Favourite Purchases of 2012

[bigshot]

I have that one! It's great. Membran's Meister Konzerte 100 CD box is spectacular too. An education in classic recordings!

[stingo]

Here's one of mine...

[asin]B000MX7SOG[/asin]

I love me some Bartok and had hitherto never heard Kossuth - which has since been taken care of.

As for the Brilliant Russian Archives 100 CD Box - I've loved the discs I've played from it, particularly Richter's Beethoven so far.

[TheGSMoeller]

A late addition, but one that deserves to be near the top. I can't think of anything negative to say about these performances. The trio is a gem to cherish.

[asin]B000BUEGCM[/asin]

[Brahmsian]

A late addition, but one that deserves to be near the top. I can't think of anything negative to say about these performances. The trio is a gem to cherish.

[asin]B000BUEGCM[/asin]

Rock on dude!  Party on, excellent!! 

[TheGSMoeller]

Rock on dude!  Party on, excellent!! 

Ha! I knew you would approve. 
Out of the many Brahms chamber discs I've purchased the past month this one is making the biggest impact, both the quality of the recording and performance are top-notch.

[North Star]

I definitely have to add these:
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[asin]B00004TAZL[/asin]
[asin]B008B3P4FO[/asin]
[asin]B003GT37O8[/asin]

[not edward]

I've not picked up a lot this year, and most of what I did wasn't that new.

Offhand, the standouts probably are:

[asin]B001ERJV0I[/asin]

Janowski's reading of the much-missed Henze's mighty 7th symphony represents a major advance on Rattle's debut recording. Tauter, tenser and more apocalyptic, it reinforces this work's position as one of the composer's finest works. Finally getting to hear the 8th was also a great pleasure, so much so that I also ended up with this alternative reading:

[asin]B001AMM3C0[/asin]

Hard to say whether I prefer Stenz or Janowski in the 8th; both bring across its genial, witty nature very well. Stenz's couplings are outstanding, too: the Bassarids suite is essential in the absence of an easily acquired complete opera, while his way with Nachstucke und Arien (and Claudia Barainsky's fine singing) bring out the Mahlerian resonances in this work.

[asin]B000009INW[/asin]

Kurtag's massive "concerto for soprano and piano", The Sayings of Peter Bornemisza, has been a work I've been curious about for some time. Finally acquiring a recording of it made it clear to me why this work has the reputation it does: it's a really powerful essay in building fragment upon fragment to create a huge dramatic arc. Not easy or comfortable listening, but an intensely vital, and, I think, very important work that's little known in the West.

[asin]B004H6P2LA[/asin]

Almost certainly the best reissue purchase of the year for me (if you discount the second Henze disc being a reissue made a few months after the original issue). The disc of the 2nd and 6th symphonies is worth the price of the whole set, and more.


Disappointment of the year so far: how did I fail to notice the existence of this disc, with my favourite lieder singer in a ridiculously appealing selection of repertoire?

[asin]B007JYQT4Q[/asin]

At least I know what I'll be getting for Christmas now. :-)

[stingo]

Rock on dude!  Party on, excellent!! 

Definite agreement here. A fantastic performance and recording indeed.

[Octave]

Pre-emptive postscript:
This list got out of hand, along the way.  My apologies for all the ASIN images.  It's kind of oppressive.  It was a busy year, if not exactly....productive.
Comments are usually intended to be seen below an image, though there are a few exceptions (usually followed by a colon).

