I haven't had a chance yet to listen to the set, have been ill and my hearing is currently not up to scratch, so I'm afraid I can't comment. Even though I haven't listened to it yet, I think it's a great set, with the works of each composer grouped together, though I wish the box-sized booklet had been hardcover. [edit] Just checked the booklet and according to the credits the digital mastering was done by Ben Wiseman (Broadlake Studios Ltd.); no exceptions are mentioned, so I guess the masterings are recent.
I was so disappointed that I missed the original release of the Tafelmusik that in a period of two years after it went oop I searched and acquired most but not all the recordings contained in the box through other sets. Even so, I ordered a copy from Arkiv because I thought their price was a steal. I don't have the Vivarte I, if it ever gets re-released I will jump on that in a second.
I never did buy the Tafelmusik box because I have both Vivarte boxes and many of the smaller 4-6CD boxes of Vivarte recordings that Sony put out. Still, there are about 5-7 discs in the Tafelmusik box that I don’t have, and I am sure my OCD is going to compel me to pick it up one day.
I don't know... I have IMO Tafelmusik shines with the Baroque repertoire, but with the Romantics not at all. Huelgas Ensemble is just awesome! As a matter of fact is one of my favorite performers, a close tie with Jordi Savall for number 1. Not only because of the quality of the performances, but also the choice of repertoire. Just fits my taste almost 100%.
There's no Romantic stuff in the box unless you'd call Beethoven a Romantic; most of the music in the box is pre-Beethoven, from the Baroque and Classical Eras. And the only Beethoven pieces in the box are his Piano Concertos.
You are right, I meant Classical, not Romantic. My mind is playing tricks on me. Culture is chasing me... but I run faster!
As I said earlier much of the music in the Tafelmusik box is not my cup of tea, but, talking about the Classical Era, I think their Haydn Symphonies are pretty good.
Agree on The Huelgas. There is a box set of their recordings (15 CD) called ‘A Secret Labyrinth’ which I love. It is fairly expensive on the secondary market these days.
I don’t remember the exact numbers but there are a significant number of discs of performances by Tafelmusik in Vol. 1. I assume the same is true for Vol 2 from the conversation here but I’m only 6 discs into it. All of them are duplicated in the Tafelmusik box. I assume the Tafelmusik also has has pieces that are performed by other ensembles in the other boxes.
If anyone else is wondering how significant the overlap is between the Vivarte and Tafelmusik boxes : Total of Tafelmusik discs in the Vivarte boxes : 14 for the volume 1 and 20 for the volume 2. So only 13 (out of 47) discs from the Tafelmusik box are absent from both of the Vivarte boxes. I personally love Tafelmusik and 50€ for the box is still cheaper than getting these 13 discs individually, so I got it anyway but it obviously won't be such a good deal for most people. Not to mention these boxes are all very good quality and in my opinion as good as it gets when it comes to presentation (no frills, but good art, full booklets, good sleeves)
Make it 12 actually, I forgot one of the discs from the second box. I'd be curious to know whether or not the Tafelmusik box has, in fact, been reprinted. I would find it surprising given the fact that it was marketed as a Limited Edition, but I guess that label doesn't hold much value.
Now that, that!, is a professional thread posting Thank you very much for your time and kindness in posting this comparison, really appreciated. DB
Hello, I have just realized by chance that the outstanding recordings of Schubert masses on CD´s 41-43 on Vivarte Vol2 , despites of being played by Tafelmusik, are NOT present of Tafelmusik 47 CD box. Than that reduces the number of overlapping in 3 disks. I have still not checked if there are other cases like this. regards, DB
Nice catch, as far as I can tell Tafelmusik had no involvement in these recordings (nowhere is it present in the credits), being unfamiliar with these I can't be too sure but it looks like a typo on the box itself
You´re right, the backcover of the CD´s says rather "Orchestra of the age of enlightment". Then it should be a typo or a copy&paste mistake only in the outer box. Well this reduces the number of overlappings in 3 disks anyway
@fnord: great post showing the contents of all three boxes. I remember discussion in this thread when the second Vivarte box was released about the duplication of the two Vivarte boxes and the Tafelmusik box. At the time there was hope that a third Vivarte box would follow and include the remaining Tafelmusik discs. That hasn't happened, causing buyers with both Vivarte boxes to choose between forgoing 1/3 of Tafelmusik's collected works or buying the Tafelmusik box to obtain that missing 33%. Additionally, Sony's mash-up (in a good way) collection of 60 discs in its Baroque Masterpieces box includes Tafelmusik's performance of Corelli's Concerti Grossi and most of its performance of Purcell's theater music, neither of which are in the Vivarte boxes. The Baroque Masterpieces box is a gem, a collection of Vivarte, Deutsche Harmonia Mundi, Seon, Arte Nova, RCA and Sony Classical recordings in a minimalist box, arranged by composer, with a CD-ROM disc containing PDF track information for each of the discs. It too has become more expensive.
Could the Georg Solti Chicago Symphony box be going out of print? Listings for it have disappeared from the Italian, German, Spanish and French Amazon sites and it is only being sold by a third party on the English site. It's still available on the U.S. and Canadian sites, and from other U.S. retailers like Deep Discount and Barnes & Noble. I was surprised to find it not listed on the major European Amazon sites.
I wish Archiv had done a better job avoiding duplication between their (1) 1947-2013 and 1959-1981 boxes and (2) Baroque Box. It's almost as if they assumed no one would buy all three.
Whoops. How embarrassing, the box is still available at the European Amazon sites. Using the ASIN as a search term does not work, but going from Decca's site to the Amazon stores takes one to the listings for the box.
