Bach to Basics : A Few O.C. Stores Make Sure They’ve Got Classical Music Covered

The nightmare begins, as nightmares do, innocently enough.

You’re Christmas shopping for the classical-music lover on your list, and that new recording of Schubert’s “Trout” Quintet would be the perfect choice. If, that is, you can find it.

You call a chain record store in the nearby strip mall. “Do you have any Schubert?”

“Sherbet? Try the Baskin-Robbins two doors down.”

Pity the poor classical-music lover. In these days of music videos, CD singles, blank tapes, cassette-cleaning accessories, movie rentals ad infinitum, the average record store has shunted classical music off to a small and lonely corner in back, where any number of wild spores might be found sprouting.

In stores that haven’t eliminated classical recordings entirely, many have fallen back on the plain-wrap approach: “$4.99 Special! . . . Select From Mozart, Beethoven, Bach!” Only when you’ve turned the jewel box over seven or eight times in a futile search for a clue to the title of the work--or, heaven forbid, the name of the orchestra, conductor or soloists--do you realize the reason for such ridiculously low prices.

Equally frustrating are larger-inventory stores that actually may have what you’re looking for, but where the staff often is of little or no help. Ask where you might find Elisabeth Schwarzkopf and don’t be surprised when the spunky clerk, dressed in black from head to toe, the initials N.W.A. etched into her blond locks, squints and replies: “Ummm . . . at home with the General?”

Classical record clubs, as convenient as their to-your-mailbox delivery can be for some things, aren’t the alternative they pretend to be. Most clubs offer only a limited number of record labels, and most emphasize new or relatively recent releases almost exclusively.

It’s not hard to see why classical music is so hard to find. According to figures from the Recording Industry Assn. of America, classical represented only 3% of 1990’s total music sales of $7.4 billion (the lion’s share, not surprisingly, is rock (36%), followed by urban (20%), pop (14%), country (10%) and jazz (5%)).

A new Times Orange County Edition survey, however, shows that there is a handful of well-stocked stores in Orange County--including a couple that even serious collectors might not have discovered yet. And many of these stores have at least one staffer on hand who is knowledgeable enough to guide customers when they need help.

Tower Records is probably the first place most Californians think of when the small, neighborhood record store fails them, and it’s a reasonable starting point in this county: Tower has stores in Brea, Anaheim, Tustin and El Toro. Company officials find it difficult to pinpoint exactly how many classical CDs they normally stock, but estimates put it between 10,000 and 20,000, depending on the location (Brea’s is the smallest Orange County Tower; El Toro’s is the biggest).

“I love the music myself, so I try to cover everything I can (including) a lot of tremendously obscure composers, most of the major labels and a lot of minor distributors,” says Charlie Brand, classical buyer for Tower El Toro (23811 El Toro Road).

“You have to carry your Pavarottis, because you sell a lot of that, but hopefully that lets you buy your Bax and your Zelinka. It’s gratifying to me to find some rare medieval piece, and I’d rather make room for that than sell the 80,000th copy of some big hit.”

UC Irvine’s campus bookstore (off Pereira and Bridge roads, in the University Center) added a classical music department last year, and by some measures, it outshines even Tower El Toro’s imposing classical room. It stocks 15,000 to 20,000 recordings, with CDs outnumbering cassettes by 3 to 1, according to Mike Kiley, associate director of the bookstore.

“One of the things that maybe distinguishes us a little bit from (Tower El Toro) is that we tend to have more (single copies) and incredible breadth,” Kiley says. “Charlie has the ability to get threes and fives and sevens of certain things, but maybe not the sheer number of (different) titles that we have.”

Kiley estimates that UCI’s prices average about $1 more per CD than Tower’s $13.99 to $14.99. But both stores carry a significant number of budget-line and midline catalogue CDs that typically sell for $6.99 to $10.99. Both also bring in a healthy number of European and Japanese import CDs, though at considerably higher prices than the domestic products.

Kiley said efforts are increasing to let the public-at-large know about the store, which so far has been devoted primarily to university regulars.

(The store’s chief drawback to the general public, Kiley admits, is that “it’s insanely difficult for people to get here during the week and find a place to park.” Because of state budget problems, the university cut its already-limited hours this fall: The store is now open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays and only sporadically on Saturdays--a far cry from Tower’s 9 a.m. to midnight 365 days a year.)

Of the major retail chains, the Wherehouse has the only store in Orange County with a classical music section remotely in the same league as Tower’s or UCI’s. Its Costa Mesa store (2320 Harbor Blvd.) generally stocks between 4,000 and 6,000 CDs, according to Wherehouse classical buyer Reuben Mizell. The store’s strength is a vast quantity of midline and budget line CDs, along with a solid representation of current full-price releases. (If you live in the northwest quadrant of the county, you’re within reach of the Wherehouse’s Lakewood store, at 5255 Lakewood Blvd., which has a classical music department nearly twice as large as Costa Mesa’s.)

