Recordings That You Are Considering

[Papy Oli]

The Symphony Edition's content list is a bit sketchy - CD's 4, 5, 6, 12, 13, 15, 25, 26, 32, and 35 are missing from the list, and the last disc's (Mahler 9th) number is 41, even though the box is supposed to have just 40 discs.

oh yeah... didn't notice that at all 

There's room for a second Brahms cycle then... 

[North Star]

oh yeah... didn't notice that at all 

There's room for a second Brahms cycle then... 

And has Abbado recorded Schubert's Unfinished or Great? There is a disc with the 5th and 6th, and that's it.
Well duh, of course he's done the cycle. 

[Octave]

That's weird, I didn't remember seeing that Abbado megabox at the Decca Classics website when I looked at their catalog just the other day, so I browsed again with "future releases" first, all affiliated labels selected, and the other box ("include items not available in our store") also checked, but this 40cd Abbado box still didn't come up as a forthcoming release.  Is there a better way to do this?

[Todd]

Is there a better way to do this?

Yes, go to the DG website.

[jlaurson]

Might as well.  I mean, you can see that Yundi is now a bad ass, what with the raised collar and all.  Perhaps his LvB is reckless and fierce.

I'll give that a (first) spin tonight, methinks. It had slipped under some papers, after it arrived, and when I found it yesterday, it felt like new all over again.

[Brian]

Looking for comments on the musical value of the Handley and Gieseking boxes, the sonic quality of the Gieseking and Fournier boxes, and just generally if these are worth the $16, $17, and $20 asking prices at Presto.

[Opus106]

I've been having my eye on the Fournier just for the Bach transcriptions. But then I ask myself, "why can't you just get the track(s) or, worst case, go to YouTube for that; do you really need all that fluff?".

[Octave]

Is the rest of the Fournier ICON "fluff"?  I am too new to the game to know the value of most of those recordings, but the Beethoven sonatas with Schnabel?  One person told me that the transfers of these sonatas (on the ICON) were dreadful, and recommended downloading those recordings in superior sound from "Music Parlour" online, which I've not done yet.

I was mainly basing my interest in the ICON set (not acted upon, yet) in the J. Woolf review I read at Musicweb:
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2010/Nov10/fournier_icon_6295392.htm

[Opus106]

Is the rest of the Fournier ICON "fluff"?

Anything not composed by Bach is fluff to me.

J/K, of course. There is a lot of repetition in the works for me -- I very rarely buy another recording of a work I already have, you see -- and also some of the recordings are too old to warrant my interest (or money, rather).

If I were to get only one ICON box, it would be the one with the Melos Ensemble. So much variety and almost none of works represented in my small, little heap. And all in decent stereo sound too.

[trung224]

Looking for comments on the musical value of the Handley and Gieseking boxes, the sonic quality of the Gieseking and Fournier boxes, and just generally if these are worth the $16, $17, and $20 asking prices at Presto.

I own all this boxes, so I can give you some advice.
  Firstly, I think you should skip the Fournier' box. The recording is not good mono, and the performances is not exceptional. Fournier is the introspective cellist, his interpretation is not changed very much over the years. So, if you want to hear him, go and buy from DG, good sound and more classic performances.
  Secondly, I think if you should own the Gieseking box, especially if you don't have any Debussy and Ravel from him. Gieseking is renowned Mozartian, and here is the best from him, especially the Concerto No.24, which is one of my favorite along with Kempff, Haskil and Gould ( for the bizarre approach). The other concerto performances is good, but is eclipsed by his own other performances ( for example the overpowering Emperor Concerto in surprising stereo or Schumann concerto with Furtwängler in 1945). For the sound, it is very clear , decent mono (apart from Mozart's Quintet). At the low price, it can be considered as the bargain.
Thirdly, the Handley box is great, both in sound and interpretation, especially first 3 CDs, which contain the English music

[Todd]

The Fournier box is most enjoyable.  I bought it specifically for the LvB Cello Sonatas to compare and contrast with the sets he recorded with Kempff and Gulda.  (The set with Kempff is the best of the three.)  Some of the other recordings are quite fine, too.

I don't own the Gieseking box, but I own most of the recordings, and I find them essential for the most part.

