Yes, absolutely. Many works on those discs are unknown to me and present a listening/ learning opportunity. Many excellent performers and conductors from various eras are represented as well.
Although not currently in stock, and "expected in 7-10 days", this is currently selling for ~$62 USD delivered to the US, on Amazon.co.jp. Although I have the earlier set, for this price, I decided to "update" and get the additional discs. Igor Stravinsky - The Complete Columbia Album Collection Limited Edition, Import Igor Stravinsky (アーティスト) Format: CD 1 customer review Audio CD ￥ 6,179
Looks like Amazon ES can not fulfill it's orders for the Furtwangler Legecy box. "Sentimos informarte de que debido a la falta de disponibilidad, no podemos proporcionarte los siguientes productos de tu pedido." Elisabeth Schwarzkopf "The Legacy: Wilhelm Furtwängler conducts: The Ring of the Nibelung, St. Matthew Passion, Brandenburg Concerto, Don Giovanni, The Magic Flute, amo!"
Being new to this, do a lot of these sets tend to drift in and out of availability? A couple of times I was looking at a title, only to see it go unavailable and the price suddenly shoot up (like the Murray Perahia Plays Mozart set, which was sub-$25 from Amazon and elsewhere...and now it's up to $45 everywhere with few copies in-stock any place). Also, would the Martha Argerich: The Complete Recordings on Deutsche Grammophon set be a good one for someone interested in classical piano (and who doesn't own any of that catalog?). Again, that one looks like it went out of print for a while but is coming back in-print next month (or it's a re-release). Presto currently has it for $100 but I assume there might be a better deal on it down the line, once the (re)-release is out? Then again, I don't want to miss that one because I've heard some of her performances and it looks like it has a terrific selection.
Yes, availability of these boxes is a puzzle. If you really want something, you should grab it when you see it, because there is no knowing when it will suddenly disappear. However, we have seen many recent boxes be released and then get discounted within the first 12 months of availability, so buying straight away is not necessarily the best way to go. Be careful of waiting to see how low a particular box will go, though, as some of the boxes discussed in this thread have been discounted on Amazon Germany or Amazon Italy, and then have disappeared all together! I was lucky enough to snag the 70+ disc Perahia box last year from Amazon Germany for 84 Euro (shipping and Rattle CBSO box extra ). That seems to have gone OOP now, and is far more costly as a result. The Argerich box is very highly recommended. No idea why they felt the need to re-issue it, unless they are correcting some printing errors or something.
Thanks, that's what I figured based on comments here and my own experiences so far. Likely a situation where they press some of these in batches and when they sell out, demand quickly goes up for a time, etc. Then they'll repress another round on some but who knows when/if that happens...certainly looks like a lot of them drift in and out of circulation depending on when you look. I wanted several of the Decca Sound sets and got them in the $80-ish range, two of them new, and the Analogue Years was lightly used (that one is not nearly as readily available as the others currently). I've also found Ebay has been far more useful with its occasional sales than anywhere else for most of what I've bought so far. Especially since Amazon has basically eliminated its 3rd party selling market altogether. I hope that one reappears at some point, as I'd definitely be on that one! Is $100 an OK everyday price on that? There aren't too many Ebay copies and I wouldnt expect duplicating a Black Friday deal from a couple of years back that I read about here.
I hadn't heard about this set. It looks really well done, but I think I'll stick with the bargain "works" set I already have, and use Spotify to supplement.
I managed to get the following: April 2017 Decca Sound = 59 Euro (minus shipping) Decca Sound: The Analogue Years = 58 Euro (minus shipping) [I had the above shipped with the massive Brendel and the Boulez Columbia boxes, so hard to factor in shipping charges. Amazon Italy was running a 20% off promo at the time.] July 2016 Philips Classics - The Stereo Years = 44 Euro shipped So, I don't think you did too badly at all! I ordered it in Nov. 2016, and there was some promo going on, so got it for 70 Euro shipped. So, $100 seems OK for the re-issue straight out of the gate.
I think that would be a great place to start. There is quite a variety of recordings in this set. As it is being re-released, I expect you may find a better price on ImportCDs for example once the new release date has passed. Having said that, Presto is a very reputable seller and I have had very good experience dealing with them. They take great care in packaging their boxes for shipping and their shipping to the US has been by air and is very fast.
Disc 11 in the original release had the wrong jacket. Perhaps DG has corrected that error. As to the questions of the OP, it's a beautiful box of music.
Wow! You are correct. I never noticed, probably because Bartok appears first on both, and I use the booklet rather than the jackets to read about the music/recording/performers. No wonder they were selling these off cheap!
Import CDs is running a deal in their Ebay store – buy 2 sets from a list of 3,400+ box sets (all genres) and get an additional %15 off their usual price. The “usual price” is already about 30-40% off the list price (based on the items I spot-checked), and to top it off there’s a Ebay coupon for ANOTHER 15% off orders over $25, which makes this a great opportunity to grab a couple boxes you may have been keeping your eye on. If my math is right, that means you can get the 354 disc Karajan Crate – which they’re selling for $804 - for about $580 (if you buy another set with it). This should take you to the list of sets in the deal: Extra 15% off when you buy 2+ - Top selling Box Sets Extra 15% off when you buy 2+ - eBay get_importCDs The Ebay coupon code for the additional 15% off is “PERFECTDAY” (good only until 9:00PM Eastern today, June 29).
For anyone interested in this, keep in mind that US customers will be adding tax to that AND the PERFECTDAY code is capped off at a max $100 discount.
Ah - good clarification. That $100 limit on the code reduces the savings on the Karajan Scenario. Still ... even with tax included, I was able to get the Ernest Ansermet French Music and Russian Music boxes (30+ CDs each) for a total of $116 shipped, which is a $62 savings (35%) over the Amazon prices.
This is a rather old Harmonia Mundi box set (2014)... but just to mention that it is currently with probably the best price ever (EUR 14.99) at Amazon France at moment:
These sales are great and they seem to run them frequently now...smart since so many sellers have moved there and away from Amazon. Picked up several including the DECCA SOUND VOCAL RECITALS box for what ended up being $68 after the Ebay and ImportCD deals were applied. They had it listed under GREAT VOCAL RECITALS and not "Decca Sound" so I was surprised when I came across it in their listings.
JPC has the release date set to October 26 Label: DGG/Decca, ADD/DDD Order number: 8203191 Release date: 26.10.2018 Johann Sebastian Bach: Bach 333 - The Complete New Edition (222 CDs) – jpc
Thxs a lot for the tip Deva! I certainly took advantage of it. Probably I shouldn't have, since some of the CDs are duplications for me, especially those Herreweghe, but @ $25 final price I could not resist. Thank you again!
Not sure if this has been listed here but there will be a box set from Decca released end of August for "Alicia de Larrocha - the Complete Decca recordings" 41 CDs Alicia de Larrocha - The Complete Decca Recordings (41 CDs) – jpc jpg.de 89.99€ or Alicia De Larrocha: Complete Decca Recordings - Decca: 4834120 - 41 CDs | Presto Classical $105.75 at Presto Classics
