I just took the plunge and ordered the Erato, Teldec and Das Alte Werk 50 CD boxes from Amazon.co.uk. I hope they don't get destroyed by poor packaging on their way across the pond. There continues to be, to quote a poster above, an 'embarassment of riches' released. Some other recent and upcoming boxes: The Gardiner Bach Cantata Pilgrimage Box Set Decca Sound - The Analogue Years Opera Baroque [Harmonia Mundi] Berliner Phil Centenary Edition Masterworks Heritage Collection Britten Complete Works Verdi at the Met / Wagner at the Met Karajan 70s BBC Legends [ICA] Julian Bream (in a box similar to the Gould Bach box from last year) The Heifetz-Piatagorsky Concerts Verdi Complete Works My wallet cannot handle it.......
So far, through 9 months, the top boxes of the year for me are: Bruno Walter: The Edition (Sony) Stravinsky: Le Sacre du printemps - 100th Anniversary Collector's Edition (Decca) Verdi: The Complete Works (Decca) I'm not a big Karajan fan, but even I couldn't resist Karajan 1970's: The Complete Deutsche Grammophon box, so that one gets an honorable mention. I imagine the new Horowitz Carnegie Hall box will be occupying a fourth slot before too long. I have always been a fan. And the best mega-box reissue is Wagner: The Great Operas from the Bayreuth Festival on 33CD's (Decca), originally issued in summer 2008 and OOP by early 2009. It quietly reappeared this summer in the exact same packaging, probably right down to the same catalog number. In other words, it is a clone. If you're not sure which Wagner 'Complete' box to get, the choice is easy: skip DG's new box and buy the old Decca one instead. The performances are, on the whole, more vital, with superior singers in most roles. It is priceless, yet inexpensive, selling for $54 new on Amazon, and will be OOP again soon. Last, there are two boxes I really want to hear. One is Pristine Classical's Furtwängler La Scala Ring 1950, which was issued to much acclaim a few months ago. It's simply too expensive for me right now, and I'm already hoarding enough Wagner as it is (if there's one composer I'm going to hoard it will be him) The second is Britten: The Complete Works on Decca. As with Verdi, plenty to discover there, and Decca was the composer's label so right from the horse's mouth.
Hi - I am new here, but it seems like I have come to the right place. The very compulsive classical music purchasing/listening association for MEGA budget boxes? A budget box just one click away... right? So I tend to accumulate these sets too, but I am starting to worry about finding the time to actually listen to them all. And the shelf space.... However, it is an enriching journey!!!! Has anybody acquired the Berliner Philharmoniker Centenary Edition yet? (Or have any thoughts about it?) http://www.deutschegrammophon.com/en/cat/single?PRODUCT_NR=4791049 It seems like a nice voyage through the century with the BP. Some very enticing historical recordings like Nikisch's recording of Beethoven's 5th. It looks like a fair amount of Furtwangler and Karajan recordings in the set (surprise! surprise!), but there are some other interesting issues as well (Fricsay, Markevich, Bohm, Abbado, Giulini and others). A bunch of opera compilations (rather than the whole operas) which is a missed opportunity. Has anybody purchased/enjoyed/listened to this set yet? I am all ears......
Hi Dajokr! How did your auditory adventure work out with those three boxes? I cannot find much information about them out there in terms of review. They just seem rather expensive compared to other similar sets. How do you like them (if you found the time to listen among the towering piles of mega boxes surrounding you..)?
They actually have not arrived yet, but I expect them within the week. I grabbed them when the Amazon UK price dropped to around 80gbp (they seem to be back up over 100). After subtracting VAT, they were about equivalent to others I've bought recently. I have not seen much about them other than the disc/track listing. I am most looking forward to the Erato set, as it seems to have the most in the way of new (to my collection) works and artists. There will be some overlap with the other two, but I had a sense that these may not see as wide a release as some others and may become hard to find, so I swooped on them. I will post some initial impressions when they arrive. I will try and use the next week to make a dent in the Horowitz at Carnegie Hall set which just arrived a few days ago. I do not have the Berliner set you discussed above, though it looks like a winner to me. Unfortunately I am having to triage purchases with all of the outstanding releases this fall. Also, check out this box set of Gardiner's Bach Cantatas, which will be a limited release of 3000. I have been holding out on buying the individual discs in the hope they would bundle them like this. Another hit to the wallet.
