#Brilliant classics box sets series#
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.
Mega boxes have changed drastically over the past two decades. Often you own many of the included CDs already. Save on shelf space compared to jewel cases. Many rare and previously unavailable recordings often included. Most box sets now being released with reproduction original artwork. 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.Ĭheap way of acquiring a large number of excellent CDs at once. It might only happen once, but it's a great memory. It's worth me foregoing a €50 box set in order to buy a concert ticket. 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. 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. 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. I learned to love a lot of works from listening to my own records and records at friends' houses. It's a symptom of consumption mania and I don't think it really adds all that much more in terms music appreciation. that's this, right? īut I was unable to find a 100 CD Brilliant Classics version of the Beethoven.I can't imagine buying huge boxes of CDs and then never or only barely listening to them. Yeah, I was looking at the 172 CD Bach set. Īnother way is to work your way through the composer´s works by picking selected recordings now and then, gradually developing a personal taste. Of course read the various reviews carefully and listen to as many samples as possible.Īnother way is to work your way through the composer´s works by picking selected recordings now and then, gradually developing a personal taste. īut I´m not so sure I´d invest the large sum of money of the DG 20 Part Beethoven set if compared to the Brilliant, however its design is of course more luxurious and it has better liner notes etc. I don´t think that the DDD labelling is true, not that I care extremely much about sound quality, but it indicates something.
The other budget set on ABF 87 Beethoven CDs has a very mixed bunch of soloists, but I´d definitely avoid it judging from them, there are too many mediocre or worse recordings to be found there, if compared to the Brilliant Classics. Some really do like Gulda´s complete piano sonatas and piano concertos there, though. Its highlights are IMO the late quartets with Yale4 and the Piano Trios, whereas most of the rest of the set are decent, middle-of-the-road recordings. But if money was no problem, I would start with one of those, they must be more consistent.Īs regards the Brilliant Classics Beethoven set, again it seems OK, but then I´d choose the 100 CD version including some famous historical recordings, to get a broader palette, not the 85CD issue. I can´t say that I know enough about the Hanssler 172 CD set or the Warner 153 CD. Given its price, it is OK, if you then later on supplement with a second cantatas set (or a selection of them at least), for instance Rilling, Richter or Gardiner/archiv (the last-mentioned often sold cheaply, including many other vocal works). But the set has many fine performances too, including the Brandenburgs/Clark and many of the larger vocal works. As for the Brilliant Classics 155CD Bach set, its main, IMO indisputable drawback is the cantatas part which has some really below-standard singing now and then (check out the counter-tenor Sytse Buwalda, if you dare.