The Super-Duper Cheap Bargains Thread

[king ubu]

Some good bargains:

- on Amazon (US, UK, etc): 18$ or <15£

The whole project took 7 cds, IIRC. I have 3 of them, so will pass. Reluctantly.


- on JPC: this set of choral works by Mendelssohn goes for 50€ (14 discs):



Link to JPC:
https://www.jpc.de/jpcng/classic/detail/-/art/felix-mendelssohn-bartholdy-das-geistliche-chorwerk-die-oratorien/hnum/8011821

Re: Ligeti - what do you mean with the seven CDs? It was previously available in this form (5 CD box) and I have it on my shelves, just wondering ... anything missing there, or did they re-group and put onto fewer discs than when initially released separately?

Re: Mendelssohn - very tempting indeed! Anyone has any impressions to offer on those recordings?

[Abuelo Igor]

Actually, the Teldec Ligeti Project is the follow-up to the aborted series on Sony, which was the one with seven CDs (really nine, as Salonen's Le Grand Macabre was part of this series).

Sony put out nine discs, and Teldec filled in the remaining repertoire on another five. Therefore, the Teldec box is "complete". You would have to seek out the 9-CD "Works" set from Sony to have it all.

[André]

Thanks, Abuelo for these precisions !

My discs are from Sony and are labeled II, III and VII. The latter is not included in this Warner set. Quite confusing  . Plus, I guess the booklets are gone in this reissue, which is not very helpful with this music. Discs 1 and 4 seem tempting, though.

[Abuelo Igor]

VII cannot be included in the Warner set because it's a different series. If you own only those three Sony discs, you have nothing from the Warner box.

[Baron Scarpia]

Thanks, Abuelo for these precisions !

My discs are from Sony and are labeled II, III and VII. The latter is not included in this Warner set. Quite confusing  . Plus, I guess the booklets are gone in this reissue, which is not very helpful with this music. Discs 1 and 4 seem tempting, though.

The 7 disc Ligeti Edition from Sony and the 5 disc Ligeti Project from Warner are independent and non-overlapping. (I got both back in 2010.) I have the Edition as separate discs and the Project as a box.

[kishnevi]

In summary, Andre, you need to get the Warner box.

[kishnevi]

For reference (Amazon lists it as unavailable) the contents of the Sony set

[André]

Double check: I have discs II and III (roman numerals) from the Teldec edition, and disc 7 (arabic numerals) from the Sony edition. So that's 2 discs from the Warner set I already have, II and III having morphed into 2 and 3 in the reissue. Geez, that's confusing  .

[kishnevi]

Double check: I have discs II and III (roman numerals) from the Teldec edition, and disc 7 (arabic numerals) from the Sony edition. So that's 2 discs from the Warner set I already have, II and III having morphed into 2 and 3 in the reissue. Geez, that's confusing  .

I would suggest getting the Aimard recording of the Etudes (cd 3 of the Sony set), and in lieu of the Warner/Teldec box get the DG box of selected Ligeti (actually, everything they had done to that point).
[asin]B000HWZALK[/asin]
I think most of the performances in the DG set are better than those in the Teldec box.
Or else get the Aimard CD, the TeldecWarner box despite the fact you have some of it, and any recording of the String Quartets (not boxed up: a CD from the Artemis Quartet on what was Virgin, and a Naxos CD by a quartet whose name I don't remember--and probably others).

[André]

Thanks, Jeffrey, I'll work your suggestions into some plan !

[Mirror Image]

Thanks, Jeffrey, I'll work your suggestions into some plan !

I have no qualms with the Teldec set and I personally find the DG set to be less ideal performance-wise. I'd definitely do some comparative listening before jumping in, Andre.

[André]

 

[kishnevi]

Or just do what I did: get all three!

(Yes, I know the Sony set is oop, but the Aimard CD seems readily available.)

[Baron Scarpia]

I can only say the Teldec and Sony sets are both splendid, haven't heard the DG set. A shame that the Sony recordings have been allowed to go out of print. In situations like this I find that with a bit of patience it is possible to pick them up used for a decent price. You have to patrol and snap when there is a momentary glut in the market.

