Bargains

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

It's a bit of a mixed bag, like these things tend to be - and suffers from the fact that Columbia (the main source of the recordings) didn't record much Wagner. So, we get the Eurodisc Ring, a fairly obscure (but not bad) live Meistersinger, an excellent Lohengrin from Leinsdorf and a mono radio relay of Parsifal from Karajan in Vienna. The rest is made up of bleeding chunks and some archive recordings (excellent recital discs from Melchior and Traubel). Probably the weakest of the three Wagner boxes that came out in 2012, but enjoyable, nontheless.

- The Eurodisc Ring was worth the £16 I paid for the box last year - and with that excellent Lohengrin (Leinsdorf was a superb conductor) and Karajan's Live Parsifal and a very good Meistersinger, it's still worth a punt if anyone has a spare £30 they don't know what else to do with.

There's also a Dutchman from Levine, which is definitely the worst performance in the box (I envy your forgetting it, Conchis - I wish I could; I've never heard a duller performance of the work); no Tristan or Tannhauser is included, and in addition to the recitals and orchestral excerpts (I think Brunnhilde Immolates four times altogether in this box!) , there's also a disc of rare salon pieces and arrangements for piano duet.

But for £30, I'd suggest anyone who doesn't already have it to go for the Decca/Philips Bayreuth box which has all the Operas complete from Dutchman on:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Wagner-Great-Operas-Bayreuth-Festival/dp/B00159679S/ref=pd_rhf_pe_p_img_6

[Conchis]

- The Eurodisc Ring was worth the £16 I paid for the box last year - and with that excellent Lohengrin (Leinsdorf was a superb conductor) and Karajan's Live Parsifal and a very good Meistersinger, it's still worth a punt if anyone has a spare £30 they don't know what else to do with.

There's also a Dutchman from Levine, which is definitely the worst performance in the box (I envy your forgetting it, Conchis - I wish I could; I've never heard a duller performance of the work); no Tristan or Tannhauser is included, and in addition to the recitals and orchestral excerpts (I think Brunnhilde Immolates four times altogether in this box!) , there's also a disc of rare salon pieces and arrangements for piano duet.

But for £30, I'd suggest anyone who doesn't already have it to go for the Decca/Philips Bayreuth box which has all the Operas complete from Dutchman on:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Wagner-Great...rhf_pe_p_img_6

Yes, Ferney, that Bayreuth box is excellentt. The only thing wrong with it, I'd say, is the choice of the Bohm Ring - which most collectors already have - instead of the Boulez recording (which as been oop on CD for years). Bohm's is a better version, though.

I would still say that DG came closest to getting it right with the Wagner bicenteneary. Their box is the only one that inclues the COMPLETE operas, thanks to some happily acquired BBC recordings of Die Feen and Das LIebeesverbot (both excellent performances, btw). The box is a bit Domingo-heavy (he appears in four of the operas - Hollander, Tannhauser, Lohengrin and Meistersinger) but that bothers me a lot less than it seems to bother some people.

[Flosshilde]

OK - so not a bargain in comparison with your purchase, but is it actually any good anyway?

Have a look at the reviews - especially 'What was Sony thinking?' a bit more than half-way down the page.

[Dave2002]

Have a look at the reviews - especially 'What was Sony thinking?' a bit more than half-way down the page.

Thanks. So if it comes round again for around £10 maybe buy it, otherwise not! Some good bits - some much less good.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Thanks. So if it comes round again for around £10 maybe buy it, otherwise not! Some good bits - some much less good.

[vinteuil]

Thanks. So if it comes round again for around £10 maybe buy it, otherwise not! Some good bits - some much less good.

... even at this price, it's a very cheap way of getting the Janowski Ring, which has given me great pleasure.

And some of the miscellanea is well worth listening to, and perhaps not the sort of thing one wd have collected if looking for more 'mainstream' Wagner.

I'm more with the enthusiast reviewers on the amazon site

[hafod]

Boulez - 20th Century (DG): 44cds for £58.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00P08LJ1Q/

[gurnemanz]

I would still say that DG came closest to getting it right with the Wagner bicenteneary. Their box is the only one that inclues the COMPLETE operas, thanks to some happily acquired BBC recordings of Die Feen and Das LIebeesverbot (both excellent performances, btw). The box is a bit Domingo-heavy (he appears in four of the operas - Hollander, Tannhauser, Lohengrin and Meistersinger) but that bothers me a lot less than it seems to bother some people.

You nudged me into ordering this, having considered it several times. The deciding factor was the inclusion of Rienzi, Feen and Liebesverbot, which I don't have and hardly know. Also well priced. I have a couple of good bargain historical boxes: the Wagner's Vision Bayreuth Box and Great Singers Sing Wagner

[Conchis]

You nudged me into ordering this, having considered it several times. The deciding factor was the inclusion of Rienzi, Feen and Liebesverbot, which I don't have and hardly know. Also well priced. I have a couple of good bargain historical boxes: the Wagner's Vision Bayreuth Box and Great Singers Sing Wagner

I don't think you'll regret it, particularly as those BBC performances of the first two operas are the most complete versions ever recorded. It's a pity that DG didn't also acquire the BBC/Downes Rienzi while they were at it, as that is a more complete version than the commercial Hollresier EMI recording.

