HOT! Beethoven's Complete Symphonies for $22!

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fornax

Diamond Member
Jul 21, 2000
6,866
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76
You must be kidding, Beethoven the greatest composer of all time? Bach is the King!!! (Now this is just a friendly jab, no offence meant!) :)
 
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AndrewR

Lifer
Oct 9, 1999
11,157
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Umm, by the Zurich orchestra?? I think I'll pass, but I guess it's not bad for a basic introduction to his music. ;)

One of the keys to classical (symphonic) music which many people miss is that you need to find the best recordings for each work, not just any old garage ensemble that plunked out a Mozart opera. It makes a significant difference, and there are actually large books that are printed which list the best ones.
 
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Zucchini

Banned
Dec 10, 1999
4,601
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Not too bad, it is DDD, rememeber to read those symbols for classical cds. It basically tells you how they made it,
recording/editing/mastering .. so DDD = full digital, some crappier cheap classical is from old analog tape, those are ADD, i don't think i've seen anything worse then that so far. Also look for what year the recording was originally made:p much crap out there
 
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ThatPianoGuy

Member
Oct 10, 2000
56
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One question the Zurich Tonhalle Orchestra?

If you really like Beethoven and live in central illinois I'm playing his 4th concerto in G on March 9th..

:)
Rob
 
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S0me1X

Golden Member
Jan 9, 2000
1,480
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Well, like I said, you can get the Karajan's Cycle for 32 dollars. Karajan and 'his' Berliner Philharmonic Orchestra are awesome!

In his lifetime, von Karajan made no less than 4 complete cycles of Beethoven's Symphonies. I believe this set (1963, the first) is even better than Bernstein's Complete!

Anyway, my favorites are the Third, Fifth, Sixth, and Ninth.
 
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S0me1X

Golden Member
Jan 9, 2000
1,480
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I live in Oregon, and I don't get to see many Piano Concerto performances. One really good one recently was a Rachmaninoff's Third played by a 16-year old in my high school. It was incredible! (Still, I wouldn't throw away my Horowitz-Reiner(1951) just yet)
I've only heard Beethoven's Third and Fifth Piano Concerto so far, and I prefer the fifth.
 
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Kwad Guy

Diamond Member
Dec 1, 1999
3,478
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I'll second the poster who said to pass on the cheapo no-name
orchestra recordings and go for the van Karajan '63 recordings
for $10 more. The van Karajan '63 set is considered in many
circles to be among the best complete sets...Certainly better
than his later re-recordings. The only problem with the '63
recordings is that they are technologically (i.e. recording
quality) not as glistening as some of the later recordings.
But if you care more about "DDD" than preformance then you're
clearly not too discerning a classical listener anyway. In that
case, get whatever version is cheapest, and it'll sound fine...

Kwad
 
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Gorgias

Junior Member
Feb 19, 2001
15
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One of my favorite performances of the Beethoven's 9th sounds as though it were recorded using a tin can. Of course, that's because the recording is ancient (1930s I believe). This is obviously an ADD. Some of the best performances are just so old. Maybe we should invent a time machine and give them digital multi-track recording equipment so we can preserve their creation. Of course, we could listen to the concerts once or twice. It would be too much of a pain to keep going back and seeing the same concert over and over; all the paradoxes we'd create would leave behind way to many migraines.

I figure if we overclock a processor enough then we'd create some sort of warp in the space-time continuum. If anyone reaches a high enough MHz, send me a line and we'll start from there.

8086 | I'm not sure what's inside
 
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uncouth

Golden Member
Mar 23, 2000
1,707
1
0
Chopin es el hombre. "Funeral March" "Prelude in E Minor"? Those pieces own ;)
 
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subpar

Senior member
Oct 9, 1999
633
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I'll pass on the Zurich one...but Karajan's is a good deal. I wonder why the MSRP is so low on that one ($33.97). I have two of Karajan's later Beethoven's and they are awesome, but quite expensive.

subpar
 
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Kwad Guy

Diamond Member
Dec 1, 1999
3,478
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The Karajan set has been a budget set for as long as I can
remember (mid '70s). For many years, it was available as
a freebie for joining one of the classical music clubs...The
record industry has always held that newer is better, and since
Karajan re-recorded the Beethoven symphonies several times, these
'63 recordings were relegated to deep catalogue budget status.
I think they were even available as a rare US pressed
DG set for a while (most DG pressings were imported from Germany,
where pressings were much better than in the US).
But as performances, these are the ones to own, even if
in terms of recording quality, they have been bettered.

