Bargains

[hafod]

These seem to have come down in price quite substantially:

Janacek: Operas/Sinfonietta/Taras Bulba, Mackerras 9 discs £16.34

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Janacek-Operas-Sinfonietta-Taras-Bulba/dp/B000AC5B0M?SubscriptionId=AKIAJ7T5BOVUVRD2EFYQ&tag=camelproducts-21&linkCode=xm2&camp=2025&creative=165953&creativeASIN=B000AC5B0M

Messiaen Complete Edition, Deutsche Grammophon, 32 discs £51.47

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Messiaen-Complete-Edition-Various-Artists/dp/B001D94L1Q?SubscriptionId=AKIAJ7T5BOVUVRD2EFYQ&tag=camelproducts-21&linkCode=xm2&camp=2025&creative=165953&creativeASIN=B001D94L1Q

[mathias broucek]

These seem to have come down in price quite substantially:

Janacek: Operas/Sinfonietta/Taras Bulba, Mackerras 9 discs £16.34

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Janacek-Operas-Sinfonietta-Taras-Bulba/dp/B000AC5B0M?SubscriptionId=AKIAJ7T5BOVUVRD2EFYQ&tag=camelproducts-21&linkCode=xm2&camp=2025&creative=165953&creativeASIN=B000AC5B0M

Messiaen Complete Edition, Deutsche Grammophon, 32 discs £51.47
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Messiaen-Com...SIN=B001D94L1Q

Thanks for sharing. IIRC the Janacek comes without texts and translations

[Dave2002]

The Beethoven quartet cycle I'm still looking for is the Juilliard's 1964-70 recordings, but those seem unlikely to make it to the bargain bin anytime soon (last I checked Amazon US had a new copy for only $1,699.99). I suspect that if their approach doesn't do it for me, a listener who finds Endellion and ABQ a bit on the tame/moderate side of things (though favouring Vegh for an alternative "introspective" approach), I'll have to learn how to play violin, viola and cello and record my own cycle :<

Anyway... bargains. There's one copy of the Percussions de Strasbourg 50th anniversary set left at £41 or so, does that count?

Thanks to you and Bryn for noting the Percussions de Strasbourg set - it's slightly more now - around £43 - but not too bad.

I also noted this Messiaen set - http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B...&pf_rd_i=typ01 which some of us failed to get from the grocers a few years ago. I don't know whether the current price - around £30 is reasonable - depends how much you want the set I suppose.

It looks as though the late Beethoven quartets by the Juilliard Quartet are on Spotify - http://open.spotify.com/track/70tI7bdG14Le2KzE7fnrla but I can't see the earlier ones. I'm not sure if those recordings are the 1964-70 ones you wanted.

[Bryn]

The Juilliard Beethoven late quartets may well be their live set. Much later recordings, but worth hearing.

[amateur51]

Thanks for sharing. IIRC the Janacek comes without texts and translations

It was on this basis that I made the heavy-hearted decision to collect second-hand versions of the original releases rather than succumb to the temptation of this cheaper and space-saving set mathias.

I haven't regretted the decision for a moment

[kea]

The Juilliard Beethoven late quartets may well be their live set. Much later recordings, but worth hearing.

Yes I've found their 1980s set on Naxos Music Library, which I enjoyed—however it was in many respects a completely different ensemble by that point, and in general I've found their 1950s-1960s recordings to be my favourites.

I suppose it is a certain degree of wildness/roughness that appeals (at least in Beethoven); found I preferred the Belcea over the Artemis, for instance, because their playing seemed less polished.

[Dave2002]

Yes I've found their 1980s set on Naxos Music Library, which I enjoyed—however it was in many respects a completely different ensemble by that point, and in general I've found their 1950s-1960s recordings to be my favourites.

I suppose it is a certain degree of wildness/roughness that appeals (at least in Beethoven); found I preferred the Belcea over the Artemis, for instance, because their playing seemed less polished.

I've recently (re-)discovered that I can access the Naxos Music Library via our local library service. I've not tried it recently - though I think I did check it out a few years ago - possibly via a different library service.

[mathias broucek]

It was on this basis that I made the heavy-hearted decision to collect second-hand versions of the original releases rather than succumb to the temptation of this cheaper and space-saving set mathias.

I haven't regretted the decision for a moment

Don't understand why they don't include a data CD with pdfs....

[Barbirollians]

Not a particular bargain but I see you can get a arkiv music copy of that EMI Profile Leonid Kogan set that is/was going for ridiculous prices on Amazon for $20 .

[Dave2002]

Not a particular bargain but I see you can get a arkiv music copy of that EMI Profile Leonid Kogan set that is/was going for ridiculous prices on Amazon for $20 .

It is a bargain if you compare it with the Amazon UK price - providing import costs don't balance the pricing out - back up to over £50 -
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Brahms-Beeth...leonid+Profile However the ArkivMusic version for around $25-30 might be a CD-R if that is of concern - http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listi...&condition=all

[Cockney Sparrow]

I've recently (re-)discovered that I can access the Naxos Music Library via our local library service. I've not tried it recently - though I think I did check it out a few years ago - possibly via a different library service.

At the risk of increasing thread drift, I listened to the Bychkov Mahler 3 (deleted on Avie, £50 from marketplace) on Naxos ML and I was very impressed with the quality of the streamed sound - for a library user its stated to be 64kbs. If I took out an individual subscription I could try and hear whether the "premium" service at 128kbs was any different. I really wonder whether they are streaming at a higher rate than 64kbs (but haven't a clue how that could be established....). Considering that it has a lot of Chandos, the BIS catalog to mention but two (so, for example the Suzuki Bach Cantatas) I have started to use it regularly, and have set up my own playlist within the library log in. The advanced search is responsive, but I do find that persistence - searching 2 or 3 ways, pays off, once I've checked they carry the record label - for instance the Bychkov Mahler didn't, IIRC, come up under a search of Avie/Bychkov.

