Classical "Mega" CD Box Sets

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

  1. ubertrout

    ubertrout Forum Resident

    Location:
    Washington, DC
    I didn't want to say bad, because I personally enjoy them (and sought out his live Mahler 9 and Das Lied as well). But then, I don't really think any of his recordings are short of good if not great. I've heard more dissension about the Mahler and Bruckner, for whatever it's worth.
     
  2. misterjones

    misterjones Smarter than the average bear.

    Location:
    New York, NY
    I cannot wait for the library to actually receive and process their copy or copies, so I've started listening on Spotify. I am primarily a Medieval, Baroque and Renaissance man, with a lot of more modern chamber music (especially string quartets) thrown in, so I am far from being a big symphony connoisseur.

    But I find I like what I perceive (having listened to many other conductors) a "light touch" by Abbado that I like and which seems to dovetail more closely with my other classical music interests. Given the current price of the symphony set, about $60-70, I'll consider buying it despite the fact that I could have the whole shebang for the cost of blank discs. I also like the separate Abbado-Argerich set.
     
  3. J.A.W.

    J.A.W. Music Addict

    I sometimes get the impression that people either love or hate Abbado's performances, but I like a lot of what he did and am happy with the Abbado Symphony Edition box. His various Mahler interpretations, with the Vienna Philharmonic, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Berlin Philharmonic or the Lucerne Festival Orchestra, are generally excellent in my opinion (he recorded the symphonies more than once, not all his versions are included in the box).
     
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  4. misterjones

    misterjones Smarter than the average bear.

    Location:
    New York, NY
    I've only listened to the Mozart and Bruckner, as well as the Abaddo-Argerich material, so I've go a ways to go.

    I listened to a lot of the Karajan Symphony Edition and the DG conductors set and just couldn't get into them. Again, I have nothing to go on except my personal reaction to the recordings. I'm quite overwhelmed by the Szell box. I think I'd need to quit my job just to get through it. It's quite the bargain on a per disc basis, though.
     
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  5. Matt Richardson

    Matt Richardson Forum Resident

    Location:
    Suburban Chicago
    I still like Abbado's 1980s Beethoven/Vienna cycle more than either of the two later Berlin cycles. This, unfortunately, wasn't included in the symphony box.
     
  6. Octave

    Octave Shake Appeal

    Thanks for the tip on the Shostakovich/Petrenko at JPC.

    I read one or two Amazon reviews indicating that the Shostakovich/Petrenko box packaging is unusually shoddy...the description made me think it was sub-clamshell in quality. (!) That's not enough to make me skip a good deal on a great set of performances, but can anyone attest to problems with the packaging? Just curious.
     
  7. DEVA

    DEVA Forum Resident

    Location:
    Brasil
    Hello misterjones,
    I recomend listening to Mahler's Second Symphony with Abbado and Lucerne Festival Orchestra, present in this box. It is really outstanding... on
    of my favorire recordings of classical music by any composer and any period.

    With regarding the box, I have it and I like it.

    regards,
    DB
     
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  8. crispi

    crispi Vinyl Archaeologist

    Location:
    Berlin
    My library is obliged by law to acquire almost everything that is being released locally, and since DG is located in Berlin, most DG boxes end up in the library. Pretty overwhelming. There is a caveat, though, in that boxes of this size cannot be checked out, but have to be listened to in the library. Imagine the joy of the librarian having to check a box of 55 CDs when returned to the counter, something I've subjected them to a few times. :evil:
     
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  9. hvbias

    hvbias Midrange magic

    Location:
    Northeast
    That is very convenient, IMO of the majors DGG has the best current recording artists.

    Sadly many of the libraries around the country in the US seemed to have stopped buying CDs around five years ago or so. They now have these special streaming subscriptions available to them or this lossy download system called Hoopla (appropriate name :D). Still, I have managed to find some incredibly rare CDs through inter-library loan.
     
    crispi, misterjones and SteveKn like this.
  10. misterjones

    misterjones Smarter than the average bear.

    Location:
    New York, NY
    Almost too much of a good thing! Is that possible with DG sets? Do they give you the CDs and let you bring in a computer?

    The library here is getting smarter, in that they pull stuff when it goes out of print so people won't be as inclined to steal it (presumably for resale). In those cases, you can listen to it in the library but you don't get the CDs. You get headphones and they pipe it out to where you're sitting . . . or so they tell me (I've never done it).
     
  11. misterjones

    misterjones Smarter than the average bear.

    Location:
    New York, NY
    Maybe my library uses this as well. I'm not really sure what they do now (as opposed to about five years ago when I asked them).
     
  12. crispi

    crispi Vinyl Archaeologist

    Location:
    Berlin
    There are CD players with headphones there, but you can bring a computer with a drive.
     
  13. crispi

    crispi Vinyl Archaeologist

    Location:
    Berlin
    That’s the best thing about the libraries, imo, the possibility to find really rare CDs in their collections. Since most started acquiring CDs in the 80s, there are some real gems out there. Some of those discs look really bad, but manage to play perfectly.

