The Super-Duper Cheap Bargains Thread

[Renfield]

IMO the 2nd and 6th are the least of the boxset, but this is partly because the master lacks the heft these works above all others require. The 6th is interesting in that its approach is more "symphonic" than "dramatic". 3rd is regarded as a benchmark, the 4th is magic (can't go wrong with Popp for this symphony), and this recording of the 7th "revealed" the work to me for the first time.

Admittedly, I have a rather subjective soft spot for Tennstedt's 2nd.

I wouldn't rank it next to the "special" Resurrections (of which there are impressively many), but I'm still happy to listen to it when the mood strikes. The 6th, which I forgot to mention, is probably as you said, "interesting", but nothing amazing IMO.

[mahler10th]

"IMO the 2nd and 6th are the least of the boxset, but this is partly because the master lacks the heft these works above all others require."
"Tennstedt is only a notable for a decent 8th."

On the contrary, I think the Tennstedt Mahler set is a big and exciting Mahler experience on its own merit -overall it's not the cleanest of recordings, but it is broad and gutsy enough to have the LPO contend with some of the big orchestra heavyweights in the Mahler corner.  Neumann and the CPO do it with the emphasis on the music and not the big sound, resulting in some of the finest Mahler output I know of.  So Tennstedt for big colours with Mahler or Neumann for sheer orchestral precision and mastery with Mahler, more so than anything in the mountains of Mahler I'm lucky enough to posess (other than the CSO Boulez Third, which has it's own light, and some of Inbals clear and brilliant takes).
Neumann isn't expensive, and can be found super-duper cheap.

[Jay F]

A phenomenal live 7th with the LPO, as well;

Is this the version in the box set?

[Renfield]

Is this the version in the box set?

Nope. BBC Legends, coupled with Mozart's Symphony No. 41. (Another brilliant performance.)

[Jay F]

Nope. BBC Legends, coupled with Mozart's Symphony No. 41. (Another brilliant performance.)

Thank you. It is my next purchase. Unlike a lot of people, I love the M7. It's close to being a favorite. I like it more than 1, 2, 4, 5, and 9. My favorite is probably Bernstein's on DG. Unlike a lot of works, I am able to listen to lots of different versions and take away something from the experience. With some others, only one version will do. Probably most classical works are like that for me: one right version, and everything else.

I also like Bernstein's CBS M7, Tennstedt's on EMI, new(ish) ones by Barenboim and MTT, and a new SACD by Gergiev. Ironically, I like his M7 less than the others in his series. The first nachtmusic needs a little schleppend, if you know what I mean.

[Jay F]

"IMO the 2nd and 6th are the least of the boxset, but this is partly because the master lacks the heft these works above all others require."
"Tennstedt is only a notable for a decent 8th."

On the contrary, I think the Tennstedt Mahler set is a big and exciting Mahler experience on its own merit -overall it's not the cleanest of recordings, but it is broad and gutsy enough to have the LPO contend with some of the big orchestra heavyweights in the Mahler corner.  Neumann and the CPO do it with the emphasis on the music and not the big sound, resulting in some of the finest Mahler output I know of.  So Tennstedt for big colours with Mahler or Neumann for sheer orchestral precision and mastery with Mahler, more so than anything in the mountains of Mahler I'm lucky enough to posess (other than the CSO Boulez Third, which has it's own light, and some of Inbals clear and brilliant takes).
Neumann isn't expensive, and can be found super-duper cheap.

Tennstedt's Mahler box set is super-duper cheap this week at mdt.co.uk: http://www.mdt.co.uk/MDTSite/product//5729412.htm

[Renfield]

My favorite is probably Bernstein's on DG.

Definitely get the Tennstedt, then!




And I also liked the Gergiev. It's certainly a bit one-sided, but exhilarating in a way his Mahler 1st, for instance, was not. (IMO)

Otherwise yes, seconding Bernstein DG, and Gielen, Abbado/BPO (a slight edge over Abbado/CSO), the earlier Bernstein, Kondrashin (on Melodiya) and Rattle/CBSO as 7ths I've enjoyed, roughly in order of preference. And Bertini's is good, too.

[Jay F]

Definitely get the Tennstedt, then!




And I also liked the Gergiev. It's certainly a bit one-sided, but exhilarating in a way his Mahler 1st, for instance, was not. (IMO)

Otherwise yes, seconding Bernstein DG, and Gielen, Abbado/BPO (a slight edge over Abbado/CSO), the earlier Bernstein, Kondrashin (on Melodiya) and Rattle/CBSO as 7ths I've enjoyed, roughly in order of preference. And Bertini's is good, too.

I just ordered this ^ Tennstedt Mahler 7/Mozart 41 disc. $20.25 on mdt.co.uk. I look forward to hearing it. M7 has been my Music of the Month since sometime in December (though I've been listening to Bernstein's DG M6 and Rattle's M8, too). I don't think I've ever heard M7 by Rattle. I liked R's M2 a lot back in the day, not as much now. In general, M7 has always been one I liked more than most of the rest. I only became aware in the past year that many people find it least worthy of the bunch. I can't imagine why, I love it so.

