Big Box Sets

[Dave2002]

I think we live in times of plenty. How much longer can anyone make a profit out of selling good quality recordings at such absurdly cheap prices? Dunno, but I shall keep spending my dinner money on them for as long as they are on offer. Who needs food anyway, when you can have a Beethoven symphony, or indeed a symphony by someone you've never heard of, for 50p?

Yes, at least listening to music doesn't contribute to the Global Obesity crisis.

I think the Global Obesity Crisis you mention is rather localised - to parts of the USA. The UK also seems to be somewhat afflicted, though to a lesser extent. Africa and India and many other parts of the world do not have this, and CDs may be luxuries which only a small proportion of their people can afford.

[Stunsworth]

I think former England cricketer, Mike Brearley, was keen on Wagner.

I remember him saying that he used to hum Beethoven string quartets at the crease.

[richardfinegold]

I think the Global Obesity Crisis you mention is rather localised - to parts of the USA. The UK also seems to be somewhat afflicted, though to a lesser extent. Africa and India and many other parts of the world do not have this, and CDs may be luxuries which only a small proportion of their people can afford.

Most of the world has rising Obesity Rates, with parts of Europe approaching the US, and the middle classes of China and India starting to do their share. We are one Global Village, and the effects of High fructose Corn Syrup and French Fries don't stop at the Ocean's Edge. As far as affordabilty and food goes, here it is striking how much higher the Obesity Rates are in the Inner City poor. Financially strapped people tend to feel empowered if they can be a large quantity of cheap, high calorie density food.
I tend to feel empowered when I can buy a 50+ CD set for the price of a good dinner at a restaurant with my wife, who tells me to listen to the radio, grab the sport jacket and the car keys , because she has made a reservation.

[hafod]

hafod, £33 for 50 CDs?! At £165 I thought I'd got a bargain, but it looks like I was robbed! That is amazing value for such a set.
And you make an interesting comment: " ... I return to it regularly." So would I, if it was the only set I owned. But at these prices, there seems to be a limitless ocean of interesting new stuff to sample. I do occasionally return to something I've played before, but not often. Any day now the phone will ring and the CD shop will tell me the latest batch of CDs by composers I've never heard of has arrived and will I come in and collect my order?

You can still get this box new for approx £70 delivered from a seller on Am.fr, and Am.fr also has it as a download for €50 if you trust these things. I have previously noted that it is worth cutting and pasting the ASIN into the following website for a quick check of all Amazon sites.

https://pricenoia.com/

Yes I do return to this box regularly as there is so much new material (and the Toscanini big box because the transfers are so much better than any I previously had), but they are about the only two I do because of the backlog of new discs I have yet to play. I have a quantity of big boxes still sealed and numerous single cds to investigate. For this reason and the duplication problem I have cut back drastically on buying big boxes and focus far more on what might be called rare or unusual repertoire. The cpo label looms large here and I have around 70 cpo discs acquired over the last 18 months or so waiting to be played.

A major contribution to this total came a couple of months ago when I had a stroke of luck. A marketplace seller suddenly listed their cpo (and Naxos) stock for 99p and £1.72. I got onto this when nearly half the discs in my cpo wish list registered these prices. I jumped in and ordered these and about 30 others listed in the seller's store front - 60 discs in all. There was a good chance this was a computer error and the orders would be cancelled but an outside chance some might be honoured. Within the hour the computers of large sellers like Zoverstocks and Momox were undercutting some of these prices by the usual penny, so as back-up I ordered from them as well figuring that if both lots of orders were honoured I would have no difficulty selleing the duplicates and probably making a profit. Within 24 hours the original seller cancelled the orders blaming a computer error but the other sellers didn't (relying largely on computers for pricing they probably were not even aware). I therefore obtained some 30 cpo discs of unusual repertoire costing on average about £2.50 each. Around a year ago jpc had a sale of cpo discs for €2.99 each which netted another two dozen and the Vivace sale recently finished produced a further 10 at £3.50 each. The moral of all this is that the rare repertoire is now taking precedence over the big boxes of artist-led core repertoire although I did succumb to the Abbado symphony box despite horrendous duplication as it was the cheapest way to obtain the Berlin Mahler cycle and the Bruckner discs.

[umslopogaas]

Its the music and composers I dont know that most interest me these days, I'm getting old and there is so much I havent heard that I havent time for yet another recording of a Beethoven symphony, however good it is. And there's plenty I've never heard of on that 50 CD cypres set.

[Dave2002]

Most of the world has rising Obesity Rates, with parts of Europe approaching the US, and the middle classes of China and India starting to do their share. We are one Global Village, and the effects of High fructose Corn Syrup and French Fries don't stop at the Ocean's Edge. As far as affordabilty and food goes, here it is striking how much higher the Obesity Rates are in the Inner City poor. Financially strapped people tend to feel empowered if they can be a large quantity of cheap, high calorie density food.
I tend to feel empowered when I can buy a 50+ CD set for the price of a good dinner at a restaurant with my wife, who tells me to listen to the radio, grab the sport jacket and the car keys , because she has made a reservation.

I have seen a lot of slim people in India, China and Africa, and also Cuba in recent years. Some people may even have been hungry, though I haven't seen anybody who looked near starvation. A one dollar tip to some Africans is treated as something to be valued. It doesn't seem a lot, but apparently some people really are living on very small funds. However, as long as they do get sufficient to eat, some of those people do look very healthy, compared with those on western fattening diets.

[MickyD]

What luck you had, Hafod, with all those cheap CPO discs...it is a label I admire enormously on account of the rare repertoire it records but full price releases tend to dissuade me from exploring a lot of it. I will keep an eye on jpc website in the hope that they have another sale. Not only is it difficult to find time to listen to all these discs, but equally to find time to remember to look regularly at dealer websites!

