Bach Brilliant edition and other large box set recordings

[marvinbrown]

  Hello all.  I am looking for advice on the following Mega-box set.  With most composers, I usually do not buy huge box sets prefering to pick performances that I like after sampling them. But with Bach, the volume of work is so enormous that collecting all his compositions has become ridiculously expensive- not to mention that I am running out of patience trying to acquire all his masterpeices.  I saw the following mega-box set retailed at 99.75 euros (a little under £70) for 155 cds and was intruiged by the price- and the notion that I will never have to buy any more Bach cds.  But I am reading mixed reviews about this box set and quite hoenstly I am confused.  If you own this set or have heard it I would appreciate any advice you might have.  I would be interested in sound quality, performances of cantatas, motets and organ works. Once again any advice you might have would be appreciated.
 


  marvin

[Harry]

All in all its a good set, in sound and performance. For the money its a steal.
If buying first rate performances is to expensive for you, this set will do, and in many instances more as that!

[Norbeone]

I have it myself and have never regretted buying it. In saying that, though, I have many other recordings of Bach works that i'd usually listen to before listening to the Brilliant classics version (in most cases).

For myself personally, there are two main reasons why I should have it. The first is that it is a great resource simply because you have access to every published Bach work.
Secondly, I have no other recordings of the Cantatas, which are themselves very expensive to buy as a whole.

So I say buy it. None of the recordings are at all "bad", it's just that most of them don't quite have that unique and 'involved' quality of recordings you'd usually pick out yourself.

[Don]

I don't own the Brilliant Box, but I have heard many of the recordings included in the box.  So I can honestly say that if I did own it, it would be sitting on the shelf for months on end.  The Cantatas recordings aren't among the best, and the same goes for the organ works and most of the keyboard music as well. 

I feel sorry for anyone who has only this box for his/her Bach collection.

Is the box a great resource?  Not if you're more interested in wonderful performances than owning every scrap that Bach wrote.

Much of the desire to own the box seems to be based on cost.  All I'll say is that great music transcends price. 

[Papy Oli]

Hi Marvin,

I bought this set at the beginning of the year only about 6 months after starting properly to listen to classical music, I do not know enough to make a judgement on the versions in the set, however, i'd make the following points :

Positives :

- value for money : i bought mine for £45 at the time, after a few weeks in the basket monitoring the price. at your current price, even if you end up considering that only a third of the box set is worthwile, you'll have had ended up with 50 CDs at £1.40... not bad going I guess

- availibility : I do not know your fondness/knowledge of Bach's works, but for discovery purposes, you'll have the works at hand. if you read something here about a piece and that triggers your curiosity, then it is ready there and then to be listened to. Again, i can not comment on the quality of the performances, so i guess it is mostly a matter of keeping a critical/objective approach to the listening of those CDs, bearing in mind it is not definitive (is it ever ?  ) , then dig further on if the interest is raised with this listening.

- the complete cantatas : one of the main reason i bought it - likewise, for discovery purposes at reduced cost.

Negatives

- a few CDs i have come across have an average sound quality - not a major point for everyone, but as i listen to most of my CDs on headphones, that's something i picked up.

-  a sense of "what next" : that's a disheartening point about the box in a way...i have had it for 6 months or so, and i probably haven't listened to half of it yet... sometimes, I open the box, and wonder where do i go next...and i end up going to back to Mahler !!  ..to be fair, i haven't clicked with the organ and the keyboard works, so those sides have been neglected, but i am at a loss sometimes of what to try and listen to... 

All in All, not definitive, but can serve its budget purpose rightly if that's your aim for it.

