Box Blather

[geralmar]

Bought it (120 monophonic CDs).  Doubt I'll live long enough to listen to all of it.  Seriously.

[staxomega]

Bought it (120 monophonic CDs).  Doubt I'll live long enough to listen to all of it.  Seriously.

I made it all the way through listening to roughly a disc a day which isn't too bad when they're LP length. Went from a peer pressure purchase/indifferent at best to Ormandy to really liking Ormandy

I didn't grow up with 78s/LPs so I only had his CDs which were all from his stereo recordings.

[Spotted Horses]

Is it to early to talk about a complete Haitink from Decca/Philips?

I'd like to see a complete van Beinum from Decca/Philips. I've never heard a van Beinum recording I didn't like, and many are not easy to find.

[Mookalafalas]

Is it to early to talk about a complete Haitink from Decca/Philips?

I'd like to see a complete van Beinum from Decca/Philips. I've never heard a van Beinum recording I didn't like, and many are not easy to find.

I'm with you on the van Beinum, but is there that much out there? I think his Haydn is sadly underrated. It sparkles.

   BTW, anyone thinking about this?


   I'm light on this type of old school approach.  I got Karajan's 60s box, but must admit I wasn't crazy about it...

[Spotted Horses]

I'm with you on the van Beinum, but is there that much out there? I think his Haydn is sadly underrated. It sparkles.

His Tragic Overture is amazing, and I'd like to have the rest of his Brahms. Most of his recordings were in the Mono era.

BTW, anyone thinking about this?

I think this set mostly has recordings when Bohm was past his prime. I'd say his Decca set would be more interesting.

I'm light on this type of old school approach.  I got Karajan's 60s box, but must admit I wasn't crazy about it...

That surprises me, it contain's Karajan's best work, I think.

[André]

The Böhm box covers all his recorded output on DG, from the mono days until his death. Orchestral only (including concertos). No choral or operatic works.

[Mookalafalas]

I think this set mostly has recordings when Bohm was past his prime. I'd say his Decca set would be more interesting.

That surprises me, it contain's Karajan's best work, I think.

  Past his prime? That surprises me. I thought Bohm was...always Bohm-like--and steadily became even more so I will look for some of his earlier work to sample. Thanks for the heads up.

   Regarding the Karajan...I think it is considered his best (which is why I bought it). I like a lot of things, but it often suffers from gigantism. He throws the whole orchestra at everything--which can be thrilling, but gets tiresome.

[Mookalafalas]

The Böhm box covers all his recorded output on DG, from the mono days until his death. Orchestral only (including concertos). No choral or operatic works.

  From Mono era? That's interesting. I imagine there will be a lot duplication.

   By the way, this is Orchestral Works 1, presumably meaning there will be at least one more.

[Jo498]

There is not that much duplication, a handful of Mozart and Beethoven symphonies, Brahms 1+2, Schubert 5,8,9. And almost all is stereo and the recordings Böhm is famous for; so despite him being around 70 for most of them, it might be considered his discographic "prime".

[Spotted Horses]

The DG set does indeed go back to the Mono era, but I don't recall there being a lot, some Strauss symphonic poems. Ein Heldenleben is impressive. The Mozart complete symphonies and serenade, etc, (from the 60's) strikes me as stodgy. The Beethoven cycle makes a similar impression. The complete Schubert cycle is better in my memory, though I sold it at some point. The one thing he did which I really love is the Brahms symphony cycle with the WPO.

I looked at the Decca set more carefully and a big fraction of it is some old Opera recordings, which don't really appeal to me. There are some Decca recordings of Mozart, etc, from the early 50's, but not as much as I thought. I wish they would have separated the orchestral from the opera, in this case.

[Jo498]

I am not a fan of (the fraction I know of) Böhm's orchestral Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert either.
To me it seems he was best in opera (even though here some of his studio efforts seem a bit stodgy to me as well) and/or live, and I think he overall was a better conductor in Wagner/Strauss than in non-operatic Mozart/Beethoven.

