# Future Classical CD Purchases



## samurai (Apr 22, 2011)

What are you thinking of or tempted to buy as your next classical music acquisition?
For myself, I am about to pull the trigger on the 2008 re-mastered Sony Import version of :
Gustav Mahler--*The Complete Symphonies {Box Set}, *featuring the New York Philharmonic and Leonard Bernstein.

Your turn.


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## Sonata (Aug 7, 2010)

There is a "wish list" thread which is similar....the mods might end up merging this, or maybe not.  Either way it's always a fun type of thread. Once my spending freeze is over, I intend to investigate Gabriel Faure. I'm probably going to go for the solo piano music first. Which recording I am not sure.


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## powerbooks (Jun 30, 2012)

Anthology of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Volume 1.

I missed it almost a decade ago, still regretting. If someone is willing to sell at a reasonable price, I will take it!


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## HarpsichordConcerto (Jan 1, 2010)

Nice thread, Mr samurai. I like the idea.

Well, I am thinking of buying several but the one I am having trouble deciding whether or not to buy is


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

samurai said:


> What are you thinking of or tempted to buy as your next classical music acquisition?
> For myself, I am about to pull the trigger on the 2008 re-mastered Sony Import version of :
> Gustav Mahler--*The Complete Symphonies {Box Set}, *featuring the New York Philharmonic and Leonard Bernstein.
> 
> Your turn.


Haha, me too actually, but I might have changed my mind by the time I get money. One thing I _need_ to get is Michael Nyman's _Facing Goya._


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## Vaneyes (May 11, 2010)

Sony DVD box of LvB Symphonies 1 - 9, with Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen/Paavo Jarvi.


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## xRIOSxx (Sep 8, 2012)

I'm looking to get into Mahler more, so I'll be buying the Gergiev/LSO digital box set when it's released this fall. I also want to get into more Bartok and Rimsky Korsakov, and I've been meaning to look at the new Glass Symphony No. 9. Is it any good?


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

xRIOSxx said:


> I'm looking to get into Mahler more, so I'll be buying the Gergiev/LSO digital box set when it's released this fall. I also want to get into more Bartok and Rimsky Korsakov, and I've been meaning to look at the new Glass Symphony No. 9. Is it any good?


Glass does justice to the symphonic genre but risks becoming (in)famous for writing music that "all sounds the same." Stravinsky's well known quote "Vivaldi only wrote one concerto and copied it 399 times" might even apply to Glass in years to come.


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## neoshredder (Nov 7, 2011)

Been holding off on this. Mainly because I got too much music already and it is a little pricey. Though cheap for a 6 cd set.


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## samurai (Apr 22, 2011)

Sergei Rachmaninov--*Complete Symphonies {Box Set}, *featuring both the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra and the Concertgebouw Orchestra of Amsterdam under the baton of Vladimir Ashkenazy.


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## Vaneyes (May 11, 2010)

xRIOSxx said:


> I'm looking to get into Mahler more, so I'll be buying the Gergiev/LSO digital box set when it's released this fall. I also want to get into more Bartok and Rimsky Korsakov, and I've been meaning to look at the new Glass Symphony No. 9. Is it any good?


Suggest you check out reviews for LSO/Gergiev Mahler, before pulling the trigger. Whatever you decide, enjoy! :tiphat:


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## bigshot (Nov 22, 2011)

I've got my fingers crossed that the big i deals blowout at Amazon comes through. I ordered a huge pile of box sets at a dollar a pop. Hoping it wasn't a mistake.


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## neoshredder (Nov 7, 2011)

I heard most will be canceled.


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## Aghartha (Sep 2, 2012)

ComposerOfAvantGarde said:


> Glass does justice to the symphonic genre but risks becoming (in)famous for writing music that "all sounds the same." Stravinsky's well known quote "Vivaldi only wrote one concerto and copied it 399 times" might even apply to Glass in years to come.


I think Glass has put out more than enough albums for it to be less of a risk and more of a certainty. I don't really agree with it as I love everything he has done but I can see why people would think it all sounds the same.