[Mark Meldon]

Seeking Original Issues

Don't understand why they don't include a data CD with pdfs....

I think, basically, this is purely down to cost constraints. There can be very little profit from endlessly recycling back-catalogue in ever bigger boxes of CDs. Of late, I have also gone back to trying to find the original issue of a particular title as, simply, the all-important booklet will normally contain texts and translations, whereas the el-cheapo reissues (tempting as they are) rarely do. Clearly, some of these discs sold in tiny numbers (just a few dozen, anecdotally, in many cases) so they can be as rare as hen's teeth and priced accordingly. With rather a lot of patience and effort, though, bargains can be had. I just picked up (for better or worse) Karajan's early "Figaro" in it's "Great Recordings of the Century" edition in a slip-case with full libretto from Zoverstocks for £1.27 and the condition was near-mint! Same with the Fritz Busch "Don Giovanni" for £5.04. Why are these things so cheap nowadays?

Are we seeing a long-term "dumbing-down" of culture as far as music is concerned. Are most "classical" music collectors greying middle-aged men like me? Is it a "bloke thing"? I don't know the answer to these questions, but it seems such a pity that all of the effort made by re-creative artists in giving us a recording is clearly, with some exceptions, suffering from deflation right now!

I regretfully find, too, that the big box sets I have sit there glowering at me gradually accumulating dust!

And, is it just me, but do some of these purportedly "re-mastered" re-issues actually sound awful as they have been mastered with the ipod generation in mind? A simple example is the Dinu Lipatti "Icons" EMI box issued a few years ago; to my 50-year old ears the sound was terribly compressed, certainly in comparison with the initial EME Références issue from 25-30 years ago.

Anyway, JPC over in Germany is offering Buchbinder's excellent Mozart Piano Concerto set for twenty Euros at present. Now on Profil, this set was originally issued by Calig who, like Collins Classics, bit the dust years ago. I have always appreciated Buchbinder's pianism and heartily recommend this "complete" set.

[Barbirollians]

I think, basically, this is purely down to cost constraints. There can be very little profit from endlessly recycling back-catalogue in ever bigger boxes of CDs. Of late, I have also gone back to trying to find the original issue of a particular title as, simply, the all-important booklet will normally contain texts and translations, whereas the el-cheapo reissues (tempting as they are) rarely do. Clearly, some of these discs sold in tiny numbers (just a few dozen, anecdotally, in many cases) so they can be as rare as hen's teeth and priced accordingly. With rather a lot of patience and effort, though, bargains can be had. I just picked up (for better or worse) Karajan's early "Figaro" in it's "Great Recordings of the Century" edition in a slip-case with full libretto from Zoverstocks for £1.27 and the condition was near-mint! Same with the Fritz Busch "Don Giovanni" for £5.04. Why are these things so cheap nowadays?

Are we seeing a long-term "dumbing-down" of culture as far as music is concerned. Are most "classical" music collectors greying middle-aged men like me? Is it a "bloke thing"? I don't know the answer to these questions, but it seems such a pity that all of the effort made by re-creative artists in giving us a recording is clearly, with some exceptions, suffering from deflation right now!

I regretfully find, too, that the big box sets I have sit there glowering at me gradually accumulating dust!

And, is it just me, but do some of these purportedly "re-mastered" re-issues actually sound awful as they have been mastered with the ipod generation in mind? A simple example is the Dinu Lipatti "Icons" EMI box issued a few years ago; to my 50-year old ears the sound was terribly compressed, certainly in comparison with the initial EME Références issue from 25-30 years ago.

Anyway, JPC over in Germany is offering Buchbinder's excellent Mozart Piano Concerto set for twenty Euros at present. Now on Profil, this set was originally issued by Calig who, like Collins Classics, bit the dust years ago. I have always appreciated Buchbinder's pianism and heartily recommend this "complete" set.

I suspect Mark that the owners of many of these bargains have gone to the great listening room in the sky . Their families who are uninterested in classical music just sell them off very cheap .

As for the Arkiv CD-Rs I agree I have only ever bought things that are very rare and expensive like this awesome Kogan set . The Brahms concerto is spectacular - such personality compared with today's identikit virtuosi.

[Pianoman]

Not sure if this has been spotted but a real bargain; it's MP3 only, but in many ways that's fine for the old Vox sound, and Klien's playing is very stylish - 99 cents !!

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00JGEYCJG/

[Sir Velo]

Are we seeing a long-term "dumbing-down" of culture as far as music is concerned. Are most "classical" music collectors greying middle-aged men like me? Is it a "bloke thing"? I don't know the answer to these questions, but it seems such a pity that all of the effort made by re-creative artists in giving us a recording is clearly, with some exceptions, suffering from deflation right now!

The same questions were posed 25, 50, 75 years ago. The record collectors were always greying, middle aged men; so either they have all found the secret of eternal longevity or their ranks are constantly replenished by the next generation of middle-aged, greying members of the male sex!

I have to say I like the old box sets, with full libretti c/w three or four decent essays (French, German, English and Italian) at least, to stimulate the mind. IWHT the answer these days is to make these essays available online in pdf format, so that they can be downloaded by anyone interested. That way they avoid the paper and printing costs; and the punter can still get access to the gen. For me, an opera or lieder release is a no-go if there are no texts and translations. Moreover, there should be no need to reinvent the wheel. Decent essays and translations for almost all of the standard repertoire (and non-standard) exist and the copyright should not be as prohibitive as commissioning new writing.