# Upcoming big Claudio Arrau box, Complete Philips and American Decca Recordings



## staxomega

80 CD box










CD 1-11 Beethoven: Klaviersonaten Nr. 1-32; Eroica-Variationen op. 35; Variationen op. 34 & WoO. 80; Rondo op. 51 Nr. 2 (analoge Aufnahmen)
CD 12-14 Beethoven: Klavierkonzerte Nr. 1-5; Tripelkonzert op. 56 (Henryk Szeryng, Janos Starker, Concertgebouw Orchestra, Bernard Haitink)
CD 15 & 16 Beethoven: Violinsonaten Nr. 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 8
CD 17-25 Beethoven: Klaviersonaten Nr. 1-13, 15-28, 30-32; Andante favori WoO. 57; Variationen WoO. 80 (digitale Aufnahmen)
CD 26 Beethoven: Diabelli-Variationen op. 120
CD 27-29 Beethoven: Klavierkonzerte Nr. 1-5 (Staatskapelle Dresden, Colin Davis)
CD 30-36 Mozart: Klaviersonaten Nr. 1-16, 18; Rondos KV 485 & 511; Adagio KV 540; Fantasien KV 397 & 478
CD 37-41 Schubert: Klaviersonaten D. 664, 894, 958-960; Impromptus D. 496, 899, 935; Moments musicaux D. 780
CD 42-49 Chopin: Klavierkonzerte Nr. 1 & 2 (London Philharmonic Orchestra, Eliahu Inbal);Preludes Nr. 1-24; Balladen Nr. 1-4; Barcarolle op. 60; Fantaisie op. 49; Scherzi Nr. 1-4; Polonaise op. 61; Nocturnes Nr. 1-21; Walzer Nr. 1-19: Don Giovanni-Variationen; Fantasie über polnische Lieder; Krakowiak
CD 50-56 Schumann: Klavierkonzert op. 54 (Boston Symphony Orchestra, Colin Davis); Abegg-Variationen op. 1; Papillons op. 2; Fantasie op. 17; Nachtstücke op. 23; Carnaval op. 9; Klaviersonaten Nr. 1 & 2; Fantasiestücke op. 12 & 111; Symphonische Etüden op. 13; Arabeske op. 18; Kinderszenen op. 15; Kreisleriana op. 16; Waldszenen op. 80; Davidbündlertänze op. 6; Blumenstück op. 19; Humoreske op. 20; Novelletten op. 21; Faschingsschwank aus Wien op. 26; 3 Romanzen op. 28
CD 57-62 Liszt: Klavierkonzerte Nr. 1 & 2 (London Symphony Orchestra, Colin Davis); Klaviersonate h-moll; 5 Etudes de Concert; 6 Polnische Lieder von Chopin; Liebestraum As-Dur; Mephisto-Walzer Nr. 1; Etudes d'execution transcendante; Paraphrasen über Themen aus Verdi-Opern; Annees de pelerinage (Schweiz & Italien / Auszüge); Ballade Nr. 2; Benediction de Dieu dans la solitude; Funerailles; Valse oubliee Nr. 1
CD 63-66 Brahms: Klavierkonzerte Nr. 1 & 2 (Concertgebouw Orchestra, Bernard Haitink); Balladen op. 10; Händel-Variationen op. 24; Paganini-Variationen op. 35; Klaviersonaten Nr. 2 & 3; Scherzo op. 4
CD 67 Tschaikowsky: Klavierkonzert Nr. 1; Grieg: Klavierkonzert op. 16 (Boston Symphony Orchestra, Colin Davis)
CD 68 Grieg: Klavierkonzert op. 16; Schumann: Klavierkonzert op. 54 (Concertgebouw Orchestra, Christoph von Dohnanyi)
CD 69-71 Debussy: Preludes Heft 1 & 2; Images Heft 2; Suite bergamasque
CD 72-73 Bach: Partiten BWV 825-827, 829
CD 74 Beethoven: Klaviersonate Nr. 23; Liszt: Ballade Nr. 2; Chopin: Scherzo Nr. 1
CD 75 Beethoven: Diabelli-Variationen op. 34; Eroica-Variationen op. 35
CD 76 Beethoven: Klaviersonaten Nr. 8 & 29
CD 77 Beethoven: Klaviersonaten Nr. 14, 23, 26
CD 78 Chopin: Scherzi Nr. 1-4; Balladen Nr. 1-4
CD 79 Chopin: Impromptus; Barcarolle op. 60; Balakireff: Islamey; Claudio Arrau im Interview
CD 80 Beethoven: Klavierkonzert Nr. 4; Leonore-Ouvertüre Nr. 3 (Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Leonard Bernstein) (DG)

