# Classical "Mega" CD Box Sets



## Mowgli (Oct 16, 2017)

I couldn't find a Classical "Mega" CD Box Sets thread here so now there is one.
Idea "borrowed" from another popular music forum. Thread title shamelessly stolen.

They're ginormous - They're cheap - They're much more available than ever before - discuss...


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## Mowgli (Oct 16, 2017)

I saved about 37% by ordering particular sets from .de instead of .com (with Amazon Prime free shipping) over the past month or so.

Gulda spielt Beethoven: Klaviersonaten 1-32 + Klavierkonzerte 1 - 5
Mozart: Complete Edition (New)
Meisterwerke des Barock (Limited Edition)
Gustav Leonhardt - The Edition
Complete Telarc Recordings - Paavo Järvi/Cincinnati*

.de cost me $208 including shipping - .com would've been $330 - *I Saved about 37% ($122)*
That's a helluva lot of great music for $208

*The Paavo Järvi Telarc box isn't available from .com so I used the .de price in my calculations.

I had to wait a couple of weeks instead of 2 days but everything arrived safely.
The ginormous 170CD Mozart Box had a slight corner bump but that's it.
I consider it negligible. You can barely see it in the picture.
That's a win for about $50 discount.


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## eugeneonagain (May 14, 2017)

My house is really too small to accommodate huge box-sets. I have a CD collection, but I'm not one for owning (or even listening to) every last work by a single composer.


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

I take pity on my postal carrier, so I don't order those boat anchors.


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## wkasimer (Jun 5, 2017)

starthrower said:


> I take pity on my postal carrier, so I don't order those boat anchors.


Then what do you use for doorstops?


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## Becca (Feb 5, 2015)

wkasimer said:


> Then what do you use for doorstops?


Christmas cake


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## Guest (Nov 2, 2017)

Mowgli said:


> I couldn't find a Classical "Mega" CD Box Sets thread here so now there is one.
> Idea "borrowed" from another popular music forum. Thread title shamelessly stolen.


I'm relatively familiar with that other music forum and I always had the feeling that the music was secondary or even tertiary to the acquisition of the box sets themselves.

If I remember correctly there were a 100 plus pages consisting of little more than "I just bought this and I just bought that"... I honestly don't recall anyone ever commenting on the actual musical content of the box sets themselves and in fact there was a section which consisted of page after page of people admitting that that they hadn't actually listened to even a single disc of the vast majority of what they had just purchased.

Others admitted that they were able to wade through no more than half a dozen or so discs before moving on to something else. Several pages consisted of photos of ludicrously huge amounts of box sets containing literally thousands of cds lovingly photographed and suitably ooohhhed and aaahhhed over by one's envious fellow posters.

I don't actually intend to judge or insult everyone who has ever posted a message on the "Classical Music Mega Box" thread contrary to what you may be reading as that really wouldn't be fair or kind but I have to be honest in thinking that the forum was populated mostly by people who were somehow mesmerized and transfixed by anything that was released in a box. If DG or Decca released a 350 disc limited edition luxury box set containing nothing but the recorded sound of the empty grooves between tracks of every album ever released on the label you would have people there deliriously swooning and salivating at the prospect of being able to get their hands on it.

This site is different as you will see as you begin your explorations... the people who post here (except for me) possess an intimidating amount of knowledge and almost without exception (again except for me) couple insightful analysis with breathtaking musicological expertise and to make things even worse they can almost uniformly (again except for me) write with Gramophone-level verbal agility and dexterity.

Check out the "Analogies for Tonality and Atonality" thread - if you try to post some sort of dialectical foolishness there they will hunt you down like a sick rabid dog, eat you alive, and spit out the bones...(that may actually be a slight exaggeration or outright hyperbole come to think of it but they're still kind of scary and I no longer venture in that forum alone...)

Anyway... to each his own...

One last thing... I do have to admit that I learned an awful lot about packaging while reading that forum and also where and where not to make purchases...


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## eugeneonagain (May 14, 2017)

^ Wait a minute...you're welcoming someone with more posts than you!


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## Guest (Nov 2, 2017)

eugeneonagain said:


> ^ Wait a minute...you're welcoming someone with more posts than you!


Thanks for the heads up! - I could have sworn that when I wrote the post he only had three posts written thus the welcome... Either I wasn't paying attention (very likely) or else he's posting like a man (or woman?) possessed...

