prk@charm.UUCP (Paul Kolodner) (09/15/85)
Asking the advice of the clerks in a record store is indeed a step up from just deciding that one ochestra or conductor or etc is the best one to patronize. Every artist has recorded horrible duds, and the famous ones tend to do so more and more frequently. However, need I warn that not all record-store clerks are worth talking to? I find that Tower Records Broadway store in NYC is revolting in all respects. Their set-up is very glitzy, but I usually go in with specific desires and come out empty-handed, because they don't seem to sell records that were not released this year. I was once present when a a woman asked the clerk to help her find a record with Jascha Heifetz and Alfred Wallenstein playing a Bach concerto; she obviously didn't speak good English and she obviously didn't know much about music. He told her that Wallenstein was a pianist and that he didn't know of any Bach piano/violin cocncertos. She went away confused. By a miracle, she wandered back in later, so I took her aside with a Schwann catalog and found what she was looking for in about a second. I then told her to show that to the clerk, but I'll bet she didn't get it. It was an old record, you see. Neither Heifetz nor Wallenstein has made records in five, maybe ten years! Caveat emptor. On the other hand, I find J&R Classical Outlet, across the street from the NYC city hall, reasonably good. They have an enormous clerk in their basement who knows a lot about classical recordings.
dvw@petrus.UUCP (Dan V. Wilson) (09/16/85)
> Asking the advice of the clerks in a record store is indeed a step > up from just deciding that one ochestra or conductor or etc is > the best one to patronize. Every artist has recorded horrible duds, > and the famous ones tend to do so more and more frequently. > However, need I warn that not all record-store clerks are worth > talking to? I find that Tower Records Broadway store in NYC is revolting > in all respects. Their set-up is very glitzy, but I usually go in with > specific desires and come out empty-handed, because they don't seem to sell > records that were not released this year. I was once present when a > a woman asked the clerk to help her find a record with Jascha Heifetz > and Alfred Wallenstein playing a Bach concerto; she obviously didn't > speak good English and she obviously didn't know much about music. > He told her that Wallenstein was a pianist and that he didn't know > of any Bach piano/violin cocncertos. She went away confused. By > a miracle, she wandered back in later, so I took her aside with a > Schwann catalog and found what she was looking for in about a second. > I then told her to show that to the clerk, but I'll bet she didn't get it. > It was an old record, you see. Neither Heifetz nor Wallenstein > has made records in five, maybe ten years! Caveat emptor. > On the other hand, I find J&R Classical Outlet, across the street from > the NYC city hall, reasonably good. They have an enormous clerk in their > basement who knows a lot about classical recordings. Yeah, I've run in to her - and she's really a dud. The clerks in the downtown NYC Tower seem to come in two sizes - those who are VERY knowledgeable and those who leave you more confused than before you talked to them. I think some of them are recycled from downstairs in the rock department (or wherever) and they don't know much and care lots less. I will say that the longer the store stays open, the more the clerks tend to be in the latter category. The turnover there is awful. The main store in SF is even worse - they seldom had anyone there who knew ANYTHING about classical recordings. I must disagree when you say that Tower only sells classical records printed in the last year. They might not do so well when you want a record printed a couple of years ago, but they have the biggest historical collection BY FAR in the NYC area (also in the SF Bay area). This is very important to someone like me to collects recordings by the conductor Wilhelm Furtwaengler (who died in '54). Their collection of older recordings is considerably helped by the fact that they have stores in Japan and serve as their own inporters. Unfortunately, the clerks don't always know enough to tell someone to go look in the historical section, which is where I would expect to find the Heifetz/Wallenstein Bach concerto you mentioned. J&R is certainly beating out Tower in their CD collection and have better prices, too. If only J&R was open as much as Tower...... My version of this horror story took place in a Sam Goody's in NYC. Someone came in looking for some Beethoven sonatas by Artur Schnabel - mono recordings made in the 78 rpm era, and some of the most outstanding performances on record. As far as I know, they have never been out of print since they were made in the 30's. Anyway, the clerk could not find them because she didn't know about the Schwann II, which in those days was where Schwann listed mono records. Now Schwann has gone back to a single-volume format, and I'm glad. Dan Wilson