Vaughan Williams box set?

Started by Air, September 30, 2009, 06:36:52 PM

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Air

I need some help - I don't know which one to get.  Any suggestions?  :)
"Summit or death, either way, I win." ~ Robert Schumann

SonicMan46

Quote from: RexRichter on September 30, 2009, 06:36:52 PM
I need some help - I don't know which one to get.  Any suggestions?  :)

Well, if the Symphonies are what you are after, then I have the box below w/ Vernon Handley - good luck in your choice!  :D


Bulldog

Previn/RCA and Boult/EMI would be my picks; the Previn is less expensive.

Conor71

I like the Boult/EMI set - Great versions of the first 3 Symphonies (the others are all good too!) and a generous selection of Orchestral Music as well! (this is a big selling point as some of this is excellent).
The other set I own is the Haitink/EMI set which is also great and has better sound than the Boult but not as complete a package.
I agree it is a difficult decision  :).

Lethevich

Handley, for performance, price and extras. Boult/EMI comes close for all of these criteria as well. Previn is also no slouch, but I marginally prefer the former two.
Peanut butter, flour and sugar do not make cookies. They make FIRE.

Dana

Quote from: Conor71 on September 30, 2009, 07:42:41 PMI like the Boult/EMI set - Great versions of the first 3 Symphonies (the others are all good too!) and a generous selection of Orchestral Music as well! (this is a big selling point as some of this is excellent).

      Yup, that's the big "everything" box. I bought Boult's first go round with the symphonies - many of the late ones (from 6 on, I think) are world premiere recordings. There are two brief speeches included too - the first one given by Vaughan-Williams concerning his 6th symphony, the second one given by Boult, telling the orchestra that the composer of the work they were about to record had died hours earlier. The mono sound is another terrific surprise - it puts many of today's sound engineers to shame.

      And I know that it technically isn't a box set, but I feel like I wouldn't really know Vaughan-Williams at all without this double-disc set. I'm pretty sure that I read that early in his career, Vaughan-Williams declared that he would never write a symphony. The works on this disc are a good representation of his non-symphonic output, which represents a different kind of Vaughan-Williams - a little more informal, perhaps, and more personal in a lot of ways. Many of Vaughan-Williams later symphonies (say, from 6 onwards) tend to make me feel more like an observer. This orchestra music makes you feel a little more invited, if that makes sense.

Grazioso



Includes the Handley symphony cycle and a heck of a lot more goodies.
There is nothing more deceptive than an obvious fact. --Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Dana


Elgarian

Quote from: Grazioso on October 01, 2009, 04:02:17 AM


Includes the Handley symphony cycle and a heck of a lot more goodies.

I've read reports that the recording quality on this set is very variable and often poor. Is that correct? (If it isn't, then I'd be very tempted.)

Lethevich

Quote from: Elgarian on October 01, 2009, 07:52:08 AM
I've read reports that the recording quality on this set is very variable and often poor. Is that correct? (If it isn't, then I'd be very tempted.)

There's no problem with any of them, really. There is a noticable difference between the old recordings and the modern ones, as should be expected, but perhaps the people in question simply don't like old recordings, or are unable to deal with the combination of the two.
Peanut butter, flour and sugar do not make cookies. They make FIRE.

Elgarian

Quote from: Lethe on October 01, 2009, 10:02:24 AM
There's no problem with any of them, really. There is a noticable difference between the old recordings and the modern ones, as should be expected, but perhaps the people in question simply don't like old recordings, or are unable to deal with the combination of the two.

This is great news! Thank you! I'm sufficiently acquainted with Elgar's own recordings for age, per se, not to be a problem in sets of this sort; so suddenly this set moves a good few notches up my 'to buy' list.

Guido

Quote from: Elgarian on October 01, 2009, 07:52:08 AM
I've read reports that the recording quality on this set is very variable and often poor. Is that correct? (If it isn't, then I'd be very tempted.)

Absolutely not.
Geologist.

The large print giveth, and the small print taketh away

karlhenning

I find the box tempting, even though I've already got the Handley set of the symphonies

Elgarian

Quote from: k a rl h e nn i ng on October 01, 2009, 03:35:33 PM
I find the box tempting, even though I've already got the Handley set of the symphonies

I think now, after these reassurances about the recording quality, it's become a 'must-have' for me. I have some of the Handley symphonies too, but not all; and even though I'm a long-time RVW fan I've tended to listen mostly to a small range of works (eg the contents of the EMI Boult box) - so there's a lot of stuff in this 30CD box that I don't have.

Lethevich

Quote from: Elgarian on October 02, 2009, 12:22:30 AM
I think now, after these reassurances about the recording quality, it's become a 'must-have' for me. I have some of the Handley symphonies too, but not all; and even though I'm a long-time RVW fan I've tended to listen mostly to a small range of works (eg the contents of the EMI Boult box) - so there's a lot of stuff in this 30CD box that I don't have.

The thing I was most pleasantly surprised by (as an existing RVW fan) was how much of the content of the box was gold. From the way its (mild) detractors talk about it, you would think that there were a dozen discs of miscellaneous minor choral works/songs, but actually there are only a couple and those do not outstay their welcome. The rest is just dynamite.
Peanut butter, flour and sugar do not make cookies. They make FIRE.

vandermolen

Depends what you want-.  if you don't mind historic recordings I'd go for the Boult LPO set on Decca. Otherwise I'd recommend the Boult EMI box or the Previn on RCA.  The Naxos recordings and Vernon Handley's sets are good bargain options. I also liked Bryden Thomson's Chandos box, but that may no longer be available.
"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).

Grazioso

Anyone who wants that big EMI box should snap it up. EMI's comparable Elgar box is already OOP, as far as I can tell.
There is nothing more deceptive than an obvious fact. --Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Elgarian

Quote from: Grazioso on October 02, 2009, 04:43:14 AM
Anyone who wants that big EMI box should snap it up. EMI's comparable Elgar box is already OOP, as far as I can tell.

Not OOP just yet, I think - it's still around on Amazon, still listed on the EMI website, and at the Elgar Birthplace Museum shop.

Elgarian

Quote from: Lethe on October 02, 2009, 03:37:11 AM
The thing I was most pleasantly surprised by (as an existing RVW fan) was how much of the content of the box was gold. From the way its (mild) detractors talk about it, you would think that there were a dozen discs of miscellaneous minor choral works/songs, but actually there are only a couple and those do not outstay their welcome. The rest is just dynamite.

Every time you post in this thread, you send this RVW box hurtling further up my priority list of purchases! My credit card number-typing finger is itching unbearably.

Guido

Quote from: k a rl h e nn i ng on October 01, 2009, 03:35:33 PM
I find the box tempting, even though I've already got the Handley set of the symphonies

Definitely get it Karl - I just gave my Handley box of the Symphonies only to my dad who treasured the gift. I wonderful thing to share!
Geologist.

The large print giveth, and the small print taketh away