I sort of feel this way, but I think I have also passed the point where I realize my library exceeds my remaining available listening time.
Thats the maledicion of any music lover and to make it worst (or better) the classical boxes are getting bigger and bigger as the time to listen to them runs shorter.
Same for me I've bought mega boxes for a dozen or so discs that I was interested in (if they were cheap enough) and am happy to ignore the rest. Excellent analogy with travelling btw. We travel the same way. Otherwise...
Considering Amazon's lack of care when it comes to packaging, you'd have to order 3 of the same box set with this promotion so that hopefully one of them will arrive in good condition.
Sorry to ask others to do my homework for me, but for those who know the Martha Argerich discography well: have any of the recordings in that new big LUGANO box been released before in a non-Lugano-dedicated EMI/Warner related set, e.g. the small 'Chamber Music' or 'Solos and Duos' boxes, etc etc? A lot of my stuff is in storage, and sometimes cross-referencing stuff makes me itch.
The complete Amadeus Quartet box is down to $106 and also has a 10% off coupon at Amazon. I picked one up. This is the lowest I've seen it.
I couldn't resist placing an order for another trio: Dvorak: The String Quartets. Prager Streichquartett Boccherini Edition L'Art de Maurice Gendron [Box] Prices were already low, minus 5€ for buying a gift certificate, minus 10€ for downloading and checking out using Amazon's cell phone app, it was a steal.
The watch word for me is, "don't let it become homework." I'm fortunate to work a job where I can have music at my desk for the duration of my shift and, early on in the gig, I made the mistake of deciding to "shotgun" entire discographies in sequence. Invariably, I couldn't help but notice that I started to dislike everything I heard by an artist by album four or five with no reprieve. On letting myself break things up, I found my reactions were more honest and nuanced. The same basic issue applies with these mega boxes. Yeah, there's a part of me that goes, "You just bought 50 discs. You should listen to them all." At the same time, what benefit is there if I end up hating what I hear because I turned it into work? So yeah, verify that the contents are sound, but look at it as a long-term library investment. Nobody would buy a 10 volume book set and expect to have it read in a month (though I'd envy the guy or gal who could pull THAT off...), why treat music any differently? So yeah, a little here, a little there... Mix up your genres and, above all, listen when you're excited to listen, not out of a sense of obligation.
In addition to the 3-for-2 sale at Amazon.de, Amazon.it now has a "3-for-20% off" on Warner boxes, which is less of a bonus but has the advantage that one does not have to find three boxes in the same price range to get the most out of it since it's 20% regardless of price. For suggestions, see Les bons plans de la musique classique (scroll down).
There is also a 10€ off if you spend 50€ promotion at amazon.fr although I am uncertain if it is a universal offer. If you go to your amazon.fr home page, you will see it promoted in the top right hand corner. The promotion code is: CADEAUX10 You may also be offered a 5€ reward if you buy a 60€ gift card.
Just to chime in on the Amazon.de sale of the past many days. This year it was more obvious than in previous years, but a day before the 3 for 2 sale started, they jacked up the prices on many of the more coveted or pricey sets to insane amounts. I kept an eye on the sale and several sets jumped in price from below 100 Euro (around 70-80) to close to 200 Euro (150-180 ... and more), effectively doubling in price. It's a method that - in the past - also many "real-world" music stores (Saturn, Media Markt) in Germany used to employ shortly before their "killer deals" week started. Many years ago, when these kinds of sales were still popular, I actually watched people exchange the price tags for products the evening before the sale started. I would recommend to be careful in the future. Very, very (!) few sets were actually a real bargain in this sale (IMHO), especially if you spent the past months watching prices develop. IMHO, again, Amazon.it is the only European Amazon site that has good sales without employing these kinds of tricks (yet) ... but only, if you keep a close eye on how prices have developed that year.