I think his 9th is pretty good, one of his stronger ones. I have only listened to it a couple of times but I think it's definitely worth listening to.


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## Sonata (Aug 7, 2010)

I plan to get all of Brahms' symphonies; I just need to sift through pages of discussion here in order to determine which versions I'll want!


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## neoshredder (Nov 7, 2011)

Sonata said:


> I plan to get all of Brahms' symphonies; I just need to sift through pages of discussion here in order to determine which versions I'll want!


The one without Brahms.


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

bigshot said:


> I've got my fingers crossed that the big i deals blowout at Amazon comes through. I ordered a huge pile of box sets at a dollar a pop. Hoping it wasn't a mistake.


It was most definitely a mistake. Whether they are obligated to follow through on these orders is another story. But my guess is that most of these orders will be canceled.


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## Carpenoctem (May 15, 2012)

Sonata said:


> I plan to get all of Brahms' symphonies; I just need to sift through pages of discussion here in order to determine which versions I'll want!


Get this one, you won't regret it:

http://www.amazon.com/Brahms-The-Sy...=1350664370&sr=8-1&keywords=brahms+symphonies

I have it, and it's wonderful.


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## neoshredder (Nov 7, 2011)

Carpenoctem said:


> Get this one, you won't regret it:
> 
> http://www.amazon.com/Brahms-The-Sy...=1350664370&sr=8-1&keywords=brahms+symphonies
> 
> I have it, and it's wonderful.


I got that one to. Which is why I prefer the one without Brahms. The performance can only do so much.


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## mud (May 17, 2012)

The series begins...


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## Xaltotun (Sep 3, 2010)

I'm planning on getting these CDs next:

Schumann Violin Concerto with Henryk Szeryng
Mendelssohn Symphonies with Herbert von Karajan
Brahms Violin Concerto with Mutter and Masur (still not certain if this will be the version)
Lohengrin with Rudolf Kempe
Lohengrin DVD with Abbado and Domingo
some Parsifal DVD


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## Xaltotun (Sep 3, 2010)

samurai said:


> Sergei Rachmaninov--*Complete Symphonies {Box Set}, *featuring both the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra and the Concertgebouw Orchestra of Amsterdam under the baton of Vladimir Ashkenazy.


It has one big flaw: symphony #2 is chopped between two discs. But otherwise I like this set a lot, great interpretations.


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## Xaltotun (Sep 3, 2010)

samurai said:


> What are you thinking of or tempted to buy as your next classical music acquisition?
> For myself, I am about to pull the trigger on the 2008 re-mastered Sony Import version of :
> Gustav Mahler--*The Complete Symphonies {Box Set}, *featuring the New York Philharmonic and Leonard Bernstein.
> 
> Your turn.


This one's a no-brainer, get it NOW, it's a treasure.


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## jdk (Sep 5, 2012)

I'll be getting this soon, love his interpretation on B minor.


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## samurai (Apr 22, 2011)

@ Xaltotun, Thanks for the heads up on the Rachmaninov and Mahler sets! :tiphat:


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

I fancy checking out some unfamiliar Bernstein so I might get his Songfest and/or Kaddish Symphony next. It looks like it will mean duplicating Chichester Psalms in either or both cases, but hey...


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## palJacky (Nov 27, 2010)

Xaltotun said:


> It has one big flaw: symphony #2 is chopped between two discs. But otherwise I like this set a lot, great interpretations.


That is true for the decca 2-fer which just has the three symphonies.
There is a three disc box where each symphony is complete on a single disc coupled with another work.
'symphonic dances', 'the isle of the dead' and 'the bells...
http://www.amazon.com/Rachmaninov-S...763963&sr=1-2&keywords=rachmaninoff+ashkenazy

I 'upgraded' to the box myself from the 2-fer.


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## techniquest (Aug 3, 2012)

Xaltotun said:


> It has one big flaw: symphony #2 is chopped between two discs. But otherwise I like this set a lot, great interpretations.


