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All of Beethoven for $125
That's right, all of Beethoven, 87 discs. Buy it here. I'm not tempted, mostly because I already have multiple favorite versions and I am ultimately a big fusspot who can't stand to hear lesser accounts of the master. I was happy with the Bach box for $99 but he stands up to second-rate interpretations more readily and I never before owned the complete cantatas. Still, some of you may find this a quick and cost-effective way to feel a sense of "Beethoven completeness." But you'll value the discs more if you buy them one at a time, or at least one box at a time. Start with Quartetto Italiano doing the late string quartets, vol.1 is here.
Posted by Tyler Cowen on January 14, 2008 at 09:21 PM in Music | Permalink
Comments
[Bach] stands up to second-rate interpretations more readily
Wow, that is simply not true. Anyone who has heard second-rate interpretations of the Matthew Passion or the B Minor, or even the Art of the Fugue, will tell you that they don't stand up nearly as well as second-rate interpretations of any of Beethoven's major pieces. The Matthew Passion and the B Minor are two of the most technically difficult choral pieces ever composed (believe me, I've sung both), and there are only a handful of choirs in the world who can deliver a first-rate performance of those pieces. And in the Matthew Passion, the various instrumentals are isolated so often that even minor mistakes are very noticeable.
Combined choral and orchestral pieces make it much more difficult for a conductor to get creative with tempo, and as a result, second-rate interpretations are especially awkward.
I think you're a knowledgable person on a wide range of subjects, but your ear for classical music doth deceive you (slightly).
Posted by: TV at Jan 14, 2008 10:24:33 PM
Sony has a much cheaper, but more limited Beethoven set, Complete Masterpieces, with some very competent work.
However, the Complete Works have their gems, too.
Alas, I find myself going with TV on this one.
Posted by: hubris at Jan 14, 2008 10:41:26 PM
I'll admit your point for the masses...
Posted by: Tyler Cowen at Jan 14, 2008 11:07:18 PM
Brilliant have some wonderful stuff. I bought their Dvorak Chamber Music box for 12.95 (Euros) because I thought that was a reasonable price for the inluded disk of Sviatoslav Richter and the Borodin Quartet playing the piano quintets, and got nine hours other perfectly decent music for free.
I believe the string quartets in the Beethoven box might be played by the very respectable Yale Quartet.
Agree with you about the Q.I. late quartets. They seem to be unfashionable these days, but their Heiliger Dankgesang has to be a strong contender for Most Beautiful Thng I've Ever heard
Posted by: Alan Little at Jan 15, 2008 2:14:24 AM
I've spent about ten times that amount accumulating my own 'nearly-complete' Beethoven set, with multiple recordings by my favorite interpreters (Furtwangler having probably the highest number of discs).
I don't think the box set is the way to go except for maybe academic usage - Beethoven is not a buffet, his music is far more enjoyable when studied and explored piece by piece.
Posted by: jag at Jan 15, 2008 2:50:23 AM
Hmmm... There is a lot of classical music out there that is out of copyright (I guess if it was in
copyright it wouldn't be considered classical now, would it?) and there are people working on completely
electronic orchestras for TV and movie production, so I don't see why we can't combine them and soon make
a project Gutenberg for music where you can download almost all classical music and rank various
interpretations.
Posted by: Ronald Brak at Jan 15, 2008 3:45:52 AM
Jeepers, Bach and Beethoven aren't fitted carpet that you buy by the square meter!! And although I'm courting controversy, there are some Beethoven pieces I could happily live without ("Wellington's Victory") in favour of having multiple interpretations of the central works.
Strongly recommended is the box of the Symphonies, recorded by Sir Charles MacKerras with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. Don't be swayed that you've maybe never heard of this orchestra... MacKerras puts a lifetime's commitment and experience into performances that will knock your socks off. AND it's on a budget label (Classics For Pleasure) so you can afford to take the plunge here even if you have other recordings. The Liverpool band play like heroes. If you want the full romantic drive and revolutionary content of these symphonies, shorn of all the tired cliches of the Karajan approach, then try this... it'll remind you why Beethoven turned music upside-down forever.
Please don't buy music like carpet, by quantity and price!!
Posted by: Neil McGowan at Jan 15, 2008 4:41:24 AM
PS the main thing I forgot to mention about the MacKerras box of the symphonies - he's almost the only conductor to have taken them **at Beethoven's carefully-indicated metronome marks**. Everyone else has ignored these and gone slower - often MUCH slower. But these performances don't sound rushed at all - instead, they're energised and brimming with adrenalin :)
Posted by: Neil McGowan at Jan 15, 2008 4:44:25 AM
Agree with Neil about the Mackerras/Liverpool recordings - the Liverpool Phil was on a high in the mid 90s when those were made. My brother was freelancing with them regularly at the time, so I got to hear them live quite often. He's on some of the Beethoven recordings too, including the Pastoral which is the only one of the series that I have. It's very good.