In addition to already being very interested in many items mentioned, I would like to enthusiastically second others' enjoyment (in this thread) of the following:
- Henze: SYMPHONY #8 ETC (Markus Stenz, Claudia Barainsky et al - Phoenix Edition)
- ERICH LEINSDORF CONDUCTS PROKOFIEV (Sony, 6cd)
- Satie: EARLY PIANO WORKS by Reinbert de Leeuw (though after giving away my second copy, I repurchased it as a 4-disc set, with the third disc being mélodies and the fourth being a kind of disposable dance/performance DVD...I love the Leeuw recordings; I wish his VEXATIONS would have been included in that box).
- Huelgas Ensemble: A SECRET LABYRINTH box
- Haydn by Bernstein (Sony, 12cd...the black box)
- Haydn by Bruno Weil (Sony, 7cd)
- Prokofiev solo piano by Matti Raekallio
- Second Viennese School [Schoenberg et al] by LaSalle Quartet (Brilliant, 4cd)
- Du Caurroy 2cd by Doulce Mémoire (Naive)...addictive
- Haydn string quartets by Kodaly Quartet (Naxos box)
- Albert Roussel: SPIDER'S BANQUET (Naxos) - all that Roussel on Naxos has been really enjoyable, though I also have not tried other recordings yet)
- Szymanowski by Rattle (EMI, 4cd)
- Schoenberg by Robert Craft (the two box sets are potentially a good deal for those who don't own the single issues already)
- Scriabin solo piano by Maria Lettberg (Capriccio, 8cd)
- Samson François EMI megabox (36cd), which I have finally heard all of
- Beethoven by Busch Quartet (Dutton remasters, four volumes)
- Mahler #9 by Bruno Walter (Dutton)
- Humperdinck's HANSEL/GRETEL (Karajan)
- Beethoven #9 by Fricsay (DG Originals w/red cover...bracing!)
- Bruckner symphs box (Karajan, DG...all from 70s iirc)
- Bach: 10cd 'old-fashioned fat jewelboxes' box w/5 discs of Tipo's piano readings [not every taste, but I was really taken with them] and Johanna Martzy's violin sonatas/partitas [also available, maybe still, in an allegedly better transfer from Testament?], which I really really liked; this particular Starker cello suites did _not_ do much for me
- Bach ITALIAN CONCERTO etc by Dubravka Tomsic (still available potentially ultra-cheap)
- Bruckner by Celibidache (Munich/EMI, 12cd)
- Beethoven by Serkin (Sony, 12cd)

These seconded emotions aren't even exhaustive; just things that made a really strong impression on me, almost all inside the past ~48 months.

Things acquired this year that I really, really loved (and listened to at least twice).  Mainly remediation!  I'm going to throw in some non-classical recordings too.

[asin]B00005BC5Q[/asin]
Brahms quartets by Tokyo Quartet (Vox)
(also in the OOP Brilliant 'Complete Chamber' box, which sometimes pops up for decent prices; I got my 2cd of this recording on Vox)

[asin]B005H7Q0KU[/asin]

[asin]B000004CYV[/asin]

[asin]B005IIA9GY[/asin]
Is this already falling out of print?  Surely not.

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[asin]B00156ZWV0[/asin]
Almost entirely my first encounter with RVW, believe it or not.  Looking forward to refining this relationship.

[asin]B000RZOR2U[/asin]
Even the strong recommendations of this collection that I received were heaped with caveats; the reliability of this piqued my interest even more strongly.  I don't regret getting this one bit; one project for this spring will be to closely compare many of these recordings to others, cantata by cantata.

[asin]B002JH8ISI[/asin]

[asin]B001QEJQYA[/asin]
Prelude to further investigation...

[asin]B0007IK4WE[/asin]
I sometimes wonder if I should have gotten the Brautigam, but there's time enough for that.  This collection went a long way toward making me enjoy the sound of these period instruments, fortepiano in particular.  It's a relief not to have to work and work at this anymore, though I wonder if this makes it too easy.

[asin]B00354XVO0[/asin]

[asin]B000BQV52A[/asin]
And to think I only knew the man for some insane free-jazz, for years and years before hearing this.

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[asin]B00005LAM4[/asin]
and also the 2cd w/string quartets + trio on Neos (?)...maybe even more essential than this Ictus disc

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[asin]B000L213VW[/asin]
...and the other three volumes from Milnes/Montréal, also on ATMA; I think all these performances are OVPP, though with the gluttony, I could be misremembering....immensely beautiful and perfectly recorded...

[asin]B007CW2FCA[/asin]
I've heard one person claim that this reissue has noticeably depreciated sound compared to it ~90s Philips edition (which included the concertos, not included here).  No idea about that.  2013 will send me much deeper into Arrau, pending affordable availability of his recordings.  I loved his ~70s Chopin NOCTURNES as well.

