Bargains

[Pianorak]

These bargains should come with a (financial) health warning!

[Dave2002]

These bargains should come with a (financial) health warning!

Quite!

In the meantime - is this a bargain or not? http://www.selections.com/AL067/chop...no-works-6cds/

Obviously depends on whether you like Chopin, but many people have told me that Rubinstein is pretty much the best, so £16 for 6 CDs may be a good price.
I'm still struggling to like Chopin in large doses, and not sure that, despite several recommendations, Murray Perahia's Etudes are doing it for me, compared with Louis Lortie's which I got in a monster box for around £50.

[Pianorak]

Quite!

In the meantime - is this a bargain or not? http://www.selections.com/AL067/chop...no-works-6cds/

It most certainly is - and you can't go wrong with Rubinstein. Lortie too is fine as is G. Ohlsson, N. Freire, M J Pires, D. Barenboim, M. Argerich, N. Luganski, N. Demidenko - all of them quite different in their approach to Chopin, and all the more interesting for that. No doubt there's plenty more. I too have never warmed to M. Perahia - obviously my loss, but there you are.

[Lion-of-Vienna]

In the meantime - is this a bargain or not? http://www.selections.com/AL067/chop...no-works-6cds/

It's even cheaper on Amazon at £14.74.

[Dave2002]

Thanks LoV. Also the P & P should be less (£0) at the river source.

Re Rubinstein and Chopin - there don't seem to be many recordings of the Etudes (not in that set I think) by him. I found a few, but not a complete set. Did he, in fact, make recordings of the complete sets, or are recordings available? Some people also seem to think that his much earlier recordings, which are perhaps acoustically challenged, have better performances than some of his later ones done in the LP era. Could start another thread on this, since slightly off topic. Comments?

[amateur51]

Thanks LoV. Also the P & P should be less (£0) at the river source.

Re Rubinstein and Chopin - there don't seem to be many recordings of the Etudes (not in that set I think) by him. I found a few, but not a complete set. Did he, in fact, make recordings of the complete sets, or are recordings available? Some people also seem to think that his much earlier recordings, which are perhaps acoustically challenged, have better performances than some of his later ones done in the LP era. Could start another thread on this, since slightly off topic. Comments?

For my money, any set/performance of Chopin by Rubinstein is worth the money. He belonged to an age where there was no such thing as a definitive performance either of the piece or by the performer so every opportunity was taken afresh.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C90Mz4hvAzI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LAFoMN5mPcM&feature=related

[Barbirollians]

There is a 10 disc RCA box available on Amazon for £13.95 including P & P .

[amateur51]

There is a 10 disc RCA box available on Amazon for £13.95 including P & P .

Could you provide a link please, Barbirollians?

[Mahlerei]

Am51

There's a marketplace seller offering this for £12.66.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Rubinstein-plays-Chopin-Classical-Masters/dp/B003S9GOWS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1310131164&sr=1-1

[amateur51]

Am51

There's a marketplace seller offering this for £12.66.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Rubinstein-p...0131164&sr=1-1

Merci buckets, Mahlerei

[Dave2002]

There is a 10 disc RCA box available on Amazon for £13.95 including P & P .

Thanks, but it doesn't have the Etudes. I'm not sure that recordings of all of these by Rubinstein are available.

[Pianorak]

Thanks, but it doesn't have the Etudes. I'm not sure that recordings of all of these by Rubinstein are available.

Dave - I'm afraid he has only recorded 7 etudes from the opp.10/25 and the Trois Nouvelles Etudes of 1839.

[robk]

Just ordered this at £3.99 plus postage. Hope I get the 10 CD's

[verismissimo]

My belief is that Rubinstein didn't record the Etudes because he didn't play them.

[Lion-of-Vienna]

There are some strange goings-on at Amazon. Robk reports buying the Rubinstein Chopin set for £3.99. That offer quickly disappeared but last night a seller was advertising the same set for £4. That again has disappeared. Meanwhile last night I also noticed a set of the Wand Cologne recordings of the Bruckner symphonies, also for £4! That too has disappeared this morning. Whatever is happening it certainly pays to keep looking and to act quickly if you are tempted by a very cheap bargain.