So which set is this? I have the Ashkenazy /Concertgebouw set on Decca of the 3 symphonies, The Bells, Symphonic Dances and The Isle of the Dead and the 2nd symphony is complete on disc 2 along with 'The Isle of the Dead'....


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## Sonata (Aug 7, 2010)

neoshredder said:


> The one without Brahms.


Balderdash! Take your harpsichord and shove it :lol:


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## samurai (Apr 22, 2011)

@palJacky and techniquest, That is precisely the set I have my eye on.


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## techniquest (Aug 3, 2012)

samurai said:


> @palJacky and techniquest, That is precisely the set I have my eye on.


Buy it - now! Without hesitation.
It has the best interpretation of the 1st symphony (my personal fave of the 3 proper symphonies). All in all a really excellent buy.


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## moody (Nov 5, 2011)

samurai said:


> Sergei Rachmaninov--*Complete Symphonies {Box Set}, *featuring both the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra and the Concertgebouw Orchestra of Amsterdam under the baton of Vladimir Ashkenazy.


This is the same orchestra.


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## Manok (Aug 29, 2011)

I'm thinking of two cd sets: William Schuman Symphonies from naxos (its 4 cds and contains all but 1 and 2 of the symphonies) and Wilhellm Stehnmar I may be horridly misspelling his name, but I heard his 2nd symphony and piano concerto, and am tempted on that as well, this recording set is by BIS. Does anyone know if there is a recording of either the first or 2nd symphony by Schuman?


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## Sonata (Aug 7, 2010)

Oh, I've added a big pile of CDs onto my wish list.

1) Lieder: I'm listening more to lieder lately. I have a few sets of *Schubert* lieder, but I'll probably go ahead and add another one or two since I hear he's the lieder king. And loving *Brahms *as I do, I want to try out a disc or two of his songs. I'm not a huge *Robert Schumann* fan, but he does have some beautiful stuff, and I've heard the Dichterliebe is good, so I'll probably get that.

2) *Bach* keyboard music: I'm falling in love with the French Suite #5 from the downloaded "Big Bach Set" I now want all of the French and English Suites, as well as the Well-Tempered Clavier. (I already have the Goldbergs downloaded)

3) Piano sonata sets: I've decided on the Brendel AND Gilels sets for *Beethoven*, and Wilhem Kempff for *Schubert*


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## moody (Nov 5, 2011)

samurai said:


> What are you thinking of or tempted to buy as your next classical music acquisition?
> For myself, I am about to pull the trigger on the 2008 re-mastered Sony Import version of :
> Gustav Mahler--*The Complete Symphonies {Box Set}, *featuring the New York Philharmonic and Leonard Bernstein.
> 
> Your turn.


This is a good choice as long as you like mass hysteria, I would have thought Rafael Kubelik and the Bavarian Radio Orchestra or Klaus Tenstedt and the LPO would be a better choice.


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## jdk (Sep 5, 2012)

I can't decide which one of these to get as I enjoy both versions. Any help?


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

Manok said:


> I'm thinking of two cd sets: William Schuman Symphonies from naxos (its 4 cds and contains all but 1 and 2 of the symphonies) and Wilhellm Stehnmar I may be horridly misspelling his name, but I heard his 2nd symphony and piano concerto, and am tempted on that as well, this recording set is by BIS. Does anyone know if there is a recording of either the first or 2nd symphony by Schuman?


There are no Schuman symphonies nos. 1 & 2. The first two were withdrawn by the composer, so nos. 3-10 are his eight published works. I have 4 of the symphonies on two Naxos CDs, and I like them very much. If I knew how much I was going to enjoy these works I would have ordered the whole set.

I have nos. 3, 5, and 8 on a Sony CD by Bernstein, but for some reason they haven't really clicked for me yet. I want to get the rest of the Naxos series by Gerard Schwarz.


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## samurai (Apr 22, 2011)

Along with the *Mahler Cycle* by Bernstein/NYP, I've been toying with the idea of pulling the trigger on a *Bruckner Cycle *by Karajan/Berliner Phil.
Any thoughts or opinions on this?


