Old Records

Someone was writing in a newspaper last week about going to get rid of his collection of old vinyl records. Selling them or throwing them away (to make more space in his study). Of course he didn't; he couldn't. They meant a lot to him; they were part of his own history. He started playing some of them again.
So have I.
I thought about selling mycollection a couple of years ago but didn't. I couldn't. It isn't that I play them much; I don't until recently.
Someone on Desert Island Discs chose Beethoven's 3rd Symphony and it reminded me of my own old vinyl recording by Otto Klemperer and The Philharmia Orchestra, so I got it out and played it. Wonderful.
A long time ago John Freeman did interviews of famous people on a TV programme - "Face to Face"; in one of them he interviewed Klemperer. I can't remember anything he said but at the end they played the finale of his recording of Beethoven's 3rd symphony; the nest morning I went out and bought it.
Now today, I have bought another Klemperer recording of a Beethoven symphony: his 9th, the Choral. A vinyl record - or, rather, two records. They were in pristine condition; the recording had some of the top singers of their day, singers like Christa Ludwig and Hans Hotter. How much did I pay for it? £1.99 exactly. From an Oxfam shop.
Klemperer recorded all Beethoven symphonies twice (maybe more) one set before he had a brain tumour, the other set after his successful operation. I have known people who found his post operation recordings slow and dull. Certainly they are slower but not dull; they are in some way more assured.
This 9th symphony is magnificent.
There was, in the Oxfam shop, a Dinu Lipati recording of Bach and other composers. I must get it soon before someone gets to it first.