Box Blather

[bigshot]

Is this the one you are ripping?

Yep. All done, except for the 18 disks whose tags came up in Japanese in Gracenote. Gotta wait for someone out there to tag them.

I'm ripping the super bargain Brilliant Classics Tchaikovsky set now. That one comes up with German tags, but that's OK.

[Madiel]

Gotta wait for someone out there to tag them.

If everyone waits for someone else, it never happens.

[bigshot]

Well I don't have one of those classical music tagging apps that makes it easy to format. I would have to type everything in by hand. So I will wait.

[Madiel]

Chances are you'll have to change half of it anyway, to suit your preferences. Either that, or you end up with crazy inconsistencies if my experience is any guide. 4 Discs of Telemann Tafelmusik, 3 different ideas from Gracenote/iTunes about how to label the pieces.

[bigshot]

I join tracks to make a single work one long track. It doesn't take long to quickly fix tags and rip that way. I just finished both the Bernstein concertos box and the Brilliant Classics Tchaikovsky box and it took about 4 or 5 hours. That's 130 disks.

[Mookalafalas]

Wowie-Zowie.

[asin]B00LL4U1TE[/asin]

  This could be the greatest thing that has ever happened to me.  It is true that I enjoy most things that I put on, but so far, everything that I have played from this box has made me excited. 
  There are a lot of usual suspects, and even duplication (3 versions of Ravel's La Valse?), but there are also a ton of rarer items, unusual combinations, and even bizarre picks (a disc of marches?!).  If what I have heard so far proves to be a fair indicator, however, this box is long on freshness.  You really get the feeling that Bernstein and the band are playing things because that is what they really want to be playing right at that moment. 
   Anyway, that is my initial gush of blather   I'm anticipating a lot of joy coming from this box. 
      By the way, it is afternoon here and I have to go to work in a few minutes--so this is not the enthusiasm that comes from an after work martini...

[Ken B]

Wowie-Zowie.

[asin]B00LL4U1TE[/asin]

  This could be the greatest thing that has ever happened to me.  It is true that I enjoy most things that I put on, but so far, everything that I have played from this box has made me excited. 
  There are a lot of usual suspects, and even duplication (3 versions of Ravel's La Valse?), but there are also a ton of rarer items, unusual combinations, and even bizarre picks (a disc of marches?!).  If what I have heard so far proves to be a fair indicator, however, this box is long on freshness.  You really get the feeling that Bernstein and the band are playing things because that is what they really want to be playing right at that moment. 
   Anyway, that is my initial gush of blather   I'm anticipating a lot of joy coming from this box. 
      By the way, it is afternoon here and I have to go to work in a few minutes--so this is not the enthusiasm that comes from an after work martini...

[Moonfish]

Wowie-Zowie.

[asin]B00LL4U1TE[/asin]

  This could be the greatest thing that has ever happened to me.  It is true that I enjoy most things that I put on, but so far, everything that I have played from this box has made me excited. 
  There are a lot of usual suspects, and even duplication (3 versions of Ravel's La Valse?), but there are also a ton of rarer items, unusual combinations, and even bizarre picks (a disc of marches?!).  If what I have heard so far proves to be a fair indicator, however, this box is long on freshness.  You really get the feeling that Bernstein and the band are playing things because that is what they really want to be playing right at that moment. 
   Anyway, that is my initial gush of blather   I'm anticipating a lot of joy coming from this box. 
      By the way, it is afternoon here and I have to go to work in a few minutes--so this is not the enthusiasm that comes from an after work martini...

I am glad that your box mania is reawakening! The joy of new discoveries - the musical gems just waiting to be found in the dance of boxes...

[Ken B]

I am glad that your box mania is reawakening! The joy of new discoveries - the musical gems just waiting to be found in the dance of boxes...

It's remarkable considering how much BB is enjoying his conductor-centric box that he wouldn't want more of them ...

[Mookalafalas]

It's remarkable considering how much BB is enjoying his conductor-centric box that he wouldn't want more of them ...

  Yeah, it is strange. 
      I've started a new exercise and diet regime. I eat 5-6 small healthy meals a day. Now I no longer get cravings for sweets or other foods.  Is it a coincidence that I also no longer crave more cds?    

[Ken B]

  Yeah, it is strange. 
      I've started a new exercise and diet regime. I eat 5-6 small healthy meals a day. Now I no longer get cravings for sweets or other foods.  Is it a coincidence that I also no longer crave more cds?

Denial. In deep, deep denial. Those Abbado boxes are great...

[Mookalafalas]

Denial. In deep, deep denial. Those Abbado boxes are great...

I know, I've had them for months

(Actually, I haven't played a single disc from the newer Abbado box.  And probably only a 1/3 to 1/2 of the big Korean Szell and Giulini boxes, and perhaps a similar number from several others, all of which are very good.  This, of course, is the real reason I've taken the vow 0:) 0:))

[Ken B]

Several people, and borderline cases like Baklavaboy, have expressed interst in discussing this:

[asin]B00LL4U1TE[/asin]

So let's do it here. It's a big box after all.