I'm going to turn around now and walk away slowly as you're one of the scary "Analogies for Tonality and Atonality" gunslingers and I'm not looking for any trouble, mister... 

Best wishes...


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## Mowgli (Oct 16, 2017)

Nudge and a Wink said:


> If DG or Decca released a 350 disc limited edition luxury box set containing nothing but the recorded sound of the empty grooves between tracks of every album ever released on the label you would have people there deliriously swooning and salivating at the prospect of being able to get their hands on it.


That box is lit fam. Total fire yo! It looks so cool and takes up half a shelf. I played a disc and it's so peaceful.

But seriously, I listen to all my music and I was able to focus my purchases with the help of that thread.
OTOH some peoples' collections are astounding and they obviously collect for collecting's sake.

I'll probably listen to the operas in that Mozart box once, maybe twice.
There are 96 discs of music without singing (besides the occasional peep).
I've listened to 14 discs so far and the performances are good to excellent with excellent production.
About a buck a disc so great bang for my bucks.


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## bharbeke (Mar 4, 2013)

Part of me is always tempted by the big boxes. They are beautiful, have great price/disc numbers, and usually have some rare or new performance included. However, I know that if you get anything bigger than a Beethoven piano concerto set, the odds are that it will not all be top quality music. I also realize that my space, time, and funds are limited, so unless I can't live without it, I should stick with my streaming subscription.

I have gotten some Bach Guild boxes because the amount of good music has been more than worth $1, and they do not take up physical space.


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## eugeneonagain (May 14, 2017)

Nudge and a Wink said:


> Thanks for the heads up! - I could have sworn that when I wrote the post he only had three posts written thus the welcome... Either I wasn't paying attention (very likely) or else he's posting like a man (or woman?) possessed...
> 
> I'm going to turn around now and walk away slowly as you're one of the scary "Analogies for Tonality and Atonality" gunslingers and I'm not looking for any trouble, mister...
> 
> Best wishes...


Oh dear. I don't want a reputation like that!

It's very possible the fellow was posting in the interim.


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## Guest (Nov 3, 2017)

eugeneonagain said:


> Oh dear. I don't want a reputation like that!


Too late, slick... you earned your reputation on those take-no-prisoners shoot-outs taking place on the "Analogies for Tonality and Atonality" thread.

Being thought of as a verbal "gunslinger" is actually pretty cool although I think that being all too aware of my own limitations I would prefer "Wiseass" for myself.

I'm kind of hoping that the moderator will change my status from "Junior Member" to "Wiseass" but that's a topic for a different thread...

As always, best wishes!


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## Guest (Nov 3, 2017)

If anyone is interested... DG released a photo of the cardboard box which will hold the Karajan mega box (330 CDs plus 26 DVDs plus 2 Blu ray)... I posted the photo in the dedicated Karajan thread -

www.talkclassical.com/52318-karajan-complete-recordings-deutsche.html


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

And I posted this.


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## Guest (Nov 3, 2017)

Pugg said:


> And I posted this.


Nice work, Pugg.. I posted a notice in the Bernstein DG thread in order to bring this photo to everyone's attention...


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## Polyphemus (Nov 2, 2011)

Speaking of Mega Box sets how about the glory days of Montreal under Dutoit.


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## Guest (Nov 4, 2017)

Polyphemus said:


> Speaking of Mega Box sets how about the glory days of Montreal under Dutoit.
> 
> View attachment 98879


I purchased this box set when it was first released... I would like to tell you that I did so because I was completely enamored of the conductor, orchestra, and repertoire or that I did so out of a sense of Canadian patriotism and the desire to support one of our own but I would be lying through my teeth as the truth is that I purchased it because the colours of the box set looked really great on a shelf next to this canvas-wrapped print that I have hanging in my living room -









The music is superb but it takes a back seat to the aesthetics of the design... Makes me sound kind of shallow and superficial (which although true doesn't necessarily have to be advertised to everyone in the forum) so I'll have to remember to delete this part of my post when I go back to edit any typos...


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## nikon (Nov 16, 2017)

I have only one box and it's Bach complete sacred cantatas by Suzuki (very nice box).
Other stuff I like to buy separate, because it's not everything good always in box.


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## eugeneonagain (May 14, 2017)

I have no box sets worthy of the name. 

The only thing close is Handel's complete Concerti Grossi in cardboard slip-cases. To bulk it up there is also the Music for the Royal Fireworks and Water Music. Even then the entire thing is only 1.5cm thick.