Similar thing happened to me with the Hereweghe Bach Cantata sets from Harmonia Mundi. I wanted to get them all and had to pay three times what I expected to pay for one volume that was scarce. Then I happened to notice a few months later it was selling for peanuts.  Grrrr!

[Harry]

On JPC de the label Arion, 107 titles 3,99€ a piece. That looks to me a bargain:)

https://www.jpc.de/s/Gro%C3%9Fe+Preisaktion+Arion+%2F+Pierre+Verany?searchtype=campaigntext

[Harry]

On JPC de Sony CD'S 1,99 € 31 titles. Good hunting


https://www.jpc.de/s/Music+for+you-Serie+Lagerr%C3%A4umung?searchtype=campaigntext

[Abuelo Igor]

"Deutsche Harmonia Mundi: 100 Great Recordings" at 63 EUR on Amazon Spain!

https://www.amazon.es/Deutsche-Harmonia-Mundi-Great-Recordings/dp/B0765S8NY4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1516500734&sr=8-1&keywords=deutsche+harmonia+mundi

I checked the earlier 50-CD collection and the "Baroque Masterpieces" from Sony and only about 15 discs were duplicated.

[king ubu]

Still confused about the Ligeti sets ... but I have the Sony set, the Teldec, and the DG - so I guess I've got my ass covered 

[Mirror Image]

Still confused about the Ligeti sets ... but I have the Sony set, the Teldec, and the DG - so I guess I've got my ass covered 

No reason to be confused really. The Sony set was basically a precursor to the Teldec set The Ligeti Project. With Sony, it was titled The Ligeti Edition and this series tackled the chamber, vocal/choral, and instrumental works first but when it was released as a set it added on the opera Le Grand Macabre. But it was then decided to jump over to another label (perhaps because Sony didn't want finish the project) and so all of the remaining works of Ligeti's oeuvre were recorded (incl. odds and ins/misc. works). Ligeti was involved in both the Sony and Teldec recording projects, so this makes these performances a bit special. The DG set obviously has nothing to do with the Sony or Teldec sets and Clear Or Cloudy is DG's attempt to honor the composer by releasing it's catalog of what they had recorded up to this particular point (2006), but this was also a marketing idea as Sony and Teldec series were at one point the only series to cover such a wide span of Ligeti's music on the market.

[king ubu]

No reason to be confused really. The Sony set was basically a precursor to the Teldec set The Ligeti Project. With Sony, it was titled The Ligeti Edition and this series tackled the chamber, vocal/choral, and instrumental works first but when it was released as a set it added on the opera Le Grand Macabre. But it was then decided to jump over to another label (perhaps because Sony didn't want finish the project) and so all of the remaining works of Ligeti's oeuvre were recorded (incl. odds and ins/misc. works). Ligeti was involved in both the Sony and Teldec recording projects, so this makes these performances a bit special.

Thanks for the clarification - I read some of the above in a way that the new Warner version of the Teldec set contains stuff that was on Sony initially (and/or the other way 'round) and thought that would be really odd (hardly anything ever crosses the red lines between majors ... unless of course Warner just buys it all ...)

I was actually into (some) Ligeti way before I started listening to classical music, back in high school in the nineties - and I think Sony had just stopped it series around that time, or Teldec had started theirs and I read something about it all. The library back then had two of the three Wergo discs, which I copied onto K7 back then ... now I have that "set", too (three separate discs with some cardboard around 'em).

Am somewhat surprised to read the Sony is OOP as it seems I just bought it and it was cheap (less than 20€) ... but that was somewhat over 2 years ago and maybe they were dumping the last copies? I had the Aimard disc previously and was happy to pass it on to a friend who really wanted to have his own copy of it.

The DG set obviously has nothing to do with the Sony or Teldec sets and Clear Or Cloudy is DG's attempt to honor the composer by releasing it's catalog of what they had recorded up to this particular point (2006), but this was also a marketing idea as Sony and Teldec series were at one point the only series to cover such a wide span of Ligeti's music on the market.

I knew that the DG was unrelated ... but the cover is so cool and the price was even cooler (I guess around 15€-ish) ... haven't yet explored much from it.