How satisfied are you with those big box purchases?

[Moonfish]

  As I have the Reiner and Rube, I ended up cancelling my order for this one. I'm disappointed but not too surprised that the playing times are so short; when I saw that each Beethoven piano concerto was given its own disc, I was a bit suspicious. 

  The onslaught of big boxes has really slowed down. There was a period there when there seemed to constantly be a new, irresistible one on the shelves, but that doesn't seem to be the case so much anymore...is the most attractive repertoire already "out there"? Has this trend run its course? Or is this a seasonal lull?  Whichever the case, I'm rather relieved. I'm really enjoying catching up!

I think it is a "seasonal lull"....   

[The new erato]

Just got the Living Stereo 2 box set... lots of duplication with the Reiner and Rubenstein boxes

That's why I didn't order it.

[Moonfish]

Just got the Living Stereo 2 box set... lots of duplication with the Reiner and Rubenstein boxes and very short times... most of the CDs are under 40 minutes.

and dups from the earlier van Cliburn set as well (I presume..)?

[bigshot]

I haven't run across Van Cliburn yet. But I have run across some wonderful Monteux I've never heard before. I got the set cheap at Amazon UK so I really don't mind the duplications.

[Moonfish]

I haven't run across Van Cliburn yet. But I have run across some wonderful Monteux I've never heard before. I got the set cheap at Amazon UK so I really don't mind the duplications.

Yes, I agree. The set is very affordable considering its content. One only needs to find a few gems and it is all "paid for".

[Pat B]

I just received Living Stereo 2. It made sense for me as I have Living Stereo 1 but not the Rubinstein, Reiner, or Cliburn boxes.

bigshot wasn't kidding about the run times. Some of these (e.g. Richter's Brahms 2nd Concerto) have been released on individual Living Stereo CDs with couplings which have been removed here. Reiner's Beethoven 1, at 22:38, is all that's on one disc. As for the Beethoven Piano Concertos, even I, a fan of good cover art, don't need to see five nearly-identical photos of Rubinstein. Lucia di Lammermoor, Barber of Seville, Berlioz's Romeo and Juliet, and Verdi's Requiem could have used one less disc EACH without splitting parts across discs. Worst is the B Minor Mass which is spread across 3 discs AND the split locations do not even match the piece's structure! This is taking the "original album" concept to a ridiculous and pointless extreme.

Yes, the contents were mostly listed in advance, but I expected the discs to be filled out like most other big boxes, including Living Stereo 1. I guess the big multi-disc works should have been a red flag.

Hopefully I will feel better about it once I start listening.

It's not necessarily a bad deal but caveat emptor, especially for those who were expecting it to be similar to Living Stereo 1.

[cournot]

I've been digesting the many boxes I've purchased recently but am glad to learn about the limits of the new Living Stereo Box.  Given what people have said I think I will focus on other priorities now. (Good excuse to save money). What do people think of the big Karajan Membran box 1938-60?  It seems to have many of the standard EMI opera sets as well as the various nice Philharmonia performances?  I don't have much early Karajan in CD form so I keep thinking that if I like one fourth of this box it'll be a good deal.  For various strange reasons, I have listened to little Verdi as I never quite got him (In contrast I love Wagner and like Puccini and Donizetti) so the Karajan led recordings seem like good ways to get some classic versions.

Any comments on that big box of over a hundred discs?

[bigshot]

Can't comment on the Membran box except to say that the sound quality on Membran releases has gotten better lately.

I have the Karajan EMI Orchestral box and the sound quality is great. Much better than previous CD releases. This is my favorite period for Karajan, so it was worth it for me to spend a little more and get the official EMI box instead of the  Membran.

I already had a lot of the operas, so I skipped the  EMI opera box.

[Mookalafalas]

Can't comment on the Membran box except to say that the sound quality on Membran releases has gotten better lately.

Do they do their own post processing? As I understand it, they have cheap stuff mainly because of a 50 year copyright limit in Germany, which means their sound can "improve" year by year--now the whole market from 1964 is becoming freely available to them, whereas 5 years ago they only had free access to "50s sound"....

[Pat B]

Lucia di Lammermoor, Barber of Seville, Berlioz's Romeo and Juliet, and Verdi's Requiem could have used one less disc EACH without splitting parts across discs.

Correction. Romeo and Juliet could not have fit onto one disc (the labelled playing time is exactly 12 minutes short).

The bigger point still stands.