[asin]B0000AKPNX[/asin]

[asin]B00002ZZ55[/asin]
...and right after I bought this, EMI released a blue 6cd true-box with this recording plus a couple discs including Asperen's GOLDBERGs-plus, still available as a Veritas two-fer; those I have not yet heard....

[asin]B005TLWO68[/asin]
I am willing to believe that other recordings will unseat these---at least these Handels: for example, Savall's WATER/FIREWORKS, which I somehow still haven't heard; or, say, Pinnock, who somehow I still haven't heard---but I followed the preferences of the "Desert Island Lists" of one or two of the editors of gfhandel.org, who singled out two or three of the Handel discs from this box as favorites.  Wonderful for mornings.

[asin]B00004TEUT[/asin]
Even in frailty and night-gaunt, Pears is my man.

[asin]B000GUK00E[/asin]
Not just because it's cheap, but because it's how I heard some marvelously played ~1955 Mozart in perfectly acceptable mono.  COSI (Böhm), FIGARO (E. Kleiber), GIOVANNI (Josef Krips), ZAUBERFLÖTE (Fricsay).
Here is alternative product page, just in case you can get a better MP deal there: B003A7ALTK; I think BRO carries this as well, maybe even a bit cheaper.
A barely-legible back-cover pic w/contents and personae:


[asin]B0056BMV6E[/asin]
A reissue of Columbia's old 3cd set, with maybe several bonus tracks?  I have fogotten.  Tough swing.

[asin]B000001SUN[/asin]
A torso, but incredible.  Seems to be terminally OOP, though I currently see one "new" copy left, very cheap, from the Amazon MP dealer from whom I got mine.

[asin]B000025W5V[/asin]
I am disappointed that this one seems to be OOP as well.  I followed an Alex Ross tip to this one, and even knowing a number of other performances, these are fiery, bad-ass excursions.  I was actually quite disappointed to order a "new" copy through a reputable and, in my past experience, honest Amazon MP seller (Avatar) and receive a burn-to-order CDR edition.  I contacted the label and asked why they weren't explicit about the difference in media, and I got a lot of defensive guff from them.  Very annoying.  From the label's correspondence, it almost seems that Nimbus/Wyastone is handling this duplication for them!  What a bunch of creeps.  The problem isn't their solution to the vicissitudes of the market, but their dishonesty about the exact product they provide.  Defending CDRs as a medium isn't the right response: it's irrelevant.  The real rub is why a label would present one kind of product as another, though technically, sure, they didn't make a false claim outright.  Screw that.  Still, these are amazing performances (in dodgy sound).

[asin]B0079J283C[/asin]
Remediation!  Remediation!  Remediation!  (This is the 4-sacd edition.)

[asin]B00006YXOX[/asin]

[asin]B0000026ZQ[/asin]
It is inconceivable that this will not be reissued as part of a larger box set sooner or later, as it seems to be out of print for the first time in....?  I'm sure I will find a recording of the sextets that I like as much as this, or more; but for now, this is definitely the one.

[asin]B000C6NO0U[/asin]
Artur Schnabel: COMPLETE SCHUBERT RECORDINGS (Music & Arts, 5cd).  Still affordable, new, through MP.  Schubert scrubbed of schmaltz.  I outright disliked these recordings when I first heard them, now they are Carl Theodor Dreyer.

[asin]B000V7UN68[/asin]
Already surpassed in certain sonatas by a half-dozen others; but as a month-long intensive, a revelation.  Absolutely no idea if I would have liked this much of the Scott Ross as much or better, but if the price on that other doorstop ever comes down again, I will try my luck.  I got the Belder because he'd taken more time recording it, and because he used more instruments, and because I really dug a lot of his Bach (WTC).  None of that means anything, of course, with relation to Ross; I can believe that he played DS like his life depended on it.  And I guess it's pretty artificial to compare complete sets as such; that's a criterion external to the music.

