Topic: Box Blather

[Ken B]

In other words, there's a box you'd maim to get. 

We need a scale!

kill to get
maim to get
pillage to get
riot to get
lightly shove to get
tickle to get
look cross to get
pout and stomp my feet to get

[Moonfish]

We need a scale!

kill to get
maim to get
pillage to get
riot to get
lightly shove to get
tickle to get
look cross to get
pout and stomp my feet to get

What about....

to get

 (and where does it belong in the hierarchy? Top or bottom?)   

[North Star]

We need a scale!

kill to get
maim to get
pillage to get
riot to get
lightly shove to get
tickle to get
look cross to get
pout and stomp my feet to get

Perfect - although I'm not sure tickling should be that high on such a list..

What about....

to get

 (and where does it belong in the hierarchy? Top or bottom?)   

Bottom, of course. 

[kishnevi]

You are definitely not alone. I think his star has fallen a lot over the past several decades. The concertos he did for RCA overall just aren't that good (some are better than others of course). Cosi said "cold," I'd say "impatient." What I've heard of his earlier recordings are markedly better, but those are not as widely disseminated, at least stateside.

A truly great recording that people seem to ignore because it is so unHIP

[The new erato]

A truly great recording that people seem to ignore because it is so unHIP

I have that LP set. My first recording of the solo Bach sonatas/partitas.

[Old Listener]

Ha, a friend presented me with the two Rubinstein books last year, but I've not read a page in 'em yet ... I tend to prefer early Heifetz - the concertos with Barbirolli ... as the big sucker was gone, I went for the ICON (terrific!) and the Sony sets (Plays Mozart, Plays Great Violin Concertos). The "Sinfonia concertante" with Primrose is otherworldly! As for the duplications of repertoire between the ICON and the Great Concertos, I prefer(red) the earlier ones in general.
But then I also got the Heifetz/Piatigorsky box and I love all that chamber music!
Also think highly of the Bach solo ... and of the early trio with Rubinstein/Feuermann.

So there's indeed lots of Heifetz I love (though for Beethoven sonatas I tend to go elsewhere, Heifetz' piano players aren't that much to my liking usually.

Btw, the same friend who gave me the Rubinstein books received my four smaller Heifetz boxes after I got the big one ...

Furthermore, anyone calling Heifetz "cold" should check if s/he's still alive himself (not picking any fights, but yeah, Rubinstein is another BIG favourite of mine )

Some of my favorite Heifetz recordings:

Beethoven piano trio op. 1 No. 1
Mozart Sinfonia Concertante K. 364 with Primrose and Izler Solomon conducting
Mozart Violin Concerto No. 4 with Sargent conducting
Bruch Scottish Fantasy

I wonder if those calling Heifetz "cold" and making blanket judgements have listened to these recordings.

[Pat B]

Well, I'll speak up for Heifetz... A lot of people describe him as "cold" and "technical", but every time I hear that old saw, I roll my eyes. I have the Heifetz big box and it is full of technical virtuosity for sure... but it is also packed with passion. Heifetz could phrase like no one else. His violin sings. I think sometime in the distant past, some critic made up the comment about him being all technique and no soul to apologize for another violinist who had lousy technique, and everyone has been repeating it like parrots ever since.

Well, there is certainly a lot of parroting, and going with the flow, in music criticism. That may have worked in favor of Heifetz more than against him. I just read a review of his Mendelssohn with Munch praising the "hair-trigger precision" in the finale which indicates the reviewer either didn't listen to it, or is unqualified to comment on that issue. It is the most out-of-sync movement of any concerto recording in my collection. In general, that recording sounds as though Heifetz's top priority was to get out of the studio as quickly as possible -- a much worse flaw IMO than any brief lapses of intonation or tone by other violinists. It's a shame because I have no doubt that he was capable of much better than this.

The Beethoven (also with Munch) is similar, maybe not quite as bad, but still: impatient.

Among his late recordings, I think he was at his best when sharing the spotlight (chamber music, K.364, Brahms Double).

His earlier recordings are a different matter altogether. Still not my favorite recordings, but it is easy to hear why he got so popular in the first place.

[Ken B]

Working my way through this, which is $12 plus shipping.

Fantastic so far.

[Mookalafalas]

Just got my ImportCDs shipment.