[Coopmv]

Is the rest of the Fournier ICON "fluff"?  I am too new to the game to know the value of most of those recordings, but the Beethoven sonatas with Schnabel?  One person told me that the transfers of these sonatas (on the ICON) were dreadful, and recommended downloading those recordings in superior sound from "Music Parlour" online, which I've not done yet.

I was mainly basing my interest in the ICON set (not acted upon, yet) in the J. Woolf review I read at Musicweb:
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2010/Nov10/fournier_icon_6295392.htm

I bought the Schnabel Beethoven Piano Sonatas under the Naxos Historical label.  Those recordings were remastered/reconstructed by Mark Obert-Thorn, who did a much better job than the EMI engineers ...

[Octave]

I bought the Schnabel Beethoven Piano Sonatas under the Naxos Historical label.  Those recordings were remastered/reconstructed by Mark Obert-Thorn, who did a much better job than the EMI engineers ...

I refer to the Beethoven cello sonatas; Fournier has later recordings of them with Gulda and with Kempff [edit: just read Todd's post, oops], resp., but the earlier ones with Schnabel are the ones I've been wanting to check out.  I guess I did hear them on Youtube, but I've no idea what the transfer source was for that.  If there is an Obert-Thorn restoration of the cello sonatas that I have missed, please someone tell me about it!

[Daverz]

I bought the Schnabel Beethoven Piano Sonatas under the Naxos Historical label.  Those recordings were remastered/reconstructed by Mark Obert-Thorn, who did a much better job than the EMI engineers ...

I've been thinking about getting this box:

[asin]B00442OD2G[/asin]

Not to expensive, and I don't really want to track down all the Naxos issues.

[Octave]

To ask the thrice-asked question, I'm curious if anyone has done some A/B/C comparisons between the EMI, Musical Concepts (pictured above in Daverz's post), and Membran Beethoven/Schnabel piano sonata boxes.  Just curious how the sound compared among these three cheap sets, in case someone has done the close-comparison work already.

[Bogey]

To ask the thrice-asked question, I'm curious if anyone has done some A/B/C comparisons between the EMI, Musical Concepts (pictured above in Daverz's post), and Membran Beethoven/Schnabel piano sonata boxes.  Just curious how the sound compared among these three cheap sets, in case someone has done the close-comparison work already.

Pearl, if you do not mind the surface noise.  Naxos if you do.  Just my take.

No Opus Kura or Music and Arts out there for Schnabel?

[Todd]

I've been thinking about getting this box:

[asin]B00442OD2G[/asin]

Get it and be done with it.  I own the Dante transfers, which filter out a bit too much when compared to Naxos (I have two sets of the Concertos), but I can't say that I've ever stopped listening to a recording due to that.  Musical Concepts has been quite good for the two sets I bought (Morris' LvB symphonies and Abravanel's Mahler), so it's hard to go wrong.

[Bogey]

Get it and be done with it. 

Also good advice.

[SonicMan46]

Get it and be done with it.  I own the Dante transfers, which filter out a bit too much when compared to Naxos (I have two sets of the Concertos), but I can't say that I've ever stopped listening to a recording due to that.  Musical Concepts has been quite good for the two sets I bought (Morris' LvB symphonies and Abravanel's Mahler), so it's hard to go wrong.

Hi Todd - I've been avoiding the Schnabel recordings of the Beethoven piano sonatas for years because of the poor sound quality (usually described) and also comments on his interpretations (some stating that his student, Claude Frank, did a better job?) - currently, I own just a few 'complete' sets of these works (Fischer & Kempff) - I would certainly like several others - SO, would Schnabel (in this set) be in your top 3-4 recordings of these works?  Thanks for any comments - Dave

[Todd]

SO, would Schnabel (in this set) be in your top 3-4 recordings of these works?

Top 3-4, no.  Top 10, yes.  Schnabel's best playing is insightful and certainly can rival anyone's.  Sometimes he misses - like the sloppy open of 106 - but better to take a chance and miss than play everything safe.  The sound is of its era, for sure, but that doesn't bother me.  Claude Frank is another excellent choice, and another top 10 set for me.