The Super-Duper Cheap Bargains Thread

[PerfectWagnerite]

I can't believe it either. Currently it is available from MDT for £23.80. It is a fine box set, can't remember how much I paid for it but it seemed a bargain at the time.

Seems like it is back up to  £196 at MDT.

I ordered a set from amazon UK. Comes out to a around $42 delivered to the U.S. Can't see how you can go wrong.

[JBS]

Seems like it is back up to  £196 at MDT.

I ordered a set from amazon UK. Comes out to a around $42 delivered to the U.S. Can't see how you can go wrong.

I paid about 120USD, and think it money well spent.

But

Usually dispatched within 1 to 4 weeks.

has been known to turn into cancellation...

[PerfectWagnerite]

Buthas been known to turn into cancellation...

Yes just like the big DG Richard Strauss box. Anyway nothing lost, if I don't get it I don't get it.

[DaveF]

Is this possible?

https://www.amazon.es/gp/product/B000YPWBP8/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

(Complete Tallis Edition on Brilliant at 3,28 EUR)

For those of us in Western Europe, Qobuz has it for not too much more: https://www.qobuz.com/gb-en/album/integrale-des-oeuvres-thomas-tallis/5028421942681

[Mookalafalas]

If you are a Menuhin's fan look here:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Menuhin-Century-Luxury-DVD-AUDIO/dp/B019JGOOEI/ref=mp_s_a_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1536571774&sr=8-2&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=menuhin

  That's insane. I pounced. It's actually cheaper when they take off the VAT.   The Claudio Arrau box has also plummeted in price. I Got the Menuhin and Arrau mega-boxes for $156, combined, including shipping. 

[Martin H]

If anyone lost out when the price of The Menuhin Century - Luxury Edition shot back up, to £211.54, it has now reappeared at £35.13: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B019JGOOEI/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1&tag=vigukb-6-21
Heaven knows what amazon.uk are doing, but it is a phenomenal bargain.

[Elgarian Redux]

If anyone lost out when the price of The Menuhin Century - Luxury Edition shot back up, to £211.54, it has now reappeared at £35.13: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B019JGOOEI/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1&tag=vigukb-6-21
Heaven knows what amazon.uk are doing, but it is a phenomenal bargain.

I've just been reading this, and checking out the box, and thinking... would I buy a gigantic heap of Menuhin CDs, normally? And I wouldn't. But I was driven to the point of thinking ... well who knows what new insights there might be in this box? And at this price, isn't it worth the experiment? So I did the inevitable, and pressed the button.

Thank you for the alert on this. I'll report back if it arrives ....

[Martin H]

I felt exactly the same.
I'd always shied away from his recordings, having heard him perform decades ago with somewhat erratic intonation. But he was such a great man, and great musician, that I feel I mustn't pass up this opportunity to get to know his work properly.
(I also find my ears these days are far more willing to accept the sound of pre-war recordings.)

[Ken B]

I too found problems with his recordings. I suspect he was much better when he was younger. Mono. So I pass.

[JBS]

I felt exactly the same.
I'd always shied away from his recordings, having heard him perform decades ago with somewhat erratic intonation. But he was such a great man, and great musician, that I feel I mustn't pass up this opportunity to get to know his work properly.
(I also find my ears these days are far more willing to accept the sound of pre-war recordings.)

It's actually well worth getting.  Only a couple of CDs are truly terrible SQ, and there's several doses of historically interesting stuff such as the complete series of recordings he made with Enescu, as large swathes of Hepzibah Menuhin. Plus a number of recordings in which he figures as conductor, not as violinist (or only secondarily as violinist).

The box is not meant to be a complete set of his recordings btw.  So a number of the more dubious ones, in sonic or artistic terms, were left out.

And you are not obligated to listen to them all.  I skipped over the Grappelli and Shankar CDs, for instance.

[Elgarian Redux]

Actually, I've just cancelled my order for the Menuhin. I've been thinking of the boxes lying almost unused around the house - the hundreds of CDs that haven't been listened to for years (why?) - and suddenly saw the foolishness of buying this latest bargain. There will be a flurry of short-term interest when it arrives, and then - because after all, I have never been particularly drawn to Menuhin (even with the Elgar connection) - it will become just another big unused box.

