[Dennis Nicholls]

This is all Cees' fault.....

Amazon.de is selling a new boxed set of the major Beethoven works on 60 CDs for the price of something like Euro 39. I've been waiting for this to pop up on US Amazon but it never has. Perhaps it's some kind of licensing restriction. When ordered from the US, my checkout listed the price (sans VAT?) as Euro 33.59 with Euro 14.00 shipping and handling. Today's price conversion would be $64.70 US. That's barely a dollar a disc shipped all the way from Germany.

Anyway here's the link: www.amazon.de/gp/product/B000NDEMAI

I just ordered this set pre-release. The release date is given as 28 April 2007. I have not heard any of the performances, but most are given by David Zinman with the Zurich Tonhalle orchestra. The Penguin Guide gave his symphony cycle a "rosette", the only one ever given to a Beethoven symphony cycle, so I am most hopeful for the quality of this set.



Inhalt

Discs 1-5: Die 9 Sinfonien (Tonhalle Orchester Zürich/David Zinman)
Discs 6-7: Ouvertüren (Tonhalle Orchester Zürich/David Zinman)
Disc 8: Die Geschöpfe des Prometheus op. 43 (Ballettmusik) (Litauische Kammerphilharmonie/Karl Anton Rickenbacher
Disc 9 Orchester-,Klavier-, Flöten und Violinwerke
Discs 10-12: Die 5 Klavierkonzerte (Yefim Bronfman/Tonhalle Orchester Zürich/David Zinman)
Disc 13: Violinkonzert op. 61 + Die 2 Violinromanzen op. 40+50 (Christian Tetzlaff/Tonhalleorchester Zürich/David Zinman)
Disc 14: Tripelkonzert op. 56; Septett op. 20 (Yefim Bronfman/Tonhalle Orchester Zürich/David Zinman)
Discs 15-18: Die 10 Violinsonaten (Pinchas Zukerman/George Neikrug)
Discs 19-20: Die 5 Cellosonaten + Variationen (Anner Bylsma/Jos van Immerseel)
Discs 21-25: Die 12 Klaviertrios (Seraphin Trio)
Disc 26: Die Streichtrios op. 3 und op. 8 (L’Archibudelli
Disc 27: Die Streichtrios op. 9,1-3 (Kandinsky String Trio)
Disc 28: Klavierquartett op. 16 (Streicherfassung); Klavierquintett op. 16 (Bläserfassung) (Emanuel Ax/Isaac Stern/ Jaime Lardo/YoYo Ma/Ensemble Wien-Berlin)
Disc 29: Kammermusik für Streicher und Holzbläser (L’Archibudelli)
Disc 30: Oktett op. 103 / Klarinettensextett op. 71 / Märsche für Bäser, u.a. (Mozzafiato)
Discs 31-39: Die 16 Streichquartette (Alexander String Quartet)
Discs 40-50: Die 32 Klaviersonaten (Yukio Yokoyama, Charles Rosen, Vladimir Horowitz, Justus Frantz, Gerhard Oppitz, Robert Casadesus)
Disc 51: Die Bagatellen für Klavier Solo (Yukio Yokoyama)
Disc 52: Die Variationen für Klavier Solo (Yukio Yokoyama)
Disc 53: Diabelli-Variationen + 4 Klavierstücke WoO (Olli Mustonen)
Disc 54: Lieder von den Britischen Inseln (Elaine Woods/Carolyn Watkinson/Richard Salter/Helmut Deutsch)
Disc 55: Christus am Ölberge op. 85 (Philadelphia Orchestra/Eugene Ormandy)
Disc 56: Messe op. 86 (Tokyo Oratorio Society/Ensemble of Tokyo/Wolfdieter Maurer)
Disc 57: Missa Solemnis op. 123 (Tonhalle Orchester Zürich/David Zinman)
Disc 58: Chorwerke (Regine Crespin/ New York Philharmonic Orchestra/Thomas Schippers, Ambrosian Opera Chorus/ London Symphony Orchestra/Tilson Thomas Martina Arroyo/ Justine Diaz/ Camerata Singers)
Discs 59-60: Fidelio op. 72 (Gewandhausorchester Leipzig/Kurt Masur)

[Dennis Nicholls]

Come to think of it, I'm really glad to be getting a Fidelio (of all works!) done in Leipzig by Kurt Masur, a real hero of the liberation of East Germany back in 1989.