Other chains, including Sam Goody, Musicland and Music Plus, take the “just the basics” attitude toward classical music because, officials say, their clientele largely isn’t interested in classical.

Among independent stores in Orange County, two Compact Discs Unlimited outlets in Costa Mesa (2263 Fairview Road, and 3333 Bear St., in Crystal Court mall) offer the biggest classical selections.

Both offer about 7,500 classical CDs, according a store official. Like most stores, CDs Unlimited does not attempt to stock everything a customer might want because anything not in stock can be ordered at no additional charge. Such orders take anywhere from one day to three weeks to fill, depending on the title and label.

(Tower goes one step farther than its competition, with a two-pronged order service. Besides the regular “order it from the distributor” service available at each store, a second search service operated out of Tower’s main office in Sacramento “will do whatever it takes to find any piece of product,” a Tower spokesman says. “They’ll search the country and find it for you, if it exists.” The only extra charge is whatever shipping cost Tower pays. That type of search, however, is only for the most patient, as it can require months.)

Other independent stores that have above-average classical music sections include Digital Ear in Tustin (13011 Newport Ave.), Compact Disc Warehouse in Orange (125 N. Tustin Ave.), Laguna Music in Laguna Beach (384 Forest Ave.) and Compact Disc Center in Los Alamitos (4344 Katella Ave.). Virtually all the independents offer the bonus of anywhere from a dozen to several hundred used CDs, which, because of the nature of the technology, generally are a safer gamble than used LPs.

The onetime pride of Orange County independent record retailers, Music Market in Costa Mesa, has fallen considerably, especially in its now-skeletal classical section, since operators filed for reorganization under Chapter 11 bankruptcy provisions.

In Quest of Classics

To measure how various stores’ classical music sections stack up, The Times assembled two lists: one of selected works covering a range of periods, styles and compositional forms; the other comprises specific recordings of those works, spanning widely and lesser-known conductors and soloists, critically praised current recordings, historically significant older performances as well as major labels to minor ones. The survey considered only compact discs, which by far represent the dominant medium among classical music sales.

The top number in each box shows how many recordings of a given work were on hand when visited at random by a Times reporter. The lower number indicates the price of the specific recordings found at each store. A dash indicates a particular recording was not in stock.

Composer and Works Compact Compact Discs Specific Recordings-- Disc Unlimited Performer/Conductor Center Costa Mesa (Label) Los Alamitos (Crystal Court) Bach “Goldberg Variations” 3 3 Glenn Gould-- -- -- 1955 (CBS/Sony) Beethoven, Symphony No. 9 8 5 Bayreuth Festival Orchestra -- $8.99 and Chorus/Furtwangler (Angel) Chopin, Nocturnes 1 1 Artur Rubinstein $25.99 -- (RCA) Copland, major works 4 6 Aaron Copland, conductor, -- $32.99 3-CD set (CBS/Sony) Dvorak “Dumky” Piano Trio -- 1 Beaux Arts Trio -- $13.99 (Philips) Gershwin “Rhapsody in Blue” 7 10 New York Philharmonic/Bernstein-- -- $11.99 1959 (CBS/Sony) Handel “Messiah” (complete) 1 4 English Baroque Soloists/Gardiner -- $41.99 (Philips) Holst, Suites for Military Band -- 1 Cleveland Symphonic Winds/Fennell -- $13.99 (Telarc) Mozart, Clarinet Concerto 4 2 Robert Marcellus, clarinet/ -- -- Cleveland Orchestra/ Szell (CBS/Sony) Strauss, Four Last Songs -- 2 Elisabeth Schwarzkopf/ -- -- Philharmonia Orchestra/ Ackermann (Angel) Stravinsky “Apollo” 2 1 Camerata Academica of the -- -- Salzburg Mozarteum/ Vegh (Capriccio) Verdi “Un ballo in maschera” -- 1 RCA Italiana Opera -- -- Orchestra/Leinsdorf (RCA)