[asin]B000006M8W[/asin]

and

[asin]B000SKJQWK[/asin]

and

[asin]B000002SRN[/asin]
(There is a much more recent reissue w/libretto in pdf, but I wanted the paper/glue, for sniffing.  If I ever finally adopt an e.reader/pad of some kind, the pdf libretto might actually prove to be superior to all these little cheap booklets with tiny print...it's the printed libretti that will start to look cheap and barbaric, then.  Assuming I can get all these downloaded/pdf texts to work well on the device.)

Looking forward to checking out the big EMI Poulenc box, particularly with the orchestral music by Prêtre.

[asin]B000001K2L[/asin]
[asin]B000001K2M[/asin]
Ravel : ORCHESTRAL WORKS by Minnesota/Skrowaczewski (Vox, 4cds in two volumes)
Somehow seems like an unlikely favorite for these works (the piano concerto certainly excluded, though); but for the moment, here I am.  Also really enjoyed Haitink's and Boulez's accounts this year.

[asin]B004P8VHN2[/asin]
A hothouse-grown whirlwind.  This edition includes a second disc of Oliver Knussen pieces.

[asin]B000026C8A[/asin]
The Box Maniac in me kept thinking about getting that enormous EMI Menuhin box, but I keep having bad dreams about the quality-control [i.e. Menuhin's] allegations (plus I worry about multiple discs of crossover experiments with Stéphane Grappelli (I say this w/o having heard, please forgive).  I have heard that these two legendary performances sound a lot better in their Naxos Historical transfer.

[asin]B003NEQAX6[/asin]

and

[asin]B000KEHMHU[/asin]
(Might have gotten that late in 2011, cannot remember.)

[asin]B00004SV5H[/asin]
Another item that seems to have gone way out of print even just in the past several month; bummer.  Amazing performance.

[asin]B00005REUL[/asin]
Beethoven: Violin Concerto + Brahms: Double Concerto [w/Sadlo] (dir. Gauk/Ancerl, resp.)
If there's a clearly-superior transfer of this Beethoven, I'd love to know about it.

[asin]B0000241XW[/asin]
Schubert D960 by Valery Afanassiev.
This has not been so expensive in the recent past; I paid more like ~US$9-12 for it.  I wish an affordable box of his Denon recordings would become available.

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[asin]B000E5KQL4[/asin]
I have read that this Krauss RING sounds much better in its Pristine Classical remasterings; but the price differential made me go with the old-fashioned option.  I got mine for US~$35; the current prices are a little steep for the lackluster package, perhaps.  I don't mind the sound and the singing and playing are great.

[asin]B000027TQY[/asin]
I waited until this was more affordable (~$16) than it is now; the pieces are amazing.  The later quartets (sacd on Dacapo) are pretty cool too.

also

[asin]B000000B01[/asin]
which has been super-awesome.  I'm going to get deeper into Nørgård in 2013.

[asin]B0056K4VZO[/asin]
Everything in this box has been a pleasure if not an outright joy.  The Bruckner and Schumann were especially fine.

[asin]B000001GNS[/asin]
This and Giulini's Bruckner #9 were two highlights of 2012 for me; I think you can get both plus a #7 I don't yet know (I got his live #7 on BBC Legends, which was amazing) in that recent DG Giulini box, which also has the brahms cycle that another forum member mentioned in this thread.  I wish I'd known that box was coming before I bought #8/#9.  It would be crazy to call them the best of their kind, but they seem eminently worthy of hype.  I was also knocked out by Giulini's classics recordings of Verdi's REQUIEM (EMI) and Mozart's DON GIOVANNI below....

[asin]B00442FNFM[/asin]
An online music friend says that this transfer is noticeably superior to the allegedly horribly botched most-recent remaster by EMI.  I had to order this Alto edition from UK (Amazon, Presto, etc) due to domestic EMI gangsterism.  Wonderful to finally hear this performance, after finally acquiring a taste for opera.

[asin]B005NNJK0K[/asin]
I got this via Amazon MP for ~$35, so it might be worth waiting for the price to drop a bit.  I have not been a big jazz fan for years, but her voice returns to me with great force.

