Cyclomania ** Symphonies **

[Drasko]

I have a touch of, probably irrational, aversion to complete sets, so have very few

4 - brahms
3 - schumann, scriabin, sibelius
2 - beethoven, martinu, shostakovich, tchaikovsky

[Mirror Image]

Continued from my last list...

Brahms - Zinman, Rattle, Bernstein (DG), Solti, Karajan, Bohm, Abbado, Dohnanyi, Muti, Harnoncourt, Barenboim, Haitink (LSO Live), C. Davis

Dvorak - Kubelik, Kertesz, Neumann, Rowicki, Pesek, Suitner

Alwyn - Hickox, Lloyd-Jones

Bax - Thomson, Handley, Lloyd-Jones

Stanford - Lloyd-Jones, Handley

Scriabin - Muti, Ashkenazy, Svetlanov

Rimsky-Korsakov - Jarvi, Svetlanov

To be continued...

[Lisztianwagner]

Beethoven Karajan, Abbado/BPO
Mahler Bernstein DG, Solti
Sibelius Ashkenazy, Maazel/VPO
Brahms Karajan
Tchaikovsky Karajan
Bruckner Karajan
Schumann Karajan
Nielsen Blomstedt

Quoting myself and continuing the list:

Rachmaninov Ashkenazy/RCO
Prokofiev Weller/LSO
Dvorak Kubelik/BPO
Schubert Sawallisch/Dresden Statskapelle
Elgar Solti/LPO
Shostakovich Haitink/LPO-RCO
Martinu Neumann/CPO
Scriabin Ashkenazy/DSO
Mendelssohn Karajan

[prémont]

Symphonic music falls a bit outside my most important field of interest, nevertheless I am a devoted Beethovenian.

Recently I counted 39 Beethoven symphony sets on my shelves.
Other than that I have:
Brahms: 4
Schubert : 1
Nielsen: 5

[Karl Henning]

Recently I counted 39 Beethoven symphony sets on my shelves.

Zowie!

Nielsen: 5

Excellent! No wonder we get on so well! : )

[marvinbrown]

My 2 pence, I usually collect one symphony cycle per composer. The only MULTIPLE SYMPHONY Cycles I have are (from what I can remember):

  Mahler: Bertini, Solti
  Shostakovich: Jansons, Haitink
 
  Bold indicates preference. 
   

The OP called for symphony cycles. So we shall disallow Wagner : )

    this is most displeasing! 

  marvin 

[Florestan]

Mahler: Kubelik
Brahms: Solti
Tchaikovsky: Karajan
Schubert: Harnoncourt
Schumann: Muti
Bruckner: Jochum
Sibelius: Jarvi
Prokofiev: Gergiev
Shostakovitch: Barshai
Borodin: Ashkenazy
Rimsky-Korsakov: Svetlanov
Kalinnikov: Jarvi

That's pretty much all I have as "complete symphonies".

[madaboutmahler]

Symphonic music falls a bit outside my most important field of interest, nevertheless I am a devoted Beethovenian.

Recently I counted 39 Beethoven symphony sets on my shelves.
Other than that I have:
Brahms: 4
Schubert : 1
Nielsen: 5

Gosh... congratulations!

Continued from my last list...

Brahms - Zinman, Rattle, Bernstein (DG), Solti, Karajan, Bohm, Abbado, Dohnanyi, Muti, Harnoncourt, Barenboim, Haitink (LSO Live), C. Davis

You have so many Brahms cycles, John! Barely ever see Brahms come up in your listening activity though!

[Mirror Image]

You have so many Brahms cycles, John! Barely ever see Brahms come up in your listening activity though!

I don't listen to Brahms much. I do like his symphonies a lot, but I'm more interested in other composers. I did go through a little Brahms phase a year or so ago, but that quickly faded out.

[Lisztianwagner]

Symphonic music falls a bit outside my most important field of interest, nevertheless I am a devoted Beethovenian.

Recently I counted 39 Beethoven symphony sets on my shelves.

Wow, that's really great!

[Florestan]

Recently I counted 39 Beethoven symphony sets on my shelves.

Gosh... congratulations!

Wow, that's really great!

Great but... Suppose you are blindfolded. Could you tell (a) the difference between the Eroica from set 12 and the Eroica from set 31 and (b) who conducts what orchestra on them? 

[madaboutmahler]

Great but... Suppose you are blindfolded. Could you tell (a) the difference between the Eroica from set 12 and the Eroica from set 31 and (b) who conducts what orchestra on them? 

This sounds like a fun game actually!

[DavidW]

Maybe we need to resurrect that clips game for that purpose!

[madaboutmahler]

Maybe we need to resurrect that clips game for that purpose!

Sounds like a good idea! Who's up for it?

[prémont]

Could you tell (a) the difference between the Eroica from set 12 and the Eroica from set 31 and (b) who conducts what orchestra on them? 

I will probably not always be able to tell the names of the performers. Add to this, that I haven´t had the time to listen to all of these recordings yet. And it is interesting to be able always to find a recording I haven´t heard, when I want to listen to a Beethoven symphony. And actually I do not find that one must be completely aware of the identity of the performers to enjoy the interpretation.

[Karl Henning]

I will probably not always be able to tell the name of the performers. Add to this, that I haven´t had the time to listen to all of these recordings yet.

But actually I do not find that one must be completely aware of the identity of the performers to enjoy the interpretation.

But, to be able to return to an interpretation which one has found particularly enjoyable . . . .

[prémont]

But, to be able to return to an interpretation which one has found particularly enjoyable . . . .

This is of course what I most often do, and this explains to some degree, why I still have unlistened-to Beethoven symphonies on my shelves.

[Conor71]

Sibelius (3): Vanska, Berglund, Barbirolli
Beethoven (3): Karajan 63, Gardiner, Klemperer
Schumann (3): Gardiner, Chailly, Mehta
Shostakovich (3): Barshai, Jansons, Haitink
Bruckner (2): Chailly, Jochum EMI
Brahms (2): Jochum DG, Karajan

[springrite]

To be continued...

These three words should end most of your purchase/collection-related posts!

[jwinter]

Well phooey, premont, now I'm going to have to go home and count up my Beethoven sets tonight...

I know I had at least 30 when I counted them last, but that was probably 5 years ago.  I haven't bought much in that vein lately, though, so you may still be ahead.  I've got Brahms, Mahler, and Bruckner well into the double-digits too (and don't get me started on LvB piano sonatas, but that's another thread)... 

It's not healthy, I know, but it's better than spending it on heroin or horse races I suppose, and my 8 year old daughter likes Mahler & Prokofiev, so I must be doing something right!  Not many "vices" can give you and your family a lifetime of listening pleasure.

Give me a little time to tally things up.  What's the grand prize, Karl?  A life-size dancing banana?