The Choral Fantasy for Piano, Choir and Orchestra gets my vote as the Beethoven piece to miss.
I wouldn't too quickly rush to condemn Brilliant or other big box sets as "buying by the yard". I buy quite a few of them because they contain some real gems - e.g. the above-mentioned Richter/Borodin Quartet Dvorak - that are difficult to get or much more expensive elsewhere. And they probably expose a lot of other people to a lot of good music, in maybe not absolutely top notch but mostly perfectly decent performances.
Posted by: Alan Little at Jan 15, 2008 8:18:48 AM
Just a heads up, the Bach link leads to the Beethoven set. Out of curiosity, who handles the cello suites on that Bach set?
Posted by: daniel at Jan 15, 2008 8:19:31 AM
The late quartets in the Box o' Beethoven are by the Guaneri Quartet. B&N has a list of all the recordings in the box.
http://music.barnesandnoble.com/search/product.asp?r=1&afsrc=1&z=y&cds2Pid=17334&ean=842977035254
(Thanx to Amazon commenter for the link.)
The Choral Fantasy for Piano, Choir and Orchestra gets my vote as the Beethoven piece to miss.
Oh, come now, it's pleasant enough. I amuse myself by singing the An die Freude to the Choral Fantasy tune.
Posted by: Anderson at Jan 15, 2008 9:24:24 AM
I agree with TV in the first comment that Bach does not stand up well to second-rate interpretations, although I don't think Beethoven fares any better.
I don't know if Tyler is implying that the Bach set to which he links is second-rate, and I am not familiar with the set, but anything produced by the performers listed should be really good.
Posted by: tom brandt at Jan 15, 2008 1:12:13 PM
I agree with Neil about the excellence of the Liverpoodlian Beethoven interpretations - though Mackerras is hardly the only one to stick to Beethoven's (controversial, possibly inaccurate) metronome markings. Most conductors following the N.LaMar prepared score do so - and a few HIPsters had done so even before.
Tyler is onto something with his (misunderstood?) Bach/Beethoven remark. I will quote Charles Bukowski (noted musicologist that he was, as we all know):
"Bach is almost impossible to play badly, because he made so few spiritual mistakes."
If it *is* the Yale set that plays the Quartets, it is a very attractive feature of this set.
"Please don't buy music like carpet, by quantity and price!!"
Except that Brilliant offers very, very fine accounts of music, here and there. Sometimes what I would consider the best in the field at any price. Sometimes the only available versions. (Complete Glinka Symphonies, anyone?)
Sure... complete composer sets may be more problematic - but few people buy it INSTEAD of having the Kleiber 5/7 and whatever else might be a classic or favorite... they buy it to get the obscure works and maybe a few gems.
I have not yet received my set (disclaimer: I'm getting it for free from the distributer), but *if* they include these following recordings (that have appeared in individual sets on the same label), then it's a steal:
Gulda, Complete Piano Sonatas (Amadeo Cycle - arguably the finest complete cycle of these works)
Grumiaux / Haskil - Complete Violin Sonatas (Not "the best" - but a classic that few Beethoven lovers would not want/need to have in their collection)
Posted by: jfl at Jan 15, 2008 7:48:21 PM
It is easy to understand the "music-by-the-yard" criticism. However, as an owner of the Bach set I can say that it is a real pleasure to have all his works available to wander through anytime and, in fact, for whatever my opinion may be worth, I haven't found any real clinkers in the set. I wonder if there have been any double blind tests of listeners who claim great expertise and have strong opinions about the relative merits of performances of a given work. I hypothesize that they would fare poorly in a real, statistically valid test. As they do with other things, like wine, where certitude runs high. There once was a test (at MIT, I believe) in which a group of "golden-eared" music lovers was asked to evaluate two different amplifiers. They were given the best recordings and speakers and an AB switch to flip back and forth between the two (hidden) amplifiers. After much listening they reported their strong opinions about the differences and relative merits of the two amplifiers. They agreed that both amplifiers were good, but that there were some major differences between them. After the testing sessions were over, these "golden ears" were informed that there had been only one amplifier and the the AB switch was not hooked up to anything.
Posted by: Critic at Jan 15, 2008 10:31:08 PM
"The Choral Fantasy for Piano, Choir and Orchestra gets my vote as the Beethoven piece to miss."
My peasant taste for Beethoven has made me fancy The Choral Fantasia for piano to no ends! I suppose when it comes to Beethoven, there is room for every one and for every piece. But the love for different pieces is so different and so intense that buying a 87-disc boxset would be like committing polygamy.
Posted by: Yan Li at Jan 17, 2008 2:49:01 AM
