I just picked up 3 new MP3 box sets that are a fantastic bargain.The Bach Guild has once again released some essential bargain sets, along with one by Vox. The Big Haydn Box and the Big Schubert Box are full of some great performances and music for around a dollar. The Bach Complete Organ Works by Walter Kraft is over 15 hours of some great organ music. As usual the Bach Guild sets will probably work their way up to…
There are a lot of places that you can get free classical music, so I am going to try and find a new recording every day for the month of May. Many of them are from archive.org, so they could be old 78’s or live performances, but to have the chance to hear some new works or a conductor that is unfamiliar is always a good thing. Leopold Stokowski conducts Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade. From 1934, with the Philadelphia Orchestra. From archive.org:…
Philips released a “Set Your Life To Music” series in the mid 1990’s, along the lines of ‘Bach At Bedtime’, ‘Mozart For Meditation’ et al. I am usually not a big fan of the ‘greatest hits’ collections as a general rule, but the Philips sets are an exception. Sometimes you just want to listen to a selection of classical music, and these are actually nice compilations with good performances from the Philips catalog. Whoever compiled these sets did a great…
The Bach Guild has released another Bach volume to celebrate the anniversary of their downloadable music sets. From the Vanguard vault, these 1950’s and 1960’s recordings are another treasure trove of classic performances. The set debuts for 99 cents as usual, and the Bach Guild and Amazon are also featuring some of their other Box Sets for the same price. These sets tend to increase in price to $8.99 over time, so now is the time to get these collections….
The Bach Guild is hot on the heels of their last release the Handel Box with a 7 hour set of Vivaldi recordings. While not all of them may be of the ‘original instrument’ school, there is still a lot to like here. And as usual, it is only 99 cents for 138 tracks, but the price will rise shortly. The Handel is a bargain too right now. Link to current Big Box sets at Amazon:
Here is another ‘Really, it is only 2 bucks?!’ release. Mozart’s 4 famous operas: The Magic Flute, The Marriage of Figaro, Cosi fan Tutti and Don Giovanni, all for under 3 dollars at Amazon MP3. And these are great performances, mono of course, from Fricsay, Kleiber, Krips and Bohm, featuring the RAIS SO and the Vienna Phil, so we are talking some classic performances and not some run of the mill recordings. Of course no librettos but those can be…
I have mentioned the Allegro samplers at one time, but with the new Winter 2013 release, though I would bring them up again. Allegro puts out classical music samplers almost every season, with some familiar tracks, but also featuring composers that are off the beaten path. Overall these are nice to listen to, and best of all, they are free! The link below will take you to a list of most of the samplers, but you will want to do…
The Bach Guild has released their latest super download set of old Vanguard recordings. This time we get over 13 hours of Mozart. As usual, the price is just 99 cents, although it will go up to about $10 eventually. So time to go grab it while you can. Included are a few symphonies, a lot of chamber music and other sundry works. Overall, the performances and sound are good, but as with all these sets there are a few…
The Bach Guild [aka Vanguard Classics] has released their latest super bargain MP3 set, the “Big Beethoven Box”. There are symphonies, cello sonatas, piano sonatas, some string quartets, and other miscellaneous goodies. And all for the bargain price of 99 cents. As usual this set will most likely creep up in price to $9.99 eventually, but even then it is a bargain. The performers are good, such as Maurice Abravanel & Utah Symphony Orchestra. Some of the tracks have questionable…
Karl Bohm and the Vienna Philharmonic in a great 70’s era recording of Beethoven’s ‘Missa Solemnis’. Performances byMargaret Price and Christa Ludwig add to this excellent recording. http://youtu.be/fhm-b4sKCdw:
The Bach Guild has a new MP3 release for the holidays, the “Big Christmas Box”, featuring classical recordings from the old Vanguard label. Included are a massive collections of works at 281 tracks. The Nutcracker, Messiah, various choral works, Bach’s Magnificat in D. All this for the bargain price of $0.99. Yep. 99 cents for over 13 hours of music. And these are not no-name performers, all were well-regarded in the 1960’s when most of these recordings were made. And…
I still run across some bargain sets from Amazon MP3, and while some of the collections like ’50 Best Classics’ are always easy to find, some other gems surface here or there. All of these selections fall under the category “what do I have to lose?” since they may not be the top performances out there, but if you do not have these works and want to listen to them for next to nothing, well, WDIHTL? I cannot vouch for…
You can find a lot of surprises when you are browsing Amazon.com. I came upon a bargain set of the Beethoven Piano Sonatas by Artur Schnabel. These were recorded in the 1930’s and I believe may have been the first set of complete sonatas issued on 78s. Whether they were first or not, they have a history of being legendary performances, and I never got around to listening to them, until now. They set of 101 tracks is on sale…
I seem to be on a Mahler kick these days. After recently getting the Levine and Abravenel Mahler sets I stumbled across another one of those mystery download sets of Bruno Walter conducting Mahler. Many of the older 1940’s-50’s classical recordings have gone out of copyright in the UK, and there have been some MP3 releases on the cheap as of late with sketchy details other than the works and orchestra. These are Walter’s Mahler recordings from the 1940’s and…
Here is another of those unbelievable deals from Amazon. The Bach Guild aka Vanguard Records has released the entire Mahler Symphony recordings by Abravanel and the Utah Symphony for the ridiculous price of $.99. Yep, 13 hours of Mahler for under a buck. If they do like some of the other sets that Vanguard has released, the price will go up to 7-8 dollars eventually, which is still a great deal. I had not heard some of these recordings in…