BY JANELLE GELFAND
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Sure, you've heard classical music on television commercials. Maybe you've tuned into the Three Tenors. Or perhaps you saw Beethoven's Ninth performed on PBS or were blown away by Berlioz at a community orchestra concert.
For some people, that exposure plus the required spending money has spurred the desire to begin buying CDs of classical music.
"I'll never forget the first time I heard Brahms' First Symphony," says Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra concertmaster Timothy Lees. "I got a recording and listened to it 100 times."
If you'd like to listen to a certain piece over and over, buy the CD. It could be the beginning of a classical CD collection.
If you do, you'll be far from alone. American are hungrier than ever for culture.
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WHERE TO SHOP
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Some places to buy classical CDs in Greater Cincinnati:
Chain bookstores
Borders Books & Music, Springdale, 671-5853.
Joseph-Beth Booksellers, Rookwood Pavilion, Norwood,
396-8960.
Barnes & Noble Bookstore, Kenwood, 794-9440.
National chain stores such as Camelot Music (in five mall locations).
Used CDs and LPs: Half Price Books, Records and Magazines -- 772-1511 (Springdale); or 891-7170 (Madeira).
Order by phone: (800) 756-8742 (Public Radio Music Source).
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According to the Wall Street Journal, the strong economy translates into buying power, and more people are spending money on culture -- books, CDs, museum passes and concert tickets -- than ever before.
More than 9.2 million people attended at least one opera in the United States in 1997. Since 1980, more than 110 orchestras have been founded, including the Northern Kentucky Symphony. Classical radio station WGUC-FM (90.9) counts 140,000 Greater Cincinnatians as listeners.
Community orchestras, established in Cincinnati for a century, have spread to Butler, Warren and Clermont counties, helping to pack the calendar with classical concerts. This weekend alone there were at least a half dozen shows, and that despite the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra being out of town. subhed:Starting point rbody:
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LISTENING GUIDES
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These user-friendly guides will help you choose CDs:
Building a Classical Music Library by Bill Parker (Jormax Publications; $14.95).
Classical Music; The 50 Greatest Composers and Their 1,000 Greatest Works by Philip G. Goulding (Fawcett Columbine; $25).
Classical Music Top 40 by Anthony J. Rudel (Simon & Schuster; $12).
The Penguin Guide to Compact Discs, Ivan March, editor (Penguin Handbooks; $23.95).
The NPR Guide to Building a Classical CD Collection (The 300 Essential Works), by Ted Libbey (Workman Publishing; $15.95).
The Record Shelf Guide to Classical CDs and Audiocassettes by Jim Svejda (Prima Publishing; $20).
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But when it comes to classical recordings, where do you start?
"It's a tough question," says Carmon DeLeone, conductor of Cincinnati Ballet and the Middletown Symphony and host of Sunday Morning Music Hall (8-11 a.m., WRRM-FM, 98.5). "I never say you're going to love all styles. It's like food; certain things you won't care for."
Classical music is a huge field. Its history goes back earlier than the ninth century and Gregorian Chant. What are the periods of music? Who are the important composers? The best orchestras? The best conductors? What is a sonata? An oratorio? A symphony? Haydn wrote 104 symphonies, but which one is best?
Does any of this matter? Not really.
"A lot of people think you have to know a lot about classical music to enjoy it, and that's not the case," says the CSO's Mr. Lees. "There are so many tunes out there on commercials that are classical pieces -- even Copland on beef commercials. Once people make the connection, they enjoy it more."
The bottom line is to discover what you like.
Library collection
Mr. DeLeone prefers the sampling approach.
"The first thing I'd suggest, is go to the downtown branch of the public library and feast of the wonderful stuff they have there," he says. "You can thumb through the racks, and carry a bushel home and it's all free. Then when you find a recording you love, go out and buy it."
Try to discover which genres you like. The choices are many: orchestra, chamber music, solo instrumentalist, solo singer, chorus, opera.
Can't get to the library? Many record companies produce sampler CDs, with short pieces by many composers.
"These are often the cheapest you can buy," Mr. DeLeone says.
Picking out music
When you buy, look for the big names, suggests University of Cincinnati professor Simon Anderson, who teaches music appreciation.
"I tell students to go with the top five orchestras: Cleveland, New York, Boston, Philadelphia and Chicago," he says.
"Likewise with conductors, go with the big names: George Szell, Fritz Reiner, Sir Georg Solti, James Levine, Arturo Toscanini, Leonard Slatkin and Leonard Bernstein. Bernstein gives you a wide variety," he says.
Mr. Anderson also tells his students to head for familiar composers, such as Tchaikovsky, Bach, Handel and Brahms.
To help the beginner choose, he recommends books by Bill Parker, Anthony Rudel and Philip G. Goulding on building a classical music library.
If you find 80 current recordings of Beethoven's Symphony No. 5, Which is best?
"In essence, there is no best recording," says CSO associate conductor John Morris Russell. "There are so many different interpretations -- this is what propels the music business."
Time to start
The timing is right for starting a collection. Despite a slump in classical CD sales, companies are successfully targeting beginning collectors.
"The way people are starting to buy recorded classical music is changing," says David Kuehn, vice president of marketing for BMG Classics Red Seal in New York. "In being realistic, we have to recognize the basic facts: There is no music education in schools, and elder audiences are not necessarily being replaced."
"On the other hand, we see opera houses having a huge renaissance of young people, even with the high ticket prices. We think there's definitely an opportunity."
In response to the changing market, CD companies are releasing "fewer recordings with a broader appeal," Mr. Kuehn says.
His company, RCA Victor (a division of BMG Classics) offers a mid-priced Greatest Hits Series featuring major orchestras and artists. Each CD contains an introductory guide to classical music. In six years, the series has sold six million copies -- huge numbers for the classical CD industry.
"These you'll find in the pop sections of Kmart and Wal-Mart stores, so the focus isn't the classical crowd," Mr. Kuehn says.
Doing some research
Other record companies offer beginner or self-help series, such as Classics for Dummies (IDG Books/EMI Classics).
You can play the Beethoven for Dummies CD on your stereo and hear best-known works by Beethoven -- or pop it into your CD-ROM drive for a variety of interactivity.
Play by Play (HarperCollins with Newport Classic) is a CD and follow-along book. There's information about composers and the music to read as you listen.
Don't forget live concerts, which can help you discover what you enjoy.
Take in a vocal concert, a chamber music concert, a symphony concert or an opera.
Finally, ask yourself what you want to get from the music. Do you want background music to play in your car on the way to work? Uplifting music? Music to inspire you? To relax you?
"There should be somewhere in the listening process a whole transfer of life," says Xavier University's the Rev. John Heim. "It can even be sad music, because life is filled with both joy and sorrow."
Classical CDs to get you started
