EMI Icons series

[Ferretfancy]

I didn't buy the Solomon box, because I already have his performances in earlier releases, but I did buy the Gilels box. This has his Beethoven symphonies with Szell / Cleveland, plus 4 & 5 with Ludwig and the Philharmonia, and 1 &2 with Vandernoot and 3 with Cluytens. It's fascinating to compare these performances, and the sound is very good. I'm not too sure about the rather strange account of Rachmaninov 3, but the other concertos by Tchaikovsky and Saint Saens are well served.

The Icon set of Pierre Fournier includes the loveliest performance of Tchaikovsky's Rococo Variations that I know, but all the items in this box are superb. Both the Lucia Popp and Victoria de los Angeles collections are interesting, but seem a bit scrappy, and the los Angeles sounds rather peaky at times. I haven't been able to compare transfers, but I remember that her voice was not always captured very well by the engineers.
These boxes are such good value with many more hits than misses. Does anybody have the Nicolai Gedda?

[amateur51]

Gilels - tempting?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXU7I_Yyi2Y

Ah such control, flexibility, passion, romance, intelligence both artistic and pianistic - he's the business! Where's my plastic?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yu06WnXlPCY

I saw him play that several times as an encore in recital, once memorably after a pretty unco-ordinated Tchaikovsky piano concerto no 1 with Paavo Berglund. He strode out back on to the platform, sat down, gathered himself for a moment and then gave us this. Worth the price of admission alone, and how wonderful to have it 'preserved' on film

[Pianorak]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yu06WnXlPCY

I saw him play that several times as an encore in recital

Thanks for that, Amateur. Alas, I never heard him in a live performance.

[Bryn]

I have the Larrocha box, which has the 'new' EMI transfers which were done in Spain a few years ago, and until now could only be obtained directly from that country. Highly recommended!

What a delight that boxed set it! My one minor gripe is that whoever was responsible for compiling the distribution of the recordings over the 8 discs failed to recognise that the whole of Albéniz's Iberia would have fitted nicely on a single CD, rather than being split over two. Easily dealt with by ripping an burning, however.

[Dave2002]

Are the icons currently in one of hmv's offer periods? I bought quite a number maybe a year ago at v. good prices, though not many have been played yet.

[gurnemanz]

Are the icons currently in one of hmv's offer periods? I bought quite a number maybe a year ago at v. good prices, though not many have been played yet.

As I mentioned above, I got the Elisabeth Schumann for £8.99 from HMV in April. It now costs £14.99, still marginally cheaper than Amazon but well worth getting at either price. I have played the CDs with great enjoyment, not put off too much by her famous swoops, as some people are.

HMV's Icon pricing is not transparent. Elisabeth Schumann £14.99 for 6CDs. Herrmann Prey £15.99 for 10 CDs. Prey contains many gems, by the way, which I have never heard before - eg the Schumann Kerner Lieder - as well some items which are of less interest.

[Dave2002]

Ah. I'll wait until they're on offer again before buying more. I bought mine at prices similar to your low priced set. I'll dig out some of those I've already bought and review them in the next few weeks.

[Mandryka]

The Rudolf Kempe Icon box was in HMV Oxford Street for a tenner last month. I passed on it, as I have duplicates of the two Strauss discs (and EMI had failed to include the wonderful Rheingold excerpts which are still in need of a permanent CD home), but a real bargain for the Kempe virgin.