[Conchis]

... even at this price, it's a very cheap way of getting the Janowski Ring, which has given me great pleasure.

And some of the miscellanea is well worth listening to, and perhaps not the sort of thing one wd have collected if looking for more 'mainstream' Wagner.

I'm more with the enthusiast reviewers on the amazon site

Yes, the one star review is absurd: personally, I think amazon should have removed it, as it says nothing of value about the product.

I actually bought the Sony set principally for the Melchoir/Traubel discs, which are difficult to obtain elsewhere. They feature really stunning sound restoration - the best reproduction of Melchior's voice I've ever heard.

[gurnemanz]

I don't think you'll regret it, particularly as those BBC performances of the first two operas are the most complete versions ever recorded. It's a pity that DG didn't also acquire the BBC/Downes Rienzi while they were at it, as that is a more complete version than the commercial Hollresier EMI recording.

Thanks for those comments. I lifted the extract below from someone on Amazon who has taken the trouble to do research on the timings of all recorded versions:

"3 hours, 38 minutes = Heinrich Hollreiser, Dresden Staatskapelle (Rene Kollo), 1976 :

4 hours, 40 minutes = Edward Downes, BBC (John Mitchinson), 1976 : download on opera-club.net

The 2 hours, 41 minutes separating the longest from the shortest performance is unprecedented, and more than a little ridiculous."

Over an hour difference between the two longest is quite a discrepancy. I shall wait and see. I usually enjoy Rene Kollo and both the Dresden Staatskapelle and the the Leipzig Radio Choir are consistently excellent. (The box also contains the Kleiber Tristan with Kollo and the same orchestra and choir. It was my LP version for many years and this is a good way of upgrading.)

[Dave2002]

i spotted this CD of snippets played by Dennis Brain recently. For under £2 (£1.99) it has to be worth checking out http://www.selections.com/dennis-bra...-artistry.html

A few more from Selections - Karajan/Richter - http://www.selections.com/tchaikovsk...certo-451.html £1.99

Teleman Passions - Oratorium http://www.selections.com/telemann-p...rium-2cds.html (2 CDs) £1.99

Zuccari (who?) cello sonatas - http://www.selections.com/zuccari-cello-sonatas.html £1.99

Brahms piano variations, Wolfram Schmitt-Leonardy - http://www.selections.com/brahms-c-t...ions-2cds.html (2 CDs) £1.99

D'indy - orhestral works (1 CD) http://www.selections.com/d-indy-orchestral-works.html £2.99

Dvorak Rusalka - 2CDs - http://www.selections.com/dvorak-rusalka-2cds.html £1.99

Hummel Mathilde - 2CDs - http://www.selections.com/hummel-mathilde-2cds.html £2.99

Jolivet - songs - 2 CDs - http://www.selections.com/jolivet-c-te-songs-2cds.html £0.99

Sammartini - symphonies - 2CDs http://www.selections.com/sammartini...nies-2cds.html £1.99

Schubert piano trios - 2CDs http://www.selections.com/schubert-p...2cds-2746.html £1.99

Schumann Das Paradies ... Sinopoli 2CDs http://www.selections.com/schumann-d...peri-op50.html £2.99

Schumann Requiem for Mignon - http://www.selections.com/schumann-r...or-mignon.html £1.99

Nielsen Springtime in Funen - http://www.selections.com/nielsen-sp...-in-funen.html £0.99

Shostakovich Gamblers - http://www.selections.com/shostakovich-gamblers.html £0.99

Pizetti complete piano works - 2 CDs - http://www.selections.com/pizetti-c-...orks-2cds.html £0.99

Wagner complete piano music - 2 CDs - http://www.selections.com/wagner-c-t...usic-2cds.html £2.99

Couperin Mass for the parishes - 2 CDs - http://www.selections.com/couperin-m...shes-2cds.html £1.99

There was also a CD of Yo Yo Ma a day or two back - at a low price - but maybe it's sold out. I can't find it now!

Found it! http://www.selections.com/yo-yo-ma-made-in-america.html £1.99


There's also a 10 CD box of Klemperer conducting live performances from Amazon - http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B...68156301_em_lm which might be worth further investigation. 10 CDs - £11.98

[hafod]

Brilliant Classics Shostakovich Edition - 49cds. A tad over £29 delivered from Am.de.

http://www.amazon.de/gp/product/B00DUPU6LA/

[Dave2002]

7 Horowitz CDs from DG from am.it for around 23 euros (CD version - the MP3s - probably not available here anyway, cost more!) - which I expect would be around £20 with the postage. http://www.amazon.it/Horowitz-Comple...8857252&sr=1-3

There are more - see http://www.amazon.it/gp/search/ref=p...TF8&lo=popular

[cloughie]

Amazon have Mahler 3/Kindertotenlieder (DeYoung SFSO MTT) for £3.79.