Classical "Mega" CD Box Sets

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by dajokr, Jan 28, 2012.

  1. 5-String

    5-String μηδὲν ἄγαν

    Location:
    Sunshine State
    I am looking for vol 1 too, but I haven't found one for a decent price yet.
     
  2. Lije Baley

    Lije Baley Forum Resident

    I've had the collection for two years, having bought it when it was offered at a reasonable price. Now, that it's out of print (and costlier) it's unlikely Sony Music has replacement discs available. It's not like a car part that is stocked for repairs years after the model run. [Sony Music did send me a replacement sleeve for my Seon Collection where I had the all the discs, but one sleeve was used twice, and the proper sleeve was missing.] As Disc 17 plays perfectly on my CD player, and Disc 21 has only 7 seconds of audio break up, it's not too big a deal.

    I am curious how many of the collectors on this forum have discs with the same defects. I've not read any complaints on the forum and was surprised when my discs exhibited the flaws complained of in the Amazon review.
     
  3. Mowgli

    Mowgli Runs with scissors

    Location:
    Taxachusetts
    Disc 5 of my Scott Ross Scarlatti box only plays on 3 out of my 5 CD players.
    I didn't return it because I saved $30+ when I bought it (new but from an Amazon seller with only 1 copy).
    I could have my money back but I'd have to wait until it was a good price again to replace it.
    It plays in most of my players so it's good enough.
    I could try making a copy and see if that would play in the other 2....
     
  4. ggjjr

    ggjjr Forum Resident

    Location:
    Grosse Pointe
    Probably because most of us nuts on this forum bought it, but haven't yet listened to it. I'm about three years back on the classical boxes that I bought in the last two years.
     
    bluemooze likes this.
  5. 5-String

    5-String μηδὲν ἄγαν

    Location:
    Sunshine State
    Lol, sad but true!
     
  6. RubenH

    RubenH Forum Resident

    Location:
    S.E. United States
    I notice the Chopin Etudes from the late 1950's are not included; possibly because they were made for EMI ?
     
  7. George P

    George P Notable Member

    Location:
    NYC
    That is correct. The Chopin etudes are in his EMI Icon box.
     
  8. giantleech

    giantleech Lord of all fevers and plagues

    Really enjoying the Karajan monster box. Listening to all of these CDs in chronological order.

    Did anyone else here (other than Ben in Colorado and myself) spring for this set?
     
    Robur, crispi and Michael H like this.
  9. dajokr

    dajokr Classical "Mega" Box Set Collector Thread Starter

    Location:
    Virginia Beach, VA
    I think most of us either (a) have most or all of the 4 individual boxes (1960s, 1970s, 1980s, and Operas) or (b) don't like Karajan.

    For the record, I fall under (a). :D

    I hope the DVDs from this set are collected in their own box, so those of us who bought the individual releases can pick those up at a reasonable price.
     
    giantleech and Ben in Colorado like this.
  10. Ben in Colorado

    Ben in Colorado Forum Resident

    Location:
    Boulder Colorado
    Must be a “Colorado” thing.
     
    Michael H and giantleech like this.
  11. crispi

    crispi Vinyl Archaeologist

    Location:
    Berlin
    Just saw this as well on Amazon, I had forgotten about it.

    Has anyone here bought it? How is the packaging? Is it “original jacket”-style?

    And, is this the first “mega” box Harmonia Mundi has put out? If yes, I hope they do much more.
     
  12. dajokr

    dajokr Classical "Mega" Box Set Collector Thread Starter

    Location:
    Virginia Beach, VA
    There was this one several years back:

    [​IMG]

    And then this one:

    [​IMG]

    But that is all I am thinking of right now. HM does not tend to do "original jacket" type presentations, it seems.
     
    bluemooze, hvbias and crispi like this.
  13. Mowgli

    Mowgli Runs with scissors

    Location:
    Taxachusetts
    100CD DHM set released in November - https://www.amazon.de/gp/product/B0765S8NY4

    Mine's been "preparing for dispatch" since December 9.
    By the time it actually gets dispatched it'll be very, very, very prepared.

    EDIT - You said HM, not DHM. My bad.
     
    crispi likes this.
  14. PH416156

    PH416156 Alea Iacta Est

    Location:
    Europe
    Weird. I checked the aforementioned discs and they play with no problems from start to finish on everything, from my old 1991 Marantz to the Onkyo C-S5VL SACD/CD player.
    No strange noises, no skip, no freezing and no disappearance of sound even on an old Panasonic VHS/DVD player.