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## Manxfeeder (Oct 19, 2010)

Pugg said:


> And I posted this.


You're the master of the big box set!

Personally, the only giant set I have is the complete Leusink Bach Cantatas because back then I was into Bach and didn't have much money. Apart from that, my limit on box sets is 38 discs. It's a space-limitation thing. I'm still trying to find a TARDIS that's bigger on the inside than the outside. Forget time travel; I need space for my collection.


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Manxfeeder said:


> You're the master of the big box set!
> 
> Personally, the only giant set I have is the complete Leusink Bach Cantatas because back then I was into Bach and didn't have much money. Apart from that, my limit on box sets is 38 discs. It's a space-limitation thing. I'm still trying to find a TARDIS that's bigger on the inside than the outside. Forget time travel; I need space for my collection.


In the back of the wardrobe is "suspicious " looking package . Has a great sticker on it:
Niet aankomen voor kerst , meaning: Do not touch before Christmas .


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

Big box sets are great if the price is low enough. I got my 84-CD Beethoven box for $34 shipped. I also have a 40-CD Mendelssohn set and two Wagner opera big box sets. Most of it I don't listen to, but then it is there if I want to.


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## Mowgli (Oct 16, 2017)

I listen to something from my megaboxes every day but Houston we have a problem...

My classical boxes collection in September









now with the 160CD Haydn Edition and the 34CD Scott Ross Scarlatti sonata set still on the way


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## jegreenwood (Dec 25, 2015)

I keep toying with the idea of purchasing that Scarlatti box. Right now I have a 3 disc set of "greatest hits" from it.


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## gardibolt (May 22, 2015)

I have a bunch of the mega boxes. I have always loved classical, but the expense and the inconvenience factor always kept a lid on my buying practices. Then when I got my iPod Classic with 160 GB and I could listen to all my music, all the time, pretty much anywhere, my buying (and yes, my listening!) exploded. I keep acquiring and ripping them and listening to them. I love being able to compare fifty Beethoven 9ths or a dozen Mozart Symphony 40s, etc. It helps that these are recordings by artists I'm familiar with, but that I hadn't purchased in their original forms outside the mega boxes, so I don't feel like I'm repurchasing stuff like a lot of people are due to my late blooming. 

Latest acquisitions are the Mozart 225 box, which I'm currently working on, and the Solti/Chicago box that I grabbed when the price on Amazon went low ($135 I think) for some reason. I'm eyeing the Serkin box of complete Columbia recordings as well but am waiting to see if there are any good Black Friday specials on it. I'd like to see it quite a bit cheaper than it is now. 

Too many of these mega boxes go out of print too quickly--the Monteux box vanished almost immediately and I wasn't able to get hold of that much to my regret. So I tend to act on them when I see them in a good price range. Unlike most classical CDs, the mega boxes also hold a lot of their value for resale on the secondary market.


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

gardibolt said:


> I have a bunch of the mega boxes. I have always loved classical, but the expense and the inconvenience factor always kept a lid on my buying practices. *Then when I got my iPod Classic with 160 GB and I could listen to all my music, all the time, pretty much anywhere, my buying (and yes, my listening!) exploded.* I keep acquiring and ripping them and listening to them. I love being able to compare fifty Beethoven 9ths or a dozen Mozart Symphony 40s, etc. It helps that these are recordings by artists I'm familiar with, but that I hadn't purchased in their original forms outside the mega boxes, so I don't feel like I'm repurchasing stuff like a lot of people are due to my late blooming.


Same story for me! MP3 personal music devices are great!


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## eugeneonagain (May 14, 2017)

I can't imagine buying huge boxes of CDs and then never or only barely listening to them. It's a symptom of consumption mania and I don't think it really adds all that much more in terms music appreciation. I learned to love a lot of works from listening to my own records and records at friends' houses. For years I had a very modest record collection and later about 20-25 CDs - which I thought was quite a lot at the time! I know some folk where they have a small room for their hundreds/thousands of CDs and that's just crazy.

There is also the fact that I'm not much swayed by the drivel pouring out from aficionado land, talking about the huge quality differences from 'Super CD' and from huge bit-rate files. I have quite a lot of mp3 and some flac files; I like that they live in the computer (and I have backups) and don't take up space.

It's worth me foregoing a €50 box set in order to buy a concert ticket. It might only happen once, but it's a great memory. Weightless to carry around too.


