# RCA Living Stereo Vol. 1 box vs. Sony Masterworks Heritage box



## severance68

I've returned to classical music fairly recently after a 30-year hiatus. I've been enjoying several Russian composers, along with Beethoven's symphonies, Liszt, Dvořák and others.

In the last few days I've been thinking about getting one of the vintage box sets, one with recordings from roughly 1954-1980. ('50s and '60s only is perfectly fine.) Mono is acceptable, but I'd like most of it to contain stereo recordings.

Though I also have my eye on the Mercury Living Presence sets (largely thanks to Pugg! :tiphat, I'm thinking that for my first big box set, I'd like something under $100 -- at Amazon, anyway.

So I'm leaning toward either the *RCA Living Stereo* box -- the first one -- or the *Masterworks Heritage Collection*.



















What do you think? Or is there another one that should be considered ahead of these, covering the same period?


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## bigshot

Living Stereo is better in my opinion


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## Guest

I love the Living Stereo series - while I buy them mostly through iTunes, I have picked up a couple of the CDs. There are some incredible gems in there. Some of them are my reference recordings for works. Fritz Reiner, Charles Münch, Jascha Heifetz . . . 

Were I looking to spend that kind of money, that is the box set I would get.


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## D Smith

I would definitely opt for the Living Stereo, for the artists represented. You get Munch, Heifetz, Reiner, Cliburn etc.


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## severance68

DrMike said:


> I love the Living Stereo series - while I buy them mostly through iTunes, I have picked up a couple of the CDs. There are some incredible gems in there. Some of them are my reference recordings for works. Fritz Reiner, Charles Münch, Jascha Heifetz . . .
> 
> Were I looking to spend that kind of money, that is the box set I would get.


I do have a couple CDs from the Living Stereo series -- Reiner/Chicago Symphony doing *1812 Overture*, Marche Slav, the Hebrides Overture, etc.; Leopold Stokowski/RCA Victor Symphony: *Rhapsodies*. I was thinking of a few more when I began to think about just picking up this box. One of the more reliable Amazon resellers is offering it new for $87. With shipping it still comes in under $100.

Also, Vol. 2 is about $80 via Amazon Prime, though I'm sure it would be a while before I would get around to that.

Another set I was considering, but didn't mention, is the EMI William Steinberg Collection.


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## Jeffrey Smith

Both have high quality recordings you will eventually want to get in any case. So get both...but go for the Living Stereo first, since that has a higher number of "must have" recordings. I have neither, simply because I have so much of the contents as individual CDs.
Also keep in mind other label boxes from Decca, Philips, L'Oiseau Lyre, etc.


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## severance68

Jeffrey Smith said:


> Both have high quality recordings you will eventually want to get in any case. So get both...but go for the Living Stereo first, since that has a higher number of "must have" recordings. I have neither, simply because I have so much of the contents as individual CDs.
> Also keep in mind other label boxes from Decca, Philips, L'Oiseau Lyre, etc.


Ah -- yes, part of me knows I'll likely have both eventually, but I can see the logic of getting the Living Stereo -- the more substantial set -- first.

I did look into a Decca box, which looks fascinating as well.


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## Pugg

severance68 said:


> Ah -- yes, part of me knows I'll likely have both eventually, but I can see the logic of getting the Living Stereo -- the more substantial set -- first.
> 
> I did look into a Decca box, which looks fascinating as well.


Not to be missed.

As for your first question ; the Living stereo, hands down :tiphat:


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## severance68

Well, it's unanimous! The Living Stereo set it is! 

Many thanks for all the suggestions.


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## Triplets

This is a great idea for a thread. The premise is we have someone who already is familiar with Classical Music, had listened to recordings during the "Golden Age" of recording, but has been on a Desert Isle for decades and is starting from scratch buying recordings. At the same time the record Companies are all dumpingtheir back catalog in huge cheaply priced sets. What to buy?
All of the recommendations so far in this thread are good. It really comes down to your choice of repetoire and Artists.
I have bought many of these boxes but like most veteran (i.e. 'obsessive') collectors they inevitably duplicate a lot of what I already own. The OP presumably won't have this problem.
So if I can contribute something new to this, i would urge you to rethink the need for a really big box and perhaps go after some 'mid sized' boxes, primarily from Sony (which now owns RCA) or Universal (which has merged Phillips, DG and Decca).
The Sony boxes are great. Leon Fleisher, Heifetz,Rubinstein collections, Bernstein collections, szell Beethoven Symphonies, many great Ormandy collections, and on it goes.
One problem with the uer big boxes is that there is a fair amount of chaff with the wheat. I have the first two Mercury boxes and while the good recordings are plentiful and worth the price, there are various oddball discs I will probably not play ("Balalaika Favorites', Puyuna Harpsichord discs, etc). I bought a huge Richter box and again while the gold outweighs the chaff, I am discovering that not everything Sviatislav touched turned to Gold. There are quite a few ofthe Living Stereo discss that I could do without. The smaller boxes tend to have more nuggets.