Many duplicates for me, but the price is already looking very attractive at 170 Euro retail, I'm sure it will come down once many retailers start to get it in stock. It's due later in February.


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## Larkenfield

Looks wonderful... on the surface. I’ve heard some of the Decca releases of Arrau’s original Beethoven Philips recordings, and to me, they do not sound like the original masters of the Philips recordings. Something is different. The Deccas just do not have the same warmth, fullness, and richness of sound as the Philips sound. Maybe this box set will be different and not sound tampered with. In the meantime, this looks like a fabulous collection. There’s such depth in his playing, perhaps a little too much on the serious side on occation, but still, there’s such depth of insight and he was interested in the psychological underpinnings of the music, at least with his Beethoven performances, which are personal favorites. I think the Schumann and Liszt recordings are probably worth the price of the set alone. Some have been out of print for years since Philips went under. The price looks very affordable. But again, I would bet my bottom dollar that Decca somehow cut a lot of corners to get out this edition with that kind of affordability.


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## Guest

I have the box and so far have been listening to the Debussy selections. Audio strike me as superb, and a bit better balanced than the original CD masters, which date back to the late 1980's or early 1990's, if I recall correctly.

The content is superb, it goes without saying. I have mainly been listening to the Debussy preludes and Arrau takes a very poetic approach to the music.


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## Josquin13

I wonder if anyone can answer the following question: are the remasters in the new Arrau box set the same as the old (first) Philips CD remasters?, or are they the much superior, highly sought after Heritage label remasters of Arrau's Philips recordings? The Heritage remasters beautifully realized Arrau's special piano timbre, and I treasure the two box sets I've been able to track down at a reasonable price in that OOP series (Arrau's Philips Liszt & Debussy, which were rare finds, and yes the Heritage Debussy remasters are much superior to the old Philips CDs that were released in the late 80s or early 90s). So, if the new set incorporates the Heritage remasters, it's a fantastic buy, IMO. However, Heritage didn't remaster everything, unfortunately, as their Beethoven Piano Sonata set, for example, is mostly, if not entirely taken from Arrau's later digital Philips cycle, rather than his generally better 1st Philips Beethoven cycle.


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## Guest

Oddly, I find no information at all online about the masters in this box. I will look at the physical documentation when I get home.


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## Guest

They are remarkably vague about mastering. It does say "remastering by Ben Wiseman (Broadlake Studios)" at the very end of the booklet, but without a date specified. Seems to imply the whole set was remastered for this release. 

I think it sounds splendid. But I didn't have any real quibbles with the original Philips editions of the works I had, either.


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## Larkenfield

Baron Scarpia said:


> They are remarkably vague about mastering. It does say "remastering by Ben Wiseman (Broadlake Studios)" at the very end of the booklet, but without a date specified. Seems to imply the whole set was remastered for this release.
> 
> I think it sounds splendid. But I didn't have any real quibbles with the original Philips editions of the works I had, either.


I also thought the original Philips releases sounds splendid. So I wonder why remaster them for this box set release at all? And yet they apparently have. There are times when it seems that Decca cannot leave well enough alone. So I do hope this box is an exception to the rule and shows an actual iimprovemebt in the excellent Philips sound. Of course, it would be natural to remaster some of the original mono recordings that Arrau did for Decca in the '50s and was using a Baldwin piano. After he became internationally famous, he started recording on a Steinway... and what an outstanding career he had!


