I lost the rca Rudolf Serkin box when I could buy it for 99 euro from jpc. Now the price is ridicoulus. The Reiner's box was available not long ago at an acceptable price. It has been available for a long time unlike the Serkin box...
I bought it for 21,90 euro from dodax. It's a fantastic set. The remastering is incredibly good. I confess I couldn't believe my ears when I read that bruch's violin concerto played by milstein was recorded in 1942!
I just love the retro look of the deutsche Grammophon jackets of the 1950,s and 1960,s ! - have got several of the Wilhelm kempff recordings already but would have loved to have the original jackets - it,s an opportunity lost but saved me some money
The Andor Foldes Eloquence box arrived today. Nice little package. Good quality construction and sleeves. Made in Australia as was discussed. About 5 of the discs are under 60 minutes and the rest are over 70. Booklet all in English. 43 pages, first half disc contents and info, second half text. Overall, after listening to a few discs, I would definitely buy more Eloquence boxes.
After these ÑYPO and/or Columbia boxes of Barbirolli, Bernstein, Boulez, Mehta, a MITROPOULOS Columbia & RCA box is the only missing box in the NYPO chain.
To put Donny Brook's saga of the Fritz Reiner $700 box in perspective, I obtained it from Amazon Germany in early 2016 for about $82, delivery included. Still, free on YouTube is pretty good. Looking at this picture, I cannot help thinking that this library is the sign of a 17th Century collector with a bad case of OCD, not that any of us would know about that.
Not a mega box set, i know But I bought this Simon Rattle conducts the Sibelius Symphonies For 14€. I really dont need another sibelius cycle. I dont even have a blu Ray, but for this price I couldnt pass it. ???? About the ending result of this purshuase. A mistake of the seller perhaps, even if it is the box without blurays? It is supose to be the box with the blurays.
There's something that needs to be added to your well-argued post. That mega box on which you are undecided? Wait too long and it's OOP and only available on the second-hand market for exorbitant prices. I believe it also was Plato who said "you snooze, you lose."
So you are buying something you dont need and something you cant play.... It doesn't seem very smart...
Thanks for the compliment - it was much appreciated - but I still wouldn't even consider adding a statement to that effect. Thanks to the diligence of the members on this thread there is always a 3 to 6 month pre-release announcement made followed by the actual release which stays in print for at least three months before disappearing - even the Szell box (which was released in August of 2018 was still available in December). If you haven't purchased something even with a 9 month lead time it's pretty apparent that you neither want nor need it otherwise you would have made the purchase when it was actually available. The expressions of regret that I read about here have more to do with wanting something that one can't have - that's what makes it so attractive - what we want the most is that which we cannot have... People really should trust their instincts - if you really want it you'll get it - if you really don't you won't - until it goes out of print and suddenly you're consumed with that which I must have at all costs. I also think that if you need to ask someone if you should purchase something you've already answered your own question - the answer being if you have to ask the answer is "no"... I didn't purchase the Szell box - while commendable - it was just yet another collection of everything that I already have a dozen and a half times over - and even if they re-released it I still wouldn't bother. Right now there are three "New" versions listed at Amazon ranging from 1300 USD to 1600 USD - and they're going to sit there on the seller's shelves unsold for about 10 more years due to the scarcity of "complete idiots with more money than sense" until "George Szell - The Complete Columbia Album Collection with Holographic DVD" is released which, as I mentioned in a previous post, makes those Szell boxes completely irrelevant... I tried to buy the out-of-print Reiner RCA box not because I actually wanted to listen to it but because I had every other "with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra" collection - I forgot to add the Ozawa box to my previous post - and the "collector" in me came raging out full force - I have to "complete" everything - (Editor's note: this "completing everything" concept oddly enough did not always apply to school work but as we all know a foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of small minds). I remember the pre-release for the Reiner set and that it was indeed available right up to about early 2019. I usually have a list of "stupid $hi*t" that I seem intent on buying even though I neither need nor want it - the Reiner box moved onto the "stupid $hit" list when I dropped a "build your own high-powered rocket set" which I really wanted but was prevented from buying due to my wife's restraining order placed upon the toy shop owner - she reminded me about the time I nearly burned the house down to the ground after watching too many episodes of "The Great British Bake Off" and deciding (completely without merit) that "I could do that... and I could win... How hard can it be to bake?" - "Baking" is easy it's the "forgetting to turn the oven off" part where the train jumps the tracks... And in conclusion - if you really wanted it you would have purchased it when it was available and if you didn't purchase it then you really don't need it now that is's 10 times more expensive... Besides... you'll really be kicking yourself in the ass when that holographic Szell box comes out and you can't afford to buy it because you got suckered into dropping 1500 USD on a now obsolete and irrelevant CD only box...
It wasn't actually OCD - the 17th century collector never actually set out to be a "collector" - He belonged to the "Book of the Month" club. For those of you unfamiliar with the "Book of the Month" club it worked on the following basis - "Historically, when the club operated through mail-order catalogs, membership involved a "negative response" system whereby a member was shipped the monthly selection on a particular date if the selection was not declined before that date. Members had the option to respond by declining the selection or opting to order another book or merchandise instead. No response was deemed acceptance of the selection." Postal service in the 17th century was almost as unreliable as it it now and so if you didn't return the "Don't send" response through the mail in time the book would arrive at your doorstep. You had to send it back at your own expense and it meant a trip to the post office where you would ritualistically wait in line for 45 minutes until you actually reached the counter only to be told that you filled out the wrong form and needed to go back, fill out the correct form, and get back in line at the back... On a particularly bad day I once stupidly muttered under my breath - "oh, you've got to be f***ing kidding me" and I didn't receive a single piece of mail for like seven month because I didn't realize that my return address was on the package and that postal clerks are vindictive to an extent which would shame the devil himself... And so... while impressive - this entire library consists exclusively of "Book of the Month" selections in which the "collector" didn't return the "Don't send" response in time...
I've got the Berglund / Bournemouth, and I have the 5th Berglund / Helsinki wich I consider the best version I ever eard.
I completely agree with your whole reasoning and also with your previous post. I quoted that particular part of your post to add a third reason for not having bought a box set: not having enough money to do so. I speak from experience: when I was in college I did not have enough money to buy the box sets I wanted. By the time I managed to save the cash to buy one, it duly went OOP, and the cash was spent on something else (usually unexpected expenses). And the story kept repeating. So, as a result, I have an amazon wishlist (that I use as a reminder of what I'd like to buy when I can and want) full of OOP boxes. The only exception, for me, to the rule you stated would be if a boxset gets offered at a particularly low bargain price; then I'll probably get it if I can even if I don't want it (e.g. the Szeryng box at 13€ except that I do want that one). I can always sell it a couple of months later at a higher price. Speaking of which, I was looking the ASMF Boxset on Amazon Italy and found out that it is described as Guns 'N' Roses' 2CDs deluxe edition of "Appetite for Destruction".
I'm wondering if anyone has this box, and what you think of it if you do? Even with duplication I'm tempted at $30 or so:
Anyone has this ? I like Gardiner and I am pretty sure about the content ... I am unsure about the sound quality of this specific set ... Anyone? Please. Thank you "John Eliot Gardiner Collection" https://www.amazon.ca/John-Eliot-Gardiner-Collection-Set/dp/B00B1952R0/ref=asc_df_B00B1952R0
Documents - so the company that has released a lot of 10 CD budget historic boxes. There is one favourable review on Amazon and at the price I'm tempted even if it's a (possibly very) mixed bag.