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## PlaySalieri (Jun 3, 2012)

My wife bought me the Brilliant Classics complete Mozart (180 CDS). I was dubious at first but it is the best present anybody ever gave me. All the performances are adequate to excellent - the operas in particular are very good.


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## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

Mowgli said:


> I listen to something from my megaboxes every day but Houston we have a problem...
> 
> My classical boxes collection in September
> 
> ...


Try moving house? Or living in the garden? :lol:


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## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

stomanek said:


> My wife bought me the Brilliant Classics complete Mozart (180 CDS). I was dubious at first but it is the best present anybody ever gave me. All the performances are adequate to excellent - the operas in particular are very good.


It is pretty good. I got one from a charity shop and it contains some really good performances.


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## Mowgli (Oct 16, 2017)

DavidA said:


> Try moving house? Or living in the garden? :lol:


The records are the ballbusters. 
They tried taking over the living room so I gave about 300 the axe.
Seeya! Have fun crowding OP's houses!


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## Mowgli (Oct 16, 2017)

Cool avatar BTW
I forget where I saw Ludwig with raybans
I thought it was this video someone posted for his Birthday last year. Enjoy.


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

eugeneonagain said:


> I can't imagine buying huge boxes of CDs and then never or only barely listening to them. It's a symptom of consumption mania and I don't think it really adds all that much more in terms music appreciation. I learned to love a lot of works from listening to my own records and records at friends' houses. For years I had a very modest record collection and later about 20-25 CDs - which I thought was quite a lot at the time! I know some folk where they have a small room for their hundreds/thousands of CDs and that's just crazy.
> 
> There is also the fact that I'm not much swayed by the drivel pouring out from aficionado land, talking about the huge quality differences from 'Super CD' and from huge bit-rate files. I have quite a lot of mp3 and some flac files; I like that they live in the computer (and I have backups) and don't take up space.
> 
> It's worth me foregoing a €50 box set in order to buy a concert ticket. It might only happen once, but it's a great memory. Weightless to carry around too.


Thank goodness we can all have different opinions, thank trough the boxes I learned more and saved a lot of money.


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

Pugg said:


> Thank goodness we can all have different opinions, thank trough the boxes I learned more and saved a lot of money.


Yes, and composer big boxes are a GREAT way to get to know a particular composer. I have Beethoven and Mendelssohn big boxes and am now yearning for a Rachmaninoff big box.


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## Oldhoosierdude (May 29, 2016)

I like the electronic big box downloads. They take up a lot less room.


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Oldhoosierdude said:


> I like the electronic big box downloads. They take up a lot less room.


No nice covers though.


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

Anybody know if there is a big box set of CDs for the complete works of Carl Maria von Weber?


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Fritz Kobus said:


> Anybody know if there is a big box set of CDs for the complete works of Carl Maria von Weber?


That would be a insult to you Fritz, I am sure you did your homework already.


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

Pugg said:


> That would be a insult to you Fritz, I am sure you did your homework already.


Well, when I try to find one, it leaves me many pages of listings to fight my way through because the search parameter with "complete" will bring up all the subsets of complete this and complete that, such as complete piano works. Anyway, not sure they have such a box but would be curious to look it over. They do have two such complete boxes for Rachmaninoff and I salivate over them but am not ready to spend around $65 for them. Will keep an eye out for deals that may pop up from time to time.


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## steph01 (Dec 21, 2016)

I find artist box sets much more intriguing than composer box sets, although I don't actually own any box sets at all I am very tempted:


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## Taplow (Aug 13, 2017)

Advantages:

Cheap way of acquiring a large number of excellent CDs at once.
Most box sets now being released with reproduction original artwork.
Many rare and previously unavailable recordings often included.
Save on shelf space compared to jewel cases.

Disadvantages:

Big up-front investment.
Can be a mixed bag.
Take up a lot of shelf space.
Often you own many of the included CDs already.


Mega boxes have changed drastically over the past two decades.

I used to hate large CD box sets. I'm not talking about the 10 or 20-disc sets like the EMI budget series sets of, for example, the complete piano concertos by a single composer. I'm talking about the mega boxes like the old Karajan EMI set from 2008. 80-90 CDs of whatever the label could find, shoved into a box at minimum cost to the label, and marketed at a hefty markup to a gullible public that had never seen such a huge collection in one place before. Ugly, and not really worth replacing the beautiful jewel-case CD editions that I already own or plan to purchase.

