The Super-Duper Cheap Bargains Thread

[Lethevich]

That Gaudier Octet is a different recording:

This is hard. The Gaudier Ensemble's first recording of the Schubert Octet on ASV was much praised when it first appeared, and over a decade later it still sounds like a front-runner. The poetry, refinement and superb sense of the long singing line are as impressive as ever – the sixth variation of the Andante has an almost timeless loveliness, while the dark, minor-key introduction of the finale is unusually gripping. But this new Hyperion version has its special qualities, too. I suppose it depends what you want from the Octet: whether you value the work as an important stage on what Schubert himself called the 'way to a grand symphony' or it remains pre-eminently a piece of large chamber music: Romantic, expansive, but intimate in its pleasures. If the former, then stick with the old ASV version; if the latter, then the new Gaudier is more likely to be the one for you. Here the playing – helped by the less glamorously spacious recording – draws the attention in towards details. The sense of purpose is still strong, but the effect is more quick-witted, with a finer sense of inner tension – the players responding minutely to each other. It can't just be the new personnel among the top three string parts; there also seems to have been a change in the other players' understanding of the piece. On the down side, the new version is never quite as breathtakingly beautiful as the old one; on the plus side, it's more consistently compelling, the beauty less generalised. Take your pick. If forced, I'd choose the Hyperion, but by the thinnest whisker.

- BBC Music Magazine

[Que]

Again as a great bargain at JPC! 10 euro!



Q

[Scarpia]

That Gaudier Octet is a different recording:

This is hard. The Gaudier Ensemble's first recording of the Schubert Octet on ASV was much praised when it first appeared, and over a decade later it still sounds like a front-runner. The poetry, refinement and superb sense of the long singing line are as impressive as ever – the sixth variation of the Andante has an almost timeless loveliness, while the dark, minor-key introduction of the finale is unusually gripping. But this new Hyperion version has its special qualities, too. I suppose it depends what you want from the Octet: whether you value the work as an important stage on what Schubert himself called the 'way to a grand symphony' or it remains pre-eminently a piece of large chamber music: Romantic, expansive, but intimate in its pleasures. If the former, then stick with the old ASV version; if the latter, then the new Gaudier is more likely to be the one for you. Here the playing – helped by the less glamorously spacious recording – draws the attention in towards details. The sense of purpose is still strong, but the effect is more quick-witted, with a finer sense of inner tension – the players responding minutely to each other. It can't just be the new personnel among the top three string parts; there also seems to have been a change in the other players' understanding of the piece. On the down side, the new version is never quite as breathtakingly beautiful as the old one; on the plus side, it's more consistently compelling, the beauty less generalised. Take your pick. If forced, I'd choose the Hyperion, but by the thinnest whisker.

- BBC Music Magazine

Not surprising, and good news.  Hard to imagine why Hyperion would license a ASV recording, and I generally don't like the engineering on ASV.   

[Brian]

That's a big box.  The sort of thing you order, then discover that "On the Beautiful Blue Danube" is included in its authentic, original version...for flute unaccompanied.   

That's close! Its authentic, original version includes male choir.

[mc ukrneal]

That's close! Its authentic, original version includes male choir.

The last disc of the Marco Polo series (reissued as a box on Naxos) has exactly that too. I find it refreshing and enjoyable. You know, in case someone is actually interested to hear it!

[Willoughby earl of Itacarius]

The last disc of the Marco Polo series (reissued as a box on Naxos) has exactly that too. I find it refreshing and enjoyable. You know, in case someone is actually interested to hear it!

Which I am, and will do.

[Jared]

Not surprising, and good news.  Hard to imagine why Hyperion would license a ASV recording, and I generally don't like the engineering on ASV.   

My apologies for the misinformation... still, at 30 pence, it makes for an outstanding bargain, which should by now have been snapped up by you guys.. 

[Scarpia]

My apologies for the misinformation... still, at 30 pence, it makes for an outstanding bargain, which should by now have been snapped up by you guys.. 

Well, I paid the princely sum of $6 for the Hyperion version, so I'll save my pennies and leave the ASV recording for another Schubert enthusiast.   

[The new erato]

This new 3 CD set is available at amazon UK at 9 £

[asin]B004I6PW9G[/asin]

At amazon.com (and other amazons) it's substantially more.

Link: http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B004I6PW9G/worldtwitch09

[Lethevich]

This:



Here: link for £1.99

I don't know what shipping is like with this site. This is a really wonderful set, I can scarcely commend it enough, really.

Edit: hmm more on this label for the same price including a Tippett one.

Edit2: seems to be a flat rate of £2.95 UK, £5.05 EU,  £6.85 USA & ROW. I picked up these for a tenner:

TIPPETT Orchestral Works 2CDs
PIAZZOLLA Le Grand Tango (ASV)
KODALY Hary Janos Suite (Budapest/Saccani)
Ronald STEVENSON Piano Concertos 1,2
Guillaume LEKEU Chamber Music (Brilliant)

Such a consumerist whore ;_:

[(poco) Sforzando]

I don't see any mention of Beethoven in the list of contents.

Or is this what passes for humour on these boards?

Stick around, we all have our own sense of humor here. Or if you prefer, humour.

[stingo]

Found this gem available for $31.99 from our friends at FabulousCD/Abeille:

[asin]B0007IK4WE[/asin]

[Lethevich]

 

This would have been a super bargain (half the price of other sites) if the place shipped to my country

[Scarpia]

Landed for $0.99 on ebay. 

[asin]B000001GEN[/asin]

Just a reminder that it is useful to scan the ebay classical CD catagory now and then, you never know what you will find.

[The new erato]

This would have been a super bargain (half the price of other sites) if the place shipped to my country

Abeille doesn't ship to England???

OTH; I bought this for £10 on mdt some years ago when Capriccio were in deep shit financially. 

[Lethevich]

Abeille doesn't ship to England???

OTH; I bought this for £10 on mdt some years ago when Capriccio were in deep shit financially. 

Sorry, I was referring to a different disc (hyperlinked in "This"). I have that Haydn box, and very fine it is too

[gilfachphil]

I got the Haydn/Schornsheim box for £18-63 delivered from la Chaumiere last week.  A true bargain and a lovely set of discs too!

[scarlattiglenross]

Hot off the press:

[asin]B001CBX2RO[/asin]

[Willoughby earl of Itacarius]

Hot off the press:

[asin]B001CBX2RO[/asin]

At JPCde its for 34,95 euro

[spooky]

Antonio Vivaldi - Concertos & Sonatas, Opp.1-12



18 discs @ EUR 16,99 @ http://www.amazon.fr/Vivaldi-Concertos-Sonatas-Opp-Coffret/dp/B000OZ290A/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1304040801&sr=1-1

Claudio Scimone and his ensemble I Solisti Veneti* were among the first groups to heavily invest in the output of Vivaldi for purposes of recording. Warner Classics' Vivaldi: Concertos & Sonatas, Opp. 1-12, collects together all but one of I Solisti Veneti's recordings of Vivaldi's 12 published opera plus Chédeville's "Il pastor fido," once proffered as Vivaldi's "Op. 13," and the "Six Cellos Sonatas" once thought his "Op. 14" in a single, 18-CD box set.