[Ken B]

Do they do their own post processing? As I understand it, they have cheap stuff mainly because of a 50 year copyright limit in Germany, which means their sound can "improve" year by year--now the whole market from 1964 is becoming freely available to them, whereas 5 years ago they only had free access to "50s sound"....

Perhaps. Membran also provides services to small labels and independents looking for an outlet.  So that might be it too.

[bigshot]

Digital restoration technology has become more available. It used to be that you needed a CEDAR workstation to do a good job. Now the same tools are available for any PC.

[cournot]

I really like the Living Stereo, Bernstein, Karajan 70s, and EMI Wagner boxes I've gotten. I also liked the DG Mahler box and the EMI Oistrakh set. I also got the smaller original jackets Bach set of Gould but I moved too slowly to get the big one.  I'm working though the Perahia big box and love the Mozart piano works but have more mixed feelings about the other stuff. I liked the Sony Wagner box just because I got the Janowski Ring for so little, while the other stuff is interesting but kinda ok.  My biggest splurge -- the Solti Deluxe Ring -- was absolutely worth it to me.  I got a big box of Callas recordings, but I'm still on the fence about Callas.  I now begin to see what people liked about her, but I still find her singing unattractive in many operas.  I was particularly disappointed by the Brilliant Big Box of Mozart.  Nice to hear some different stuff, but the symphony cycle was not for me (don't like  period instrument versions and this one had nothing to commend it especially) and the operas were not well enough done to hold my attention.  It's the one big box I wish I hadn't gotten.  But in general, I've liked enough stuff in the cheap big boxes to find them worthwhile.

[Pat B]

Living Stereo 2 update.

Previously I didn't mention Otello because I mistakenly thought they needed 3 discs to avoid splitting acts across discs. I just listened to it, and that is not the case. They could have easily fit acts 1 and 2 on one disc, and 3 and 4 on a second disc (which is how the previous CD release was). Instead, they split act 2 and act 3 across discs, and the split in act 3 comes in the middle of a note.

[Mookalafalas]

Living Stereo 2 update.

Previously I didn't mention Otello because I mistakenly thought they needed 3 discs to avoid splitting acts across discs. I just listened to it, and that is not the case. They could have easily fit acts 1 and 2 on one disc, and 3 and 4 on a second disc (which is how the previous CD release was). Instead, they split act 2 and act 3 across discs, and the split in act 3 comes in the middle of a note.

  ouch.  Yeah, those first boxes, where they gave you an excellent album and then filled up the extra space with 4 and 5 star material seemed too extravagantly generous.  Seems the execs decided the same thing, but in "correcting" the problem have gone a little too far in the other direction...

[Ken B]

  ouch.  Yeah, those first boxes, where they gave you an excellent album and then filled up the extra space with 4 and 5 star material seemed too extravagantly generous.  Seems the execs decided the same thing, but in "correcting" the problem have gone a little too far in the other direction...

The moral is, if there are any big boxes you don't have buy them now .....

[akiralx]

My opinion of the boxes I have:

Perahia 40 Years: very good, excellent presentation (great hardback book) and barely any duplication for me.  The concert DVDs are nice.  The older recordings sound fine so may have been remastered.  Probably my best big box buy.

Karajan 60s and 70s:  I got the Korean sets as I live in Australia, and certainly for the 70s box many recordings have been specifically remastered for this release and sound excellent.  This is the finer of the two set in my view.

Zinman Symphonies: really great, I don't miss that the Mahler cycle is not SACD as I have plenty of other SACD recordings.  I find the Bronfman Beethoven concertos a little small scale but the Schubert, Schumann, Mahler and Strauss are top notch.

Byron Janis RCA:  a bit of a lemon owing to the duplication, short playing lengths and older (often mono) recordings.  But it was cheap...  There is a horrible version of Rhapsody in Blue included.  I admire Janis as a pianist however and the included 55 minute film about him on DVD is interesting.

[North Star]

I find the Bronfman Beethoven concertos a little small scale...

You haven't heard Schoonderwoerd & Cristofori, then. 

[bigshot]

Whew! The Karajan 60s box arrived today. It's going to take a while to rip this monster. Worse yet, the complete Horowitz is on the boat on its way to me right now. Musical orgy!

[André]

THE Big Box I'm interested in, praying it will be at a reasonable cost when finally issued later this year 0:) is the C.P.E. Bach complete keyboard works on BIS. Gimme, gimme, gimme all that Bach !!