[Aaron Silverman]

Note that this is a Sony release, not Brilliant Classics (the company that puts out most of those other huge "Masterworks" sets).

The price is certainly right!

[Dennis Nicholls]

There's a thread around here for the Hanssler set of JS Bach, which had a budget release on BMS ("Bohemian Music Service") a couple of years ago. With shipping from Germany it came to about $180 US. You can still buy it on Amazon US but it's now about $2K.

Most of this new Sony Beethoven set appears to be new recordings with the exception of the piano sonata cycle. Guys like Horowitz and Casadesus aren't exactly on tour nowadays.

[Aaron Silverman]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dennis Nicholls

There's a thread around here for the Hanssler set of JS Bach, which had a budget release on BMS ("Bohemian Music Service") a couple of years ago. With shipping from Germany it came to about $180 US. You can still buy it on Amazon US but it's now about $2K.

Yeesh. The Brilliant Classics complete Bach (155 CDs) can be had for under $100, and has a pretty good rep.

[Cees Alons]

Mine shipped today.

I expect it (accounting for the weekend) five days from now.
I'll let you know my first impression (cannot promise to listen to all discs within a week ).


Dennis, great info about that price without VAT. I hoped it would work like that. And you're right: VAT is 19%.

Because I do the reverse ordering all the time (get almost all of my DVDs, several books and some CDs from the US), I can tell you that it will probably take about 10 days (hardly ever less) to get the package - unless something happens at customs (or whatever subversive group inspecting your shipment ). Assuming you took default shipment method, that is.


Cees

[Dennis Nicholls]

It has arrived. Eight days from order date. Deutsche Luftpost isn't too slow.

First up: the greatest symphonic work ever written, Symphony 7 in A major opus 92.

[Dennis Nicholls]

Oh dear....

This Zinman performance is very different. According to the Penguin Guide, "the first modern-instrument cycle to use the new edition prepared by Jonathan Del Mar, with important modifications in the text. Zinman also allows a degree of ornamentation beyond convention."

The orchestral tuttis in the first movement recap are much shorter than is the norm. But in the first movement recap of the second theme, the oboe breaks out into a cadenza. In the second movement, many of the woodwinds are permitted grace notes.

This is going to take a lot of thought on my part. It's a very fresh viewpoint.

Sound is excellent for redbook. I own two SACD versions of the 7th, the Carlos Kleiber/Vienna version and the Herbey/Berlin version. The Zinman version stands with them on sound quality. I can only imagine how good the alternate Zinman SACD version is going to sound.

[Dennis Nicholls]

Next up: the Alexander Quartet playing the 3rd Rasumovsky Quartet, opus 59 no. 3.

[Dennis Nicholls]

The Alexander's are quite good. I still prefer my old copy of the Guarnari Quartet playing this music, but it's only a detail preference.

Next up: The Waldstein piano sontata, opus 53 in C Major, played by Vlad "the impaler" Horowitz.

[Dennis Nicholls]

Since the piano sonatas are recorded by numerous pianists, I thought I should give the following liner notes to show which pianist plays which sonata.

1 Yukio Yokoyama
2 Robert Casadesus
3/4/5/6/7 Yokoyama
8 Justus Frantz
9/10/11/12/13 Yokoyama
14 Frantz
15 Gerhard Oppitz
16 Yokoyama
17 Oppitz
18/19/20 Yokoyama
21 Vladimir Horowitz
22 Yokoyama
23 Frantz
24 Casadesus
25 Yokoyama
26 Oppitz
27/28/29/30/31/32 Charles Rosen