[André]

As I pointed out in another thread the box is not quite complete. Missing are the concerts Böhm gave with the WP in Tokyo in the mid-late seventies. They were issued by DGG in Japan but don't seem to be available here. I have 3 of them. Great performances of Brahms 1 and Schubert 8 and 9. And, surprisingly, Stravinsky's Firebird suite.

Basically what this new box offers duplicates two earlier boxes. What's new apart from the Strauss mono works and those mentioned by Jo are all his BP Mozart serenades and concerti, plus the non-Mozart Pollini concerti (Brahms and Beethoven).

[staxomega]

I bought the Bohm DG and Decca boxes from Amazon.fr. I wanted to get in preorders for the Fou Ts'ong Chopin Sony (I really wish this contained all Sony owned recordings) and Zoltan Kocsis Philips box before they sold out (something tells me both will get a short pressing run) and these two were cheap enough. I'll have duplication with the DG and only have one or two of his Decca Bruckner recordings.

[Jo498]

Some of the mono stuff might be new to (international) CD but I am pretty sure the Mozart serenades were on CD in the 1990s, and the Pollini certainly was, probably in several incarnations (I have them in different DG midprice/cheapo series).
I don't know the live recordings André mentioned but their inclusion as Japan only items would have the box made far more collectable, I believe.

[Spotted Horses]

Back in he days when I had a turntable I had a few LPs that looked like this.



That's the sort of thing I'd like to have on CD.

[Jo498]

I think some of the 1950s Decca were on Australian eloquence?

[ritter]

I am a great admirer of late (and I mean very late Böhm). The Mozart symphonies (only a handful, alas) he recorded with the Vienna Philharmonic are vastly superior to their earlier counterparts with Berlin (in the complete cycle), and have a wonderful warmth (even a glow, I'd say) that makes them very special.  Same applied to the Masonic Funeral Music. Old-school Mozart, obviously, but top-quality IMHO.

The late concerto recordings (Mozart and Beethoven) with Pollini are also outstanding. There was a special connection between the then young Italian pianist and the old Austrian conductor that yielded impressive results.

And then there's the widely derided (due to its slow tempi), valedictory Beethoven Ninth. I see it as a superb achievement, a recording for the ages, and a worthy conclusion to an illustrious conducting career.

I won't get these boxes (i.e., the DG, on one side, and the Decca+Philips, on the other) as I have almost everything they contain, after years of painstaking collecting and searching. Only major stuff missing is the Decca Così, Magic Flute, and Die Frau ohne Schatten (I have the live counterpart of the latter -released by Orfeo), and suppose I can eventually find them second-hand at a decent price.

In any event, there's wonderful stuff in the DG box (as well as the other one), and some of the recordings it contains are jewels in my collection. 

[Spotted Horses]

I am a great admirer of late (and I mean very late Böhm). The Mozart symphonies (only a handful, alas) he recorded with the Vienna Philharmonic are vastly superior to their earlier counterparts with Berlin (in the complete cycle), and have a wonderful warmth (even a glow, I'd say) that makes them very special.  Same applied to the Masonic Funeral Music. Old-school Mozart, obviously, but top-quality IMHO.

I agree heartily about the Masonic Funeral Music.

[André]

Some of the mono stuff might be new to (international) CD but I am pretty sure the Mozart serenades were on CD in the 1990s, and the Pollini certainly was, probably in several incarnations (I have them in different DG midprice/cheapo series).
I don't know the live recordings André mentioned but their inclusion as Japan only items would have the box made far more collectable, I believe.

Indeed most have never left the catalogue, but it's the first time they are all offered in a box. That's what I meant. 

[André]

Some of the mono stuff might be new to (international) CD but I am pretty sure the Mozart serenades were on CD in the 1990s, and the Pollini certainly was, probably in several incarnations (I have them in different DG midprice/cheapo series).
I don't know the live recordings André mentioned but their inclusion as Japan only items would have the box made far more collectable, I believe.

There are others, but some works are duplicated, as they were played in different concerts. The NHK recorded them all. I miss LvB symphonies 4 and 7.