So ... wishful thinking has been discarded, and realism has set in.

[Martin H]

I'll keep on resisting realism.

[Elgarian Redux]

I'll keep on resisting realism.

Oh believe me, I am not sure I've done the right thing!

[Brian]

Actually, I've just cancelled my order for the Menuhin. I've been thinking of the boxes lying almost unused around the house - the hundreds of CDs that haven't been listened to for years (why?) - and suddenly saw the foolishness of buying this latest bargain. There will be a flurry of short-term interest when it arrives, and then - because after all, I have never been particularly drawn to Menuhin (even with the Elgar connection) - it will become just another big unused box.

So ... wishful thinking has been discarded, and realism has set in.

Ha, sadly I recognize this. Past few months, I have been making deliberate effort to dip into the Big Boxes in my collection - Rubinstein and Perahia piano boxes and now, as of this past Saturday, the new Salonen box. It feels both like a pleasure than a chore - more pleasure, thankfully, but I can't imagine what it would be like if I had made the belated discovery that I don't like Perahia!

And I still have the two big Bernstein Sony boxes - though in their lifetimes they have gotten plenty of play already. And the two towers of individual CDs....well anyway who's counting? Sometimes I buy something and the honest-to-frog justification is "this purchase is smart because I am young and will be alive a long time yet." Such confidence.

[Elgarian Redux]

Ha, sadly I recognize this. Past few months, I have been making deliberate effort to dip into the Big Boxes in my collection - Rubinstein and Perahia piano boxes and now, as of this past Saturday, the new Salonen box. It feels both like a pleasure than a chore - more pleasure, thankfully, but I can't imagine what it would be like if I had made the belated discovery that I don't like Perahia!

And I still have the two big Bernstein Sony boxes - though in their lifetimes they have gotten plenty of play already. And the two towers of individual CDs....well anyway who's counting? Sometimes I buy something and the honest-to-frog justification is "this purchase is smart because I am young and will be alive a long time yet." Such confidence.

Ah Brian. You are a sensitive soul, and I take solace from what you say.

Fact is, I forced myself to confront the motivation for the impulse, and I must say that a substantial component of it was generated by the sheer desirability of the thing. That big, beautifully designed box, so royally dark blue, with the large hardback book, and the individual smaller boxes, opening oh so so elegantly. Now there is nothing wrong with that in itself. And if the box had been a celebration of Sibelius, or Mozart, or Wagner, or Frederica Von Stade, or Mirella Freni (add names according to taste), I wouldn't have had any misgivings. But, rightly or wrongly, Menuhin has never had any particular resonance for me, and the impulse was misleading me. Better to make sure I enjoy what I have, than simply to continue stacking 'em up.

But when all the rational argument is done, I still feel the tug, y'know.

[André]

Big boxes I purchased - some of them quite a few years ago - and that are still unlistened to, or only  partially so. I bought them because they were there, and quite light on the wallet.




This one is in LP format, 12x12.






The 12x12 box of Günter Wand Complete Beethoven, Brahms, Schubert, Bruckner and assorted stuff.


Plus 3 Wagner Rings still in wraps...  Over 250 discs altogether. I did manage to go through and enjoy many other big boxes, but... I've grown tired of looking at them - feel guilty, too  .

Hopefully I'm past that phase now  .

[Brian]

Ah Brian. You are a sensitive soul, and I take solace from what you say.

Fact is, I forced myself to confront the motivation for the impulse, and I must say that a substantial component of it was generated by the sheer desirability of the thing. That big, beautifully designed box, so royally dark blue, with the large hardback book, and the individual smaller boxes, opening oh so so elegantly. Now there is nothing wrong with that in itself. And if the box had been a celebration of Sibelius, or Mozart, or Wagner, or Frederica Von Stade, or Mirella Freni (add names according to taste), I wouldn't have had any misgivings. But, rightly or wrongly, Menuhin has never had any particular resonance for me, and the impulse was misleading me. Better to make sure I enjoy what I have, then simply to continue stacking 'em up.

