Christmas is coming...

[DublinJimbo]

1. Michael Gielen's complete Mahler set please (with no. 10 as a bonus if you don't mind).

2. The Blu-Ray set of Robert Lepage's Met production of The Ring cycle.

3. All 55 volumes of Masaaki Suzuki's magisterial traversal of the Bach cantatas with the Bach Collegium Japan (yes, including the yet-to-be-released final volume).

[Ferretfancy]

1. Michael Gielen's complete Mahler set please (with no. 10 as a bonus if you don't mind).

2. The Blu-Ray set of Robert Lepage's Met production of The Ring cycle.

3. All 55 volumes of Masaaki Suzuki's magisterial traversal of the Bach cantatas with the Bach Collegium Japan (yes, including the yet-to-be-released final volume).

I've been collecting the Suzuki Bach disc by disc. The final volume is reviewed in the BBC MM. Now that all 55 have now been released, no doubt the whole lot will appear in a bargain bumper box!

I've had a great deal of pleasure from this series, particularly the contributions of Peter Kooij and Robin Blaze, my only reservation is the over reverberant acoustic of the Kobe chapel. I have also found that the hybrid SACD CDs which appeared later in the series are a little less comfortable to listen to. I cannot play SACD on my system and wonder whether listening to the standard stereo layer is less satisfactory than if the issue was in stereo only.

[Dave2002]

I've been collecting the Suzuki Bach disc by disc. The final volume is reviewed in the BBC MM. Now that all 55 have now been released, no doubt the whole lot will appear in a bargain bumper box!

I've had a great deal of pleasure from this series, particularly the contributions of Peter Kooij and Robin Blaze, my only reservation is the over reverberant acoustic of the Kobe chapel. I have also found that the hybrid SACD CDs which appeared later in the series are a little less comfortable to listen to. I cannot play SACD on my system and wonder whether listening to the standard stereo layer is less satisfactory than if the issue was in stereo only.

I could probably easily put in a request for a few boxes, total cost over £500, but this has got me thinking again about the nature of boxes. Boxes are a cheap way to get a lot of good material, and one can dip in and out of them.

On the other hand, suppose we restricted the conditions so that we are only allowed say 3 CDs total cost up to £50, would that concentrate the mind more?
CDs, DVDs or SACDs that you'd really, really enjoy.

Some of us might remember Christmases a long time ago when we perhaps received just one or two LPs which got played over and over.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

I've been collecting the Suzuki Bach disc by disc. The final volume is reviewed in the BBC MM. Now that all 55 have now been released, no doubt the whole lot will appear in a bargain bumper box!

Which possibly explains why the JEG set has just appeared at its own bargain price - get in quick before the competition?

[DublinJimbo]

I've been collecting the Suzuki Bach disc by disc. The final volume is reviewed in the BBC MM. Now that all 55 have now been released, no doubt the whole lot will appear in a bargain bumper box!

I seem to recall that BIS have already stated that they have no plans for such a box.

[Dave2002]

I seem to recall that BIS have already stated that they have no plans for such a box.

They'd hardly admit it at this stage now, would they?

[vinteuil]

I seem to recall that BIS have already stated that they have no plans for such a box.

... that is not my understanding. Like some others here I acquired the four ten-CD boxes of the Suzuki Bach that at one time BIS offered ultra-cheap. When some time back I asked BIS if they were going to issue boxes five and six to complete the set, they said: no plans to do so; current priority is to complete the series of CDs, after which they wd be considering producing a box of the Complete Cantatas.

[EdgeleyRob]

Bach.

I am planning on getting to know the great man's music in the very near future.
I don't have a great deal on my shelves,the solo violin and cello stuff and some keyboard music (on a piano ) that's it.
No B Minor Mass,no Passions,no Brandenburgs,no Orchestral Suites,no Cantatas etc etc (I know ).
I was wondering,would there be a big,cheapish,box of Bach out there (or several little boxes) that someone could recommend and I could maybe stick it/them on my letter to Santa?

