Recordings That You Are Considering

[Franco]

Bach: Sacred Cantatas [BOX SET]
Johann Sebastian Bach (Composer), Nikolaus Harnoncourt (Conductor), Gustav Leonhardt (Conductor), Concentus Musicus Wien (Orchestra), Leonhardt Consort (Orchestra), Lieuwe Visser (Performer), Hanns-Friedrich Kunz (Performer), Max van Egmond (Performer), Harry van der Kamp (Performer), Robert Holl (Performer)


AFAIK there are two other complete cylces, Rilling and Koopman.  But neither of these seems to be available as a box set (unless someone can link me there).  I have liked Hanoncourt's Mass in B Minor and St. Matthew Passion, so I'm willing to take a leap of faith on this one despite the considerable expense. 

Still .... are there any comments on the relative merits of these three sets, or if there is a set I don't know about that I should consider before plunking down the $500+ on Hanoncourt/Leonhardt?

[Franco]

Well, doing a bit more searching I found the Hanoncourt/Leonhardt for less than half what Amazon is charging from Arkiv Music.

Having convinced myself that I am saving $250 - I'm gonna take the plunge.

[Opus106]

Still .... are there any comments on the relative merits of these three sets, or if there is a set I don't know about that I should consider before plunking down the $500+ on Hanoncourt/Leonhardt?

[I bolded that five hundred dollars.]

How many copies are you planning to buy?

EDIT: Oh, never mind.

[Opus106]

Well, doing a bit more searching I found the Hanoncourt/Leonhardt for less than half what Amazon is charging from Arkiv Music.

Having convinced myself that I am saving $250 - I'm gonna take the plunge.

Which Amazon are you referring to? .com has the set for $188.

[jlaurson]

Bach: Sacred Cantatas [BOX SET]
Johann Sebastian Bach (Composer), Nikolaus Harnoncourt (Conductor), Gustav Leonhardt (Conductor), Concentus Musicus Wien (Orchestra), Leonhardt Consort (Orchestra), Lieuwe Visser (Performer), Hanns-Friedrich Kunz (Performer), Max van Egmond (Performer), Harry van der Kamp (Performer), Robert Holl (Performer)


AFAIK there are two other complete cylces, Rilling and Koopman.  But neither of these seems to be available as a box set (unless someone can link me there).  I have liked Hanoncourt's Mass in B Minor and St. Matthew Passion, so I'm willing to take a leap of faith on this one despite the considerable expense.  

Still .... are there any comments on the relative merits of these three sets, or if there is a set I don't know about that I should consider before plunking down the $500+ on Hanoncourt/Leonhardt?

1.) That very same set is available at a much more reasonable price in its reissue. Depending on where you are from:

US - Here
Canada - Here
France - Here
UK - Here
Germany - Here

2.) You _could_ buy the complete Koopman (which I quite prefer over Harnoncourt/Leonhardt) from Challenge Classics direct... but at nearly 800,- Euros, that's rather hefty.

3.) Leusink (the 4th extant complete set, on Brilliant) isn't at all bad (despite occasional grumbles). If your desire is to have a 'library' of all cantatas as 'backup' with individual favorites fortified through other recordings, I find that just about  as recommendable as Harnoncourt. (And it comes with all the rest of all of Bach's works as a little bonus.  )

4.) Depending on which M-Passion you have of Harnoncourt's, that can be rather misleading. His third recording is my favorite (or at least among them), but the cantatas, milestones though they were, still show a lot of the learning process in the HIP world.

5.) If it absolutely must be a complete set, NOW, then yes, Harnoncourt (or Leusink) is your best bet. But by the time you've listened to half of them, Gardiner and Suzuki will have finished (publishing) their cycles, too... offering you more choice. (Albeit at a price... neither will come even close beating the $180 of Warner's Harnoncourt set.

Better yet, collect Koopman individually and get all the Herreweghe there is. :-)

Yes, and yes again! Maybe not my emotional favorite in Mozart (that would be either Quatuor Mosaique or the Klenke Quartet), the Hagen's Mozart is a marvel all the same.
And Jacobs Idomeneo picks up where his Don Giovanni (or more pointedly: his Figaro and only exempting his La Clemenza) left off: ensuring that all previous recordings gather dust.

[Franco]

Which Amazon are you referring to? .com has the set for $188.

The one I linked is Amazon.com - $548.  Where on Amazon did you find it for $188?