Box sets like these of the past contained mostly card or paper slip-cases, all of a uniform design with only a minimum indication of what was inside. Original liner notes were nowhere to be seen, and in most cases only a flimsy booklet with sparse track listings would be supplied. I would rip them as the box name, numbering the individual discs "disc x of y", and hence they would appear in my digital library as a single item with multiple discs. This made locating recordings more difficult, especially given that I would often forget what gems lurked inside some of these boxes, and the experience of wading through long lists of tracks to find the specific work I was interested in was tedious. Not to mention that when the chosen work concluded, my player would then continue to play whatever was next in the list, even if that was contrary to my mood at the time - simply because that was what was next.

But lately, such large boxes are being released with beautiful and accurate reproductions of the original LP or CD release cover art. The big advantage of these original sleeve art boxes is that I can rip them all as individual items with that original artwork. This makes viewing, sorting, searching, and playing much more pleasurable. Not to mention that often the original liner notes are included in the reproduction art, or included luxury booklet - a booklet that in many cases includes detailed recording session info that was previously never available (thanks, Sony!). And if I want to see everything that is inside that boxed collection, I can simply set up a playlist based on the box set catalogue number.

This, along with the rarity of many of the included recordings, is to me the biggest advantage of the modern mega box. The other advantages I've listed should be self-evident, so I will not address them here. But I do want to put some of the perceived disadvantages to rest, and demonstrate how I've come to realize that they are, for me, actually great advantages.

I can't argue with the fact that they are a big up-front investment. That is obvious. But considering that it often works out to be less that 2€ per disc, you can't really complain about the economics. Especially when often, many of the items contained within are relatively rare on CD, so would cost you quite a bit to buy as a CD single on the second hand market, as well as a hefty investment of time to hunt them down.

I also can't argue with the fact that they are a mixed bag. There's quite a lot in some of these boxes that I would never choose to add to my collection, no matter how cheap it might be. But this can also be a good thing in a way. It forces me out of my comfort zone, encouraging me to listen to works that I might normally never hear. At the very least, even with known works, this is educational. It does allow me to compare the great recordings of some of these works with some of the lesser, and who knows, there might just be some new discoveries.

Now for the final two "disadvantages" - I shall address these together. I think I've come to the realization that these are not actually disadvantages at all, but rather a combined advantage. The overlap between the inclusions in the box and the recordings I already own are for the most part minimal. Of the sets I've acquired so far, there is no more than 25-30% overlap, and usually much less than that. But by identifying these duplications, and removing them from the rest of my collection, I end up removing numerous, bulky jewel cases, and freeing up valuable and limited real estate on my CD shelves. It's just a pain that I have to then sell them or give them away.

I've now completely rearranged my CD storage to provide a special place for future mega box purchases. I'll be focusing on artist boxes rather than label or composer boxes. Some of those from Sony are just ridiculously large (Bernstein Remastered, Bruno Walter, George Szell), but most are designed to fit into a standard CD shelf (Andre Previn Warner, Kubelik DG, Munch RCA). And boy, do they look nice!

Of course, there are still some box sets being produced in the older style (get your act together, DG!). But in those cases, the individual recordings are generally still readily available, and I shall continue to add those jewel case CDs or smaller sets to my collection as and when they appeal.


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## mbhaub (Dec 2, 2016)

I picked up that massive Ormandy box, The Columbia Legacy. Amazing collection - there are actually liner notes but you need a magnifying glass to read them. This box is a monster to store. Obviously doesn't fit on the shelves. Maybe on a table top. Could take the individual disks out and just store them in the cardboard sleeves and toss the box, but then the aesthetic value would be lost. The DG Complete Wagner Opera set is easy to store by comparison.


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

I have big box sets for Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Rachmaninoff, Wagner, and some others of assorted stuff. Most look pretty on a shelf and don't get used that much. Still, the idea of having all that music at your fingertips is kind of a nice feeling.


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## PlaySalieri (Jun 3, 2012)

I have already contributed to this thread about my Mozart set of 180 CDs. Probably the only mega box I will bother with. It is nice to browse through in the hope of finding some previously unheard gem. What I don't quite understand is the need to have a complete composer box set with alternative performances of the same work - that seems excessive. 
I hate jewel cases - they always break - so I like the card sleeves in my Mozart set.


