The Super-Duper Cheap Bargains Thread

[Willoughby earl of Itacarius]

I consider this a extremely good deal if you wanted a mix of some things played by them.

http://www.jpc.de/jpcng/SESSIONID/3aeb7edd68ccfd1521cd20900cbdb3ff/classic/detail/-/art/Bach%20%20Beyond/hnum/2260201

[mc ukrneal]

I consider this a extremely good deal if you wanted a mix of some things played by them.

http://www.jpc.de/jpcng/SESSIONID/3aeb7edd68ccfd1521cd20900cbdb3ff/classic/detail/-/art/Bach%20%20Beyond/hnum/2260201

That looks really interesting. I don't have much of that and very good performers there.

[Opus106]

EMI boxes at Amazon UK tend to be cheap in general, but for now this one takes the cake: 14 CDs of Tennstedt for 9.99 Pounds (ex. VAT).

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B004OUFSOA/?tag=goodmusicguideco-21

[stingo]

Another in BIS' line of downloadable bargains. Good stuff. $7.99.

Not that anyone experessed interest, but... apparently the set above (released Feb 2011) contains the first four volumes in Ms. Ogawa's traversal of Debussy's piano music. There's a fifth volume not included, released in June 2011.

[asin]B00520357I[/asin]

[The new erato]

Please note that this excellent and brand new recording is now £10 (less VAT it's even cheaper if you are outside the EU) on amazon.co.uk.

[Elgarian]

Please note that this excellent and brand new recording is now £10 (less VAT it's even cheaper if you are outside the EU) on amazon.co.uk.

Thanks very much Erato. I'd never have bought this under normal circumstances (Lorraine Hunt Lieberson fulfils all my most urgent Ariodante needs, and from the extracts I've heard, I don't think Joyce DiDonato will compare too well), but at this price, for an alternative take - surely worth a shot. The button is clicked.

[The new erato]

Thanks very much Erato. I'd never have bought this under normal circumstances (Lorraine Hunt Lieberson fulfils all my most urgent Ariodante needs, and from the extracts I've heard, I don't think Joyce DiDonato will compare too well), but at this price, for an alternative take - surely worth a shot. The button is clicked.

Yep - I love the McGegan but think works of this stature fully deserves alternative versions on the shelves. I have both.

[Orpheus]

De Victoria's day!



http://www.amazon.co.uk/Victoria-Sacred-Ensemble-Plus-Ultra/dp/B0050F6JQE/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1319906140&sr=1-1

Orpheus 

[Willoughby earl of Itacarius]

De Victoria's day!



http://www.amazon.co.uk/Victoria-Sacred-Ensemble-Plus-Ultra/dp/B0050F6JQE/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1319906140&sr=1-1

Orpheus 

Excellent its ordered, thankee

[madaboutmahler]

It is really amazing to see how many bargains can be found on the amazon "used and new" section.
Not so long ago I found Solti's Wagner Ring Cycle on the used section, in 'perfect condition', for only £9.99". As soon as I saw this I got very excited and put it straight in the basket. By the time I got to the checkout around 10 seconds later, someone else had already purchased it... 
Not often you get such massive bargains as that I suppose, considering the normal price here is not far off £100, but am hoping to find some good bargains through this thread!

[Coopmv]

Thanks very much Erato. I'd never have bought this under normal circumstances (Lorraine Hunt Lieberson fulfils all my most urgent Ariodante needs, and from the extracts I've heard, I don't think Joyce DiDonato will compare too well), but at this price, for an alternative take - surely worth a shot. The button is clicked.

I may pull the trigger on this set, but it would be mainly for Alan Curtis since I have owned almost every Handel Opera by him ...

[kishnevi]

Thanks very much Erato. I'd never have bought this under normal circumstances (Lorraine Hunt Lieberson fulfils all my most urgent Ariodante needs, and from the extracts I've heard, I don't think Joyce DiDonato will compare too well), but at this price, for an alternative take - surely worth a shot. The button is clicked.

No need to fret.  DiDonato is not as good as Lieberson--but that's more a statement of how good Lieberson was, and not one actually critical of DiDonato.  Had Lieberson not recorded this role, people would probably be a good deal more enthused about this performance. 

Beyond that, I think the rest of the cast is better in Curtis than in McGegan, which threw Lieberson's performance into higher relief, and which now makes DiDonato into someone surrounded by her equals, so she stands out a little less.

[Elgarian]

No need to fret.  DiDonato is not as good as Lieberson--but that's more a statement of how good Lieberson was, and not one actually critical of DiDonato.  Had Lieberson not recorded this role, people would probably be a good deal more enthused about this performance. 

Beyond that, I think the rest of the cast is better in Curtis than in McGegan, which threw Lieberson's performance into higher relief, and which now makes DiDonato into someone surrounded by her equals, so she stands out a little less.

