Toscanini ICON box

[mikealdren]

Stanley,
I got an early set and it contained two copies of the same version of the Eroica, CD 1 was incorrect and they sent me a replacement. I suggest that you check your disk no 1.

There are some real treasures in this set, one of my best buys ever!

regards
Mike

[Stanley Stewart]

Many thanks for the alert, Mike. An instant check - and all is well! Absolutely agog as I watched the DVD, last night. Toscanini's mercurial temperament and devotion to his work throughout a long life so inspiring.

[Barbirollians]

I doubt I will ever listen to such large boxes . I find them intimidating the only one I bought was the Callas complete opera box on EMI and I am hardly anyway into that yet five years on !

The ICON box is manageable , cheap and contains quite glorious music making and so unbuttoned for Toscanini.

[Bryn]

Comparing the contents of my 'Complete RCA Collection' with the listings on the back of the ICON box shown on Amazon, I think you will find that there are just two discs in common - Beethoven 1,4 & 6 plus a few overtures (Mozart, Brahms Rossini) and Weber's Invitation to the Dance. The Presto listing confirms this right near the end - "Includes 2 CDs of newly released recordings, originally made for HMV with the BBC Symphony Orchestra".
http://www.prestoclassical.co.uk/adv...at=88697916312

If anyone was hoping these might be more recent transfers than those from 1983 in the EMI/Warner box, I think they will be disappointed. The copyright notice in the Sony/RCA set clearly states the holder as "EMI", so regardless of the antiquity of the original recordings, EMI's transfers have been opted for.

[mikealdren]

Bit of a mix Bryn, I'm sure that the RCA Italian Orchestral Music remastering from 2000 has been used and that's quite good.

Mike

[Ferretfancy]

The Icon box arrived a few days ago, and I've been enjoying it hugely. The only duplication I have on my shelves is the pairing of Beethoven Symphonies 1 & 4 on a Dutton transfer. I've compared these today, and somewhat to my surprise I find that the Icon sound is superior. There's a very odd quality at the beginning of the first on the Dutton transfer. He has somehow managed to emphasise the high woodwinds to create an effect rather like a flute concerto, and the quality is quite piercing throughout. The EMI, on the other hand, is warm and well balanced, even if you can hear more low level background noise, and the climaxes are still exciting but comfortable. The same variations are found in the transfer of the fourth symphony. After those comparisons I just sat down and listened to this great performance, given just a few weeks before I was born !

I've yet to hear other good things in this box, I doubt whether I will ever hear a more thrilling Semiramide, and look forward to the rest.

[Barbirollians]

The Silken Ladder is pretty sensational too .

[richardfinegold]

The Silken Ladder is pretty sensational too .

I've been listening to the Membran Toscanini collection that I purchased in Vienna last fall. This was a cheap collection, about 10 discs all featuring the NBC SO.
The transfers are pretty bad so extended listening becomes an uncmofortable experience. I have one of the rCA collections of the Beethoven Symphonies with NBC
and they are much better done. The Icon box has received rave reviews both for performance and sonics so I will probably be ading it shortly.

[Barbirollians]

I wonder how many others bought this box . I seem to have forgotten to listen to the two Brahms symphonies . The Second is magnificent.

[pastoralguy]

I'm ashamed to say I bought the huge RCA box which is still in its plastic wrapping after two years...

[Barbirollians]

I'm ashamed to say I bought the huge RCA box which is still in its plastic wrapping after two years...

That is the thing with those huge boxes . They are almost too intimidating .

Once a box gets beyond 20 CDs it is a no for me .

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Yes - I've bought so many cheap boxes in recent months that I haven't really listened to much Music lately; just still playing them through to check for faults. But I know that there's years of joyful listening to come on the discs - and intend to be around to enjoy them!


Incidentally - what does one do if one discovers a single faulty disc in a boxed set of 40? Send the whole set back and get a replacement (if in stock)? And then play through the whole box again to check them! Return the faulty disc on its own and hope the suppliers will just refund that? I ask because there's a damaged CD of Wagner arrangements for four-hand piano in the Sony/BMG/Eurodisc box. I don't think that I shall ever wish to play the whole thing again, so I'm tempted to ignore the problem - but what if I find that the gods get stuck crossing the rainbow bridge?!

[VodkaDilc]

The reason for not rebuilding it (in 1954) was that London already had enough large concert halls.

.

Really? What large concert halls did London have in the 50s, apart from the RFH and RAH (with unbearable echo at that time)?

[Barbirollians]

Really? What large concert halls did London have in the 50s, apart from the RFH and RAH (with unbearable echo at that time)?

I thought it was simply the arrival of the RFH which was seen as its direct replacement.

I see the site is apparently still owned by the Crown Estate and has a hotel on it - could always knock it down ….

[Gordon]

I thought it was simply the arrival of the RFH which was seen as its direct replacement.

I see the site is apparently still owned by the Crown Estate and has a hotel on it - could always knock it down ….

Too late to get the Luftwaffe back???

Book about QH: http://www.abebooks.co.uk/Queens-Hal...10176296980/bd

worth a read. Pity no equivalent book for Kingsway which was used as a concert hall from the start in 1912. During WW1 there were lots of concerts at KH some led by Beecham and others by Boult and by Albert Coates and the "British Symphony Orchestra" as well as the LSO. Recordings in there too in the main hall as well as the small one. One worth noting is Coates LSO and Beethoven 9th in both KH and QH.

If you go and walk around the site of the QH now there are odd signs of its presence in nooks here and there.