy Nicholas's. Sometimes I know a work so well from the first recording I bought others are automatically compared and rejected,  a case in point being the Paul Lewis Schubert piece on the G player which did nothing for me at all despite Harriet Smith's ravings, perhaps because I am totally wedded to Brendel's Vox recording which I consider unsurpassable although I do like Imogen Cooper's version too (and both have a recorded sound more amenable to my ears than the new Lewis). I did though find Lewis's earlier D959 and D960 enjoyable although Schnabel is still unsurpassed in D960 (my first version again) and Brendel and Cooper get joint first for D959.

I can however listen quite happily  to any of my three versions of Saint Saens third symphony which if Vic is interested are Fremaux/Birmingham, Munch/Boston and Alsop/BBC Phil. If pushed I would probably take the latter which was a BBC MM cover disc.