Thanks for this reassurance Jeffrey. Where Ariodante is concerned the situation is slightly more complicated than I described it, because I have two other touchstones, as well as Lorraine Hunt Lieberson. The first is Magdalena Kozena, who on a single disc collection of arias turns in what are by far the finest performances of 'Dopo Notte' and 'Scherza Infida' that I know. Of course two arias do not an opera make, but even so, these for me set the ultimate standard for those particular arias. Then, similarly, there are Janet Baker's performances in Raymond Leppard's recording. They are emphatically non-HIP if course, and I'm not enthusiastic about the recording as a whole, but Baker is phenomenal.

So even though the playing field isn't level (because I'm not comparing like with like, and I take your points completely, about the whole) DiDonato is starting with a sort of unfair psychological disadvantage of expectation on my part which I can't quite remove.

[kishnevi]

Thanks for this reassurance Jeffrey. Where Ariodante is concerned the situation is slightly more complicated than I described it, because I have two other touchstones, as well as Lorraine Hunt Lieberson. The first is Magdalena Kozena, who on a single disc collection of arias turns in what are by far the finest performances of 'Dopo Notte' and 'Scherza Infida' that I know. Of course two arias do not an opera make, but even so, these for me set the ultimate standard for those particular arias. Then, similarly, there are Janet Baker's performances in Raymond Leppard's recording. They are emphatically non-HIP if course, and I'm not enthusiastic about the recording as a whole, but Baker is phenomenal.

So even though the playing field isn't level (because I'm not comparing like with like, and I take your points completely, about the whole) DiDonato is starting with a sort of unfair psychological disadvantage of expectation on my part which I can't quite remove.

Do you have this one?

There's a difference in her performance of those two arias on that CD from her performance in the Curtis--more intense and frantic (and a sense of more virtuousity) on the CD--presumably Curtis's input explains it.  At the very least,  I find the recital CD performance to be the best I've heard of those arias (which does not include Kozena or Baker,however).

[Coopmv]

Then, similarly, there are Janet Baker's performances in Raymond Leppard's recording. They are emphatically non-HIP if course, and I'm not enthusiastic about the recording as a whole, but Baker is phenomenal.

My first Ariodante set was the Philips LP set by Raymond Leppard and Janet Baker and I have the remastered CD set as well.  The LP set was also the very first Handel opera I purchased many years ago.  I have the Lorraine Hunt's version as well and expect to get the Alan Curtis' version shortly.

[Elgarian]

Do you have this one?

There's a difference in her performance of those two arias on that CD from her performance in the Curtis--more intense and frantic (and a sense of more virtuousity) on the CD--presumably Curtis's input explains it.  At the very least,  I find the recital CD performance to be the best I've heard of those arias (which does not include Kozena or Baker,however).

Yes I have that. Oddly, it's the chief cause of my reservations (apart from the brief samples of the Curtis opera) about the bargain set I'm awaiting in the post. We'd neither of us be interested in deciding on a 'best' from this collection of magnificent recordings, I think, but I can try to explain what I perceive as the differences, for what they're worth.

Talking then about 'Scherza Infida' ('Dopo Notte' isn't among this particular DiDonato collection of arias - perhaps you have another collection which includes it?). DiDonato sings it almost faultlessly (insofar as I can tell). It seems to be a technical performance of great virtuosity, as you say, but to my ears it lacks drama. You'll think that's absurd - how could it? And taken on its own, with nothing to compare it with, I'd agree. This is a tremendous vocal performance, and no mistake. But at no stage does she convince me that she's close to despair. If we consider what she's singing ('Am I still living?'; 'faithless woman, in your lover's arms'; 'I find myself betrayed, approaching death'), then DiDonato (to me) sounds noble and tragic but not broken. I'm in no danger of weeping.

Now Kozena's approach is quite different. Her voice bleeds a curious mixture of anger and despair - not by a torrent of over-the-top extravagance, but in the most subtle of ways. I could readily believe (though I don't actually know) that this isn't justified in strict terms of period performance. But hell, this is a great story, and I'm involved with these characters, and Kozena sends shivers up my spine again and again because she exposes to me her/his (Ariodante's) pain.

Lorraine Hunt is ... well, Lorraine Hunt. She defines the role in her own special way, and at a faster pace, quite different to both these performances, with the most subtle inflections to indicate pain and anguish. It's helpful that we have her in common to establish some sort of baseline that we both deeply admire.

Janet Baker is different again, and harder to compare as a whole because of the extravagant orchestral setting that Leppard provides, so I'll stop there, at least for now - and also because I don't have the disc to hand to remind myself about it.

[Drasko]

Please note that this excellent and brand new recording is now £10 (less VAT it's even cheaper if you are outside the EU) on amazon.co.uk.

Thanks for the heads up, have just ordered it! It seems my first Ariodante won't be the one I was intending, but this was just too good to pass.

[bumtz]

This is a wonderful blog that lists classical music bargains: http://bons-plans-classique.blogspot.com/ 

[Brian]

The Artemis Quartet Beethoven box arrived today and my family are seriously impressed at my shopping savvy. So: thank you, shopping savvy!

[Opus106]

This is a wonderful blog that lists classical music bargains: http://bons-plans-classique.blogspot.com/ 

Thank you.