[Don]

Hi Marvin,

I bought this set at the beginning of the year only about 6 months after starting properly to listen to classical music, I do not know enough to make a judgement on the versions in the set, however, i'd make the following points :

Positives :

- value for money : i bought mine for £45 at the time, after a few weeks in the basket monitoring the price. at your current price, even if you end up considering that only a third of the box set is worthwile, you'll have had ended up with 50 CDs at £1.40... not bad going I guess

- availibility : I do not know your fondness/knowledge of Bach's works, but for discovery purposes, you'll have the works at hand. if you read something here about a piece and that triggers your curiosity, then it is ready there and then to be listened to. Again, i can not comment on the quality of the performances, so i guess it is mostly a matter of keeping a critical/objective approach to the listening of those CDs, bearing in mind it is not definitive (is it ever ?  ) , then dig further on if the interest is raised with this listening.

- the complete cantatas : one of the main reason i bought it - likewise, for discovery purposes at reduced cost.

Negatives

- a few CDs i have come across have an average sound quality - not a major point for everyone, but as i listen to most of my CDs on headphones, that's something i picked up.

-  a sense of "what next" : that's a disheartening point about the box in a way...i have had it for 6 months or so, and i probably haven't listened to half of it yet... sometimes, I open the box, and wonder where do i go next...and i end up going to back to Mahler !!  ..to be fair, i haven't clicked with the organ and the keyboard works, so those sides have been neglected, but i am at a loss sometimes of what to try to... 

All in All, not definitive, but can serve its budget purpose rightly if that's your aim for it.

Yes, if you want all of Bach's music on the cheap in mostly acceptable performances, this box might be the way to go.  Personally, I don't have the available storage space to use up on 150 okay cds.  Besides, I already have many hundreds of Bach recordings, each one a few steps up from the Brilliant box offers (with little exception).

[Papy Oli]

Yes, if you want all of Bach's music on the cheap in mostly acceptable performances, this box might be the way to go.  Personally, I don't have the available storage space to use up on 150 okay cds.  Besides, I already have many hundreds of Bach recordings, each one a few steps up from the Brilliant box offers (with little exception).

had I been in that situation, i probably wouldn't have cared about that set either...

Good for beginners and completists only then 

[Don]

had I been in that situation, i probably wouldn't have cared about that set either...

Good for beginners and completists only then 

I don't know about it being good for beginners - they deserve the best also.  Concerning completists, I really have no idea what the big appeal is about gigantic "complete" boxes.  "Research and choose" is always the best way to go in my not-too-humble opinion.

[Papy Oli]

I don't know about it being good for beginners - they deserve the best also.  Concerning completists, I really have no idea what the big appeal is about gigantic "complete" boxes.  "Research and choose" is always the best way to go in my not-too-humble opinion.

Fair points, Don, but, from a beginner's perspective, I feel the main considerations would be first finding your feet amongst the numerous composers, works, genres, in most instances at optimum/minimised costs... concern about the various versions and performances will come much later once your tastes are a bit more "settled" and defined, and making you come across a forum like this one or other classical sources to help you further your discovery.

At that time, I did buy what i feel now are very poor budget records, and have replaced them since with more "acclaimed"  versions, but that didn't prevent me at the time to enjoy what i had (ignorance is bliss sometimes !) ... tastes will also evolve but at the end of the day, it is all about the enjoyment of the music, in whatever way 

[Larry Rinkel]

Fair points, Don, but, from a beginner's perspective, I feel the main considerations would be first finding your feet amongst the numerous composers, works, genres, in most instances at optimum/minimised costs... concern about the various versions and performances will come much later once your tastes are a bit more "settled" and defined, and making you come across a forum like this one or other classical sources to help you further your discovery.

At that time, I did buy what i feel now are very poor budget records, and have replaced them since with more "acclaimed"  versions, but that didn't prevent me at the time to enjoy what i had (ignorance is bliss sometimes !) ... tastes will also evolve but at the end of the day, it is all about the enjoyment of the music, in whatever way 

From a beginner's perspective, dropping the entire corpus of Bach's work undigested on a platter is not, in my not-so-humble opinion either, the ideal way to start with Bach. As you say yourself, you have yet to listen to half the box. If I were suggesting a good entry into Bach for someone just starting out, it might be some 12-15 CDs, including good versions each of:

- the Mass in B minor
- the St. Matthew Passion
- the Magnificat
- the Brandenburg Concertos
- the Goldberg Variations
- a good selection of organ preludes and fugues, like Peter Hurford's 2-volume set
- a good small compilation of cantatas, like the 2-CD Joshua Rifkin, except I don't like those performances or the 1-to-a-part philosophy
- the Art of Fugue.

