The Super-Duper Cheap Bargains Thread

[DaveF]

Spedito. Previsione di consegna: giovedì 23 aprile 2015 - venerdì 8 maggio 2015 entro le 20:00
(In Google Translateish: Shipped. Forecast delivery: Thursday, April 23, 2015 - Friday, May 8, 2015 by 20:00)

Mine in transito too from my new best friends at amazon.it (well, they call me tu a lot).

[king ubu]

oy vey, what will become of me, I fell for this last night:

[asin]B00B7364H2[/asin]

('twas 55€ shipped, from aIT - price has gone up again some by now)

[Moonfish]

oy vey, what will become of me, I fell for this last night:

[asin]B00B7364H2[/asin]

('twas 55€ shipped, from aIT - price has gone up again some by now)

As long as you have enough room for your stereo and a chair.... 

[king ubu]

Well, I don't have Vols. 1 and 3 yet, so there's still hope 

[king ubu]

not sure anyone still doesn't have it (it felt like I was the last to get it ... yet after all these are my homeboys):

[asin]B00I0IL3FA[/asin]

€ 50.39 at aFR right now!

[kishnevi]

I do not have it, but have two thirds of it as individual releases.
Beethoven is great and with concertos Missa Solemnis and overtures is ubercomplete.
Mahler is variable ..great 3 and 4, one of the best 9ths on record balanced by the worst 10th I have ever heard.
Strauss is also first rate.
Schumann is meh.  But about the only Schumann cycle I do not think of as meh is Kubelik and maybe Karajan.
Wagner CD is focused on his Swiss years, but if they don't include the liner notes you will be missing out on half the fun.

[Brian]

I do not have it, but have two thirds of it as individual releases.
Beethoven is great and with concertos Missa Solemnis and overtures is ubercomplete.
Mahler is variable ..great 3 and 4, one of the best 9ths on record balanced by the worst 10th I have ever heard.
Strauss is also first rate.
Schumann is meh.  But about the only Schumann cycle I do not think of as meh is Kubelik and maybe Karajan.
Wagner CD is focused on his Swiss years, but if they don't include the liner notes you will be missing out on half the fun.

The Schubert is pretty good, but it includes lots of improvised ornamentation by the woodwinds, which you will either love or hate.

[PerfectWagnerite]

No longer there.

I know it's cheap and all but does anyone actually listen to 30CDs of Vaughan Williams? The guy wrote some great music but out of the 30cds there are probably only 10 at most that anyone would want to listen to.

[Mirror Image]

I know it's cheap and all but does anyone actually listen to 30CDs of Vaughan Williams? The guy wrote some great music but out of the 30cds there are probably only 10 at most that anyone would want to listen to.

Well, that's your own opinion of course and you shouldn't make such a sweeping generalization. If anyone buys that set, it's because 1. it's super cheap and 2. they want to hear more of RVW's music besides the nine symphonies or The Lark Ascending for example. There's more to the composer than these works.

[kishnevi]

I know it's cheap and all but does anyone actually listen to 30CDs of Vaughan Williams? The guy wrote some great music but out of the 30cds there are probably only 10 at most that anyone would want to listen to.

I listened to all 30 CDs and found all to be worth not merely a listen, but worthy of relistening.

[Ken B]

I listened to all 30 CDs and found all to be worth not merely a listen, but worthy of relistening.

I cannot say that of all 30. I did weary of yet another folksong arrangement. But there's more than enough in this box to make it worth having and rehearing, including some little known pieces I would not have picked up any other way, and am very glad to have.

[PerfectWagnerite]

Well, that's your own opinion of course and you shouldn't make such a sweeping generalization. If anyone buys that set, it's because 1. it's super cheap and 2. they want to hear more of RVW's music besides the nine symphonies or The Lark Ascending for example. There's more to the composer than these works.

We should take a poll then. One member listened to all 30cds and another one grew weary of at least some of the cds. Looks like quite a few people bought the set so if they would be kind enough to report back in a few months or a years time to see if they actually listened to all 30cds.

[The new erato]

We should take a poll then. One member listened to anll 30cds and another one grew weary of at least some of the cds. Looks like quite a few people bought the set so if they would be kind enough to report back in a few months or a years time to see if they actually listened to all 30cds.

oh come on. I have 3 complete rings but still after 30 years haven't had the time or inclination to listen to all the works of the cycle.

[kishnevi]

And I have 103 CDs worth of Wagner I have yet to listen to.  And DVDs of Lohengrin and Tristan I have never watched.  And ditto for most of the first Levine/Met Ring DVD....

Point is, even if you only listen to a quarter of the box, at that price it is a no brainer to get it.

(The folks songs might be wearying, but no law says you have listen to them all in one session.)

[Mirror Image]

We should take a poll then. One member listened to all 30cds and another one grew weary of at least some of the cds. Looks like quite a few people bought the set so if they would be kind enough to report back in a few months or a years time to see if they actually listened to all 30cds.

Why would we need to take a poll? My point was that, in most cases, people who have bought the Collector's Edition of RVW are looking to explore more of the composer's music than the 'usual suspects' and for that price they can afford to take a chance even if not all of the works are first-rate. I don't personally own this set but can very much understand it's appeal.

[Ken B]

Why would we need to take a poll? My point was that, in most cases, people who have bought the Collector's Edition of RVW are looking to explore more of the composer's music than the 'usual suspects' and for that price they can afford to take a chance even if not all of the works are first-rate. I don't personally own this set but can very much understand it's appeal.

Good points. And at the price I paid if I liked half a dozen discs I got a good price. If I liked only half the box it was a bargoon.

Now if we were talikg the Elgar box ... 

[kishnevi]

Good points. And at the price I paid if I liked half a dozen discs I got a good price. If I liked only half the box it was a bargoon.

Now if we were talikg the Elgar box ... 

Actually the Elgar box is less of a treasure.  Several of the big choral works have muffled sonics, exactly what you do not want in big choral works.  The RVW box, as best I recall, does not suffer from that...and of course big choral works are an Elgar thing, not an RVW thing.

[Mirror Image]

Good points. And at the price I paid if I liked half a dozen discs I got a good price. If I liked only half the box it was a bargoon.

Now if we were talikg the Elgar box ... 

Hear, hear!

[king ubu]

We should take a poll then. One member listened to all 30cds and another one grew weary of at least some of the cds. Looks like quite a few people bought the set so if they would be kind enough to report back in a few months or a years time to see if they actually listened to all 30cds.

I have bought it and not listened to a bit yet. And I don't see in how far that should concern you at all.

On topic, this one's down to € 25.90 at aFR currently:

[asin]B00CYPPAH2[/asin]

[king ubu]

one more, too good for me to pass, I think (though I'll have to bribe the post guy with 25-30€ for custom and taxes):

[asin]B0019GKI6U[/asin]

down to € 77 at aFR!