Bargains

[verismissimo]

Many thanks, all. Invested.

[Parry1912]

The Heifetz-Piatigorsky Concerts (21CDs) for £21.99 at Amazon

[Dave2002]

This one, maybe - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Schumann-Com...schumann+demus

Not sure.

While browsing around and considering the Demus/Schumann I found this set - which is £17.25 from a market place seller right now (Selections) - http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/offer-lis...&condition=new

I noticed that this is packaged similarly to Michel Dalberto's Schubert set, which I do recommend - but that was also available previously for about £16 (or less!), again from Selections/amazon marketplace.

The set seems to have performances by some well known pianists, and may also fill gaps for anyone who hasn't got much/any piano music by Schumann.

[johnb]

If you are happy with lossless downloads Qobuz current has a special offer on Alessandrini's recording of Monteverdi's "Madrigali Guerrieri e Amorosi": 3 CDs for 4.99 Euro.

(I do wonder whether it is a pricing error as Qobuz has single CDs of some of the other books of madrigals also at 4.99 Euro.)

[Pianorak]

Have been living with the Demus/Schumann for a couple of years - no regrets whatever! Wish I could say the same about the Dalberto/Schubert set. Really nothing much wrong with it - beautifully played and recorded, but when I listen again to Richter, Kovacevich and Kempff for instance, I find Dalberto too restrained, too uninvolved, too "civilized" if that makes sense.

[Dave2002]

Have been living with the Demus/Schumann for a couple of years - no regrets whatever! Wish I could say the same about the Dalberto/Schubert set. Really nothing much wrong with it - beautifully played and recorded, but when I listen again to Richter, Kovacevich and Kempff for instance, I find Dalberto too restrained, too uninvolved, too "civilized" if that makes sense.

I'll have to listen again to other versions of Schubert - I have several. I simply noted the Dalberto set when it was really cheap, and I actually enjoyed it a lot. I need to pull out some of the other versions I have - Radu Lupu, Uchida, Tirimo. I did find Dalberto's a very "clean" version - though, but personally I think that suits the music. Maybe I should look for something else - but I don't expect a lot of dynamic changes and surprises in Schubert - rather a feeling of timelessness with some interesting major/minor shifts. Of course even that is wrong - in the first movement of the string quintet I just expect it to flow on, and on, and on ..... The second movement carries on where the first leaves off. There is more grit in the third movement, and the final movement has a sort of doggedness. The Wanderer fantasy has a certain ferocity. Should I expect vigour/ferocity in the piano works?

At least with Dalberto I did listen right through the set over a period of a few days, which I found a worthwhile experience.

[visualnickmos]

I'll have to listen again to other versions of Schubert - I have several. I simply noted the Dalberto set when it was really cheap, and I actually enjoyed it a lot. I need to pull out some of the other versions I have - Radu Lupu, Uchida, Tirimo......

Interesting. I find Uchida fabulous in Debussy, but - dare I say it - here goes anyway - rather bland in anything else!

[Bryn]

Interesting. I find Uchida fabulous in Debussy, but - dare I say it - here goes anyway - rather bland in anything else!

Dare! I tend to concur, especially as regards her Schubert playing.

[johnb]

With her Schubert I always feel Uchida tries to impose her own expressive ideas instead of revealing what is already there in the music. I find it off-putting. (A pity because I greatly enjoy listening to her talking about music.)

[Pianorak]

Take the second movement of the A major Sonata D959. What I don't get from Dalberto is, to quote from Anton Kuerti's notes for his own recording “The famous pandemonium that erupts in the Andantino is one of Schubert's most delirious, frenetic moments. . . Innocuously rambling arabesques gradually turn into a nightmare of wildly crashing chords, roaring scales and sudden, frightening contrasts.” The same passage has elsewhere been called the most convincing musical depiction of a nervous breakdown.

[Don Petter]

Go for it.
The performances are generally excellent, and show Schumann's genius from different angles.
Some of the recordings show their age and some have got some background noise, but in my own experience not disturbing at all.

There is no documentation whatsoever, except for the (accurate) track listings at the back of the cardboard sleeves.

I endorse this recommendation. I remember laboriously assembling Demus' full set when they were only available on single Nuova Era CDs.

I have always liked his Schumann ever since being first exposed to his accompaniment to Fischer-Dieskau's Dichterliebe on their first (mono) DGG LP recording of that work.

[Rolmill]

Interesting. I find Uchida fabulous in Debussy, but - dare I say it - here goes anyway - rather bland in anything else!

I certainly don't find her recording of Beethoven's Op.101 + 106 piano sonatas bland, if anything slightly idiosyncratic but certainly interesting (lovely Hammerklavier adagio). That and the superb Debussy etudes are the only recordings of her that I have, having been warned off her Schubert and Mozart by mixed reviews.

[Dave2002]

A quickie regarding amazon "new and used" items. What is the difference, if any, between "used - very good" and "used - like new"?

I ordered a seemingly out of print version of a CD by Julian Lloyd Webber this morning, and in the end I opted to pay slightly more for the "like new" classification, but does it really make much difference?

While mentioning this, a few minutes ago JLW's version of Dvorak's cello concerto was available for 5p + £1.26 - zoverstocks again. I have the original Philips, but not the Dvorak 8th symphony it's paired with There was also a cracked case version for 1p!

However, just a few minutes later and all the cheap ones seem to have gone - perhaps worth keeping an eye on this item if anyone wants a cheap version. Looking again - there are two different listings - and indeed looking closer again there were different covers, and different couplings - and this one still has the cheaper offers -

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/offer-listing/B0027CAQMG/ref=dp_olp_0?ie=UTF8&condition=all

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

A quickie regarding amazon "new and used" items. What is the difference, if any, between "used - very good" and "used - like new"?

Depends on the honesty of the seller, I suppose. Many sellers prefer to underplay the quality of their goods - on quite a few occasions, I've bought a "Used - good" and received what seems to be an item in pristine condition (in fact, in better condition than some items I've bought new from shops). "Like new" can mean "second-hand, but the previous owner hasn't even taken it out of the polythene wrapping".

[hafod]

A quickie regarding amazon "new and used" items. What is the difference, if any, between "used - very good" and "used - like new"?

Amazon's guidelines are quite clear:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=3149161#music

On this basis I expect cds sold as 'very good' to be virtually unmarked (and certainly not scratched).