Composer and Works Compact Discs Specific Recordings-- Unlimited Digital Tower Performer/Conductor Costa Mesa Ear Records (Label) (Fairview Road) Tustin Tustin Bach “Goldberg Variations” 4 1 15 Glenn Gould-- -- -- $9.99 1955 (CBS/Sony) Beethoven, Symphony No. 9 13 3 28 Bayreuth Festival Orchestra -- -- $11.99 and Chorus/Furtwangler (Angel) Chopin, Nocturnes 1 1 6 Artur Rubinstein -- $27.98 $27.98 (RCA) Copland, major works 2 5 6 Aaron Copland, conductor, $32.99 $41.97 $29.97 3-CD set (CBS/Sony) Dvorak “Dumky” Piano Trio 2 -- -- Beaux Arts Trio $13.99 -- -- (Philips) Gershwin “Rhapsody in Blue” 7 4 20 New York Philharmonic/Bernstein-- -- -- $8.99 1959 (CBS/Sony) Handel “Messiah” (complete) 6 2 11 English Baroque Soloists/Gardiner $41.99 $41.97 $41.97 (Philips) Holst, Suites for Military Band 1 -- 1 Cleveland Symphonic Winds/Fennell $13.99 -- $14.99 (Telarc) Mozart, Clarinet Concerto 3 5 12 Robert Marcellus, clarinet/ -- -- -- Cleveland Orchestra/ Szell (CBS/Sony) Strauss, Four Last Songs 6 2 5 Elisabeth Schwarzkopf/ -- -- -- Philharmonia Orchestra/ Ackermann (Angel) Stravinsky “Apollo” 1 -- 1 Camerata Academica of the -- -- -- Salzburg Mozarteum/ Vegh (Capriccio) Verdi “Un ballo in maschera” 2 1 -- RCA Italiana Opera -- -- -- Orchestra/Leinsdorf (RCA)

Composer and Works Specific Recordings-- Tower Tower Tower Performer/Conductor Records Records Records (Label) Anaheim Brea El Toro Bach “Goldberg Variations” 8 4 9 Glenn Gould-- -- -- $8.99 1955 (CBS/Sony) Beethoven, Symphony No. 9 13 27 26 Bayreuth Festival Orchestra -- $9.99 $9.99 and Chorus/Furtwangler (Angel) Chopin, Nocturnes 1 2 3 Artur Rubinstein -- -- $27.98 (RCA) Copland, major works 8 3 8 Aaron Copland, conductor, $29.99 $29.97 -- 3-CD set (CBS/Sony) Dvorak “Dumky” Piano Trio 3 1 2 Beaux Arts Trio -- $13.99 -- (Philips) Gershwin “Rhapsody in Blue” 12 13 15 New York Philharmonic/Bernstein-- $8.99 -- $8.99 1959 (CBS/Sony) Handel “Messiah” (complete) 4 5 7 English Baroque Soloists/Gardiner $41.99 -- -- (Philips) Holst, Suites for Military Band 1 -- -- Cleveland Symphonic Winds/Fennell $14.99 -- -- (Telarc) Mozart, Clarinet Concerto 3 7 11 Robert Marcellus, clarinet/ -- $8.99 $8.99 Cleveland Orchestra/ Szell (CBS/Sony) Strauss, Four Last Songs 3 4 1 Elisabeth Schwarzkopf/ -- -- $9.99 Philharmonia Orchestra/ Ackermann (Angel) Stravinsky “Apollo” 4 2 4 Camerata Academica of the -- -- -- Salzburg Mozarteum/ Vegh (Capriccio) Verdi “Un ballo in maschera” 2 3 2 RCA Italiana Opera $23.99 -- -- Orchestra/Leinsdorf (RCA)

Composer and Works Specific Recordings-- Wherehouse UC Irvine Performer/Conductor Costa Mesa Bookstore (Label) (Harbor Boulevard) Irvine Bach “Goldberg Variations” 3 15 Glenn Gould-- $8.99 $9.99 1955 (CBS/Sony) Beethoven, Symphony No. 9 19 38 Bayreuth Festival Orchestra -- $10.99 and Chorus/Furtwangler (Angel) Chopin, Nocturnes 4 11 Artur Rubinstein -- $30.99 (RCA) Copland, major works 6 20 Aaron Copland, conductor, $31.99 $34.49 3-CD set (CBS/Sony) Dvorak “Dumky” Piano Trio 1 4 Beaux Arts Trio $14.99 $14.99 (Philips) Gershwin “Rhapsody in Blue” 19 21 New York Philharmonic/Bernstein-- $8.99 $12.49 1959 (CBS/Sony) Handel “Messiah” (complete) 7 16 English Baroque Soloists/Gardiner -- $43.99 (Philips) Holst, Suites for Military Band 1 1 Cleveland Symphonic Winds/Fennell -- $14.99 (Telarc) Mozart, Clarinet Concerto 4 16 Robert Marcellus, clarinet/ -- $9.99 Cleveland Orchestra/ Szell (CBS/Sony) Strauss, Four Last Songs 3 6 Elisabeth Schwarzkopf/ -- -- Philharmonia Orchestra/ Ackermann (Angel) Stravinsky “Apollo” 1 4 Camerata Academica of the -- -- Salzburg Mozarteum/ Vegh (Capriccio) Verdi “Un ballo in maschera” 3 8 RCA Italiana Opera -- $23.49 Orchestra/Leinsdorf (RCA)

Source: stores listed

Compiled by RANDY LEWIS / Los Angeles Times