That's a very representative assortment, you don't feel overwhelmed, and you can really get to know each piece thoroughly. I'm sure Mr. Brown has passed well beyond this, but for someone just starting I think it a good approach. I didn't own all the Bach cantatas until recently, when a sale at Berkshire (60 CDs for $240, or $4 a CD) of the Harnoncourt/Leonhardt set became irresistible.

(Edited to correct a horrendous grammatical error I didn't catch when switching from third to second person as I rewrote the sentence.)

[Renfield]

If I were suggesting a good entry into Bach for someone just starting out, it might be some 12-15 CDs, including good versions each of:

- the Mass in B minor
- the St. Matthew Passion
- the Magnificat
- the Brandenburg Concertos
- the Goldberg Variations
- a good selection of organ preludes and fugues, like Peter Hurford's 2-volume set
- a good small compilation of cantatas, like the 2-CD Joshua Rifkin, except I don't like those performances or the 1-to-a-part philosophy
- the Art of Fugue.

The Well-Tempered Clavier? It's what got me into Bach, before any of the above...

[Larry Rinkel]

The Well-Tempered Clavier? It's what got me into Bach, before any of the above...

By all means. It was in the back of my mind, but I thought I had enough to start. And the Double Violin Concerto, the Chromatic Fantasia and Fugue, the Italian Concerto - it's like eating potato chips, etc.

[marvinbrown]

 

  Thank you all for responding to my inquiry, and yes Mr. Rinkel is right, I  have moved beyond the beginner phase with Bach and am very familiar with the well known compositions of this fine composer- I own a few excellent recordings of Bach's masterpeices like the Pinnock Goldberg Variations and complete concertos for harpsichord, violin, oboe etc.,  La Petitie Band's Mass in B minor,  Karajan's St. Matthew Passion,  and yes the Rifkin favorite cantata set which I simply adore to name a few.  I have posted this inquiry because I was looking for an easy way out, I saw the price and was intrigued, but now after reading everyone's posts I am asking myself how would I respond to recordings that are "generic"- bearing in mind that it was these fine recordings listed above that got me hooked on Bach?

  marvin     
   

[The new erato]

These big sets have their function in assuring that you have every tidbit of Bachs works, including obcure stuff that is difficult to collect in general or would otherwise mean very large aqmounts of duplication. That is whyeI sometime buy such boxes. But that is something you buy AFTER you have a thorough knowledge of the masters major works in a range of forst class recordings.

[Grazioso]

I have the original version of the set--it's since been repackaged with a few substitutions--and overall I'm happy I bought it for a convenient reference and means of exploring, and because some of the performances are really very good. That said, much of it is also merely adequate (if that) and will need supplementing on a significant scale.

(The Brilliant complete Mozart edition, however, I can recommend enthusiastically. Not perfect, of course, but it includes a very large percentage of fine to outstanding recordings.)

[Mark]

... or Pinnock on Archiv)

Yes, yes and yes again.

[Larry Rinkel]

Yes, yes and yes again.

No, no and no again.  He plays it like a sewing machine. I'd get Ristenpart, Collegium Aureum, or Tafelmusik.

[Mark]

He plays it like a sewing machine.

Okay, you're really going to have to expand on and explain that comment.

[Larry Rinkel]

Okay, you're really going to have to expand on and explain that comment.

Fast, metronomic. That's as far as I'm willing to go without subjecting myself to those performances again. Sowwy. 

[Mark]

Fast, metronomic. That's as far as I'm willing to go without subjecting myself to those performances again. Sowwy. 

I found them invigorating - a world away from some laid-back interpretations I've heard. They sparkle, and for me, bring out the joy of the music.