I have! A couple of years ago I was listening to Mozart's "Sinfonía concertante", with Perlman and Zukerman, in the purple "Mozart 111" box, there came a part that couldn't be played, I took the disc out of the player to see what was wrong and it happened to be defective, as it something wrong had gone on during manufacturing. Part of the silver covering of the disc was missing. It started to look like my world was ending, because I'd had the set for months (and anyway, returning that kind of set would be a nightmare) until I realized that I had the exact same performance and recording on another box set. From that day on, I haven't complained only once about recordings being repeated on multiple sets.
Ominously, evil Amazon has decided it won't ship items abroad such as this one. I hope this trend doesn't continue. It reminds us of the need though to always support alternatives to Amazon when possible.
I noticed the same, yet I have also found the opposite, that some boxes have been reduced in price. All of this means that it takes some effort to get the good deals (fortunately I enjoy the challenge). I thought I was through for this time, but almost by chance I noticed that the price had gone down dramatically on a particular box just since yesterday, and now I have made one additional 3-for 2 order, totalling €68, postage included: New price €37 (used to be €77) New price €28 (recent price €53 and before that €59) New price €28 (recent price €34 and before that €40)
What's the consensus on the 2nd Vivarte Collection box? If I grab this I just know that I'm gonna have to track down a copy of the 1st box (ouch!)
Very much a delayed reaction to these comments about the 25CD Grand Piano set from Sony. I have no idea how or why the set was put together or who it was aimed at, because it's one of the most bizarre collections out there. Is it for people new to classical music? Probably not considering it has such bizarre inclusions as Tchaikovsky's Sleeping Beauty for piano. Is it for those with big collections? Not really, due to the pianists included. The packaging is dull - not original album covers, no info, no booklet. But for the £20 I paid for it last week on Amazon, it fills some holes in my own collection - and I worked out that many of the original releases of this material are out of print on shiny discs, some aren't available anywhere else at all at the moment, and for the price of two of these discs used you can buy the whole set. But I have to admit it is a very weird choice of material and pianists.
Oddly, I tried to sell the first box about a year ago, and couldn't get rid of it for love nor money!
Since no one else seems to have the answer, I can fill in with my partial knowledge. I don't have the big Lugano box, but I do have the EMI/Warner 'Chamber Music' and 'Solos and Duos' boxes, and they have quite a few recordings from Lugano which I presume are part of the dedicated Lugano box, but I also suspect there is quite a bit in there that has not been included in these earlier general Argerich boxes. There have been a number of smaller Lugano collections (3-4 CDs each) dedicated to specific years, and I assume the bigger box is collecting these, except that these yearly boxes have recordings where Argerich is not playing, while I think I remember reading that the big Lugano box only include recordings where she participates. I can also add that the the more recent 20 CD "The Warner Classics Recordings" does not contain any Lugano stuff at all. Its live recordings are from elsewhere.
I use the `KEEPA` app which integrates into `Firefox` (not sure about other browsers?), Keepa - Amazon Price Tracker Essential for tracking prices over the year, and grabbing the `REAL` bargains. I have just ordered the `Pollini - complete recordings` box which was suggested above (Thanks), and according to `Keepa` it reached it`s highest price of £158.25 in April, and has then maintained a steady price of £118.22 through June to December, and has just dropped to an affordable £75.57!
I guess perhaps if these Vivart box-sets are not a consensus, they are as closer to a consensus than any other boxes here in this thread. Along with Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestre 47-CD deficated box, which presents a huge overlaping with Vol1 and 2 of Vivart boxes, a lot has been written here almost always very favorably. (There has been an amazing overlaping analysis posted by someone else, many pages above in this thread) For me, they are "must have" collections. Kindest regards DB
I have not read anywhere about this, but I suspect the legendary producer Mr Wolf Erichson had in his mind a very clear picture about what he expected/intended with regarding both interpretation style and sound quality, before starting this Vivarte project for Sony (he was already known for his previous work on "Das alte werk" and SEON at that time?), because Vivarte series has a consistent interpretative and sound quality throughout.
It's a very good collection especially if you are into HIP recordings and you like the Vivarte sound in general. After I bought the set, for a very good price I might add, I discovered that I already own 80% of it either as solo cds or as part of other box sets.