But when all the rational argument is done, I still feel the tug, y'know.

The good (bad? good?) news is that they seem intent on producing these enormous boxes for every artist who ever drew acclaim, and new temptations are appearing regularly. I'm now eyeballing the 100+ CD George Szell box, and the forthcoming Alicia de Larrocha box, and no doubt more will follow them. It's also all rather distracting from great artists of the present - except of course for the new, gigantic Riccardo Chailly box, which seems to disregard the idea that he's still alive and kicking.

André, thanks for the reminder that I have the Wand box too and need to listen to that one more, as well. 

[Mookalafalas]

Sometimes I buy something and the honest-to-frog justification is "this purchase is smart because I am young and will be alive a long time yet." Such confidence.

  Actually, I occasionally remember that I'm over 50 and will die before I listen to everything I have.
   That doesn't bother me at all, though   Each box brings a lot of hours of joy. I remember spending $47 for the 3-disk Dylan Bootleg set 25 years ago, and that was a lot of money to me back then. In adjusted dollars, that's what I pay for a 50 disk set now.  It's not like wasting food that others could eat, or hoarding artwork that others then won't be able to see and enjoy. It's endlessly reproducible beauty--the more the better! Sometimes I feel a little guilty about my embarrassment of riches, but it's an anachronistic response, like when my 94 year old father feels we're being wasteful to talk to long on Skype, because he can't shake the old notion of expensive long-distance phone calls.   

  By the way, Brian, how is the Salonen?

[Pat B]

  Actually, I occasionally remember that I'm over 50 and will die before I listen to everything I have.
   That doesn't bother me at all, though   Each box brings a lot of hours of joy. I remember spending $47 for the 3-disk Dylan Bootleg set 25 years ago, and that was a lot of money to me back then. In adjusted dollars, that's what I pay for a 50 disk set now.  It's not like wasting food that others could eat, or hoarding artwork that others then won't be able to see and enjoy. It's endlessly reproducible beauty--the more the better! Sometimes I feel a little guilty about my embarrassment of riches, but it's an anachronistic response, like when my 94 year old father feels we're being wasteful to talk to long on Skype, because he can't shake the old notion of expensive long-distance phone calls.   

As someone who owns several big boxes, I consider 3 discs that I love and often play more valuable than 300 discs that remain untouched, or that I listened to once because they're there.

[Ghost of Baron Scarpia]

I own a bunch of big boxes. The only one I can think of that I regret is the big pink thing (Rubinstein).

I feel no compulsion to listen to all of the discs in any given box. They are there for me to dip into, and the cost is typically low enough that it is a good value when I consider money paid per disc actually listened to. I have the Ciccolini complete box. I listened to the old mono recordings with French orchestras. It is mind expanding to hear the performance style of that era.

I have the Cluytens complete box. I listened to a Schuman 4 from 1952 (and they say French orchestras did not have high standards for virtuosity, it put that canard to rest). I listened to two different mono recordings of Ravel's Pavane pour un infante defunto. My lord, you'll never hear a French horn play like that again.

I have the Samson Francois Box. I listened to he Debussy Preludes. Wow, a very individual interpretation.

I have the Silvestri Box. I listened to his Rinsky-Korsakov May Night Overture. Astonishing. I listened to his Stravinsky Symphony in 3 Movements, my notes say "truly amazing."

I have the Karajan complete EMI Box. His first recordings of the Pini di Roma and Liszt tone poems are amazing, and his old recording Stravinsky's Game of Cards (I won't butcher the French again).

I have the Pollini complete and Karajan 60, 70, 80 boxes. Those were an indulgence, since I already had most of the recordings in a hodgepodge of editions. It is nice to have the stuff complete and ordered. And I've made a project of listening to Karajan recordings of things he is supposedly bad at and which I would not consider buying. Actually I got a lot of pleasure from that stuff. He even has a unique way of being bad.

Maybe I've only listened to five discs or so from a lot of these boxes, but I find them worth it, and I get a palpable pleasure from knowing that these huge libraries of recordings are on the shelf, waiting to be indulged in. They are like a hardcopy streaming service.