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## Pugg

Triplets said:


> This is a great idea for a thread. The premise is we have someone who already is familiar with Classical Music, had listened to recordings during the "Golden Age" of recording, but has been on a Desert Isle for decades and is starting from scratch buying recordings. At the same time the record Companies are all dumpingtheir back catalog in huge cheaply priced sets. What to buy?
> All of the recommendations so far in this thread are good. It really comes down to your choice of repetoire and Artists.
> I have bought many of these boxes but like most veteran (i.e. 'obsessive') collectors they inevitably duplicate a lot of what I already own. The OP presumably won't have this problem.
> So if I can contribute something new to this, i would urge you to rethink the need for a really big box and perhaps go after some 'mid sized' boxes, primarily from Sony (which now owns RCA) or Universal (which has merged Phillips, DG and Decca).
> The Sony boxes are great. Leon Fleisher, Heifetz,Rubinstein collections, Bernstein collections, szell Beethoven Symphonies, many great Ormandy collections, and on it goes.
> One problem with the uer big boxes is that there is a fair amount of chaff with the wheat. I have the first two Mercury boxes and while the good recordings are plentiful and worth the price, there are various oddball discs I will probably not play ("Balalaika Favorites', Puyuna Harpsichord discs, etc). I bought a huge Richter box and again while the gold outweighs the chaff, I am discovering that not everything Sviatislav touched turned to Gold. There are quite a few ofthe Living Stereo discss that I could do without. The smaller boxes tend to have more nuggets.


I am not a veteran but do like these ( big)boxes, they brought me music I otherwise (perhaps) never listen to .
The sound is great and if you look carefully the prices are worth every disc.
My humble opinion of course


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## Triplets

Pugg said:


> I am not a veteran but do like these ( big)boxes, they brought me music I otherwise (perhaps) never listen to .
> The sound is great and if you look carefully the prices are worth every disc.
> My humble opinion of course


 I always thought you were youthful, Pugg! At these prices, you can't go wrong. Even a large box with a few clunkers is still well worth it. The OP should just jump in and have fun!


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## severance68

Triplets said:


> So if I can contribute something new to this, i would urge you to rethink the need for a really big box and perhaps go after some 'mid sized' boxes, primarily from Sony (which now owns RCA) or Universal (which has merged Phillips, DG and Decca).
> The Sony boxes are great. Leon Fleisher, Heifetz,Rubinstein collections, Bernstein collections, szell Beethoven Symphonies, many great Ormandy collections, and on it goes.
> One problem with the uber big boxes is that there is a fair amount of chaff with the wheat ... There are quite a few of the Living Stereo discs that I could do without. The smaller boxes tend to have more nuggets.


I do have a few mid-sized boxes -- Szell's Beethoven cycle; a Leinsdorf Prokofiev box; and an Ormandy Tchaikovsky cycle, with many additional pieces. But part of my rationale for the bigger sets is that there's a lot of the canon I either haven't heard in years or never got around to at all.

My collection is top heavy with Russian composers, whom I really like -- Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninov, Rimsky-Korsakov, Prokofiev, Shostakovich, et. al. But I have no Beethoven outside of the Szell symphonies, and a Karajan cycle ('63)( (without the box or liner notes) given to me by a friend. Bach is only represented by the Brandenburgs. One Mendelssohn disc is on the way, but that will be my first purchase of his work. There's one Faure CD. I have a smattering of Aaron Copland, Roy Harris, Holst, Ravel, Vaughan Williams, Khachaturian, Walton and other 20th century figures (in addition to Rachmaninov/Prokofiev).

So I would like to be able to have a box that gives me a broader survey of the most iconic composers.


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## severance68

By the way, funds are rather tighter than I thought at the moment, so for now I've actually gone with the *Masterworks Heritage Collection*, with an eye toward snapping up the Living Stereo box after the next payday.


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## Pugg

severance68 said:


> By the way, funds are rather tighter than I thought at the moment, so for now I've actually gone with the *Masterworks Heritage Collection*, with an eye toward snapping up the Living Stereo box after the next payday.