    Not a big fan of those streaming services, though. It kind of muddies the waters. My library offers for free the Naxos streaming service, but I’ve never used it. I prefer having my own collection. Looking through discs in the library was my primary way of discovering music and still is.
     
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  14. DEVA

    DEVA Forum Resident

    Location:
    Brasil
    Heads up:
    Amazon Italy is offering a 10 Euro discount for order above 50 euro. Only today. This is announced there on their main web page "www.amazon.it"

    The problem with Amazon Italy is their expensive shipping prices however...

    regards,
    DB
     
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  15. DEVA

    DEVA Forum Resident

    Location:
    Brasil
    "What does this post have to do with this topic" one may ask. Well with 50 euro at hands what else other than a classical mega CD box set would anyone of us here think about? :D:agree::laugh:
     
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  16. Tribute

    Tribute Senior Member

    Bach 333 arrived today from Amazon France. It was not in the special foam insulated case that I recall Mozart came in.

    It was just thrown in a simple cardboard box with a piece of extra paper.

    The Bach case was seriously split along one corner, bottom to top.

    Does anyone have any recommendations for action? I don't believe it is practical to ship back. Request partial refund? What percentage?

    I had luck before with Amazon France, not this time.

    Unfortunately, for a set like this, I believe case condition will be critical in resale down the line.
     
    Frederick Mars likes this.
  17. bluemooze

    bluemooze Senior Member

    Location:
    Frenchtown NJ USA
    If I have a problem with an Amazon order, they immediately send me a replacement and create a return shipping label for me to print. :) (but, I've never had to return anyting to Amazon FR)
     
  18. Mr. H

    Mr. H Forum Resident

    I have and I paid almost 90 USD to ship it back but was reimbursed after emailing them a receipt.
     
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  19. Mr. H

    Mr. H Forum Resident

    That sucks. My situation was the resersed, amazon.fr sent mine with the foam but my Mozart ordered elsewhere was not and has a partial seam split.
     
  20. If you have a damaged one I think the value will nose dive. Plus - will you ever be happy with it even if you get a substantial refund? It would bug me every time I saw it on the shelf or took a CD out of it.
     
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  21. J Luc

    J Luc Forum Resident

    Location:
    SF Bay Area
    My Szell box from Amazon France arrived in almost the exact same described condition. Flimsy outside box with one sheet of what I presumed was originally crumpled paper that had been flattened by the weight of the box set. A couple of corners were dinged although not too bad but one corner of the lid was split from top to bottom. I did not want to deal with the hassle of returning it so I went the partial refund route. Despite providing pictures of a less than pristine box set with the split, I had to go back and forth with the customer service. Initially they said the damage was not enough to provide a partial refund. After arguing about the fact that I should have received an undamaged product if I am paying full price and that I should at least be compensated for the difference between the cost of what they would sell the damaged return item for on Amazon Warehouse, they ultimately relented and reimbursed me about 20% of the purchase price. However, it took a couple of days of back and forth with them. Only the second time I have received a damaged box from a European Amazon. I received a partial refund of about 25% for the one first just by asking. For what that's worth....
     
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  22. Sordel

    Sordel Forum Resident

    Location:
    Switzerland
    I find that there's a flag that gets set in my mind if I know that an album in my collection has a flaw on it such as split case or broken teeth in the CD tray or a scratch on a boxed set. Even if it's a trivial problem and I haven't touched the album in such a long time that I've forgotten what's wrong with it I always have a little internal grimace when I revisit it. It's my own small private insanity.
     
  23. Black Elk

    Black Elk Music Lover

    Location:
    Bay Area, U.S.A.
    Very sorry to hear this. I would complain, and ask for a replacement, and insist that Amazon France pick up return shipping, as the only reason that you are returning is their incompetence. I had to make this point to Amazon Germany about a box that I received damaged, and had to return. I pointed out Amazon's policy of insisting that any return be well-packed to avoid the potential for damage in shipping. Oh, the irony!

    BTW, it cost me about $50 to return ship a 50 CD 'cube' boxset. I can only imagine what the cost of returning the Bach box will be. Of course, my replacement came in its custom Universal Music outer box, which my original copy (like yours) did not.

    Good luck, and I hope you get a satisfactory outcome.


    [Edit] - If you do not get a satisfactory response, you could start a claim with your credit-card company, but I fear that may lead to you being banned from Amazon. Does anyone else have experience with that?
     
    Runicen likes this.
  24. Andy Dursin

    Andy Dursin Forum Resident

    Location:
    Providence RI
    Based on my experiences as well as others, its likely you will have two choices:

    1. Take a percentage refund or

    2. They will refund you and eventually pay for your return shipping, but it will come out of your pocket initially.

    Terrible that they packaged it that way but alas its a crapshoot ordering these sets from Amazon fr/de. I received partial refunds on two boxes purchased over the summer, but this is tough to take because of the size of the set. I agree with you that conditon is massively important especially on a set like this. Its an investment and not getting it in new condition isnt what you invested in.

    When I returned a damaged Perahia set to Amazon.ca, it cost about $75 but they did refund me immediately, as soon as I emailed them the receipt.
     
  25. Mr. H

    Mr. H Forum Resident

    Funny that set actually sold for about that at some point in time.
     

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