I just order the Petrenko complete Shostakovich symphonies from JPC for $23 including shipping. Beat that Amazon!
Would that include buyers in the US? If so, always (e.g., even from sellers within the US) or just ordering sets from certain non-US sellers? I understand those who do not reside in the US likely cannot answer this, so I’ll throw the issue open to the group.
I have ordered once from them (I believe it was Queen's - Live at the Odeon super deluxe box set), it was a smooth transaction, the item arrived within 10 days and it was packaged really well.
I can not answer on behalf of our US friends here, but I can confirm and attest the unmatchable quality of their packing for overseas shipping. All the box-sets I ordered from them arrived here in perfect spotless shape here in Brazil, including three "Mozart 225" boxes destinated to close friends. The outer box usually is far bigger than the box-set with an incredible ammount of protection all around in the six sides.
I had never considered not even for a moment ever buying a digital copy of any recording at all... for me it has always been "physical copy" (CD´s) or nothing... until I saw the pictures of Bach 333 posted here this week. The insanely huge size of this box-set for the first time ever made me considering going digital
Is the reason that it would make the set too easy to "share"? If I had that set, I certainly wouldn't bother burning it to my iTunes.
I'm pretty sure Mozart 225 is available digitally, even if sold in portions. I'd wager that it won't be long before they offer Bach 333 as downloads.
There are 10 'albums' from Bach 333 already available on TIDAL. All, or pretty much all, of Mozart 225 eventually showed up on TIDAL.
If it's the same titles as on Amazon Music Unlimited, then it's a rather random selection. They should have focused on getting the “Introduction” volumes up, since they are already selections. Of course, if you don't need the Bach 333 branding, you can get most of the recordings easily. The real attraction of the set is having a complete, physical Bach ... anyone wanting to pursue a similar project from a digital streaming library has a different set of options. Speaking for myself, the pride of ownership for this box is something pretty special. It's not the sort of set that everyone in this thread will be able to justify purchasing but I struggle to think of anyone in thread who wouldn't want to be able to justify it.
This is what TIDAL currently has available if you search for Bach 333: Organ Works - 28 tracks - 2:02:27 Harpsichord Works - 45 tracks - 1:43:35 Schemelli Gesangbuch Complete - 71 tracks - 2:37:17 New Colours Of Bach - 25 tracks - 1:19:09 Bach A La Jazz - 21 tracks - 1:21:37 4-Part Chorales (Vol. 1) - 64 tracks - 1:02:24 4-Part Chorales (Vol. 2) - 51 tracks - 0:46:26 4-Part Chorales (Vol. 3) - 60 tracks - 1:00:34 Wilhelm Friedemann Bach Klavierbuchlein Complete - 69 tracks - 1:49:15 Complete Anna Magdalena Books 1 & 2 - 104 tracks - 3:19:30
I could start that Bach is god (g, not G)... but in this day and age that might offend some people. So let's keep it musical and let's just say it: without Bach there's no Haydn, without Haydn no Mozart, without Mozart no Beethoven, without Beethoven no Chopin, without Chopin no Rachmaninov, without Rachmaninov no Schönberg, without Schönberg no U2. Without Bach there's nothing.
IMHO, not as it has, no. It would be something totally different... better, worse... totally different. I for one I'm glad he was there and what's happened afterwards. Anything else is hypothesising.
In case there are any hesitators, I see that The Megaszell is now $132.00 from Amazon US, albeit backordered, albeit suppposedly restocked in two days.