Yes, I know what you mean with triage. I am working myself through the Carnegie Hall box as well, and it turns out that I fell for Harnoncourt's version of the Bach Cantatas. I am very much enjoying them, but your suggestion of Gardiner's set is enticing. Help!!! Hmm, can one ever (ever ever) have too many Bach discs? Besides, the cantatas is a mesmerizing maze to wander through. Do you think it will go OOP quickly? At least the price in the UK is competitive (US price is $300plus tax)!!! By the way, I saw the Erato etc boxes, but thought that 80gbp was a bit steep. Go figure that they went up again this last week. I guess I held off since they seemed like an unknown entity. It is hard to imagine that there is just a minor overlap with your collection if you own all the boxes you listed earlier in this thread!! Please report back with the Erato experience!!
Any knowledge about the EMI Eminence Collection? http://www.amazon.co.uk/EMI-Eminence-Collection-Various-Artists/dp/B00APPSH9G/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1380778157&sr=8-1&keywords=emi eminence Content: http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/61L8CTJVYcL.jpg It seems like a peculiar blend of music with an emphasis on British composers (Vaughan Williams/Elgar) as well as UK ensembles/artists. Has anybody had any good listening experience with the set? Gardiner's Cantatas definitely seem more enticing, but I think I have a crush for the underdog with these midline EMI Eminence recordings. Would love to hear any impressions!!!
Definitely! I know many people that have been collecting the individual discs (hmm, charming photos on the covers), but that must have added up to 1,000 GBP??? I wonder what my wife will say when she discovers another set of the Bach Cantatas......
I just took the plunge with the recently released BBC Legends. I couldn't resist...... so many great recordings in that set [listing]!!!
All the recording and post-production was done by Polyhymnia in The Netherlands. They equipped a special truck (B&W monitors, etc.), and had several teams hop from location to location, since each Cantata was recorded in a different church. Some links to get you started: http://www.polyhymnia.nl/news/BachCantata.htm http://audaud.com/2009/03/polyhymnia-tenth-anniversary/ (scroll towards the bottom) http://www.monteverdi.co.uk/about/past-projects/bach-cantata-pilgrimage
I ordered from Amazon UK when it first showed up in the listings. I just checked my order and it is for about 60 gbp shipped, so just under $100. I would probably not buy it at today's price of nearly 100 gbp. I usually preorder from Amazon UK when a new box shows up and then monitor until just before release day. If the price hadn't come down to something reasonable, I cancel the order. I've gotten quite a few bargains on these sets by doing it that way.
Smart to do a pre-order (as one can always change one's mind). You got that for a great price. Hopefully there will be a price drop. The Decca set is available for about 100 euros at Amazon.de. Hmmmm.... works out to about $125 to the US after tax deduction and shipping. Still beats the price in the US (insane). How is the Decca set? Any first impressions? This is a historical journey as well, right? (as in the Berliner Phil set)
Just a listing of the contents for your perusal.... Decca Sound - The Analogue Years - 54 cds from JPC "1.CD Saint-Saens: Klavierkonzert Nr. 1; Symphonische Dichtungen (Pascal Roge, Philharmonia Orchestra, Charles Dutoit / 1980) 2.CD Bruckner: Symphonie Nr. 6 (Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Georg Solti / 1979) 3.CD Schostakowitsch: Symphonie Nr. 4 (London Philharmonic Orchestra, Bernard Haitink / 1979) 4.CD Debussy: Children's Corner; Preludes Heft 1 (Pascal Roge / 1978) 5.CD Sibelius: Pelleas & Melisande op. 46; Der Sturm op. 109 (Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Horst Stein / 1979) 6.CD Prokofieff: Symphonie Nr. 2; Die Liebe zu den drei Orangen-Suite (London Philharmonic