[asin]B00004TEUX[/asin]
Remediation!  Hoping to get deeper into Mendelssohn this year.

[asin]B0000DI4TE[/asin]
Bach; CELLO SUITES (Pablo Casals - Opus Kura edition, 2cd)
I'm sorry to keep mentioning things that seem to have fallen out of availability overnight.  This is Opus Kura transfer of the Casals Bach Suites, and without comparing them to the very old EMI edition I have been avoiding for ~15 years, they sound great to me, or at any rate really, really not-bad.  Some online music-veteran friends have expressed preference for these over even the Naxos Historicals.

[asin]B00001IVQX[/asin]
The Fricsay/DFD/DG (a different/trimmed edition?)---rapidly vanishing from availability, for the moment---sounds great to me; but the Kertesz is absolutely mighty.  Terrifying.
P.S.: it loks like maybe this recording has just been reissued in an Eloquence 2cd with Kodaly's HARY JANOS, here's the ASIN for Amazon US, a pretty good deal via Marketplace: B009TT0AX0
No idea if it was remastered...

[asin]B000025WXR[/asin]
My favorite for the moment?

[asin]B000025G0Q[/asin]
I like the Brilliant box of Mompou playing his own music; but the sound is not so good.  I don't know many other recordings of this music, but I finally bought the Henck, and it's as beautiful as it ever was before.

[asin]B00006469P[/asin]

[asin]B0015X6REE[/asin]
The ultra-geeky Opus Kura edition with TWO different transfers of the same program, one emphasizing the vocals and the other emphasizing the orchestra.  I have no point of comparison, but the music sounds great to me.  My introduction to Kathleen Ferrier.

[asin]B00006JJ3B[/asin]
with the Walter 1952, above, thus far my favorite.  The sound is better here, and Baker is awesome.

[asin]B000009ON2[/asin]
I have heard some third-hand grumbling about Sinopoli.  Is he to be avoided?  I also really liked his Strauss ARIADNE (in its Brilliant reissue).  I am thinking of getting that orchestral music box from DG-Italy.  Not sure.

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[asin]B00181GGTY[/asin]
I think the Leonhardt item toward the bottom of Mandryka's list in this thread is included in this collection.  A pity it's a bit pricey; I listened to nothing but this at work (and a little bit, daily, at home) for at least a week, with mounting enthusiasm.  I liked the Sony "Edition" box as well.

[asin]B000AV621U[/asin]
My first encounter with Tippett.

[asin]B0000037J4[/asin]
My first encounter with Caruso, notwithstanding movies.  I was startled at how much I loved his singing.  Is he considered a "pop" guy?  The age of the recordings, with instruments sounding like a wheezing harmonium struggling through cheesecloth, was absolutely not a barrier at all to my enjoyment of the music and milieu.  Now I wonder if I need everything.  Kind of a shock.

[asin]B0002VYEN6[/asin]
Also S.E.M.'s FOR SAMUEL BECKETT b/w TURFAN FRAGMENTS, an older recording than I'd remembered.

[asin]B00009LW4Y[/asin]
Overwhelming.  Still have not heard the alternatives, though; so I am just reacting to the music.

[asin]B000BO5LYA[/asin]
I'm sure the studio recordings will be amazing when I return to them after so long away; but these live recordings (not great sound) bowled me over.  Punk.

[asin]B003A6X0IU[/asin]
Ruzicka: STRING QUARTETS {Minguet Quartett - Neos, 2sacd] 
Really interesting, though regrettably expensive; I only got this because I lucked out on a good deal.  Some of this material is available in a one-disc collection featuring the Arditti Quartet and Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, which can be had cheap (BRO and elsewhere).  In fact, I think someone mentioned it in this thread?

[asin]B00000J8CE[/asin]
Acquired due to a strong passing recommendation by Jed Distler.  Still available, though only just.  It is great!  I think Distler likened the synergy/deviance/ownership relation of this record to Gould/GOLDBERGs.

