Greetings.
What follows is a combination of venting and wondering if I'm the only one.
Many times I am shopping for a recording that's a complete set of something; e.g., complete Scriabin piano works. I find what appears to be a complete set, and then I look further into it (on Amazon, let's say). I'm mildly psyched because I've found a complete set/box! Cool! I'll just order it and... no wait.... Complete, Volume 2? Why o why do record labels emphasize the "complete" aspect and obfuscate the fact that it's not an actual complete set, but a volume of a complete set?
Or am I just a bonehead and I miss it too easily?
Complete regards (not merely a volume of my regards),
-09
I would hope usually to be able to distinguish between a "Complete Works" and a "Complete Works, vol.1 (of 17)", but recording companies don't always help; take this one: https://www.amazon.com/Complete-Works-Edgard-Varese-set/dp/B079VD4L73 (https://www.amazon.com/Complete-Works-Edgard-Varese-set/dp/B079VD4L73), which claims to be Volume 1, although no Volume 2 seems to exist (and the only work missing from this compilation that I can see is Amériques). Just to muddy the waters more, there is also another "Complete Works, vol.1" available from some sellers which is a single 24-minute disc of the same performances of the percussion and chamber works (one of which is, of course, Intégrales). Confused? I am.
OK, so it's not just me. Thanks for that. It seems that I always locate versions with this on the cover:
<composer><works series> COMPLETE
Volume 3
Dang you, misleading record labels. Dang you, I say.
And what about "Complete" editions (not volume 1 or anything, but purportedly the whole lot) which aren't? - like Colin Davis's Berlioz Complete Orchestral Works, which doesn't include the Rob Roy overture - which admittedly HB withdrew, but that's no excuse; it's a very enjoyable piece and of abiding interest from including material later reused in Harold en Italie.