The Super-Duper Cheap Bargains Thread

[Antoine Marchand]

Perhaps we should add this offering from Ligia as well which Antoine recommends: http://www.jpc.de/jpcng/classic/detail/-/art/Girolamo-Frescobaldi-1583-1643-Cembalowerke/hnum/4982537

Frescobaldi - Harpsichord woks - Jean-Marc Aymes - 3 CDs - 8.99 Euros

Please, copy and paste my previous post right here. 

[kishnevi]

Well, if some endorsement is needed, this is a one-time-in-life opportunity. Magnificent instruments, great playing, outstanding sound quality. 

Looking around JPC for other things to add to that--by itself, the shipping charges would be almost as much as the set--I see some things described as "Artikel am Lager" and my German isn't up to the challenge.  Does that mean 'on back order'?

[Opus106]

Looking around JPC for other things to add to that--by itself, the shipping charges would be almost as much as the set--I see some things described as "Artikel am Lager" and my German isn't up to the challenge.  Does that mean 'on back order'?

"In stock", rather. BTW, Jeffrey, they also have a semi-English site which you can visit by clicking on 'English' in the grey bar at the top of the page.

[mc ukrneal]

Looking around JPC for other things to add to that--by itself, the shipping charges would be almost as much as the set--I see some things described as "Artikel am Lager" and my German isn't up to the challenge.  Does that mean 'on back order'?

They have among the better prices for the Reicha Quintet set on CPO and the Raff symphony set on Tudor (once VAT is removed). There is the Loewe Lieder set, not found cheaper anywhere I've seen (if you like that sort of thing). There is the Haydn Complete Trios (1790 group, but not sure if prices are better elsewhere), which has been popular on the Haydn thread.

And just a few ideas:
http://www.jpc.de/jpcng/classic/detail/-/art/Franz-Liszt-1811-1886-Klavierkonzerte-Nr-1-2/hnum/1399738
http://www.jpc.de/jpcng/cpo/detail/-/art/Louise-Farrenc-1804-1875-Symphonie-Nr-2/hnum/3935008 v (lots of other Farrenc at good prices, and Ries)
http://www.jpc.de/jpcng/classic/detail/-/art/Nikolai-Rimsky-Korssakoff-1844-1908-Orchesterwerke/hnum/7902441 (recommended by Harry)

[nesf]

Is this any good as a deal? http://www.jpc.de/jpcng/classic/detail/-/art/Ludwig-van-Beethoven-1770-1827-Ludwig-van-Beethoven-Complete-Works-limitiert/hnum/2861650

I don't really need another set of his symphonies at this stage but is Brilliant any good as a label? I've never bought any of their recordings.

[mc ukrneal]

Is this any good as a deal? http://www.jpc.de/jpcng/classic/detail/-/art/Ludwig-van-Beethoven-1770-1827-Ludwig-van-Beethoven-Complete-Works-limitiert/hnum/2861650

I don't really need another set of his symphonies at this stage but is Brilliant any good as a label? I've never bought any of their recordings.

Brilliant, as a label, is generally quite good. In many cases they use recordings from other houses, which are licensed for their use. They have a number of good sets as well as single discs, and as labels go - pretty good. They don't always get the 'best' or the most recent sounding, but they tend be better than average on the whole. Some of the operas they have released, for example, are gems!  Anyway, the label is solid (and I have many of their releases).

As to this set, it has much to recommend it. I've been considering the songs that come on this set (as a separate set) and this price alone makes me consider getting this box, because it is cheaper! The Blomstedt symphonies are good, the Brendel sonatas are his first effort on Vox (not his best, nor the best sounding, but still Brendel), and the chamber music most solid (though some of it is in older sound).  Could you find better performance for each one - probably, but you will spend a heck of a lot more money doing so. 

[nesf]

As to this set, it has much to recommend it. I've been considering the songs that come on this set (as a separate set) and this price alone makes me consider getting this box, because it is cheaper! The Blomstedt symphonies are good, the Brendel sonatas are his first effort on Vox (not his best, nor the best sounding, but still Brendel), and the chamber music most solid (though some of it is in older sound).  Could you find better performance for each one - probably, but you will spend a heck of a lot more money doing so.

The latter was exactly what I was thinking. If I fall in love with a piece from the set I can always spend some time and money trying to find the best recording of it but to try and do that for every work would be insane given my budget!

Thanks for the advice, it's much appreciated.

[nesf]

Sacre blue! The government gets to tell French businesses when they can have a clearance sale?

Well, that's a nice thing to remember to throw back at the next Republican who tells me the Democrats are trying to turn the US into a European country.