    Heck, even this old Sony Discman had no problems

    [​IMG]
     
  15. Lije Baley

    Lije Baley Forum Resident

    I'm not sure of the manufacturing process, but the discs are probably from different "pressings" and perhaps from different production facilities. I'm glad yours are trouble-free.
     
  16. DEVA

    DEVA Forum Resident

    Location:
    Brasil

    Also this one from HM released in October/2017:

    [​IMG]
     
    sixthstreet likes this.
  17. crispi

    crispi Vinyl Archaeologist

    Location:
    Berlin
    That’s the one I was mentioning :)
     
  18. DEVA

    DEVA Forum Resident

    Location:
    Brasil
    Ooops! My bad, hehehehe. Sorry :)
     
    crispi likes this.
  19. PH416156

    PH416156 Alea Iacta Est

    Location:
    Europe
    Let's revive an old SH.tv classic: matrix numbers :)

    Disc 17: Sony Music 55373486/88765448882-17 22 IFPI LB 45 IFPI 0781

    Disc 21: Sony Music 55373514/88765448882-21 21 IFPI LB 46 IFPI 0761

    labels of both state: MADE in EU

    Does that info match what's on your discs? As far as I know, except for a previous Korean-only release, there was just one "Made in EU" pressing of that box.
     
  20. JuniorMaineGuide

    JuniorMaineGuide Forum Resident

    Location:
    Boulder, Colorado
    I got mine a few weeks ago and I'm loving it. Lots of things to discover in particular, as I wasn't familiar with composers like Campra, Gilles, Dumont. The 1893 Faure Requiem (with smaller forces) has been my favorite part of the box so far. The Pierrot Lunaire and Mahler discs have been really good too.

    The presentation is pretty basic. The jackets each feature the same photo of PH but in slightly different colors to create a gradient across the set of discs. The booklet provides track information and performer credits but little else.
     
    hvbias likes this.
  21. MikeF63

    MikeF63 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Derbyshire, UK
    Solti Chicago Complete Recordings arrived at the weekend, and it is sounding superb. The Bruckners I have heard so far (6 & 9) are the best sounding I've heard.

    Other highlights so far are the Rite of Spring, Ein Deutches Requiem, Enigma Variations and Tchaikovsky 5. Only dud so far is the first of two Mahler 5 recordings, bit distorted in the scherzo and especially the finale. Hope the 2nd version will be better. Still got about 85 to go!

    The Flying Dutchman and Mastersingers are awe-inspiring but I already had them from the Solti Wagner box.

    Really like the packaging. Decca seem to do these things really well (I have the Ashkenazy 50 box which is also really nice looking), although it suffers a bit of the recent Karajan-experience in that the sleeves are spare on detail and some gatefolds have blank inners. But at least all have titles on the edges so it is easier to find titles than I expected. Not sure if it would have been easier to file by composer though...that might draw too much attention to a lot of repetition (La Mer, Symphonie Fantastique, complete Beethoven cycles, Tchaik 5 and others appear twice).
     
  22. sixthstreet

    sixthstreet Forum Resident

    Location:
    Austin, Texas
    I've bought five or six big classical box sets in the last few weeks and this is my favorite of them all after listening to only two CDs in this box so far, and I'm not usually into vocal works. Beautifully recorded and performed.

    Bonus point: can actually open the box without swearing or straining, unlike the insanely tightly packed Andre Cluytens box.
     
    Last edited: Dec 19, 2017
    Ben in Colorado likes this.
  23. Lije Baley

    Lije Baley Forum Resident

    It's like the hardest eye exam, ever. Reading the inside ring on the silver side:
    My Disc 17 lacks the "IFPI LB 45" and Disc 21 lacks the "IFPI LB 46."
    Both labels state "Made in the EU"
     
  24. Papageno

    Papageno Forum Resident

    Location:
    Sweden
    [​IMG] [​IMG]

    harmonia mundi - Accueil
     
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  25. Runicen

    Runicen Forum Resident

    Looks like a nice set and certainly well-priced.

    My only question: for someone who already has a TON of Bach, Beethoven and Mozart represented in his collection, is this worth picking up for dramatically different interpretations or higher quality recordings of familiar works?
     

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