[Opus106]

the one I linked ia Amazon.com - $548.  Where on amazon did you find it for $188?

The same place where Mr. Laurson linked to in his post. http://www.amazon.com/Bach-Sacred-Cantatas-Box-Set/dp/B000RZOR2U/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1244131312&sr=1-1

[Franco]

The same place where Mr. Laurson linked to in his post. http://www.amazon.com/Bach-Sacred-Cantatas-Box-Set/dp/B000RZOR2U/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1244131312&sr=1-1

Yes, I saw it and immediately emailed Arkiv to cancel that order and once I get confirmation from them I'll get it from Amazon instead.   I thank you and my wife thanks you!

[Opus106]

I thank you and my wife thanks you!

[Coopmv]

The same place where Mr. Laurson linked to in his post. http://www.amazon.com/Bach-Sacred-Cantatas-Box-Set/dp/B000RZOR2U/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1244131312&sr=1-1

I bought the set from MDT back in February for even less.

[Brian]

NaxosDirect is having a mammoth clearance sale in which selected Naxos and Marco Polo CDs are $2.99 each - including some box sets for the same $2.99 price. (Unfortunately, there are also a few boxes which have been mislabeled. For instance, the clearance page claims a 25-CD set of the "British Symphony Collection" is $3, but when you add it to your cart the total magically balloons to $80.)

I ask the GMG citizenry: how many of these CDs are worth picking up for three dollars? (At this price I am slightly more tolerant of "so-so" recordings, though I don't want to buy any real time-wasters/duds.)













(the ballet CD has the Slovak Radio Symphony conducted by Andrew Mogrelia, Ondrej Lenard and Richard Heyman)






ALSO: I strongly recommend both of these CDs to fans of 20th century orchestral music. If you don't have them already, they are three dollars and they are exceptional works. Komei Abe's Symphony No 1 (Japanese Classics series; reminiscent of Prokofiev but with a nationalistic kick) and Manolis Kalomiris' "Triptychon", which in my Amazon review I compared to a Greek Khachaturian.

[Drasko]

how many of these CDs are worth picking up for three dollars?

I wouldn't give three for higlights disc when you can buy all three operas for $15.

[Coopmv]

This is the last and most recent Naxos CD I bought.  Interesting recording that ONLY Naxos will make ...

[Brian]

After placing some of the items in my cart, I have noticed that a few of the CDs - those placed in quotes below - are in fact not $3 at all but $7.19. I've contacted Naxos to try and get them to lower the price. 

[jlaurson]

I ask the GMG citizenry: how many of these CDs are worth picking up for three dollars? (At this price I am slightly more tolerant of "so-so" recordings, though I don't want to buy any real time-wasters/duds.)

These, in my book.

[jlaurson]

This is the last and most recent Naxos CD I bought.  Interesting recording that ONLY Naxos will make ...

If you mean that this (allegedly) most popular of 20th ct. violin concertos seems to have a special lure for Naxos (they have three recordings of it), then yes.
If you are suggesting that no other label would or has tackled that repertoire, then No. Canary Classics, just to mention the last one to record this work, is among those that have jumped on the butterfly-concerto bandwaggon.

[Coopmv]

If you mean that this (allegedly) most popular of 20th ct. violin concertos seems to have a special lure for Naxos (they have three recordings of it), then yes.
If you are suggesting that no other label would or has tackled that repertoire, then No. Canary Classics, just to mention the last one to record this work, is among those that have jumped on the butterfly-concerto bandwaggon.

I was not suggesting that at all.  I do not even have one recording by Canary Classics.  My collection has a relatively small number of Naxos CD's even though I have picked up close to 50 CD's on Naxos Historical in March and April.  Naxos is never the first label to which I will look for a particular work ...

[Lethevich]

I'd avoid the Donostia CD. It's "nice", but not particularly interesting. A bit of a light music mix of impressionism, nationalism and folksiness thinned into a gruel-like consistency...

[Lethevich]

To be honest, EMI could've made this package look a lot more appealing. Klemperer in Haydn already has me worried, but packaging it in brown?

None the less, from everything I have read on it, this could be interesting...

Edit: someone sent me a few movements - great stuff! This is not the same Klemperer as the stereo Beethoven cycle - it's perky, in a plush, restrained aristocratic way. Instrumental balance is good (no Berlin Wall of strings), recorded sound nice.

[Valentino]

That is the thing with OK. He was Otto or Klemperer.