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Category: Bargains

Beethoven Brahms Bruckner Schubert

Beethoven Brahms Bruckner Schubert

I needed another set of Beethoven Symphony recordings about as much as I needed another Brahms set, not to mention Bruckner or Schubert. But running across the Gunter Wand Great Recordings box set, who could resist? A 28 CD set in a large LP size box, with a really nice booklet, and under $35, so on order it went. My recordings from Wand were quite sparse to my surprise, mainly some of his later live Bruckner recordings, but I enjoyed those…

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Rachmaninov Vox Box

Rachmaninov Vox Box

Vox has released the Leonard Slatkin / St. Louis Symphony Orchestra’s Rachmaninov symphony recordings in a 99 cent download set. Included are the Piano Concertos with Abbey Simon. These are good performances in nice sound, and well worth the download. Rachmaninoff: Complete Symphonies, Piano Concertos, & Orchestral Works (The VoxBox Edition)

BOX: Historical Box Sets

BOX: Historical Box Sets

There have been a flood of historical box sets released over the past few years, featuring recordings from the 1930’s on from various music labels, and many at a bargain price. Downloadable sets have also appeared, some duplicating the box sets, or at least with a bit of overlap. Due to copyright expiration in Europe, many bargain labels have emerged, releasing long out-of-print recordings, along with some great sets from the major labels. These sets are bare-bones, with no real…

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Bargain Box: Levine’s Mahler

Bargain Box: Levine’s Mahler

James Levine had a good run of Mahler recordings in the late 1970’s to the early 1980’s, and even won a Grammy for the recording of the 7th. I also had the 5th, 9th and 4th for years, and have enjoyed these interpretations with the Chicago, London and Philadelphia Symphonies. Sony has issued a barebones box set of all of Levine’s Mahler recordings for RCA. Levine did not record the 2nd or 8th at the time for RCA, and since they…

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Scherchen Mahler

Scherchen Mahler

Hermann Scherchen conducting Gustav Mahler. What’s not to like? The Vienna State Opera Orchestra play on this great Westminster recording. I have always thought that my first Mahler 2nd was the Bruno Walter version, but I recall purchasing a single LP version of the second before that. Now, that is a lot of music to pack onto one LP, and the sound was atrocious to say the least. It was a great performance from what I could tell, but the…

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Vivaldi – Opus 3

Vivaldi – Opus 3

Vivaldi is of course known for the ‘Four Seasons’, the first 4 works of his Op. 8 ‘The Contest Between Harmony and Invention’. His other Opus collections have a lot to offer, and are well worth checking out. The Op. 3 ‘L’Estro Armonico’ features 12 works for 1, 2 and 4 Violins. It is well-represented with many good recordings, but a few stand out. Trevor Pinnock and the English Concert hold the top honors. The 2 CD collections of these…

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Eugene Ormandy Conducts 20th Century Classics

Eugene Ormandy Conducts 20th Century Classics

I posted a review and some other info at Amazon: This release combines recordings from the RCA and CBS vaults. Ormandy re-recorded many works when the Philadelphia Orchestra moved to RCA in the 1970’s. While not all of these recordings matched the earlier versions, several were better but have been mostly out of circulation for a while. The Shostakovich 5 is a particular favorite of mine, much better than the CBS version. Since there seems to be no real info…

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Tchaikovsky Box Set

Tchaikovsky Box Set

BIS has released a box set of symphonies and other works by Neeme Jarvi and the Gothenburg SO. Formerly a 6CD set, it is now a download album, and at under $8 is a steal. While many listeners are familiar with Symphonies 4-6, and maybe No. 2 ‘Snow Maiden’, Symphonies 1 and 3 are well worth hearing. Add in some orchestral works, great BIS sound and solid performances, this is definitely a set to check out. Amazon MP3: http://a.basicrep.com/tch-jarvi  iTunes…

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99 Most Essential!

99 Most Essential!

Get 99 Tracks for pennies a track! Get 100 tracks in our mega classical set! If you have checked out the Amazon MP3 store lately, there have been a flood of these ‘mega’ classical sets. From collections on a theme to sets dedicated to one composer, these sets are put out by X5 and Cobra Entertainment, to name a few. Many of these recordings seem to come from the bargain CDs you used to find at grocery stores or at…

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Perlman Jacket

Perlman Jacket

  The Itzhak Perman ‘Original Jacket Collection’ is a 10 CD set that was issued by Sony several years ago featuring a variety of Perlman’s recordings. Bach, Mozart, Prokofiev and Paganini are only a few of the composers represented here. This collection was a bit expensive at the time, and to be honest not one I was inclined to purchase at full price. Fortunately almost the entire set has been reissued in a bargain Sony import collection: ‘Itzhak Perlman Plays…

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Brilliant Shostakovich

Brilliant Shostakovich

  I will admit to owning way too much Shostakovich. Not only do I have the complete symphony sets by Kondrashin and Bernstein, all 15 symphonies have a CD by various conductors in my collection. Lately the rage has been to release bargain sets of older recordings, like the Toscanini or Rubinstein sets, or complete symphony sets at bargain download prices. Of course, buyer beware on some of the ‘Best 99 Tracks’ collections for a buck out there, but sometimes…

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Chopin Vox Box

Chopin Vox Box

Another great MP3 bargain set from Vox. These are excellent performances of Chopin’s most famous works. Simon, Klien and Moravec were top-drawer pianists in their time, and the playing can compare to any of the more famous names. Of course Rubinstein is the master of Chopin, and if you have his ‘Chopin Collection’ this set will duplicate many pieces, but there are many more tracks of other works. The sound quality is just fine, and since this collection is currently priced…

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Albeniz

Albeniz

  While Spanish composer Isaac Albeniz wrote pieces for piano, some have been transcribed for guitar, orchestra, etc. An MP3 release from X5 is a real bargain. Most of the piano tracks are performed by Miguel Baselga, and are licensed from BIS records. Excellent performances, and very enjoyable. There are some arrangements for guitar and orchestral spread among the 44 tracks too. Around $7 for the MP3 album.