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## Guest

Larkenfield said:


> I also thought the original Philips releases sounds splendid. So I wonder why remaster them for this box set release at all? And yet they apparently have. There are times when it seems that Decca cannot leave well enough alone. So I do hope this box is an exception to the rule and shows an actual iimprovemebt in the excellent Philips sound. Of course, it would be natural to remaster some of the original mono recordings that Arrau did for Decca in the '50s and was using a Baldwin piano. After he became internationally famous, he started recording on a Steinway... and what an outstanding career he had!


Given that almost all of the previously released Arrau catalog on Philips was digitally mastered in the very early days of the CD, I think remastering is in order. The analog to digital converters available in those days were not optimal. The best electronics and software available today is capable of producing a 16-bit master which is less affected by digital artifacts.

I have not tried to do A/B comparisons, and have only listened to a small fraction of the new set, but my overall impression is that the new masters are marginally better. A bit smoother without the hint of digital glassiness that I sometimes heard in the earlier releases. As I mentioned above, it is not a huge improvement, because they did a good job the first time, given the equipment that was available.


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## gardibolt

Cheap at Amazon UK right now, 99 pounds. After deducting VAT, it's $115 shipped to USA. $70 cheaper than Amazon US.


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## Guest

gardibolt said:


> Cheap at Amazon UK right now, 99 pounds. After deducting VAT, it's $115 shipped to USA. $70 cheaper than Amazon US.


Oh dear. Sometimes with these boxes the price only goes up from the pre-order, sometimes it goes down. I bet wrong! (Actually I got mine from ImportCDs own web site, which was cheaper than Amazon, but still pricier than Amazon.co.uk's price.) Amazing how low the British pound has gone against the dollar!.


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## Guest

It appears that the new remasterings are only for previously unreleased material. I put the disc containing Debussy Preludes I into EAC to rip to disc and it identified it as the original 1987 Philips release. So much for my impression of it sounding a bit better. (In all fairness, I've never heard Arrau's Debussy before getting this set, I was doing a vague comparison between this recording and the Chopin recordings that I've listened to before.)

It's not a huge issue for me, I was motivated to get the set because a lot of Arrau's recordings went out of print before I had the chance to get them, not because I wanted better masters.


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## Josquin13

Thanks for you reply. I suspected as much.

Though it's not that Arrau's Debussy was badly recorded by Philips, it wasn't. That is especially so for the one digital Debussy album Arrau made for Philips in his "Final Sessions": which offers state of the art audiophile sound quality. However, the Heritage Debussy remasters of his earlier analogue Philips recordings are even better than the 1st CD releases, IMO, and it becomes noticeable in a side by side comparison--at least, to my ears. I once heard Arrau play a concert in the 1980s, and he had a unique, special piano timbre. IMO, the Heritage sets sound more accurate to what I heard live than the 1st Philips CDs (of his analogue recordings).

Which is why I've been trying to collect the OOP Heritage sets over the years, but alas, have been unable to find the Chopin & Schumann sets at a reasonable price. Although I am probably more picky (or finicky) about these things than others.


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## Mandryka

Is the first recording of the Diabelli Variations remastered?


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## Triplets

Since I already own the Beethoven, Debussy, Chopin, and Schumann recordings, along with bits and pieces of other recordings here such as Brahms PC, I won’t be buying this big box. I also heard Arrau live once, in the seventies, and I agree that no recording of him has ever matched my memory of his unique sound. I wouldn’t hold out hope that a remastering will turn the trick; I think that the equipment of the time simply couldn’t do him justice


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## Larkenfield

I believe most listeners would be quite happy - I know I would - if the Decca box set sounded as good as the original Philips releases. While perhaps not the pinnacle of recorded sound, I felt that they had a warmth, fullness, and richness about them, such as Arrau's recordings of Schumann. The _Noveletten_, for instance, has the richness and depth of the Philips sound recorded in 1972. I hear no need for them to be remasted by Decca, except perhaps Arrau's early mono American Decca recordings. The Philips sound was golden and glorious and one can only hope that Decca didn't tamper and degrade it by running it through their own signature sawmill of remastering. I used to respect Decca until they got hold of the Philips catalog and I noticed the difference in sound after comparing the Decca release of Arrau's complete Beethoven Piano Sonatas with the richness of the original Philips recordings. Fortunately, the original Philips recordings can still found used or be downloaded.


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