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On amazon.com: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004HGQXB8/?tag=pfamazon01-20 a "Complete Beethoven Edition" on the Brilliant Classics label, 85 CDs for less than US$30! (pre-order price, release date is May 31)
Word has apparently been spreading like wildfire on classical-music forums and other sites. As I write this, the set ranks #31 in amazon.com's best-selling music list, the highest-ranking classical item except for the "Royal Wedding Music" album which is two places in front of it. It first appeared on amazon.com on May 3.
Brilliant Classics is releasing several box sets on May 31, and the others seem to be at similar prices, but this one is by far the largest. The others are ten CDs or so. So this may be an error by amazon.com, and they may weasel out of it in the end. Nevertheless, I've placed my order. Even though I already have most of the music in other performances, I can't pass up a bargain like this.
These are all "oldish" recordings that Brilliant Classics has licensed from other record labels. For example, the symphonies were recorded around 1980 by Herbert Blomstedt and the Dresden Staatskapelle, and the piano sonatas were recorded by Alfred Brendel in the 1960s. I know these two by reputation as being good performances, and the sound should be pretty good if not quite up to modern audiophile standards.
This is actually the second version of the Brilliant Classics Beethoven Edition. They apparently had to replace some of the performances in the earlier version because of licensing issues with the record companies that originally recorded them. Other dealers seem to be selling the set (old and/or new versions) for about €100 or US$130.
Word has apparently been spreading like wildfire on classical-music forums and other sites. As I write this, the set ranks #31 in amazon.com's best-selling music list, the highest-ranking classical item except for the "Royal Wedding Music" album which is two places in front of it. It first appeared on amazon.com on May 3.
Brilliant Classics is releasing several box sets on May 31, and the others seem to be at similar prices, but this one is by far the largest. The others are ten CDs or so. So this may be an error by amazon.com, and they may weasel out of it in the end. Nevertheless, I've placed my order. Even though I already have most of the music in other performances, I can't pass up a bargain like this.
These are all "oldish" recordings that Brilliant Classics has licensed from other record labels. For example, the symphonies were recorded around 1980 by Herbert Blomstedt and the Dresden Staatskapelle, and the piano sonatas were recorded by Alfred Brendel in the 1960s. I know these two by reputation as being good performances, and the sound should be pretty good if not quite up to modern audiophile standards.
This is actually the second version of the Brilliant Classics Beethoven Edition. They apparently had to replace some of the performances in the earlier version because of licensing issues with the record companies that originally recorded them. Other dealers seem to be selling the set (old and/or new versions) for about €100 or US$130.
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