Is that one cheaper then the Living stereo box


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## severance68

Yes -- by about 50%, at least if I want it new, which I do prefer.

The Living Stereo box is going to be just over $100, including shipping -- so I'll probably just get it from Amazon Prime for $103. 

The Masterworks Heritage Collection cost me $53.50.


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## Triplets

Sounds like you could use a good dose of Austro German core repertoire. The Fleisher box is devoted primarily to the PCs of Beethoven and Brahms and is dirt cheap and well nigh impossible to beat in those works. The Casadesus/Szell set is is similarly priced and has the essential Mozart PC. I would add the Bernstein Haydn Symphonoies (London).
For Bach, you might want to ask yourself if you are more interested in the instrumental or choral . works, or if you don't have a preference. For Bruckner I recommend the Klemperer and for Mahler the Levine boxes as good inexpensive starter sets
Schubert Symphonies Blomstedts on Brilliant has a good set. Schumann you could do worse than Szell or Kubelik sets. Richard Strauss the Reiner box is superb. Levine Brahms sSymphonies with the CSO is a good budget choice


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## severance68

Triplets said:


> Sounds like you could use a good dose of Austro German core repertoire. The Fleisher box is devoted primarily to the PCs of Beethoven and Brahms and is dirt cheap and well nigh impossible to beat in those works. The Casadesus/Szell set is is similarly priced and has the essential Mozart PC. I would add the Bernstein Haydn Symphonoies (London).
> For Bach, you might want to ask yourself if you are more interested in the instrumental or choral . works, or if you don't have a preference. For Bruckner I recommend the Klemperer and for Mahler the Levine boxes as good inexpensive starter sets
> Schubert Symphonies Blomstedts on Brilliant has a good set. Schumann you could do worse than Szell or Kubelik sets. Richard Strauss the Reiner box is superb. Levine Brahms sSymphonies with the CSO is a good budget choice


Excellent! Thanks.

Szell's Schumann set is included in the Masterworks Heritage box, so that'll be welcome. I forgot to mention that I do have Reiner doing Strauss's Also Spach Zarathustra and Ein Heldenleben. I think I'd like to have Don Juan, which I've only heard on YouTube (Szell). The one Reiner disc I have was a gift, and it doesn't have the liner notes, so if I got a box, at least I wouldn't actually be paying twice for the material I already have.

I was just mentioning to someone in a private message that I'd heard and enjoyed Franz Schmidt's First Symphony (which is on the way in an interpretation by Jarvi and the Detroit Symphony), and I understand that people who respond to Schmidt may enjoy Bruckner? (this is the view taken by Jim Svejda in his _Guide to Classical Recordings_) I'll take a look at the Klemperer.

Regarding Mahler, there are two versions of Symphony No. 1 in the Masterworks box; the one I'll be most interested in is Bruno Walter's version (in mono), since he studied under Mahler. I'll look into the Levine, and Mahlerian suggests Bernstein's CBS-era work.

One of my two Mozart discs is Casadeus/Szell -- the 21st and 24th PCs. The other is Symphonies 35, 39 and -- my favorite piece of Mozart's since high school -- No. 40.


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## severance68

Anybody have any thoughts on the EMI William Steinberg box?


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## DavidA

Triplets said:


> This is a great idea for a thread. The premise is we have someone who already is familiar with Classical Music, had listened to recordings during the "Golden Age" of recording, but has been on a Desert Isle for decades and is starting from scratch buying recordings. At the same time the record Companies are all dumpingtheir back catalog in huge cheaply priced sets. What to buy?
> All of the recommendations so far in this thread are good. It really comes down to your choice of repetoire and Artists.
> I have bought many of these boxes but like most veteran (i.e. 'obsessive') collectors they inevitably duplicate a lot of what I already own. The OP presumably won't have this problem.
> So if I can contribute something new to this, i would urge you to rethink the need for a really big box and perhaps go after some 'mid sized' boxes, primarily from Sony (which now owns RCA) or Universal (which has merged Phillips, DG and Decca).
> *The Sony boxes are great.* Leon Fleisher, Heifetz,Rubinstein collections, Bernstein collections, szell Beethoven Symphonies, many great Ormandy collections, and on it goes.
> One problem with the uer big boxes is that there is a fair amount of chaff with the wheat. I have the first two Mercury boxes and while the good recordings are plentiful and worth the price, there are various oddball discs I will probably not play ("Balalaika Favorites', Puyuna Harpsichord discs, etc). I bought a huge Richter box and again while the gold outweighs the chaff, I am discovering that not everything Sviatislav touched turned to Gold. There are quite a few ofthe Living Stereo discss that I could do without. The smaller boxes tend to have more nuggets.


