The new face of the CD store

It used to be that you could walk into any Borders, Barnes and Noble or any store that sells music CDs and be able to choose from a decent selection of classical music.  Of course it would be hard to find many of the contemporary composers, but the important ones would have some representation.  Currently, my local Borders only has a smattering of CDs in general and most are the newest releases by rock, pop or country artists.  Those stores that still have a music section will have a small selection of classical music.  Most are either popular recordings that everyone has like Beethoven's Ninth Symphony or Bach's Well Tempered Clavier.  If there are contemporary CDs you are likely to only find Stravinsky's Rite of Spring or Messiaen's Quartet for the End of Time.  Do not get me wrong these are great pieces, but I have these recordings.  I am looking for something new.

It seems that the only way in which I can get the CDs I want is to order them online.  The internet is a great and powerful tool.  I love it because I can usually find recordings I want.  At the same time this is exactly the problem.  I can get what I want.  It is a lot harder to randomly find new things to listen to at an online store.  Sure most sites will give additional recommendations or will have a section that lists "other items purchased by customers who bought this CD," but these recommendations only go so far.  I love going into a "brick and mortar" store and just browsing through the racks.  It is a lot like treasure hunting.  I would often pick up a CD I was not looking for because it interests me.  I do not do this as often when ordering online because I can not see the entire selection.

So why am I going off on this tangent?  Well for the past two months I have been trying to locate, at a store, a particular recording that I figured would have been easy to find.  The CD is Hilary Hahn's latest recording featuring the Jennifer Higdon and Tchaikovsky Violin Concertos.  Hilary is a popular violinist and I can find most of her other recordings in town, but apparently not this one.  I will end up ordering this recording in the next day or two, but I would have liked to have gone somewhere to pick it up.