[asin]B00005IBG7[/asin]
Yes, I know this is the 'Rick Rubin' Nusrat record.  Still sounds totally amazing, and no world-music cheez.  A definite distant second/third/etc to some other items (like the awe-inspiring 5-disc Paris concerts box/series from Ocora, which seems to be out of print and kind of spendy), but I liked this enough to finally buy it this year.  Still great great great.  He was a lion.

[asin]B001F1YBOY[/asin]
Also out of print, sorry.  I only mention it because I think I prefer these recordings decisively to the classic Beaux Arts Trio.  I had despaired of ever finding a copy, then a small handful of cheap new copies turned up via Amazon MP, just a couple-few months ago.  Worth keeping an eye out for. 

[asin]B00000DS70[/asin]
Mozart: MUSIC FOR BASSET HORNS (CBS, 2cd, ~1990 - members of Chicago SO winds)
Needs to be reissued!  Used copies are still floating around relatively cheap.  I am definitely interested in alternative readings of these pieces (zoomable back cover at product page), if anyone has favorites; I will do some footwork.

[asin]B000QFCHFA[/asin]

[asin]B000025U4P[/asin]
Still available cheap via Amazon MP.  Wunderlich!  A major discovery for me in 2012.

also

[asin]B003D0ZNRO[/asin]
...and I have barely even gotten into his non-bleeding-chunks operatic performances.  2013 is looking up.

[asin]B001EMT72U[/asin]
This almost seems to be vanishing from availability.  I see like one new copy left at Amazon MP.  I ground my teeth paying ~$22 for this, but it has been worth gold.  Ultra, ultra cult.  Good alternative to climate control, though you have to take the cold along with hot.  It's not up to you.  If there is a more-amazing recording of this piece, I've got to find out about it.

[asin]B000FI9058[/asin]
Schubert: WINTERREISE (sung by Christine Schäfer)  The cover doesn't reproduce well because it's white-on-white.  Otherworldly.  I'm wondering if I prefer perversion in my WINTERREISEs.  I also really love the Schreier/Richter on Philips, which seems to be not-liked by people who use the term "eccentric" as a pejorative.

[asin]B005OZDXR8[/asin]

[asin]B0046M150C[/asin]

[asin]B001V7R09A[/asin]

[asin]B00000F1S6[/asin]
My second after the Holloway/Moroney, though I find myself drawn back to this one more often.

[asin]B0026S1XVO[/asin]
Three SACDs with seductive Victoria.  FYI: I see there is a much better deal on this (and a number of other Alia Vox titles) at Presto up through ~8 Jan.  As well as two other SACD reissues from Alia Vox...

[asin]B0002XNM64[/asin]

and

[asin]B004DY5B1M[/asin]


[asin]B002P2S9R2[/asin]
I was especially drawn back to the Sheppard, for some reason.

[asin]B0041IH4ME[/asin]

and

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[asin]B0053SQSNM[/asin]

[asin]B0040T7CO4[/asin]

[asin]B000AC5B0M[/asin]

and a pleasant surprise (perhaps I am too suspicious of transcriptions and arrangements by other hands):

[asin]B002ED6VEK[/asin]
(the other two volumes look cool, too)

[asin]B001PLNDR0[/asin]

[asin]B003IEAMEE[/asin]

[asin]B0074DXR4M[/asin]

[asin]B004AUUNTE[/asin]

[asin]B008NBEXNI[/asin]

[asin]B000025WLT[/asin]
Pristine, limpid, diffident, impressionistic.  Is it still jazz?  Some of my favorite music of any kind.  It's too bad this is still a bit expensive; a budget edition should be available at this point.

[asin]B006XOBFN8[/asin]

[asin]B00005YDQV[/asin]
Moravec!  Unless I'm linking to the wrong product entirely, my copy looks a bit different from this picture; four single Supraphon discs w/ black covers (each available separately)  housed in a cheapo slipcase.  Also the indispensable new mastering of his Chopin NOCTURNES:

[asin]B0085U0GYW[/asin]

[asin]B005KAA9YW[/asin]

[asin]B0000CF330[/asin]

[asin]B003CP1SRE[/asin]

[asin]B0000016P9[/asin]
found cheaper elsewhere than Amazon.

