Cheap thrills

Deutsche Grammophon is celebrating its eleventy-first year since its founding by offering digital downloads of a number of albums for $1 each at Bandcamp.¹ The festivities have apparently been going on for seventeen years, since DG was established in 1898, but I didn’t discover this until today. Deutsche Grammophon releases generally are good performances recorded well, and at Bandcamp you can listen to the tracks you are interested in before buying.²

Of particular note in this pumpkin-ridden season is Martha Argerich’s DG debut, which includes her first recording of the finest Halloween music ever composed, Ravel’s “Gaspard de la nuit.” There are a lot of outstanding recordings of “Gaspard,” from Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli and Abbey Simon to Jean-Efflam Bavouzet and Steven Osborne, and Argerich’s interpretations rank with the best.

1. Not all the ones listed are $1, however. Several are $9; check the price before you buy.
2. unlike amazon.com, who have deliberately made finding music as painful as possible.