Oh, and one of the occupational hazards of mega-box buying. ^ ANOTHER Four Seasons. Just what every household needs
Forgot to mention it's the Standage version which I already have. I have a thread here somewhere in which I asked how many different Four Seasons people have. I'm up to 15 or so. This is (luckily) my first duplicate of it. One of only two duplicate pieces in the box for me - the other is the Milstein Tchaikovsky concerto; but that disc has some extras I don't have.
Ahh, I was considering this one , & the 111 series Conductors box, but went with the Bernstein Symphony one. For now.
This thread is really dangerous. I couldn't resist and just bought this box (the seller accepted a 'best offer' of $115 and shipping is free, though of course there is NYC tax). My wife is going to be very unhappy. I figure I can sell my Essential Toscanini box set for $30+ and save a little room on the shelf. Plus there's room in the box for the discs from my Music & Arts Toscanini 1939 Beethoven cycle box and EMI Toscanini BBC recordings box, which will save a bit more shelf space (I'm grasping at straws here). Incidentally, another copy of the RCA Complete box in excellent condition with a lid sold last month on ebay for $162 plus $25 shipping, so don't be fooled by the sky-high prices on Amazon. Now the big question. Does anyone have any bright ideas about how to fabricate a replacement lid for the box?
What I would do is put the discs on a shelf. They are labeled on the spine, so they can be easily identified.
I enjoy reading this thread. I’ve been tempted but so far only bought one set, the Leonard Bernstein set of his show tunes. Love it but it’s small in comparison to most of the ones listed. So I’m curious, do you folks rip these giant sets or just play the CDs?
I rip them as soon as I get them. It takes a few evenings to rip the biggest ones, but I love having easy, instant access to all the music.
I hope to make some of you happy with this post. Talking about the Menuhin Century Box, it's now at 79,49€ on Amazon Italy (it was 140,99€ yesterday). It's not a discount, seems a new, lower price. I don't know how much it'll last. The Menuhin Century (91 CDs)
This is why I kinda shy away from these DG boxes now. They are masters in repackaging. And then, against better knowledge, I let myself get carried away again.
I'd ask our friend north of you, maybe his wife can even swim down to NY and deliver it? I'm kinda behind ripping even my one-shot CDs jazz, electronica and pop CDs these days, not even looking at any classic mega boxes. Those I just listen to for now. Plus, I do like the haptic feeling of actually putting a CD in the player and going through a box in a linear way. I might start ripping them once I move to a bigger place where my desk is further away from my speakers.
Mine sit on a shelf and I play the CDs. I have less than zero desire to rip 3,000 or so CDs - sounds too much like hard work
I grew up listening to the Nigel Kennedy 1989 album, and when I first heard the Henryk Szeryng version I kept thinking, 'this doesn't sound right'
Haha. Did you come to appreciate the Szeryng? I think the violin piece of which I have the most recordings is Tchaikovsky's violin concerto. It was one of the seminal pieces of classical music that sparked my interest almost thirty years ago! Szeryng's box set alone provides several examples.
The DG 111 sets are very good. I have the Piano set and the collected box of the two label overview 111 boxes. And recently I picked up the 120 box.
I’m with you on that. Just play the CDs. They will outlive us anyway -so, as someone famous once said, “ What me worry?”
Appreciate the Szeryng: yes. Prefer it: not yet! I might also rate the Biondi above the Szeryng as well. I think that there's an amazing vitality to the Kennedy, but I fully appreciate that it's probably just that I'm very familiar with it! I've had a similar experience recently hearing the Abbado Mozart Requiem for the first time having lived with the von Karajan for decades - I'm new to having multiple versions of the same material. A question for our thread contributors - do most of you still prefer the version of a piece that you first got to know really well over versions you acquire later?
Yup, that thought had occurred to me! But I was thinking of something a little bit simpler, such as a modified cardboard shoebox cover.
Maybe half of the time I "imprint" on the first version I hear, which then becomes the standard by which others are judged. But other times I haven't "gotten" the music the first time around, and it's only listening to a different performance at a later date that I begin to understand what makes the music great. Not sure that's a helpful answer.