[Renfield]

I only became aware in the past year that many people find it least worthy of the bunch. I can't imagine why, I love it so.

It's complicated.

[Que]

€15 at jpc    €15 at jpc    €15 at jpc    €15 at jpc    €15 at jpc    €15 at jpc

Q

[Opus106]

JPC doesn't ship to India.

[Que]

JPC doesn't ship to India.

Sure they do. 

"Conditions of dispatch other Countries: India   24.99 EUR"

But at that (flat) shipping rate I'd order some more items!

Q

[Opus106]

Sure they do. 

"Conditions of dispatch other Countries: India   24.99 EUR"

But at that (flat) shipping rate I'd order some more items!

Q

Looks like they don't update their site to reflect their policies, either. I once (a few months ago, perhaps) e-mailed them regarding something I found in their site and they told me that they had stopped shipping things here due to certain issues they had had with credit cards.

[Elgarian]

I'm worried. I embark on this with some trepidation, because I have this niggling feeling that when I post my bargains, everybody will snigger behind their CD stacks and then say 'OK, those... yeah, well, yeah, they're so obvious that we didn't mention them'. And so I'll sneak away quietly to sob behind my CD stacks; and then one of you, a bit more kind-hearted than most, will shuffle across and say 'It's OK, old chap, really. We've all done this sort of witless thing. Don't worry about it.' And I'll almost believe it, until I hear another barely suppressed snigger, which erupts into a guffaw, whereupon I'll jump up and stamp my feet and shout 'Look here, they were as cheap as chips and so I call 'em bargains!'

You see the problem?

Anyway, I'm getting ready to slink off miserably and endure terrible abuse, but here are my bargains.
First one:



It's available here:http://www.amazon.co.uk/Versailles-200-Years-Music-20cd/dp/B001AUKJKU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1239823540&sr=1-1

About £50 for the box. Probably the best bargain box I ever bought in my life. When I bought it, I had virtually no interest in Baroque music, but this was such a bargain that I thought I'd try it, and besides it was such a pretty box, and such a clever website (http://www.baroqueboxset.com/acceuil.html). I chose a disc at random; two voices from Heaven (Sophie Daneman and Patricia Petibon) sang Couperin with Les Arts Florissants, and I turned around and said - 'Where has this music been all my life?'

So this bargain box changed my life for ever. Lully. Rameau. Charpentier. Mondonville. I love you all, but never knew it till last year.

Next bargain box:



This is sheer tomfoolery. Under £50 for 50 discs, available here: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Deutsche-Harmonia-Mundi-Years-1958-2008/dp/B0014RIULO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1239824120&sr=1-1

This has not, I must say, had quite such a barnstorming effect as the Versailles box, but at £1 per disc I'm not grumbling. The first thing it did was introduce me to the delights of Durante, in the shape of this CD:



I loved this! And you can still find copies of this CD. At the moment the cheapest new one available will cost you £85 (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Stabat-Mater-Astorga-Pergolesi-Durante/dp/B0001HQ2R2/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1239824317&sr=1-11). So the way I see it, by buying this box, I got a really great £85 piece of music at half price, and got 49 free CDs as well. Can't fault that kind of logic, right?

Finally, thanks to a recommendation from Lethe (thank you, Lethe):



£11 for 5 Cds. And OK, so I already had the Couperin recording, so really it was £11 for 4 CDs. But then I dipped into the box and pulled out Les Demoiselles De Saint-Cyr, singing pieces by Clerambault. Who? Yes, Clerambault - that Baroque household name. And I stood there in the kitchen, listening to Les Demoiselles pulling one thrilling, spine tingling harmony after another out of the air, and thought - it doesn't get better than this. Where can you get this kind of experience for a few pounds a throw? Nowhere.

Those are my bargains. Life-changing ones. Bloomin' marvellous. I salute them. I revel in their bargain-ness. I commend them to you. No sniggering at the back, please.

[Que]

Looks like they don't update their site to reflect their policies, either. I once (a few months ago, perhaps) e-mailed them regarding something I found in their site and they told me that they had stopped shipping things here due to certain issues they had had with credit cards.

Oh, that sucks!  

I imagnine it must be pretty hard to get classical CD's (Western classical music, that is) in India?

I'm worried. I embark on this with some trepidation, because I have this niggling feeling that when I post my bargains, everybody will snigger behind their CD stacks and then say 'OK, those... yeah, well, yeah, they're so obvious that we didn't mention them'. And so I'll sneak away quietly to sob behind my CD stacks; and then one of you, a bit more kind-hearted than most, will shuffle across and say 'It's OK, old chap, really. We've all done this sort of witless thing. Don't worry about it.' And I'll almost believe it, until I hear another barely suppressed snigger, which erupts into a guffaw, whereupon I'll jump up and stamp my feet and shout 'Look here, they were as cheap as chips and so I call 'em bargains!'