Edit -Just had a quick search and the choice is overwhelming,loads of boxes out there.
Not sure I want the complete works,just the major choral pieces,concertos and orchestral music.
Probably looking at maybe 2 or 3 sets rather than one big box,big band or period ?,I've no idea,any help will be appreciated.

[vinteuil]

... o you lucky Edgely, with all Bach before you!!!!

In haste (otherwise I cd spend the next twenty four hours with recommendations... )

Good places to start might include (I hope all still available!)

Suzuki : Bach Sacred Masterworks, BIS. This 10 CD box gives you the St John and St Matthew Passions, the b minor Mass, the Christmas, Easter, and Ascension Oratorios. A ten CD box for the price of three CDs - BIS.CD 9020/22

on DG Archiv two boxes :

Musica Antiqua Koln / Reinhard Gobel : Orchestral & Chamber Works, eight CDs - gives you the Brandenburgs, Orchestral Suites and much more
English Concert / Trevor Pinnock : Concertos, five CDs - harpsichord, violin, and more

Cafe Zimmermann - six CD box (alpha 811) - Brandenburgs, violin and harpsichord concertos and more.

Lucky, lucky you - to have all this in prospect!

[Nick Armstrong]

Cafe Zimmermann - six CD box (alpha 811) - Brandenburgs, violin and harpsichord concertos and more.

Total delight! Shove it straight in at the top of the Xmas list, ER, would be my advice (no fee! )

[Thropplenoggin]

Total delight! Shove it straight in at the top of the Xmas list, ER, would be my advice (no fee! )

Ye gawds! We're getting an avatar-by-avatar account of Caliban's caffeine intake. From the looks of it, he needs to dose up, pronto.

'Barrista, prepare The Mud Bath™!'

Mud Bath™ - a quadruple double espresso of my own invention. Not recommended for the literally weak-hearted.

--

ER:

As Monsignor Vinteuil de la Rochefoucauld, Grand-Duc d'arbuste de berger put it, a truly enviable prospect. I have no box sets, only single CDs, but would commend a HIP approach in Bach's choral works, though not One Voice Per Part. Some highlights for me would be the Suzuki cantatas and motets, Herreweghe's Magnificat BWV 243 (Harmonia Mundi) and his second Mass in B Minor (HM, w. Andreas Scholl).

[teamsaint]

I am very happy with these, ER.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/J-S-Bach-Christmas-Oratorio-Matthew/dp/B00008RWR9/ref=sr_1_2?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1384005614&sr=1-2&keywords=bach+gardiner

[Nick Armstrong]

Ye gawds! We're getting an avatar-by-avatar account of Caliban's caffeine intake. From the looks of it, he needs to dose up, pronto.

'Barrista, prepare The Mud Bath™!'

Mud Bath™ - a quadruple double espresso of my own invention. Not recommended for the literally weak-hearted.

Coffee levels are registering normal, Captain!

The avatar was added by reference to the 'in memoriam' thread... A youthful grin suddenly seemed inappropriate, for a couple of days at least... http://www.for3.org/forums/showthrea...o-young/page12

[vinteuil]

Bach.

,no Cantatas etc etc (I know ).

Edgeley - if you've not yet dipped in to the Cantatas (which some of us think of as the heart of all the Bach works) - and aren't yet up for a Complete run through of the two hundred or so... - eg Suzuki, Harnoncourt/Leonhardt, Koopman, J-E Gardiner, Kuijken, even Leusink - a lovely way in might be Herreweghe, fr'instance HMX 2908091.95 "les plus belles cantates" - thirteen cantatas on five CDs, harmonia mundi.

[Thropplenoggin]

Edgeley - if you've not yet dipped in to the Cantatas (which some of us think of as the heart of all the Bach works) - and aren't yet up for a Complete run through of the two hundred or so... - eg Suzuki, Harnoncourt/Leonhardt, Koopman, J-E Gardiner, Kuijken, even Leusink - a lovely way in might be Herreweghe, fr'instance HMX 2908091.95 "les plus belles cantates" - thirteen cantatas on five CDs, harmonia mundi.

Or this bargain.