It's a bit annoying alright, but I'm still glad I bought the larger version. The original edition has, as you know, a hardcover book and nine substantial booklets with translations of all the vocal works. The new box has only one booklet similar to the Warner, Naxos and Brilliant sets. Regarding the actual CDs, the whole "Classic Performances" set has been removed and also Gardiner's complete symphony cycle.
My Bohm box arrived from Amazon US. It was inside a special foam container in a factory box. I am looking forward to start listening to some German opera!
If you will allow me a suggestion: start with Capriccio. It is a very unknown piece but with sublime music. The beginning is a beautiful sextet for strings. And this version is for me the reference.
Originally, mine was scheduled for mid August but surprisingly I got it much earlier. It’s a great set, very nicely done.
I want your opinion guys, what do you think is better: DG's complete Stravisnky ot Warner's not-so-complete edition?
I haven't head everything in either of the boxes, but I'd go for the DG over the Warner anyday. The performances may not be the best available in the DG, but I think they still out rank the Warner compilation. But of course, if I could only have one Stravinsky box, I'd buy the Sony in a heartbeat.
I believe they mean this one https://www.amazon.com/Igor-Stravinsky-Complete-Columbia-Collection/dp/B00TH53056/
I now have the answer to my question. The Oslo Years is supposedly on the way, but the much more desirable John Lennon box was just cancelled by Cultyfix. I suspect others who got too good a deal will experience the same.
I understand that Mariss Jansons is not as famous as some other names but I always liked his conducting and this is a very enjoyable and interesting set.
I am very happy to get the set, and the price was certainly right. I have some of Jansons' later recordings with the Concertgebouw, and they are excellent. His most famous recordings with the Oslo Philharmonic, however, are his Tchaikovsky symphonies, but that is not part of this box since they were recorded by Chandos. I may have to get them too.
The recordings Jansons made with the Concertgebouw when he was their principal conductor (2004-2015) were not as highly regarded here (in the Netherlands) as many of the ones made by his predecessors Haitink (1963-1988) and Chailly (1988-2004). They seem to lack a certain "drive" (for want of a better description) in comparison. He was a good conductor nevertheless. Talking about the Concertgebouw's principal conductor, there still isn't one... They've been without one since Gatti was fired in 2018.
The recordings I have by him are Mahler 1 and 5, some Richard Strauss and the three early Stravinsky ballets. While they may not be the very top of the pile I like them a lot. A contributing factor might be the great surround recordings done by RCO Live that seem to bring out the best of the Concertgebouw (I have to admit never having been there in person, however, so I cannot vouch for their fidelity). The one recording of Jansons that really grabbed me was the companion piece to his recording of Petroushka, Rachmaninoff's Symphonic Dances. Before listening to it, they had not seemed that special but Jansons' version made me sit up.
Like colleagues here, I've always been a bit underwhelmed by Jansons - having heard him in Amsterdam and elsewhere, and on a few recordings. He was clearly held in great esteem by orchestras - no-one could otherwise helm simultaneously two of the world's best (Concertgebouw & Bavarian Radio Symphony) but I never found his performances that memorable. Anyone considering a box set by him might try listening to some of his recordings online before taking the plunge.
Forgot to mention Eduard van Beinum, who was the Concertgebouw's principal conductor from 1945 until his untimely death in 1959, and whose recordings are also highly regarded here.
It turns out the discussion about the value of the Jansons box has, for me at least, become moot. Cultyfix has just let me know that despite the fact that I got a mail several days ago saying it had been shipped the order has in fact been cancelled (just like the John Lennon box). Now I only have to wait and see if my money is reimbursed! If I hadn't made some amazing deals in the past I would say that if its sounds too good to be true it probably is. Anyway, no more Cultyfix for me, however tempting . . .