Looks like UMG is putting out a 50-CD 'L'Oiseau-Lyre Edition' in May. Couldn't find any other details other than the item entry at Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/LOiseau-Lyr...&qid=1395452819&sr=1-1&keywords=l'oiseau+lyre
I've seen from various sources that this box does not actually contain all of the Decca/Philips/DG solo recordings. Unfortunately, I can't seem to find a listing of what is omitted. Any Richter fans know what the missing recordings might be?
Your best bet may be to compare against the 11 2-CD volumes of the Master series of recent vintage. I'm by no means a Richter expert, but I note that several of the Shostakovich recordings aren't there.
Browsing Amazon UK, I found these new mega box sets: The Leonard Bernstein Collection - Volume One 59 CDs + 1 DVD Link: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00HRJVNVW Karl Bohm: Symphonies 22 CDs Link: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00BK40R1M Soltissomo2 ~ Sir Georg Solti 53 CD + 5 DVD Link: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B008AP83KQ This appears to be a Korean box set Art of Sir Georg Solti 25 CDs Link: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00AYABIV6 Ernest Ansermet: French Music ~ Orchestre De La Suisse Romande 32 CDs Link: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00DT2322E Sir Colin Davis: The Complete RCA Legacy 51 CDs Link: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00GWE4NQU Giulini - The Complete Sony Recordings 22 CDs Link: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00HEYF4BA Bernard Haitink The Symphony Edition ~ Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra 36 CDs Link: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00GMVBL7W Neville Marriner - The Argo Years 28 CDs Link: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00IERAFUQ Art of Daniel Barenboim 16 CDs Link: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00I30SGDW Great Symphonies: The Zurich Years 1995-2014 [Limited Deluxe] 50 CDs Link: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00I0IL3FA
This is a very expensive, frustrating, and joyous topic. In the early decades of CD I became a L'Oiseau-Lyre fan and bought many of their CDs. The benefit of this is that I didn't buy many Vivarte, and thus my first expense from this topic is my ordering the Vivarte Collection from Amazon UK (where it has been sitting as 'Pending for Dispatch' for several days now). The frustration is of course expecting to see many of the CDs I bought at full price in the L'Oiseau-Lyre Edition now available for so little. And then the post on the Prestoclassical sale has resulted in my ordering 3 boxes (total of 36 CDs). Hopefully the joy will be listening to some of my purchases.
Thanks! Gotta check the contents, but I bet there will be some overlapping with the recent Archiv "All Baroque Box". And the Vivaldi works performed By AAM/Hogwood, already in Universal's "Vivaldi Masterworks" box will be there too. Since Universal now owns the Decca, DG, Archiv, L'Oiseau-Lyre and Philips Classical catalogues I noticed their approach is not one of the "purest" ones, eg the "Decca Sound" box features performances originally released by Archiv and the Decca "Vivaldi Masterworks" has many L'Oiseau-Lyre titles, exactly like the Archiv "All baroque box"! And of course the 2013 "Archiv production" box features performances already re-released some months before and already included in the "All baroque box" by... Archiv! Ok, these boxes will bring you many albums for approximately 1/2€ each but it would be nice to see this "overlapping" trend come to an end. What they should have done, imho: The Decca box including Decca stuff only, The Archiv box including Archiv stuff only and so on. Universal is turning a nice idea (the classical megabox sets) into a confusing mess for the collectors, regurgitating some titles in different boxes, apparently just to fill'em and selling the same stuff more than once. ...rant over!
But you got to soak them in and enjoy them for years.. Whereas newbies won't quite have that rich experience, most likely. So, that makes it worth the full price paid, IMO.
That's very true for me for some of my collection, like the massive Bach 2000 (Teldec) box and for the Stravinsky box - where each CD has been listened to at least 6 times. But on the other hand I've still got some L'Oiseau-Lyre discs I bought in 1994 that have never been played. PS Why would I be buying new box sets when I have so much I've not yet listened to even once? Friends and partners have raised that question with me. I hope that this forum has a few people who understand. Of course the answer is a bit like the sound of one hand clapping - those who know know, but it is impossible to explain the answer to anyone who just doesn't understand
I want to be able to discover something new in my CD collection on any given day. It is called luxury.
Questions for Sony Vivarte fans/collectors: What are some of your favorite Vivarte releases that are NOT in the 60cd box set? Also, are there enough other releases on the label to fill up a second box set?
I've just received my order from presto - Haydn - Masses - Harnoncourt (6cd) Mozart - Complete Sacred Music - Harnoncourt (13cd), and Messiaen Edition (18cd). My Vivarte Collection arrived from Amazon UK with one corner just slightly squashed. This is because Amazon put the CDs against the side of the box and just use some paper to stop it rattling. Presto had the cd all wrapped in bubble wrap, with air bags holding the cds in the centre of the box. So very good packaging from presto. And for boxsets, presto's postage to Australia was very reasonable, and as it was sent Royal Mail it only took about a week (same as Amazon). So a big thankyou for the heads up to presto. Now I have rather a lot of new stuff to listen too .....
DG will release a Ferenc Fricsay box with 45 CDs in Germany on July 11, Complete Recordings on Deutsche Grammophon, Vol.1: Orchestral Works http://www.jpc.de/jpcng/classic/det...n-vol-1-orchestral-works/hnum/5121748?lang=en
Just checked the box and the Scriabin/Prokofiev/Shostakovich volume of the Philips The Authorised Recordings 2CD-set. The box has Op.87 Nos.4, 12, 14, 15, 17, 19, 20 and 23 (a total of 8), while The Authorised Recordings has Op.87 Nos.4, 12, 14, 15, 17 and 23 (a total of 6).
I just heard a wonderful BBC R4 tribute to Neville Marriner on his 90th birthday today I have ordered his Argo Years box set Anybody else listened to this opus yet?
Lovely, talented, unasuming, pragmatic chap, he tested new players by taking them 'on the road' to see if they had annoying habits.. Excellent recordings
Thanks for this wonderful thread, full of discoveries. With so many labels bringing big boxes, I can only dream of a holy grail: a 50 CD ECM label box for a similar price as the ones discussed here Or one jazzy ECM box and one New Series ECM box. That would be heaven ! Question: do the people here routinely play the CDs or do you rip them into the computer/server and store the boxes away? I do the latter. As an aside there are a few incredibly affordable digital distribution-only virtual collections by X5 Classical - who licensed from a lot of labels. For example for just a few dollars I bought "Best - Sofia Gubaidulina" on iTunes (also available on Amazon) which has 50 tracks, almost 6 hours in total. A very good way to discover her unique music. But indeed it is not lossless quality. X5 also has a "the 99 darkest pieces of classical music" starter collection (11 hours in total) for only a few dollars on Amazon (strangely, on itunes this collection is limited to 50 tracks). For more traditional physical sets, I recommend the new 4CD collection of Max Richter on DG, collecting his 4 records on the label before "Recomposed By".
I don't play digital files, so I liseten to the cd. This last year I have been caregiving my parents, and I take box sets over to their place and play the cds sequentially. Great way to spend time with my Dad, great classical fan that he is. We just finished the Heifetz box. Next the Horowitz.