Orchestra, Walter Weller / 1978) 7.CD Bartok: Orchestersuiten Nr. 1 & 2; 2 Bilder op. 20; Enescu: Rumänische Rhapsodie Nr. 1 (Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Antal Dorati / 1978) 8.CD Prokofieff: Symphonie Nr. 5; Rimsky-Korssakoff: Russische Ostern-Ouvertüre; Capriccio espagnol (Concertgebouw Orchestra, Lorin Maazel/ 1977) 9.CD Violinsonaten von Debussy & Franck; Ravvel: Introduktion & Allegro (Kyung-Wha Chung, Radu Lupu, Melos Ensemble / 1977) 10.CD Tschaikowsky: Manfred-Symphonie; Valse-scherzo (Philharmonia Orchestra, Vladimir Ashkenazy / 1977) 11.CD Gershwin: Ein Amerikaner in Paris; Copland: Appalachian Spring; Lincoln Portrait; Kraft: Contextures (Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, Zubin Mehta / 1976) 12.CD Wolf-Ferrari: Il Segreto di Susanna (Maria Chiara, Bernd Weikl, Covent Garden Orchestra, Lamberto Gardelli / 1976) 13.CD Alicia de Larrocha - Werke für Klavier & Orchester von Montsalvatge, Surinach, Falla, Faure (Alicia de Larrocha, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos / 1976) 14.CD Schostakowtisch: Streichquartette Nr. 8, 9,15 (Fitzwilliam Quartet / 1975) 15.CD Schubert: Rosamunde; Ouvertüren von Schumann & Weber (Wiener Philharmoniker, Karl Münchinger / 1974) 16.CD Strawinsky: Le Sacre du Printemps; Ravel: Bolero; Schönberg: Variationen für Orchester (Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Georg Solti / 1974) 17.CD Grieg: Klavierkonzert op. 16; Schumann: Klavierkonzert op. 54 (Radu Lupu, London Symphony Orchestra, Andre Previn / 1973) 18.CD Haydn: Symphonien Nr. 94, 100, 104 (Philharmonia Hungarica, Antal Dorati / 1972) 19./20.CD Schumann: Szenen aus Goethes Faust; Mozart: Symphonie Nr. 40 (English Chamber Orchestra, Benjamin Britten / 1972) 21.CD Walton: Violinkonzert; Strawinsky: Violinkonzert (Kyung-Wha Chung, London Symphony Orchestra, Andre Prein / 1972) 22.CD Chopin: Etüden (Vladimir Ashkenazy, Klavier / 1972) 23. CD Offenbach: Le Papillon; Massenet: Le Cid (London Symphony Orchestra, Richard Bonynge / 1972) 24. CD Holst: The Planets; Saint-Saens: Symphonie Nr. 3 "Orgelsymponie" (Los Angeles PO, Zubin Mehta / 1971) 25. CD Scriabin: Klavierkonzert; Prometheus für Klavier & Orchester; Poeme de l'extase (Vladimir Ashkenazy, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Zubin Mehta / 1971) 26. CD Dvorak: Der Wassermann; Mein Heim; Die Mittagshexe; Die Hussiten; Das goldene Spinnrad (London Symphony Orchestra, Istvan Kertesz) 27. CD Bloch: Schelomo; Voice in the Wilderness; Rimsky-Korssakoff: Capriccio espagnol (Janos Starker, Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Zubin Mehta / 1969) 28. CD Mendelssohn: Sextett op. 110; Borodin: Quintett c-moll; Berwald: Septett (Wiener Oktett / 1968) 29. CD Mendelssohn: Symphonien Nr. 3 & 4 (London Symphony Orchestra, Claudio Abbado / 1968) 30. CD Verdi: Requiem (Joan Sutherland, Luciano Pavarotti, Wiener Philharmoniker, Georg Solti / 1967) 31. CD Mahler: Symphonie Nr. 2 (London Symphony Orchestra, Georg Solti / 1966) 32. CD Beethoven: Symphonie Nr. 9 (Joan Sutherland, Wiener Philharmoniker, Hans Schmidt-Isserstedt / 1965) 33. CD Britten: Symphonie für Cello & Orchester; Haydn: Cellokonzert (Mstislav Rostropovich, English Chamber Orchestra, Benjamin Britten / 1964) 34. CD Kodaly: Hary Janos; Tänze aus Galanta; Der Pfau; Der Pfau-Variationen (London Symphony Orchestra, Istvan Kertesz / 1964) 35. CD Sibelius: Symphonien Nr. 1 & 4; Karelia-Suite (Wiener Philharmoniker, Lorin Maazel / 1963) 36. CD Mozart: Serenaden KV 361 & 388 (London Wind Soloists / 1962) 37. CD Bruch: Violinkonzert; Hindemith: Violinkonzert (David Oistrach, London Symphony Orchestra, Paul Hindemith, Jascha Horenstein) 38. CD Brahms: Klavierkonzert Nr. 1; Mozart: Klavierkonzert Nr. 27 (Clifford Curzon, London Symphony Orchestra, George Szell / 1962) 39. CD Herold: La File mal gardee; Gounod: Ballettmusik aus Faust (Covent Garden Orchestra, John Lanchberry / 1962) 40. CD Martinu: Etüde für Streicher; Konzert für Pauken & Bläser; Honegger: Symphonie Nr. 2 (Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Ernest Ansermet / 1961) 41./42. CD Verdi: Otello (Renata Tebaldi, Mario del Monaco, Wiener Philharmoniker, Herbert von Karajan / 1961) 43.CD J. Strauss II: Geschichten aus 1001 Nacht; Geschichten aus dem Wienerwald; Dorfschwalben aus Österreich; Frühlingsstimmen (Hilde Gueden, Wiener Philharmoniker, Willy Boskovsky, Joseph Krips / 1961) 44.CD Tschaikowsky: Schwanensee (Ausz.); Lecoq: Mamzelle Angot (Concertgebouw Orchestra, Anatole Fistoulari / 1961) 45.CD Rossini: Ouvertüren; Mendelssohn: Violinkonzert op. 64 (Ruggiero Ricci, London Symphony Orchestra, Rumon Gamba / 1960) 46./47.CD Puccini: La Boheme (Renata Tebaldi, Carlo Bergonzi, Accademia di Santa Cecilia Orchestra, Tullio Serafin / 1959) 47.CD Sibelius: Symphonie Nr. 2; Dvorak: Symphonie Nr. 7 (London Symphony Orchestra, Pierre Monteux / 1958) 48.CD Schubert: Symphonien Nr. 8 & 9 (London Symphony Orchestra, Joseph Krips / 1958) 49.CD Tschaikowsky: 1812-Ouvertüre; Capriccio italien; Slawischer Marsch; Rachmaninoff: Klavierkonzert Nr. 2 (Julius Katchen, London Symphony Orchestra, Kenneth Alwyn, Georg Solti / 1958) 51.CD Grieg: Peer Gynt; Klavierkonzert op. 16 (Clifford Curzon, London Symphony Orchestra, Oivin Fjelstad / 1958) 52.CD Ravel: L'Enfant et les sortileges;Ma mere l'oye-Suite (Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Ernest Ansermet / 1954) 53.CD "Decca's first stereo recordings" - Rimsky-Korssakoff: Antar; Glasunow: Stenka Rasin; Werke von Balakireff & Liadov (Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Ernest Ansermet / 1947) 54.CD Mono-Version der CD 53 "
Pace Andy Warhol, in the future, it seems an ever-increasing amount of classical music will be available in an ever-shrinking number of box sets. I picked up a Nibelungen Hoard of box sets from the bn.com sale this week (which seems now to have ended, alas), including the Ashkenazy 50 and Leon Fleisher's complete albums. I think the one truly outstanding set of this year so far though is the Sony set "Horowitz Live at Carnegie Hall."
Well, the first of 3 (Teldec) arrived with split seams due to p1sspoor packaging by Amazon UK. I sent a rather disappointed email to them and requested a return. The website says they will only reimburse me about 8 gbp for something that will cost me a minimum of $40 to return, so I also told them I was not paying anything out of pocket and they need to do better. This used to happen a lot. I think the record companies were losing money, because more recent box sets have been sturdier. Still, proper packaging would save a lot of trouble.
Sorry! That must be very frustrating (especially considering the cost involved)! My experience is that they can be sloppy with packaging so I always order megaboxes separately rather than combined (there is such a little difference in shipping cost for a big mega box). Some months ago a large shipment had not arrived (it had been three weeks) and to my amazement they offered a complete refund. I said that I would wait another week and behold - it showed up the next day. Anyways, I think their customer service is excellent, but they guys in shipping seemingly do not know how to pack heavy stuff. Any treasures in your newly arrived sets?
Price Drop! The Davies Haydn set (complete symphonies - 37cds) is currently going for a measly $28 at Amazon.com in case anybody has extra room on their Haydn shelf.....
All three arrived separately. The Das Alte Werk box was also damaged, so it is getting sent back. This is such a pain ... I have to go pay out of pocket for the international shipping, then submit the receipt to get reimbursed, then wait an additional 3 weeks for replacement sets that will also probably be poorly packaged. Miraculously, the Erato box arrived unscathed. However, I have been informed by the management (aka, the wife) that it will be put away and wrapped so I can open it this Christmas. I thought this was fair enough as I am 10 or so box sets behind on my listening.
