Classical Corner Classical Music Corner (thread #21)

All my MDT have been sent via airmail, but I haven't ordered from them in awhile. Have you emailed them?

 

Airmail is really the only kind of delivery service MDT provides to its US customers anyway. I did contact them after 2 weeks since it has never taken more than 2 weeks for any MDT orders to arrive, the same with Presto Classical. At this point, I am experiencing unusual delay from both etailers. I have to wait for a month after the MDT order was shipped to claim the loss ...

 

What did they say?

 

I exchanged emails with Michelle at MDT and she said they were aware through December deliveries were considerably delayed, though she gave no reasons for the delay. Given how ill-equipped the Brits are when it comes to snow handling, between the snow and the extended Christmas holidays, mails could experience a bit of delay before they even leave the UK. The USPS is not exactly a first-rate operation either. The last order from MDT I received before Christmas had been mistakenly delivered to my neighbor's mailbox.

 

I send a lot of post out for my work and we've had a lot of packages go missing over xmas. Not so much the snow just the huge volume of stuff (internet shopping is huge). I had one Amazon package yake four weeks, when another I ordered the day after took two days. So it's a lottery.

 

How is it compared to others that have been done?
Modern SACD does LOOK tempting but it's the performance and sound that counts!!

This is MY High recommendation for the 9th but it's older.

 

Tchaikovsky
Piano Concerto 2
Postnikova -Piano
Rohdestvensky - Conductor

Morning, all!

Listening to this recent purchase for the first time and enjoying it. The pianist is great! And the conductor is a favorite of mine too.

 

But it's still much more affordable than Richter in Prague.

 

No orders for me since the late December. The snow collapse caused two lost packets (one uber-cheap jazz CD was easily refunded by eBay seller, but there's more pricey hi-rez order from Grooves-Inc which is awaiting refund or replacement, since I have to send them a request with my hand-written signature). It could be much worse, though...

Maybe later this month or next... BUT NO MORE THAN A COUPLE CHEAP DISCS OFF EBAY. The Bernstein box, among a dozen others, still is full of unknown music.

 

For now, yes.

 

I continue to be surprised by how many folks buy from eBay. For some reason, I never think to check them out when looking for something. I buy used from amazon and currently have a 21 page, 502 item wishlist.

 

Playing a few second hand CDs for the first time ...

 

George, I would have been buying from Amazon sellers for years too - if the marketplace deals were available in my country. But they aren't, so the only thing I've bought directly from Amazon (Canada) was the Beatles Mono Box (last autumn). So, the eBay/PayPal combo is the most logical salvation for me and likes, although prices are better at Amazons.

Moreover, since January 1st European (our) customs changed their fee policy - now I must pay the local VAT (22%) for any parcel from outside the EU which costs more than 10 euro including the postal charges (it used to be 45/150 euro for private/commercial parcels). In some cases an additional postal fee (3,5%) may apply too. :thumbsdn:

It really pi$$es me off, multiplied infinitely by such "snow collapses" and inability to buy hi-rez content from HDTracks (their catalog has become much more sexy than in the very beginning and now includes some albums that simply don't exist in any hi-rez physical form, it's really cool and could have changed my whole buying paradigm if... you know).

Well, enough off-topic whining...

 

Ah, I see. Sorry to hear that.

 

Jim, The impression of my first listen was actually quite positive, though I did not play the SACD on my big rig via the universal player. I did not look at the recording date, but believe this recording was probably not from the 1970's. SFO is one of the top five orchestras in the US and IMO a more technically polished ensemble than the NYPO. Herbert Blomstedt did a great job with the orchestra when he was its conductor a few decades ago ...

 

I bet you can easily move the entire wish list to your basket and do that one-click checkout ...

 

I lost an OOP CD set just because an Amazon UK MarketPlace vendor did not ship outside of the UK. I guess MP vendors are not obligated to provide international shipments ...

 

All of the Pentatone 'Quadro' SACD reissues have original 70's 4.0 quad mixes. Ozawa Dvorak 9 dates from 1974, IIRC.

 

Now playing CD1 from this set, my first CD's from Newton Classics for a first listen ...

 

Looks like you are right, I did not even notice the RQR logo on the lower right of the CD cover. The sound is excellent IMO ...

 

They, like Brilliant Classics, are licensing and reissuing interesting stuff from the major labels. From their website:
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Newton Classics, a Dutch based record label, was founded in 2009.

Its vision is to return old friends to the classical music lover, and these friends are all fantastic recordings being sourced from the vaults of major record labels. Most of the recordings which are being issued by Newton Classics have not been on the market for quite a substantial length of time, often more than ten years.

The choice of recordings is purely driven by musical quality and value as well as proven track record popularity with a large group of classical music fans. Being a small organization, Newton Classics can afford to issue recordings in much smaller quantities and yet gives the collector the pleasure of a high quality physical product, packaged well and with the added value of new booklet notes and superior design.

The small team at Newton consists of people who are passionately involved in classical music. It is Newton Classics aim to build a catalogue of around 1500 titles and this will include brand new recordings starting in 2012/2013.
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Looks like they already have a ton of interesting stuff: http://www.newtonclassics.com/4/catalogue

 

Newton's price points are too rich, $12.99 for straight single-disc reissue.

 

Not IMO.
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Now listening to a BBC program that discusses, among other things, the new book about Sviatoslav Richter.

It can be heard here during the next 7 days: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00xmv0q

The Richter portion begins at 13:40

 

How is that one?
I have had it flagged in my watch for sometime and haven't made the decision to nab it.

 

I got a very good price on this 4-CD set by Szeryng and Haebler. This set was probably originally issued under the Philips label, though it is not clear if it was ever released on CD.

BTW, even at $12.99, it beats the hell out of paying $14.99 to get a CDR from ArkivMusic ...