[asin]B0000060H0[/asin]

[asin]B0036ULAXM[/asin]

[asin]B001DPC48M[/asin]
Brahms piano quartets by the Capucons et al.  Probably will not stay my favorite, but it really struck me.  I listened to these recordings perhaps four times this year. 

[asin]B0006Z2L7E[/asin]
A really, really great performance.  The price at that product page is insane; I think this alt. ASIN is the same release: B0021JLP5W
And I am pretty sure I have seen it even cheaper from BRO.

[asin]B0007DAXUC[/asin]
and other musics of Dusapin.  This is the only opera I've heard from him.  The 2cd of string quartets (Neos?) is great too.

[asin]B000003CT0[/asin]
My first encounter with these pieces, believe it or not.  No idea how this recording rates, but it's been a pleasure.  I have heard good things about Muti's (EMI) and a recent one on Naxos as well.

[asin]B000ZBPQ2Q[/asin]
Lots of Berlioz this year.  Very hard to suss out what made the biggest impact.  I was totally enchanted by this.  Davis' classics Philips REQUIEM was also intense, as was Levine's (DG).

[asin]B00001W09Z[/asin]
Beethoven by Furtwangler (Music & Arts, 4cd).  Cheapest perhaps at Importcds.com?  ~$27 or so. 

[asin]B00005J7UX[/asin]

[asin]B000C6NO6E[/asin]

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[asin]B002AHJUP2[/asin]
Dufay by La Reverdie

[asin]B004MRX88S[/asin]
Forqueray by Borgstede

[asin]B001P9WFLM[/asin]
Harold Bauer (APR, 3cd)

[asin]B007IJKKV0[/asin]
Sweelinck: COMPLETE PSALMS (Glossa, 12cd), and also the 3cd of the secular music

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Marais: GRAND BALLET (by Paolo Pandolfo, released by Glossa)...seems to be on its way out of print?  I definitely got mine cheaper at Importcds.

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Haydn piano concertos by Brautigam, HIP

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Haydn piano concertos by Smirnova, modern instruments, also delightful and incredibly cheap, esp. at BRO (~$3!)

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Gilels, Rostropovich, Kogan trio (4 discs, iirc) with a 5th disc of Gilels with other guys (Brahms etc); a little bit expensive (chez Doremi) and non-ideal sound; but hella great playing; there is a DG 2cd with some of these same trio recordings, but I am not up to speed on the details.

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My introduction to Clara Haskil.  The Mozart in particular is wonderful.

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Bach KUNST by Koroliov (fascinating)

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Gubaidulina: SEVEN WORDS (Naxos), but also two releases from 2012, a disc of string quartets from Supraphon and an ECM New Series disc (CANTICLE OF THE SUN and a newer work)

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Bessie Smith box sets from  JSP (only the first volume is pictured).  These sound good to me, but I bought them too hastily and then found out that the superior transfers would seem to be from the Frog UK label.  (Supposedly one of the last projects completed by the great John R.T. Davies before his death.)  What's worse is that there might a serious issue of shady operating on JSP's side, ripping off transfers done for other labels like Frog.  I don't know enough to weigh in on this.  I am disappointed that the shitty-looking Frog single discs collectively cost so much money, with the artists long dead and Davies dead for like 10 years now.  Still, let better-infomed buyers than myself beware!

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Kaija Saariaho: WORKS FOR ORCHESTRA (Ondine, 4cd) - culling much but not quite all of four (plus?) discs from the Ondine catalog.

And this list doesn't even mention my very happy encounters with Hindemith (4 box sets from CPO, orchestral and quartets); the Handel ITALIAN CANTATAS series from Glossa (7 vols?); Rued Langgaard's symphonies; Bennie Moten (2 vols. on Frog UK label); King Oliver: OFF THE RECORD (jazz from ~1923); etc etc.

[Conor71]

Wow!    - thanks very much for posting that list Octave it was a good read. It must have taken you ages! 

[Octave]

They accidentally fed me an extra espresso shot in my pre-work drink; I said 'no problem', came in to a dormant workplace, put on Goebel/MAK's Bach, and hours later, I can't remember anything.