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## Tristan (Jan 5, 2013)

Neeme Jarvi's Prokofiev Piano Concerti & Symphonies

Additionally: Vieuxtemps' Violin Concerti (not sure which recording).


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## neoshredder (Nov 7, 2011)

samurai said:


> Along with the *Mahler Cycle* by Bernstein/NYP, I've been toying with the idea of pulling the trigger on a *Bruckner Cycle *by Karajan/Berliner Phil.
> Any thoughts or opinions on this?


That's the one I'm interested in as well. And I prefer Bruckner over Mahler. I know I'm in the minority in that area.


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## Conor71 (Feb 19, 2009)

samurai said:


> Along with the *Mahler Cycle* by Bernstein/NYP, I've been toying with the idea of pulling the trigger on a *Bruckner Cycle *by Karajan/Berliner Phil.
> Any thoughts or opinions on this?


I own both cycles and think theyre real nice - The Mahler/Bernstein one was the best thing I purchased last year I think, its very expressive Mahler. HVK understands Bruckners music and I really like his versions of the Symphonies Nos. 1, 5, 7, 8 & 9 - the others are all good too. Both sets are in nice analogue sound.


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## Novelette (Dec 12, 2012)

My next purchase is a big one.

http://www.amazon.com/Schubert-The-Complete-Lieder-Boog/dp/B005OZDXLY/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1358294984&sr=8-4&keywords=complete+schubert+lieder

Probably in a week or two, I'll order it and begin a monumental exploration.


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## samurai (Apr 22, 2011)

Antonin Dvorak--*Complete Symphonies and Overtures, *featuring the London Symphony Orchestra led by Witold Rowicki.
Sergey Prokofiev--*The 7 Symphonies,* performed by the Berliner Philharmoniker under Seji Ozawa.


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## Conor71 (Feb 19, 2009)

samurai said:


> Antonin Dvorak--*Complete Symphonies and Overtures, *featuring the London Symphony Orchestra led by Witold Rowicki.
> Sergey Prokofiev--*The 7 Symphonies,* performed by the Berliner Philharmoniker under Seji Ozawa.


I just got the Ozawa/BPO Prokofiev set a couple of weeks ago - I havent finished it yet but what I have heard so far is really good I think. Its very clear and detailed with lovely orchestral sound. Quite a few people in GMG have that set so I will let them weigh in over there


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## Sonata (Aug 7, 2010)

Hmmmm.........that Beethoven sonata set that was on the backburner for "Eventually" may have to be moved up. The few sonatas of his I have are really connecting with me at the moment.


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## Sonata (Aug 7, 2010)

On an opera kick at the moment. Puccini is so far my favorite opera composer, I'm thinking of getting a boxed set of his, or at least a few more. There is a set of Verdi for a great price on Amazon, though let's me real. I am not a die-hard opera fan by any stretch of the imagination, I don't think I could possibly listen to that much. So we'll see.


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## GraemeG (Jun 30, 2009)

Man, how cheap are these back catalogues of classics? Gees, when I was growing up, LPs were $17 a shot, for 40 minutes of music. Since Christmas, I've bought about 85 CDs from Amazon.uk for around $4ea, on average. Vast boxes of stuff:
14 discs of Celibidache conducting symphonies
14 discs of Sviatoslav Richter (EMI)
12 discs of Adrian Boult (EMI)
6 discs of Haydn's _sturm & drang_ (Pinnock)
7 discs of Bernstein conducting himself (NYPO/Sony)
Bernsteins VPO Beethoven cycle
Batiz doing all the Bachianas Brasilieras
Fournier's Bach suites
Hilary Hahn playing concertos: beethoven/brahms/mendelsn/barber/stravinsky/shost 1
EMI box of Walton's symphonies/concertos/belshazzar
5 discs of Barbirolli conducting Elgar
6 discs of Jarvi doing all Grieg's orchestral music...