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## Kreisler jr (Apr 21, 2021)

I like moderate sized boxes but came to dislike the huge ones (say everything over 30 discs or not clearly focussed on a body of work, e.g. Haydn symphonies or Bach cantatas). The main "problem" was that the huge boxes appeared when my collections was already fairly big and they were not that attractive because I had most of the stuff already. (This was already true often for the smallish 10-20 disc boxes around 2000.) They were also of low production value (this has changed recently as someone mentioned above). Nevertheless, I was seduced or convinced several times. The biggest ones I got were the EMI Beethoven (with e.g. Heidsieck playing the piano sonatas, Cluytens' symphonies etc.). This one I don't regret at all despite being really cheap and shabby because it was so cheap and contains many "classic" and very good recordings. Then the Samson Francois everything box was not really necessary despite containing good stuff as most of this would have been available in small portions (I even had his 10 disc Chopin box but was able to re-sell it). 
What turned me away from the big ones was that a year or two after getting the huge pink Rubinstein cube (in late 2013 or so, I think) that has good production value with a fat bound book and original cover cardboard cases for the discs I realized that I had listened to very little of it and had not been able to sell off most of the two dozen discs I had already owned before. 

I got "smaller" boxes since then, though, like Bach's cplt organ works, Silvestri/EMI, Spanish piano music with De Larrocha and similar ones, typically 8-15, up to 20 discs and/or with a clearer focus on some artist or body of work.


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## vtpoet (Jan 17, 2019)

Kreisler jr said:


> I like moderate sized boxes but came to dislike the huge ones


Me too. More problematically, by the time the huge boxes had come out, I had already collected most everything that my fav composers (which is almost every composer between 1492 and 1892) had written. (I used to be a classical music buyer for one of the big CD chains during the hey dey of the CD - and I still think in terms of labels and catalogs rather than performers). So there was no point. It's a sickness.

I am a member of Classical Music Completists Anonymous.

I like the moderate size boxes that collect all of a given composers genre-symphonies, string quartets, concerti, that sort of thing. Telemann is frustrating because the labels aren't releasing those kinds of collections. They're stringing buyers like me along, hoping I'll buy the CDs individually. In the age of Spotify, they need to give up and just publish the stuff in box sets.


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## Johnnie Burgess (Aug 30, 2015)

vtpoet said:


> Me too. More problematically, by the time the huge boxes had come out, I had already collected most everything that my fav composers (which is almost every composer between 1492 and 1892) had written. (I used to be a classical music buyer for one of the big CD chains during the hey dey of the CD - and I still think in terms of labels and catalogs rather than performers). So there was no point. It's a sickness.
> 
> I am a member of Classical Music Completists Anonymous.
> 
> I like the moderate size boxes that collect all of a given composers genre-symphonies, string quartets, concerti, that sort of thing. Telemann is frustrating because the labels aren't releasing those kinds of collections. They're stringing buyers like me along, hoping I'll buy the CDs individually. In the age of Spotify, they need to give up and just publish the stuff in box sets.












This a 50 cd edition by brilliant.


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## vtpoet (Jan 17, 2019)

Johnnie Burgess said:


> This a 50 cd edition by brilliant.
> 
> View attachment 159818


Yeah, I looked at that set alrady but I already have most of the music. :/


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## Red Terror (Dec 10, 2018)

Anything over thirty is generally too much for me. I prefer smaller boxes and good individual recordings.


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## Tempesta (Sep 2, 2021)

I cherish my 99 CD box set of Leslie Howard's monumental _Complete Liszt Piano Music _ on Hyperion


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

> Disadvantages:
> 
> Big up-front investment.
> Can be a mixed bag.
> ...


And unless it's a specialized set, I'm not interested in accumulating endless recordings of the basic repertoire, which is why I don't buy those boat anchor boxes.


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## 59540 (May 16, 2021)

I stay away from "complete works of _____" sets since they invariably seem uneven. I like sets with a tighter focus, or the collected (or selected) recordings of a conductor/performer.


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## Tempesta (Sep 2, 2021)

Another one in my collection that I would never give up ...


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## JTS (Sep 26, 2021)

Wonderfully exciting to get but I do find that half of them end up not being played or played only once.