    That $12 Wagner box...is awesome! I just assumed it would be the kind with horrible, flimsy paper sleeves and horrible print, etc. It's not! They are good, stout sleeves that have clear printing on the sides so you can put them in a book shelf and see what they are from the spines.  Well, it's still Wagner ( ) but all in all, one of my best bargains ever.  I got it with a bunch of Naive label small discount boxes (Vivaldi, Bach, and baroque sacred music).  I am a happy camper.

[Que]

I got it with a bunch of Naive label small discount boxes (Vivaldi, Bach, and baroque sacred music).  I am a happy camper.

Naïve - never super cheap, sometimes hard to come by, but generally the highest standards in selecting repertoire & artists, excellent recording quality and presentation. 

Q

[North Star]

Naïve - never super cheap, sometimes hard to come by, but generally the highest standards in selecting repertoire & artists, excellent recording quality and presentation. 

Q

I think those boxed sets can often be super cheap. Otherwise agreed

[Que]

I think those boxed sets can often be super cheap. Otherwise agreed

We need to push those boxes a bit more…..  

From what I've read of late, some members need urgent help with their CDCDCD….



Q

[Ken B]

We need to push those boxes a bit more…..  

From what I've read of late, some members need urgent help with their CDCDCD….



Q

Yes! Baklavaboy! He's threatening to be cured!
We need to save him. Keep him in the fold. It's time to let him know about .... Glossa

[Brian]

The 25 CD Liszt box came. Attentive packaging - every CD and sleeve a different color, all the tracks and times listed, etc. And there is a huge wealth of interesting music, with great performers. I wasn't expecting Isserlis & Hough for the cello music, or Bruno Weil for choral works, or all the big Sony names for various works (Bernstein, Abbado, Casadesus, Rubinstein, a couple tracks of Bolet and Rosen).

However, there are two big omissions! No performances of Hungarian Rhapsodies 1-5, which means Liszt's single most famous piece is omitted. And the Hungarian Rhapsodies CDs have a total of 60 extra minutes of unwritten disc. And the second omission: they take mere highlights from the Annees de Pelerinage, while opting to have the complete Venezia e Napoli.

Oh well. I can't complain too much. I already have excellent Rhapsody sets from Jando, Cziffra, and Dichter, and am well-covered on Annees too. Actually those are really the only pieces by Liszt where I DO have a collection going...

[Ken B]

The 25 CD Liszt box came. Attentive packaging - every CD and sleeve a different color, all the tracks and times listed, etc. And there is a huge wealth of interesting music, with great performers. I wasn't expecting Isserlis & Hough for the cello music, or Bruno Weil for choral works, or all the big Sony names for various works (Bernstein, Abbado, Casadesus, Rubinstein, a couple tracks of Bolet and Rosen).

However, there are two big omissions! No performances of Hungarian Rhapsodies 1-5, which means Liszt's single most famous piece is omitted. And the Hungarian Rhapsodies CDs have a total of 60 extra minutes of unwritten disc. And the second omission: they take mere highlights from the Annees de Pelerinage, while opting to have the complete Venezia e Napoli.

Oh well. I can't complain too much. I already have excellent Rhapsody sets from Jando, Cziffra, and Dichter, and am well-covered on Annees too. Actually those are really the only pieces by Liszt where I DO have a collection going...

I don't think of them as omissions, but as making space for less known goodies.
The big DG box is superb too.

[Mookalafalas]

Naïve - never super cheap, sometimes hard to come by, but generally the highest standards in selecting repertoire & artists, excellent recording quality and presentation. 

Q

Well, $16 for 6 discs. It's not cheap compared to the Sony Wagner, but otherwise probably qualifies. (Actually, that's only for some boxes, others are $22).  I ended up with duplicates of a couple of the finest discs. I'm going to have some very happy friends

[bigshot]

I'm almost done ripping the Bernstein box, and I am running into another obstacle for "early adopters" of these box sets... About 20% of the Gracenote tags are only available in Japanese. Frustrating to have to set those aside to rip later. If any kind souls out there have one of those EZ computer programs for tagging classical music, please share your tags with Gracenote.

[Jay F]

I'm almost done ripping the Bernstein box, and I am running into another obstacle for "early adopters" of these box sets... About 20% of the Gracenote tags are only available in Japanese. Frustrating to have to set those aside to rip later. If any kind souls out there have one of those EZ computer programs for tagging classical music, please share your tags with Gracenote.

Is this the one you are ripping?

[Cosi bel do]

Why are you ripping boxes

[Ken B]

Why are you ripping boxes

It's worse. He rips the CDs.


Monstrous. Monstrous.