You see the problem?

Great choices! And a great post, BTW.

I already have the last box set you posted and the first is still on my wish list, even when I already have a sizable French Baroque collection. Which is of quite recent date BTW - like you, I had for a very long time no idea of its hidden riches!

Ha! I welcome another interested reader (and hopefully contributor) to the French Baroque thread and the other Baroque threads!

Q

[Elgarian]

Ha! I welcome another interested reader (and hopefully contributor) to the French Baroque thread and the other Baroque threads!

Thanks for the link! My goodness, there's a lot to work through, there - and even more recordings to check out. I've planted a small flag there, in the meantime.
Vive le Roi, mon brave!

[Opus106]

Oh, that sucks!  

I imagnine it must be pretty hard to get classical CD's (Western classical music, that is) in India?

Yes, it is. I'm not sure about the other metros, but I usually go to this bookstore (three different locations of it) which has only the major labels (EMI, Universal's labels, and some Naxos, but on occassion I've seen HM and Hyperion turn up) and mostly the warhorses.

[Opus106]

This is not a new release. Just because it was a huge box of symphonies, I never really paid attention to what was actually inside. Now that I know what's in the offing, I think this could serve really well as an introduction to symphonies for someone who has not taken sides with any style or interpretation - in others words, a complete n00b. Even then, some of the symphony cycles taken independently have received favourable, even rave reviews. (E.g. Beethoven, Haydn and Shostakovich.) Of course, I can't help but wonder what prompted them to keep Dvorak's to the last two and include Schubert's all.

And, has anyone heard of this guy called Bruckner? 

So here it is, the Symphonies box from Brilliant Classics. 100 CDs.

Beethoven   
Symphonies Nos. 1-9 (complete)
Staatskapelle Dresden, Herbert Blomstedt

Borodin
Symphonies Nos. 1-3 (Complete)
Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, Gennadi Rozhdestvensky

Brahms
Symphonies Nos. 1-4 (Complete)
Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra, Jaap van Zweden

Clementi
The Complete Symphonies
The Philharmonia, Francesco d'Avalos

Dvorak
Symphony No. 8 in G major, Op. 88
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Paavo Järvi/Yehudi Menuhin

Symphony No. 9 in E minor, Op. 95 'From the New World'
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Paavo Järvi/Yehudi Menuhin

Haydn
Symphonies Nos. 1 - 104 (complete)
Austro-Hungarian Haydn Orchestra, Adam Fischer

Liszt
Dante Symphony, S109
Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra, Hartmut Haenchen

Mahler
Symphonies 1-9 (complete)
Gewandhaus Orchester Leipzig, London Symphony Orchestra & Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra, Vaclav Neumann, Jascha Horenstein & Hartmut Haenchen

Mozart
Symphonies (Complete)
Mozart Akademie Amsterdam, Jaap ter Linden

Nielsen   
Symphonies Nos. 1-6 (Complete)
Janacek Philharmonic Orchestra, Theodore Kuchar

Rimsky Korsakov

Symphony No. 1
London Symphony Orchestra & Philharmonia Orchestra, Yondani Butt

Symphony No. 2, Op. 9 'Antar'
London Symphony Orchestra & Philharmonia Orchestra, Yondani Butt

Symphony No. 3 in C
London Symphony Orchestra & Philharmonia Orchestra, Yondani Butt

Saint-Saëns
Symphony No. 3 in C minor, Op. 78 'Organ Symphony'
Orchestre National de Lyon, Emmanuel Krivine

Schubert
Symphonies Nos. 1-9 (Complete)
Hanover Band, Roy Goodman

Schumann
Symphonies Nos. 1-4 (Complete)
Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields, Sir Neville Marriner

Shostakovich
Symphonies Nos. 1-15 (Complete)
WDR Sinfonieorchester, Rudolf Barshai

Tchaikovsky

Symphony No. 4 in F minor, Op. 36
London Symphony Orchestra, Gennadi Rozhdestvensky

Symphony No. 5 in E minor, Op. 64
London Symphony Orchestra, Gennadi Rozhdestvensky

Symphony No. 6 in B minor, Op. 74 'Pathétique'
London Symphony Orchestra, Gennadi Rozhdestvensky

[Elgarian]

Not sure if folk here are aware of the Handel half-price sale at Hyperion? Their box sets (mostly 2CDs) of Handel are available post free at half price, plus an extra 10% discount if you spend more than £20. (And even more discount if you keep on buying - which I didn't, since I thought I'd quite like to eat again before the end of the month).

When I stumbled across their sale today, I helped myself to the following, for a total of about £24:



and



Here's the link:
http://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/o.asp?o=1019

[Opus106]

Karajan's Bruckner cycle -- DGG, of course -- for 28 Euros.

http://www.jpc.de/jpcng/classic/detail/-/art/Anton-Bruckner-Symphonien-Nr-1-9/hnum/1827058

Assuming the Germans follow the right way of writing dates, this should be out in a little over a month's time.