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## Kreisler jr (Apr 21, 2021)

The Boulez box is a good example why such boxes are more of a nuisance to many collectors. Not for me in this case as I am not a Boulezian. Sony had most of this on single/double discs in a "white" (with modern art) covers in the mid-1990s. I have the Ravel, Debussy, Bartok (without the operas) and maybe another two or three from this edition (Das Klagende Lied and one with Carter). 
Then there was an edition of "black boxes", quite cheap, IIRC, ca. 2009. Again some things were missing from them (idiotically they had only the Suite not the complete Firebird in the Stravinsky box) but it was fairly complete. I have the Stravinsky and Berg from this edition. So with better filled disc, I think I have roughly half of the big Boulez box and about everything I am interested in. I can file it according to composer which I prefer. 

The incentive to get the box for me was therefore nil, but I would have been annoyed if there had been several otherwise unobtainable items in the box I wanted.


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## FrankinUsa (Aug 3, 2021)

A somewhat older thread that is much more relative than the date of the OP. The big boxes are coming out at an increasing rate. 
What does the TC think end of 2021/going into 2022. 
IMHO, economically speaking,the price per CD is very attractive. But many times you end up with significant duplication. I would prefer the ability to but single CD’s but the labels just make things NLA.


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## FrankinUsa (Aug 3, 2021)

Right now,I am resisting the “DG recordings of Boston Symphony.” Sort of expensive. I would prefer to buy individual recordings but most are nla. So,I am screwed.


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## Rogerx (Apr 27, 2018)

FrankinUsa said:


> A somewhat older thread that is much more relative than the date of the OP. The big boxes are coming out at an increasing rate.
> What does the TC think end of 2021/going into 2022.
> IMHO, economically speaking,the price per CD is very attractive. But many times you end up with significant duplication. I would prefer the ability to but single CD's but the labels just make things NLA.


 Paul Paray's complete Mercury Living Presence recordings

- Antal Doráti's complete Minneapolis and Chicago recordings on Mercury Living Presence

- Christian Ferras's complete Decca and DG recordings (including French Decca)

- Sir Adrian Boult's complete Decca recordings

- Piano boxes from Bella Davidovich and Jörg Demus

- The complete Decca recordings of the Vienna Octet, New Vienna Octet and Vienna Wind Soloists

I posted this in Paul Paray's complete Mercury Living Presence recordings

- Antal Doráti's complete Minneapolis and Chicago recordings on Mercury Living Presence

- Christian Ferras's complete Decca and DG recordings (including French Decca)

- Sir Adrian Boult's complete Decca recordings

- Piano boxes from Bella Davidovich and Jörg Demus

- The complete Decca recordings of the Vienna Octet, New Vienna Octet and Vienna Wind Soloists

I posted this in the new and upcoming release, just Eloquence alone


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## FrankinUsa (Aug 3, 2021)

Rogerx said:


> Paul Paray's complete Mercury Living Presence recordings
> 
> - Antal Doráti's complete Minneapolis and Chicago recordings on Mercury Living Presence
> 
> ...


Actually a Dorati box would be great but it should be far more complete than listed above. Btw,I don't remember or realized any Chicago recording. Dorati did some unbelievably things with the LSO. 
But Universal Music Group should put too all of Dorati's recordings from all UMG labels;MercuryDecca etc. Dorati did some excellent with the Detroit Symphony as well.


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## MatthewWeflen (Jan 24, 2019)

I have this Emerson Quartet box set coming to me in the next few weeks. Very excited for it!


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## FrankinUsa (Aug 3, 2021)

MatthewWeflen said:


> I have this Emerson Quartet box set coming to me in the next few weeks. Very excited for it!
> 
> View attachment 162179


That's interesting. I am low on string quartets. I'll check it out.


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## Rogerx (Apr 27, 2018)

MatthewWeflen said:


> I have this Emerson Quartet box set coming to me in the next few weeks. Very excited for it!
> 
> View attachment 162179


You won't be disappointed .


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## SONNET CLV (May 31, 2014)

Did somebody say "big box sets"?

It seems there was a similar post a couple years back.

Here's the page with my post on that issue: Big Box Sets

Nothing much has changed in my collecting habits since then, except that I've added several more big box sets. But madness is not a rational thing to deal with.


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## Rogerx (Apr 27, 2018)

A jewel for opera fanatics


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## MatthewWeflen (Jan 24, 2019)

Rogerx said:


> You won't be disappointed .


I already own the Brahms, Shosty and Beethoven. It's positively stunning how good the recordings are from both a sound perspective and the quality of play. So yeah, I'm expecting great things from the rest, especially the Bartok.


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