At $30, the Karajan set is a steal of an introduction to Beethoven.

Kwad
 
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kxy

Senior member
Jan 27, 2001
467
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0
erh, how about mp3.com
There are plenty of free digital classical music there.

don't bash me, I am just suggesting an alternative.
 
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Aihyah

Banned
Apr 21, 2000
2,593
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yes, 22bux, i guess you guys havn't been naptsering long, or having only been going for britney spears(don't bitch, i do too).. ppl on napster generally have err only taste for popular music, if you want classical or jazz, at most they might have 1 trackf rom the cd you want. you do have to buy.. the general demographic on napster prevents real music variety


besides, its stealing, i try to buy as much as i can.
 
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Zucchini

Banned
Dec 10, 1999
4,601
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add to that napster is like duh, i'm sure everyones grandmas know what napster is by now. Basically like shoplifting, without the problem of getting caught. Only ok way to use it is to sample music soyou know what to buy. course it seems the honor system isn't well suited for some.
 
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Kwad Guy

Diamond Member
Dec 1, 1999
3,478
0
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You know what I miss? I miss those long-gone days when anyone
cared about sound QUALITY. I mean audiophile grade sound quality.
It seems like no one does anymore, which is why someone would
suggest Napster as an alternative to buying the CDs. Yeah, those
128kbps encoded MP3s are really going to sound as good as the
CDs...Perhaps on your computer, but not in the real world.

To each his/her own, and if you only listen on your computer, then
MP3 is all you need. But if you ever actually listened to music
on a good stand-alone stereo, you would know there's a world
of difference.

And, yes, there's a difference with 256kbps encoded MP3s, too.
There's even a difference with Lame/VBR/256kbps stuff, widely
considered to be the best...Again, computer stereos are not
audiophile, and you can live with the MP3 deficiencies. So if
that's what you like/need/use, then be happy...

Kwad
 
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wizz0bang

Senior member
Sep 28, 2000
290
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Mp3 for classical???? Sacrelidge! If you are listening to them over $15 multimedia speakers you might not notice a difference... but over a good HiFi you WILL notice the difference, especially with orchestral music. Modern beet-bop may compress just fine... but strings are really subject to aliasing of the high frequencies when compressed.

$32 for the COMPLETE symphonies of Beethoven is indeed a great deal. You must really listen to these to enjoy and appreciate them properly. You can't just play them as background music while reading or playing video games. You must give them you full attention... and trust me, you won't be dissapointed. These works can really enhance and bring joy to your life. Their full emotional impact is amazing... you must experience it to know what I'm talking about. I know each symphony is 40+ minutes long... and we are trained to pay attention to sound for only 2-3 minutes in between commercials... but the rewards are there. Just listen to B's 5th, when the familiar 1st movement starts you will say "ya ya... heard it" but wait... if you aren't FLOORED as the 4th movement begins, you just weren't paying attention. If you simply skip ahead to hear the intro to the 4th movement, you are missing out on the emotional build up to it.

As to the gripes about old analog recordings... some of the best artistic work can be found in recordings from the 60s... Microphones really haven't changed at all in that time frame, if you can get hold of a well recorded piece from the 60s on good magnetic tape, it CAN be as good as any modern recording. The only advent in recording we have made in the interim has been digital recording... which doesn't add ANY fidelity at all (contrary to the current generation's view... BTW I'm 23, not some old fart)... Digital allows you to keep the noise, hiss and garbage artifacts down to a minimum. But remember, Digital is ONLY as good as the source it is recording from... Microphones haven't changed AT ALL...

Now, get your head into some good earphones (Grados please) and listen to Mr. Ludwing van Beethoven's master works... there is a reason 20,000 people attended his funeral (in the days before mass media no less!).


Brad
 
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