So far I am really impressed by the remastering. Columbia was always an also-ran in the sound department, but most of what I hear now has depth and a sound stage. A few places I still hear the Columbia clog, but not many.

[Mookalafalas]

Several people, and borderline cases like Baklavaboy, have expressed interst in discussing this:
So far I am really impressed by the remastering. Columbia was always an also-ran in the sound department, but most of what I hear now has depth and a sound stage. A few places I still hear the Columbia clog, but not many.

  Yeah, sound is fine.  I am not exactly finicky about sound myself, as long as it gets into the "good" range (the window of what i consider "good" is pretty damned wide).  There are plenty of old recordings that fall below that for me (for example, I have a hard time listening to the majority of the Furtwangler stuff, and can just barely (but rarely do) play Toscanini due to sound. However, almost everything else from the 50s until now works for me.   Of course it's wonderful when stuff stands out as great, but it is strange how little sound quality seems to correlate with age.  Well, maybe that's a little strong, but a lot of the 50s living stereo stuff sounds fantastic, and stuff recorded by Decca is almost always very good. There are some old sound engineers (Max Wilcox, especially) whose recordings are is always great, even back in the 50s.  The Fritz Reiner box (because of the Chicago acoustics? The recordings staff? is all radiant, and big stars like Rubinstein and Heiffetz were beautifully recorded.   Anyway, the Lenny stuff isn't "stand out" good to me, but there is nothing even a whit distracting or off-putting in anything I've heard so far.

   By the way, I've been drifting back to the symphony box for some reason, and played some Haydn symphonies and the Prokofiev 1 and 5 disc.     

[Ken B]

  Yeah, sound is fine.  I am not exactly finicky about sound myself, as long as it gets into the "good" range (the window of what i consider "good" is pretty damned wide).  There are plenty of old recordings that fall below that for me (for example, I have a hard time listening to the majority of the Furtwangler stuff, and can just barely (but rarely do) play Toscanini due to sound. However, almost everything else from the 50s until now works for me.   Of course it's wonderful when stuff stands out as great, but it is strange how little sound quality seems to correlate with age.  Well, maybe that's a little strong, but a lot of the 50s living stereo stuff sounds fantastic, and stuff recorded by Decca is almost always very good. There are some old sound engineers (Max Wilcox, especially) whose recordings are is always great, even back in the 50s.  The Fritz Reiner box (because of the Chicago acoustics? The recordings staff? is all radiant, and big stars like Rubinstein and Heiffetz were beautifully recorded.   Anyway, the Lenny stuff isn't "stand out" good to me, but there is nothing even a whit distracting or off-putting in anything I've heard so far.

   By the way, I've been drifting back to the symphony box for some reason, and played some Haydn symphonies and the Prokofiev 1 and 5 disc.   

I just bought the symphony box today. 

[Mookalafalas]

I just bought the symphony box today. 

  Because you are a wise and discerning man It really is a good choice since in addition to great renditions of the usual suspects (yes, another Beethoven cycle ) there are a lot of things you don't see otherwise (American composers etc.).  When you get tired of Symphonies, come back to Box II for Smetana's Bartered Bride, grieg's March of the Dwarfs, or that delicious Miraculous Mandarin...

  By the way, right now I'm listening to that super cheap little Russian box we bought some time back.  it's easy to forget that one because it seems so cheap and anonymous, but I've yet to hear anything bad out of that box, and most of it I've never even heard of anywhere else... 

[Pat B]

FYI there's also a long-running thread about Bernstein: http://www.good-music-guide.com/community/index.php/topic,1346.0.html.

I am a fan, but those boxes aren't for me because of how many of his Columbia/Sony recordings I already have.

And, I recently got the Fricsay box, which so far is really, really great. I was reluctant to get it, partly because I suspected I already had the highlights. But now, I've listened to 4 discs (in no particular order) and I'm starting to wonder when -- or if -- I'm going to get to one that is not a highlight.

[Mookalafalas]

And, I recently got the Fricsay box, which so far is really, really great. I was reluctant to get it, partly because I suspected I already had the highlights. But now, I've listened to 4 discs (in no particular order) and I'm starting to wonder when -- or if -- I'm going to get to one that is not a highlight.

  Pat, how is the sound in that box?  Frankly I need another box set of the main repertoire like I need another vasectomy, but I'm curious about the sound.  Is it Toscanini at NBC good, or Szell in Cleveland good? Or, god forbid, even better?

[Moonfish]

  Pat, how is the sound in that box?  Frankly I need another box set of the main repertoire like I need another vasectomy, but I'm curious about the sound.  Is it Toscanini at NBC good, or Szell in Cleveland good? Or, god forbid, even better?

Great sound! Rarities! Get it! 

[Ken B]

Great sound! Rarities! Get it! 

There's your answer Al: mono.