Bargains

[Barbirollians]

As well as the £10 promo I see that David Pyatt's BAL winning version of the Mozart Horn Concertos is only £2.82 new from Amazon today .

[Bryn]

Think of it as the complete pieces which are not designated as sonatas or variations.

Here is what I take to be a complete listing.

I picked the set up from the Royal Mail sorting office today. To the Sonatas and Variations must be added dances, as those works not included. The presentation is very attractive; a four way gatefold with illustrations of the five instruments featured. The CDs slip into each of three of the 'gates' with a slim booklet taking occupying the fourth. If I can trim some suitably to size, I might add the protection of an individual paper and film sleeve for each disc.

Currently very much enjoying listening to disc 1.

Oh, and since the €5.99 p&p relates to the full order, given that I ordered some 15 items in all, the pro rata p&p cost for the Beethoven Piano Pieces set (based on relative item prices) was around 50p.

[Dave2002]

Selections - e.g http://www.selections.com/mozart-the...eras-9cds.html currently have some very cheap and hopefully reasonable CDs. A couple of Denis Brain CDs for 99p each, a few with Rostropovich - also for 99p, and Mravinsky conducting Prokofiev 6th Symphony for 99p. There's also a 2CD set of songs by Jolivet - I know nothing about those songs - but that's also 99p.

Last week they had the Mozart operas (9CDs?) for under a fiver (mostly conducted by Giulini, but Karajan in Cosi) and the Art of Arthur Grumiaux similarly priced, but the price of both has increased significantly this week. Could still be worthwhile for some who haven't got versions of those already.

[Kamisama]

There's also a 2CD set of songs by Jolivet - I know nothing about those songs - but that's also 99p.

From the Gramophone review:
"André Jolivet (1905 74) was from the generation immediately following Les Six but his music shows few similarities. The present set, recorded in Perugia with the help of ‘The Friends of André Jolivet’, bears witness to the devotion of his admirers but his music is certainly an acquired taste. The oddity is that in most of the songs the piano accompaniment sounds as though the pianist is performing in mittens, so rough and ready is the writing. It makes matters worse that generally the accompaniments are rhythmically square, relating only distantly to the vocal lines above.

Most of the songs are sung by Sophie Marilley, who uses her bright mezzo-soprano most imaginatively, responding to the words with strong tonal contrasts. The baritone René Perler is good too, though he is given only a few songs.

The pianist, Filippo Farinelli, does what he can with Jolivet’s idiosyncratic keyboard-writing but the recording hardly helps. Curiously, there is an extra item at the end, a song by Edgard Varèse, which tends to show up the limitations of Jolivet. Very much an issue for devotees."

[Rolmill]

Selections - e.g http://www.selections.com/mozart-the...eras-9cds.html currently have some very cheap and hopefully reasonable CDs.

Some of these Regis discs are very good value IMO - this classic Nielsen disc (Springtime in Funen etc) is a snip at 99p.

Anyone have views on the Kempff complete 1950s Beethoven sonatas - particularly on the quality of the Regis transfers? At £6.99 it seems almost rude not to invest.

[Dave2002]

I've not checked the Kempff set myself, but I raised the same issue last time that set came round. I think someone said that the particular transfers were not great - and that there are better ones out there. OTOH it's not outrageously expensive.

I missed the Oistrakh CDs too, which seem worth checking. Maybe I'll contact the suppliers and see if they can add those to my order.

Sometimes, for a single purchase from Selections it's cheaper to go via Amazon, which seems to link to the Selections site - but for multiple purchases the usual £3.99 p&p charge works out cheaper per item.

Some of the Selections offers stick around for ages (e.g the Albany CDs) while others really do go rather rapidly. Tirimo's piano CDs - including his Mozart CDs are worth having when they appear - usually around £1.99.

There is a recording of Barber's Piano Sonata - probably short measure - for 25p -

http://www.selections.com/offers-and-reductions/music/classical-music-on-cd-and-dvd/search-by-composer/b/s-barber/

[Tapiola]

I had the Kempff Regis set and ended up giving it away. The transfers are...variable. No problems at all in the early sonatas but the sound of the Appassionata, for example, is horribly clangy to these ears. A real pity.

[Rolmill]

I had the Kempff Regis set and ended up giving it away. The transfers are...variable. No problems at all in the early sonatas but the sound of the Appassionata, for example, is horribly clangy to these ears. A real pity.

Thanks Tapiola (and to Dave2002) for the comments - I'll give it a miss then. As you say, a real pity.

[Dave2002]

Thanks Tapiola (and to Dave2002) for the comments - I'll give it a miss then. As you say, a real pity.

I never quite got into Kempff's playing. Nothing to do with dislike, but simply I didn't hear much by him, either on the radio or LPs or CDs. I suspect he may have been one of the greats - like Schnabel and a few others. One of my friends had some Beethoven concertos which sounded excellent. - or at least the combination of great performance and acceptable recording was fine.

For the Beethoven sonatas I'm not sure which would be good. The Gramophone liked the earlier mono ones some while ago - http://www.gramophone.co.uk/review/b...iano-sonatas-5 I think I need to follow this line up sometime.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

I never quite got into Kempff's playing. Nothing to do with dislike, but simply I didn't hear much by him, either on the radio or LPs or CDs. I suspect he may have been one of the greats - like Schnabel and a few others. One of my friends had some Beethoven concertos which sounded excellent. - or at least the combination of great performance and acceptable recording was fine.
For the Beethoven sonatas I'm not sure which would be good. The Gramophone liked the earlier mono ones some while ago - http://www.gramophone.co.uk/review/b...iano-sonatas-5 I think I need to follow this line up sometime.

The REGIS set is of the MONO recordings, Dave. Superb performances, and the sound on an earlier DG release on LPs was lovely and warm - I suspect that better transfers are to be had - rather more than £7 here:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0000012XC

[Tapiola]

I have yet to take the plunge with the mono set on DG (some day I will) but one thing that struck me about Kempff's Beethoven playing (through the Regis set) is its incredible sense of poise and balance. I could have listened to him all day.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

I have yet to take the plunge with the mono set on DG (some day I will) but one thing that struck me about Kempff's Beethoven playing (through the Regis set) is its incredible sense of poise and balance. I could have listened to him all day.

[Pianorak]

Anyone have views on the Kempff complete 1950s Beethoven sonatas - particularly on the quality of the Regis transfers? At £6.99 it seems almost rude not to invest.

If that is the RRC9010 9 CD set: I marked 15 out of the 32 as very poor transfers. But perhaps I just got a dud set?

[Dave2002]

If that is the RRC9010 9 CD set: I marked 15 out of the 32 as very poor transfers. But perhaps I just got a dud set?

Difficult to know.

Someone else has reviewed the Regis set here - http://www.musicweb-international.co...ff_RRC9010.htm and reports on "variable" quality sound.
One man's "variable" might be another's "atrocious" - or not, as the case may be.

It is possible to pay a lot more for the Regis set - Presto have it for over £20, so in that context if anyone is willing to take the chance on the set, then the Selections offer is good.
OTOH it may be that the DG mono set which is not so much more than Presto's price for the Regis one, may be much better.

I would expect the stereo set (DG) to have better sound, but allegedly the mono set has better performances.

[silvestrione]

Difficult to know.


I would expect the stereo set (DG) to have better sound, but allegedly the mono set has better performances.

I have the mono set in its DG incarnation, and I would say they are a level above the stereo version: one of the great sets, with Schnabel, Arrau, Gulda and Brendel.