One thing they do a lot in France to get around this is private member sales. So they're limited in how many public sales they can do but they can offer sales to a private member list pretty much whenever they want (if I recall correctly). My wife is signed up for several for French clothing websites.

[mc ukrneal]

The latter was exactly what I was thinking. If I fall in love with a piece from the set I can always spend some time and money trying to find the best recording of it but to try and do that for every work would be insane given my budget!

Thanks for the advice, it's much appreciated.

Sure. Glad to help. If you are looking for a complete and detailed listing, here is a good one (in French, but most is clear anyway): http://www.abeillemusique.com/documents/divers/ProjeteditoBRIL94052Beethoven85cd.pdf

[nesf]

Sure. Glad to help. If you are looking for a complete and detailed listing, here is a good one (in French, but most is clear anyway): http://www.abeillemusique.com/documents/divers/ProjeteditoBRIL94052Beethoven85cd.pdf

My French is abysmal but fortunately I married a woman who did a degree in the language and who spent a year and a half living there.

[mc ukrneal]

My French is abysmal but fortunately I married a woman who did a degree in the language and who spent a year and a half living there.

Sweet! The titles of the pieces are mostly clear without much language skill I think, but nice to have the backup!

[nesf]

Sweet! The titles of the pieces are mostly clear without much language skill I think, but nice to have the backup!

It's nice when you're dropping a not insignificant amount of money on a box set especially! Well, I'd consider anything over €50 to be not insignificant, I don't know about the rest of ye!

[nesf]

Actually, are there any other labels I should be looking at for decent quality cheaper box sets of composers?

[Opus106]

Actually, are there any other labels I should be looking at for decent quality cheaper box sets of composers?

EMI. They're boxing up pretty much everything now-a-days, but a lot of it are performer-oriented. These are especially cheap at Amazon UK. There's also the recent Sony Classical Masters series. But these should give you a nice cross-section of <booming voice>'The Classical Canon'</booming voice>.

Labels such as Decca, DG, EMI and Sony release (quasi-) Complete Editions of some composers' works during certain anniversary years (check out Mahler's from the past two, for example) but it's not very often that you get an anniversary where the composer is famous enough and the label has a large number of recorded works.

Some from the last few years off the top of my head:

EMI: Elgar, RVW, Britten, Mahler, Chopin, and I think, Delius.

DG: Chopin, Mahler (The Complete Edition and the People's Edition), Liszt and Schumann
Decca: Delius

Sony: Chopin, Liszt

Warner: many boxes of Haydn, Handel, Purcell and Mendelssohn, although none of them are complete by any means.

There have been others as well for Beethoven (DG) and Mozart (Philips), but as a set they are not easily available.

[nesf]

Thanks very much!

[Antoine Marchand]

http://www.jpc.de/jpcng/classic/detail/-/art/Johann-Sebastian-Bach-1685-1750-Karl-M%FCnchinger-Great-Choral-Works/hnum/7159264

EUR 17.99

[kishnevi]

Looking around JPC for other things to add to that--by itself, the shipping charges would be almost as much as the set--I see some things described as "Artikel am Lager" and my German isn't up to the challenge.  Does that mean 'on back order'?

Update--place the order, along with some CPO CDs on their 5.99 and 7.99 Euro pages, and two box sets I've been considering for a while (Andreas Staier playing sundry and various on DHM and Bart van Oort playing Haydn non-sonata stuff on Brilliant).   And then found out the shipping charge was less than I thought it was--it's actually 12.99 Euros, not the 18.99 I had stuck in my head.

[nesf]

Update--place the order, along with some CPO CDs on their 5.99 and 7.99 Euro pages, and two box sets I've been considering for a while (Andreas Staier playing sundry and various on DHM and Bart van Oort playing Haydn non-sonata stuff on Brilliant).   And then found out the shipping charge was less than I thought it was--it's actually 12.99 Euros, not the 18.99 I had stuck in my head.

Their shipping is absurdly good within Europe, I've paid more shipping for parcels within Ireland than what I paid for getting a bunch of CDs from Germany with them.

[mc ukrneal]

Their shipping is absurdly good within Europe, I've paid more shipping for parcels within Ireland than what I paid for getting a bunch of CDs from Germany with them.

Ironically, it's pretty bad to the US unless you get enough volume. At EUR 13, I usually feel I need to order 20+ items to make it worth it. I think my last oder with them had 30 items.

[Willoughby earl of Itacarius]

Ironically, it's pretty bad to the US unless you get enough volume. At EUR 13, I usually feel I need to order 20+ items to make it worth it. I think my last oder with them had 30 items.

The best solution would be to move to say the Netherlands, then you even get free shipping every 4 weeks.