Bargains

[amateur51]

Just thought I would mention that the price of the 17 CD EMI box "John Ogdon: Legendary British Virtuoso" Icon box, £23.46, is now at a low point on Amazon.

http://uk.camelcamelcamel.com/John-O...uct/B008I1572Y

Outstanding bargain johnb - many thanks!

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

If it's good enough for a Freeman of Spennymoor .....

Not "free", but ruddy good value.

ordered and very quickly arrived

Mine, too - yesterday morning (ordered at the weekend): the only morning I'm not in, so I have to go to collect it from the PO Depot!

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Mine, too - yesterday morning (ordered at the weekend): the only morning I'm not in, so I have to go to collect it from the PO Depot!

Well, I went to collect it and played the second disc this afternoon (Campra and Pergolesi). I almost feel that something this good shouldn't be allowed to be sold so cheaply. £16 for 29 CDs, in superb modern recordings. Still - I'm very glad it was: at Vinty's "good money", I might have had to miss out. "An essential source of sanity and delight" sums it up perfectly. Any slight disappointment that some of the works are played on modern instruments is balanced out by the quality of those performers: Paul Lewis, BBCSO/Belohlavek, the Tokyo S4tet. This really is too good to miss (and it turns out that I'm duplicating only two recordings: the 1st and 5th Pieces de Clavecin en concerts from Rousset/Terakado/Uemura complete set).

[antongould]

Well, I went to collect it and played the second disc this afternoon (Campra and Pergolesi). I almost feel that something this good shouldn't be allowed to be sold so cheaply. £16 for 29 CDs, in superb modern recordings. Still - I'm very glad it was: at Vinty's "good money", I might have had to miss out. "An essential source of sanity and delight" sums it up perfectly. Any slight disappointment that some of the works are played on modern instruments is balanced out by the quality of those performers: Paul Lewis, BBCSO/Belohlavek, the Tokyo S4tet. This really is too good to miss (and it turns out that I'm duplicating only two recordings: the 1st and 5th Pieces de Clavecin en concerts from Rousset/Terakado/Uemura complete set).

Yes it is a wonderful set and cheap as chips - Disc 1 was an unexpected joy.................sanity and light indeed

[gurnemanz]

Yes it is a wonderful set and cheap as chips - Disc 1 was an unexpected joy.................sanity and light indeed

Mine arrived today and I spent an hour or so downloading the disc details onto the database on my laptop. No duplicates for me. Some are original CDs complete but the content is mostly themed extracts from full CDs. Nothing wrong with that. It is a fascinating and well-assembled cross-section of a musical period, but I suppose the reason why it is so cheap is it that can also act as a sampler with the hope that if you like what you hear you will buy more.
Out this evening and just playing Disc I. Beautiful sound.

[hafod]

The 39CD RCA Abbado box (ASIN B00J1XNMDO) due on 16 June, has just been substantially reduced at Am.UK to £34.58.

[Dave2002]

The 39CD RCA Abbado box (ASIN B00J1XNMDO) due on 16 June, has just been substantially reduced at Am.UK to £34.58.

What do we know about these recordings? How do they compare with others - I think a lot of his later work was recorded for DG, and there are other sets. When were the recordings made - rough period?

[Bryn]

What do we know about these recordings? How do they compare with others - I think a lot of his later work was recorded for DG, and there are other sets. When were the recordings made - rough period?

Apart from severe ill health, I was not aware that CA has a "rough period". That said, the Forbes item on his best recordings describes his Sony Chicago Tchaikovsky series as a "contractual obligation" that sounds like it. The Beethoven 9th in that set is superb, however. I intend listening to it (the Beethoven) via Qobuz this afternoon.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

What do we know about these recordings? How do they compare with others - I think a lot of his later work was recorded for DG, and there are other sets. When were the recordings made - rough period?

Details here:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Complete-RCA-Sony-Album-Collection/dp/B00J1XNMDO/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1401957668&sr=1-1&keywords=abbado%2C+rca

... mid '80s -'90s, starting about the time when Karajan and the BPO weren't talking, so the Orchestra broke their "exclusive" contract and commenced recording with other conductors. Some good stuff here - notably the Mussorgsky (although, with only three discs, the Boris Godunov doesn't feature both versions of the work as originally issued) and the Nono works.

[Dave2002]

fhg

Thanks. Yes - I'd already seen the amazon listings, but I'm interested in the comparison between the RCA recordings and those in other box sets, such as the Abbado symphony edition, and there may be others - http://www.prestoclassical.co.uk/r/DG/4791046

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Ah; apologies. I can't comment on the Symphonies - I heard some of them when they first appeared, wasn't particularly impressed (which isn't the same thing as being "unimpressed" - they just didn't seem so good that I felt the need to pay full-price for them) and haven't heard them since.

[mathias broucek]

I've got the Tchaikovsky which is decent but doesn't grip.

The Mozart is pretty good in a modern instruments with some HIPP overlay kind of way

I definitely wouldn't trade in my DG Symphonies box for this...

[Bryn]

Re. the Sony Vivarte box:



Disc 55, Utopia Triumphans, has all the works represented on it attributed to Haydn. Not one of them actually is. This misattribution is not restricted to the card slip-case. It is repeated in the booklet, even in the heading of the section of notes about the disc. The disc itself carries no composer attributions.

The correct attributions are:


Thomas Tallis: Spem in alium (à 40)
Costanzo Porta: Sanctus (à 13) / Agnus Dei (à 14)
Josquin Desprez: Qui habitat (à 24)
Johannes Ockeghem: Deo gratias (à 36)
Pierre de Manchicourt: Laudate Dominum (à 6)
Giovanni Gabrieli: Exaudi me Domine (à 16)
Alessandro Striggio: Ecce beatam lucem (à 40)

[Oh, I forgot to mention, it is a glorious disc. That in the box duplicates the one I purchased 8 years ago.]

[Dave2002]

Bryn

Thanks for the corrections - msg 4498. I've not got that far (CD55) yet - but what I've heard has been good. I'll print out amendment details.

Any idea of the performance/performers' details? Do they appear when the CD is put into iTunes or one of the other CD library programs? I am reminded of a (*)famous lady pianist.

[Bryn]

No problem re. the performers, as stated on the card slip-case and in the booklet. Indeed, within the body of the booklet's programme notes, the works are discussed and given the appropriate attributions, but they are not necessarily discussed in the order in which they appear on the disc.