[Stunsworth]

I bought this set for just under £33 just over 2 years ago and it is one of the best sets I have ever acquired irrespective of price. It includes a very catholic mix of repertoire from France and the low countries mainly previously unknown to me and I return to it regularly. Highly recommended.

That Leige set is available for streaming, or purchase, on Qobuz. I've highlighted it as a 'favourite' and I'll dip into it at the weekend.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

That Leige set is available for streaming, or purchase, on Qobuz. I've highlighted it as a 'favourite' and I'll dip into it at the weekend.

I bought this set in desperate attempt to acquire every possible recording of Eine Alpensinfonie. The performance of the that work was OK (though the wind machine sounded more like autumn leaves being swept with a large broom). But the rest of the set contains some staggering "new" music and some great performances.

[Jonathan]

What luck you had, Hafod, with all those cheap CPO discs...it is a label I admire enormously on account of the rare repertoire it records but full price releases tend to dissuade me from exploring a lot of it. I will keep an eye on jpc website in the hope that they have another sale. Not only is it difficult to find time to listen to all these discs, but equally to find time to remember to look regularly at dealer websites!

Hi MickyD,
If you have a look at the bottom of the JPC website, scroll right down to the bottom and there is a "Specials" section with assorted discs for reduced prices, including a section for E2.99 - see here: http://www.jpc.de/jpcng/home/browse/.../1227167_48503
There is also another section for CDs at E5.99...
Apologies if this damages your bank balance!

[richardfinegold]

I've listened to all the Paray discs in the Mercury box and am working my way through the Dorati. I found myself entranced by the two Respighi discs, not normally a composer that I find all that interesting, and replayed them several times. The Dvorak 7 was a bit of a dud, but the 8th was top rate

[Dave2002]

I bought this set in desperate attempt to acquire every possible recording of Eine Alpensinfonie. The performance of the that work was OK (though the wind machine sounded more like autumn leaves being swept with a large broom). But the rest of the set contains some staggering "new" music and some great performances.

You guys have just been instrumental in denuding me of another wodge of dosh. The Mercury 2 set will have to wait a while longer.

[MickyD]

Hi MickyD,
If you have a look at the bottom of the JPC website, scroll right down to the bottom and there is a "Specials" section with assorted discs for reduced prices, including a section for E2.99 - see here: http://www.jpc.de/jpcng/home/browse/.../1227167_48503
There is also another section for CDs at E5.99...
Apologies if this damages your bank balance!

Thanks a lot Jonathan, that's really kind - that "Specials" section has escaped my notice up to now and I will definitely take a look - I have no doubt I will be tempted, but fear not, I am well used to my bank balance being damaged by such offers!

[Ferretfancy]

Richard FG

I passed on vol 2 of the Mercury releases when they were ultra cheap recently, though the price hasn't gone unviversally atmospheric yet. There are still suppliers off the Amazon site which have it at a reasonable price.

I have enjoyed most of the CDs I've listened to from box 1, and also some of the RCA Living Stereo box, though sadly one of the better CDs musically in that box - Rubinstein in Saint Saens piano concerto 2 etc. - has a pretty rough recording. Listening to the Julian Bream CD from the set makes me seriously think about buying the new or about to be released Julian Bream collection.

I also passed on the Vivarte Baroque collection, and the Archiv box, though they may pull me in in the end. The prices for many of the CDs in the box sets are typically less than a cup of coffee these days, and the CDs must generally be better quality than downloads, and on the whole - though not always - cheaper.

Can you come back in a while and let us know how the Mercury 2 set works for you, please?

Dave2002

I have both the Mercury boxes, but I have also been collecting individual discs for some time, so that naturally has meant duplication.

It looks to me as if there might be room for a third box, since there are quite a few significant items in my collection that have not yet appeared.

I think the selections are very much slanted for the American audience, which is fair enough. I don't suppose that I will want to listen to The American Civil War, or Spirit of 76!

Here are a few omissions which do rather surprise me :--

RIMSKY-KORSAKOV Coq d'Or Suite and Russian Easter Festival Overture with Dorati and the LSO and also his performance of Scheherezade

BRAHMS The Four Symphonies, Dorati again.

BLOCH Concerti Grossi , Howard Hanson

CHAUSSON Symphony, Paray

SCHUBERT Symphonies5,6, 8, and 9 with Skrowacewski and Schmidt-isserstedt

TCHAIKOVSKY Symphonies 1 -3, probably the best of the Dorati set.

RICHARD STRAUSS Symphonic Poems, Dorati

WAGNER Orchestral items. There are two separate issues, conducted by Paray and Dorati respectively. The Paray is very fine

There are also a number of popular compilations, a particularly enjoyable one " Kaleidoscope " is conducted by Mackerras, and an enjoyable collection of Gershwin and Cole Porter conducted by Fennell, the only multi-miked Mercury recording.

It would be nice to see a supplementary box appear in the future. Some of the recordings sound close and too toppy, but at best they are spectacular. I particularly enjoy the performances by Paray, and Byron Janis's unrivalled Rachmaninov and Prokofiev, not to mention Janis Starker and Henryk Szeryng. The sound of Mercury is the sound of my earliest tinkering with the hi-fi in my poky little flat, so nostalgia does play a part !

[hafod]

The ultimate in big box sets at 242 cds or is there a larger one? (Incidentally, I love the £8890.59 plus £1.26 UK delivery!)

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Karajan-Complete-Recordings-Herbert-Von/dp/B00118YMAE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1372449162&sr=8-1&keywords=B00118YMAE

Stop Press. It is only €3895.37 new at Am.fr!