But it is worth keeping at home recordings I cherish and albums of archival value, like a six-disc set of Bartok at the piano, or Artur Rubinstein’s 82-disc RCA catalog. Many recordings may reach more listeners, do more good and remain available longer online.
So is my home CD library not just a relic, but also an environmental disaster? But the global market for this material is fast disappearing. CDs can be processed into polycarbonate flakes, with some difficulty. But a recent Times story set me straight. I’ve always assumed that, as with books, CDs can at least be recycled. If streaming has its shortcomings in terms of compensating artists, it may be better from an environmental standpoint.
#Classical music collector reviews Bluetooth#
And even if, at home, he can channel online recordings through a small Flip 5, an external Bluetooth speaker that actually sounds very good, he also loves his earbuds. And in earlier days, when he was looking forward to joining me for a concert of Sibelius symphonies or a performance of Verdi’s “Falstaff,” he was quite glad to have my library of recordings available to prep himself. Yet the act of going to a shelf, pulling out a recording of the piece I want to hear and sitting down to listen focuses my attention and enriches the experience.įor a while, my husband, Ben, deferred to me about what was, after all, an essential element of my life’s work.
My system, though very good, is hardly top of the line I’m not a fervent audiophile. And, at least at home, it’s possible to hook up your computer or device to high-end stereo component systems, or to speakers that rival them. In time, even those choosy collectors decided that being able to listen through earbuds to Bach’s “Brandenburg” Concertos as they jogged in a park, or to Debussy’s “La Mer” as they rode the bus, was worth the trade-off in richness of sound.
The classical music contingent held out - but not for long. Rock and pop fans were quicker to latch on to MP3s and iPods, excited to be able to store hundreds of favorite songs on devices they could put in their pockets and quite ready to sacrifice audio excellence for convenience. For decades, starting in the 1950s, the demand for ever-improving, more faithful sound was driven by devotees of classical music. But not organized in volumes like archival documents, with extensive notes, essays and information.Īnd then there is the issue of audio quality. Most of these recordings are available online.
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