The Super-Duper Cheap Bargains Thread

[Drosera]

That's a wonderful set (if one is a piano maniac). Somehow I enjoy early Brendel more than his later performances even though the sound is not as good. Does anybody else feel that way? I sense more flux, motion and dance in his playing compared to later years.

Absolutely. Later Brendel regularly puts me to sleep. There's so much more fun in the earlier recordings. And I really enjoy the things he never attempted again, like the stuff Brian mentioned and the Hungarian Rhapsodies, or even the Chopin.

[Moonfish]

The Perahia box seems to be on its way down in price once again. Definitely a SDCB at about $1/disc if one has not acquired it yet.....
I am quite surprised by the prices on this one. Sony must have printed quite a pile of these!

[asin] B008NBEY3C[/asin]

[Moonfish]

Absolutely. Later Brendel regularly puts me to sleep. There's so much more fun in the earlier recordings. And I really enjoy the things he never attempted again, like the stuff Brian mentioned and the Hungarian Rhapsodies, or even the Chopin.

So true - there is such a sense of formality and technique in the latter recordings. Excellent for sure, but not as engaging. Glad I am not alone in feeling this way. The Vox box is a goldmine!

[Ken B]

The Perahia box seems to be on its way down in price once again. Definitely a SDCB at about $1/disc if one has not acquired it yet.....
I am quite surprised by the prices on this one. Sony must have printed quite a pile of these!

[asin] B008NBEY3C[/asin]

I think they misjudged the market for elaborate shelf busting packaging. Who buys 70 disc sets, grandma with her empty rack or collectors with a gazillion discs already?

[Moonfish]

I think they misjudged the market for elaborate shelf busting packaging. Who buys 70 disc sets, grandma with her empty rack or collectors with a gazillion discs already?

We should buy a bunch and give them away to potential classical music fans!!! I wonder what Sony will be up to next....?

[Ken B]

We should buy a bunch and give them away to potential classical music fans!!! I wonder what Sony will be up to next....?

Well if you are looking for a good cause I know this guy .... Ben K ... You could send him  a box or two. Ben K, yeahhh, that's the ticket

[Moonfish]

Well if you are looking for a good cause I know this guy .... Ben K ... You could send him  a box or two. Ben K, yeahhh, that's the ticket

I have a feeling of that Ben K is well immersed in the maelstrom of classical music - at the point of no return as a matter of fact....

[Ken B]

I have a feeling of that Ben K is well immersed in the maelstrom of classical music - at the point of no return as a matter of fact....

Curses, foiled again!

[Drosera]

The Perahia box seems to be on its way down in price once again. Definitely a SDCB at about $1/disc if one has not acquired it yet.....
I am quite surprised by the prices on this one. Sony must have printed quite a pile of these!

I'm very happy that, for once, I didn't already own most of these. And at $56.28, it was an absolute steal. At its current price it's still a SDCB. I've been enjoying this box enormously. More than the Rubinstein box, in fact.

[Mookalafalas]

We should buy a bunch and give them away to potential classical music fans!!! I wonder what Sony will be up to next....?

  I did! Bought one for my brother and his wife, even though I know it will just collect dust over there.
   This Ben K fellow sounds deserving however. I wonder when his birthday is? As long as it's not too soon, or on an unlucky numbered day, I'd be delighted to get him a box

[Ken B]

  I did! Bought one for my brother and his wife, even though I know it will just collect dust over there.
   This Ben K fellow sounds deserving however. I wonder when his birthday is? As long as it's not too soon, or on an unlucky numbered day, I'd be delighted to get him a box

Oddly enough his is on March 31 ...


I bought the Mozart 50 box for my sister who liked a chamber concert she went to.

[Moonfish]

You may already have these, but Amazon.de have been selling Schiff's solo Bach recordings (12 cds) for years now [limited edition?!?!?]. I listen to these recordings very often. A great deal for 25 Euros if one is into either Schiff or Bach....
I am not sure about the hat though! 

http://www.amazon.de/S%C3%A4mtliche-grossen-Werke-Klavier-Eloquence/dp/B001DTA8QS/ref=sr_1_5?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1394436346&sr=1-5&keywords=andras+schiff

[Moonfish]

I'm very happy that, for once, I didn't already own most of these. And at $56.28, it was an absolute steal. At its current price it's still a SDCB. I've been enjoying this box enormously. More than the Rubinstein box, in fact.

Yes, it is delightful and full of great music (the Mozart in particular). So you simply prefer Perahia's playing over Rubinstein's or is it a matter of sound/orchestras?

[Moonfish]

Sabine Meyer's Clarinet Concertos (5 cd set) going for $5.50 in the market place....     
Good clarinet exposure kit!!

[asin] B008K7X1EW[/asin]

[Drosera]

Yes, it is delightful and full of great music (the Mozart in particular). So you simply prefer Perahia's playing over Rubinstein's or is it a matter of sound/orchestras?

Actually, Mozart is on of the few things in which I don't like Perahia that much. A bit too bland. I prefer early Barenboim and especially Zacharias.

Perhaps I stilll have to discover what's supposed to make Rubinstein so great. Very few of the performances I've heard so far strike me as more than 'okay'. And I regularly feel like saying: "Quit thumping the keyboard like that!" Still, the later chamber music recordings are especially interesting. That's the main reason I bought the set.

You may already have these, but Amazon.de have been selling Schiff's solo Bach recordings (12 cds) for years now [limited edition?!?!?]. I listen to these recordings very often. A great deal for 25 Euros if one is into either Schiff or Bach....
I am not sure about the hat though! 

http://www.amazon.de/S%C3%A4mtliche-grossen-Werke-Klavier-Eloquence/dp/B001DTA8QS/ref=sr_1_5?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1394436346&sr=1-5&keywords=andras+schiff

Beware of the AMSI process though. It may or may not succeed in making it sound better on a $50 set. But the few recordings I have that are AMSI processed sound universally awful. Muddy and with weird distortions of the sound stage. Perhaps (hopefully) less of a problem with solo piano recordings.

[DavidW]

That Schiff set is selling for roughly $30 usd in Amazon US, no need to look at DE if you live in the states.

[Que]

(12 euros at jpc... click picture for link! )

Q

[Ken B]

(12 euros at jpc... click picture for link! )

Q

Is it good? I don't recall being blown away by his Haydn.

[Moonfish]

(12 euros at jpc... click picture for link! )

Q

Are these mostly present in the Brilliant Classics Megabox Mozart compilation?

[kishnevi]

Is it good? I don't recall being blown away by his Haydn.

I have this set,  Gould's  (obviously in a world category of its own,  Uchida, and Lili Kraus.  Of the four,  van Oort is my favorite, and enough of a favorite that I don't feel the need to go looking for any more performances of these works.  It's also a very complete set, including one CD of little Wolfie's doodlings as a kid in London.