[The new erato]

Great post! Re CDRs ("Defending CDRs as a medium isn't the right response: it's irrelevant.  The real rub is why a label would present one kind of product as another, though technically, sure, they didn't make a false claim outright.)":

I've complained directly to Nimbus management about their current practice of issuing CDRs to order and maketing them as CDs. I've got lots of fluff in return about how good their CDRs are (very corteous of course, and the fact that they answered extensively and at all are very much to their credit); I have replied that that's not the point at all, the point being that I would like to know what I buy. As a result, Nimbus is off-limits to me from now on, others should also take notice

[Octave]

Erato, same here, with nasty and almost flagrantly evasive responses from the label, even though I was not asking for a refund or any other such thing.  Also, some very weird comments to an Amazon review I posted about a Nimbus reissue of a recording by Zia Mohiuddin Dagar; almost making me think that a Nimbus employee was trolling my review with irrelevant blarney.  (Something I'll never be able to prove, of course; but it really, really seemed like it.)  Plus, when I broached the subject of my nasty experiences (with representatives of both Nimbus/Wyastone and also Danacord) with the Amazon MP seller Avatar, he contacted Nimbus himself, and had an interaction with them that he characterized to me as "extremely unpleasant".  He (Avatar rep) said he regretted that they were contracted to continue selling products by Nimbus and/or Danacord (I wasn't clear and didn't ask for him to elaborate). 

Arkiv Music does something very similar, though at least they go to the trouble to enunciate a half-truth in the description section of their Amazon MP listing for "new" merchandise.  It's not exactly forthcoming, but it's admittedly a little less dishonest.  I'm actually grateful for their (Arkiv's, and Nimbus' too, for that matter) efforts to keep great recordings available.  But the evasiveness gives the lie to their feigned pose that there is no difference between redbook-standard compact discs and burned CDRs.  Say it up-front!

[The new erato]

I'm actually grateful for their (Arkiv's, and Nimbus' too, for that matter) efforts to keep great recordings available. 

Totally agree, and I was very explicit saying to them that if the alternative is nonavailability then CDRs are OK - as long as they are clearly marketed as that.

But the evasiveness gives the lie to their feigned pose that there is no difference between redbook-standard compact discs and burned CDRs.  Say it up-front!

Yes indeed. They quote a predicted lifetime of 35 years for their CDR's; but does not mention that a prerequisite for that is that the storage never exceeds 25 Centigrade; who can guarantee that?

Much as I am disinvlined to downloads, if I really wanted a disc that bad I think I would have gone that route (as soon as I have a good file-playing setup linked to my main stereo setup).

[North Star]

Bought (& received) in December:

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Forgot that this one was from January:
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[Octave]

Much as I am disinvlined to downloads, if I really wanted a disc that bad I think I would have gone that route (as soon as I have a good file-playing setup linked to my main stereo setup).

At the time, the expense of the Danacord 3cd was not bad; and since I saw no indication of it being burned-to-order (not even at Arkiv, who are almost always immensely more helpful with discographical information, more so than even the generally conscientious Presto), I didn't think it would be an issue.  The Danacord rep also indicated that they have a limited number of actual compact discs left, which are sent to libraries/related.  Another indication that their professed indifference to the makeup of these media is itself also feigned.

 

[Octave]

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This is the Bob Van Asperen Bach 6cd that I mentioned above; those who wish to acquire his beautiful Well-Tempered Clavier might as well get the extra two discs with the GOLDBERG VARIATIONS etc.

Also, I got that EMI Mahler 'Complete Works' box in ~late 2011 (iirc) and have enjoyed it immensely, even while listening to Mahler from other hands.  It was probably that KINDERTOTENLIEDER that was my real first exposure to Kathleen Ferrier's voice.  Klemperer's super-famous DAS LIED VON DER ERDE might also have been my first exposure to Wunderlich's voice.  Marvelous recordings, both.

I also got that Andreas Staier collection in 2012; yet another among many things that I am only going to enjoy more and more as I revisit it.  I was loving his Scarlatti and Haydn just a couple weeks ago!