The Sony boxes are tremendous. Old RCA recordings but very fine. Bargains I got include Fleisher, Graffmann, Van Cliburn, Richter, Entrement, Ogdon, Heifetz-Piatagorski. In the super bargain (no notes but who cares?) Serkin in Beethoven, Stokowski, Bronfmann in Prokoviev and just ordered Berman. Can't go wrong. Endless hours of pleasure!


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## gardibolt

Don't give short shrift to the Mercury Living Presence boxes. There's some tremendous stuff there, with fantastic recording quality. Granted, there's too much of Frederick Fennell and endless marches, but I really love these boxes.

The Living Stereo vol. 1 is pretty good; volume 2 I found pretty weak and didn't care for it as much. The sound quality of the Living Stereo material isn't as good as the MLP to my ears (the Rubinstein Beethoven concertos in particular sound awful) but YMMV.

The Sony boxes are indeed a great value. Until dipping into them I'd never heard John Ogdon and now I can't get enough.

We are so lucky to live in times where all this historic material is available so readily and so cheaply.


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## DavidA

DavidA said:


> The Sony boxes are tremendous. Old RCA recordings but very fine. Bargains I got include Fleisher, Graffmann, Van Cliburn, Richter, Entrement, Ogdon, Heifetz-Piatagorski. In the super bargain (no notes but who cares?) Serkin in Beethoven, Stokowski, Bronfmann in Prokoviev and just ordered Berman. Can't go wrong. Endless hours of pleasure!


And not forgetting Bolet's box.


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## severance68

gardibolt said:


> Don't give short shrift to the Mercury Living Presence boxes. There's some tremendous stuff there, with fantastic recording quality. Granted, there's too much of Frederick Fennell and endless marches, but I really love these boxes.


Yes, I think at some point I'll end up with at least the first volume of the Mercury Living Presence boxes. I have Dorati's recording of Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsodies for orchestra, Paul Paray and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra doing Suppé and Aubert overtures, and -- yes -- Fennell doing a number of waltzes and material from Russian composers, including Glière's Russian Sailor's Dance.

Agreed on historical material. My inclination, with most genres of music, is to buy items from the '50s, '60s and '70s. Just a quirk of mine, though I also think that if recordings have been looked upon favorably for decades, they may often be useful as reference recordings at a stage when I'm either becoming reacquainted with parts of the canon or being introduced to them.


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## severance68

Triplets said:


> Sounds like you could use a good dose of Austro German core repertoire ... Schumann you could do worse than Szell or Kubelik sets.


Happily the Szell Schumann set is included in the Masterworks Heritage box.


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## Triplets

I've been getting a lot of pleasure from a Haitink box labeled the Phillips Years. Outstanding Debussy, a generous Bruckner , Mahler, Beethoven Selection, a great Schubert C Major, and a lot more. 20 discs for around $50.00


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## Pugg

Triplets said:


> I've been getting a lot of pleasure from a Haitink box labeled the Phillips Years. Outstanding Debussy, a generous Bruckner , Mahler, Beethoven Selection, a great Schubert C Major, and a lot more. 20 discs for around $50.00


I hate yo say it , but...I told you so


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## Triplets

Pugg said:


> I hate yo say it , but...I told you so


The main attraction for me was the Schubert, which I had owned on lp but this was it's first CD release. I had also had the Debussy on lp and I had forgotten just how good it was. The Strauss Heldenleben is also as good as it gets. Just listened to the Bruckner 8 last night, very dramatic.


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## Bohemian

The Living Stereo CD box set .... Is the cd layer equivalent to the one found on the hybrid SACD version ? Does anybody know ... Thanks


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## aap1960

I've got a few individual Living Stereo SACD's that are duplicated in both Living Stereo Boxes 1 and 2. None of the Living Stereo Boxes have SACD discs. Just your normal CD.


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## Pugg

Bohemian said:


> The Living Stereo CD box set .... Is the cd layer equivalent to the one found on the hybrid SACD version ? Does anybody know ... Thanks


It's like aap1960 saying. :tiphat:


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## bigshot

Bohemian said:


> The Living Stereo CD box set .... Is the cd layer equivalent to the one found on the hybrid SACD version ? Does anybody know ... Thanks


Yes. Exactly the same.


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