Rearranging My CDs

My CD collection, plenty of space to grow now.

After moving to her new house, Chinchih gave me her old CD shelves (which store more than 600 CDs), so today I started the "rearrangement of the decade". It was the first time I merged the CDs of my college years with the CDs I acquired in the States. It's quite interesting to see how my taste has changed over the years.

1. Almost all the CDs I bought in Taiwan were from "the old masters". Now I prefer listening to new recordings, even though I may have to take some chances with the performer.

2. I must dislike Chopin a lot. I have more Biber CDs than Chopin's. How is it possible?

3. I rarely listen to Opera. Most of the opera CDs I have are Baroque Operas and half of them are by Handel, though I do have a "diva" section which rivals the Opera section. (That's where you will find my Kate Royal.) None of those CDs were bought when I was in college.

4. I have a small section reserved for composers who are still alive. However, Glass, Pärt, and Gorecki* now sit with those "dead" composers. I guess they have made it to my personal canon.

5. Too many B composer (Bach, Bartok, Beethoven, Brahms, Bruckner, etc) CDs. They occupy almost 1/3th of the shelf. Actually I find almost all the new recording of those B composers are quite disappointing. It's hard to have a refresh Beethoven after so many master recordings. I think I will avoid buying those B composer CDs from now on.

6. I finally found the Heifitz's Sibelius recording. (I thought I lost it.) Played it again. I have to say even after listening to so many "fiendish young" violinists, Heifitz still sounds like an old devil.

* Interesting enough, the three composers are all famous for their music used in movies. Who can imagine the movie "The Hours" without Glass's music? You can also hear Gorecki's Symphony No 3 and Pärt's "Tabula Rasa" in movie "Fearless" and "Nosferatu" (the remake).