And more. This is just the boxes, never mind the singles...
I'm just staggered. The greatest cultural legacy from the 17-20th century, and it's available dirt cheap for everyone. By the kilogram, almost. What a privilege.
And they're all on CDs, playable through a decent sound system, making a near-realistic sound.
Not some compressed little file sitting in a cloud which Apple can take away from you (despite you paying for it) any time they like.
Wow. The times we live in.
GG


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

After buying and enjoying a 7-disc set of Max Reger's orchestral works on Berlin Classics I'm seriously contemplating buying the complete chamber works on the DaCamera label at some point. Not yet, though - I'm not quite ready for 23 discs of largely unfamiliar material. This is a composer I used to disdain not too long ago - it was nice to be proved wrong by listening again to some of his principal orchestral and chamber works and trying harder to understand what he was about.


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## science (Oct 14, 2010)

GraemeG said:


> Man, how cheap are these back catalogues of classics? Gees, when I was growing up, LPs were $17 a shot, for 40 minutes of music. Since Christmas, I've bought about 85 CDs from Amazon.uk for around $4ea, on average. Vast boxes of stuff:
> 14 discs of Celibidache conducting symphonies
> 14 discs of Sviatoslav Richter (EMI)
> 12 discs of Adrian Boult (EMI)
> ...


Someone pointed out that this is probably the golden age of physical music (ie CDs and so on) because in the recent past it was so expensive and in the near future it'll all be virtual (ie in the cloud or whatever) - so we'd better seize the darn day! And I do, as my credit card bill bears witness.


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## Novelette (Dec 12, 2012)

I've been longing for a recording of Cherubini's String Quintet. I have all of the String Quartets, but the Quintet is a very interest work in its own right. I've read through the score a few times and I want now to hear it. This is the only recording of it that I could even find. Although the CD isn't rated at five stars, whatever the real value of such ratings anyway, I would happily take four stars over nothing. If anyone knows of any other recordings, please let me know.  As it stands, I'll be getting my hands on this one sometime in the next few weeks.


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## Novelette (Dec 12, 2012)

And whoever makes a sardonic comment about me having a Cherubini fixation... will be quite correct.


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## davinci (Oct 11, 2012)

GraemeG said:


> Man, how cheap are these back catalogues of classics? Gees, when I was growing up, LPs were $17 a shot, for 40 minutes of music. Since Christmas, I've bought about 85 CDs from Amazon.uk for around $4ea, on average. Vast boxes of stuff:
> 14 discs of Celibidache conducting symphonies
> 14 discs of Sviatoslav Richter (EMI)
> 12 discs of Adrian Boult (EMI)
> ...


That is some great music...you've done well. I've been on a Amazon buying spree gathering CDs while the getting is good. And like yourself, I want to be able to own my music and not wait for somebody's server to retrieve it.


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## Bradius (Dec 11, 2012)

I'm seriously considering buying DFD's recordings of Schubert's Lieder Cycles. About $54 US for 21 disks!


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## Schubussy (Nov 2, 2012)

I want to expand my Silvestrov collection.

















But they're expensive and I'm poor.


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## JLTNJUSA1963 (May 8, 2013)

Good morning from the USA,

I have two CDs of Beethoven works that I really like but that are so dirty or scratched that I cannot load them into ITunes, don't believe they're playable, and I may need to replace them:

Symphonies 4 in B-Flat Major Opus 60 and 5 in C Minor Opus 67; Tilson Thomas/English Chamber Orchestra recorded 1980 (Sony/CBS MDK 45805);
Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No. 5 in E-Flat Major Opus 73 "Emperor" recorded 1961 by Leon Fleisher, piano with the Cleveland Orchestra conducted by George Szell/Concerto for Piano, Violin, Cello and Orchestra in C Major Opus 56 "Triple" recorded 1964 by Eugene Istomin, piano; Isaac Stern, violin; and Leonard Rose, violoncello with the Philadelphia Orchestra conducted by Eugene Ormandy (Sony SBK 46549).

I'll need to sort through posts to determine which recordings of these works people here prefer. Thank you,

Jim


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## presto (Jun 17, 2011)

Too much to list, but more J S Bach, flute sonatas on period instruments is on the top of my list.


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