Complete Beethoven Edition for FIFTY EURO!!!

[susanwen]

No, I haven't received it yet. My credit card was charged $76.15 U.S. on May 3. I'm willing to give it a few more weeks, and if I don't get it by the end of June I'll call VISA and try to cancel the charge.

If I do receive the CDs, I'll post to the Forum.

[Michael]

No, I haven't received it yet. My credit card was charged $76.15 U.S. on May 3. I'm willing to give it a few more weeks, and if I don't get it by the end of June I'll call VISA and try to cancel the charge.

If I do receive the CDs, I'll post to the Forum.

It took about three weeks for my set to come from Germany to Ireland. You will see from the website that it is the top seller there and that might have something to do with the delay. Send them an email and you should get a reply. I had to repeat a couple of emails but they replied to me when I sent it through the Customer Service section of their website. (Click on the VISA logo to get to this.)
Both JA and I have received our sets so don't give up yet. They have probably sent it by the cheapest method so it should take some time.

I'd just like to reiterate that this set is for people who want to plug the gaps in their collection. It is not in the same league as the DGG edition (which was recently sold on ebay for four hundred pounds sterling) but it is well worth the money. All of the lesser works are available in decent performances with only two or three curious omissions, the major one being the piano transcription of the Violin Concerto which doesn't have a proper catalogue number anyway.
JA put it very well when she said she would use the set as a "rangefinder", i.e. it lets you know what the lesser-known works are like, and you can then presumably buy other versions.

[JA Gardiner]

I've also seen the set on sale at HMV oxford st London as an import - but they are charging £80 where mine even with postage was only 58 euros - about £39 - so it is worth waiting for susanwen! I've also had another order from that company with the Brilliant Boxes of Complete Haydn symphonies, Dvorak masterworks and a couple of smaller sets of Jussi Bjorling and Fritz Kriesler on the Artone label for a grand total of 121 euros/£80 which was delivered very promptly. I found that sending them an email to enquire about progress on the Beethoven set elicited a courteous and accurate response as to the ETA.

[Preston]

No, I haven't received it yet. My credit card was charged $76.15 U.S. on May 3. I'm willing to give it a few more weeks, and if I don't get it by the end of June I'll call VISA and try to cancel the charge.

If I do receive the CDs, I'll post to the Forum.

Thank you for the reply susanwen.

[susanwen]

I checked on the message I received from Kaiser. It said: the order has been sent on 04.05.07.

The delivery time can be 6-10 weeks.

At first I thought it was April 5, but now I realized that the European notation means May 4. So it will probably be another month or more before I receive it.
- Susan

[susanwen]

My 87-CD set arrived today. I haven't played them yet, I'm savoring the sheer number of CDs for now.

The box they were mailed in fell apart in transit, and was held together by U.S. Post Office binding, but the contents were secure and undamaged.

I'm not familiar with the musicians. Taking a few at random, I see Eugen Duvier, Eduard Lindenberg, Hanspeter Gmur, and Zsolt Deaky as conductors, with orchestras Norddeutsche Philharmonie, Orchester der Wiener Volksoper, Suddeutsche Philharmonie, Nurnberger Symphoniker, and piano soloists Ernst Groschel and Hanae Nakajima. Do any of these sound familiar to anyone?

[Michael]

Yes, the packaging could have been a bit better, but glad to hear you got them intact. I have been playing only the more obscure pieces since I got it and a couple of them have been sourced from the DGG set. In fact, most of the lieder come from well-known recordings that I already have. The last few discs are a bit confusing as they have mixed up songs and arrangements and they haven't made it clear on the sleeve which is which. As a result, you might be forgiven for thinking that Beethoven wrote the tune of "Auld Lang Syne" and "The Last Rose of Summer" and many others, when he really only arranged them.
A good idea would be to download and print out the list of works from this site - in order of Opus numbers, etc. You will then know exactly what is what, as the catalogue numbers are printed clearly on each CD sleeve. The booklet is a pain!
Anyway, enjoy them!

[melvyn]

I just wanted to report that I received my set today in the UK. It was ordered only 10 days ago. It came by DHL in a sturdy cardboard box. I was charged a total of 41.87 GBP. What a bargain for 87 CDs!! I think the DG set cost me something like 600 GBP by the time I'd collected them all!

So that's 4 "Complete" Beethoven editions on my shelves now:
The Concert Hall set, The DG Set, The Brilliant Classics set, and this Kaiser one. Thanks to the OP for pointing this one out.

[Peter]

I just wanted to report that I received my set today in the UK. It was ordered only 10 days ago. It came by DHL in a sturdy cardboard box. I was charged a total of 41.87 GBP. What a bargain for 87 CDs!! I think the DG set cost me something like 600 GBP by the time I'd collected them all!

So that's 4 "Complete" Beethoven editions on my shelves now:
The Concert Hall set, The DG Set, The Brilliant Classics set, and this Kaiser one. Thanks to the OP for pointing this one out.

Interesting Melvyn - when you've had time to digest 87 cds let us know how this one compares as you must be in quite a unique position owning all those complete sets!

[Michael]

Just resurrecting this thread to post a little "warning" about the €50 Complete Beethoven set. I have been listening only to the obscure works until now but I put on disc number one today, the first symphony, and got a nasty shock when I discovered the first two chords of the introduction are missing! It doesn't seem to be a CD fault - it's just as if the conductor decided to leave out the first two notes. Not a very promising start for the first of an 87 disc set.
I checked up on some comments from the original website where I saw the set being mentioned and there are a few other anomalies. The rest of the symphonies seem to be okay but there are some missing opening notes in the piano sonatas. Everything else seems to be reasonably okay - but it takes time to check out 87 cds.
All I can say is that the works I have been listening to, the folksong arrangements, the lieder, the non-sonata piano works, etc. are mostly fine. Yet again, I must state that this is a set for conveniently filling gaps in your collection.
The set contains one real gem: a brilliant perormance of "Leonore" cond. by Herbert Blomstedt and the Staatskapelle Dresden. This recording uses dialogue (not the silly narrative employed by Gardiner in the D.G.G. set).

There is another complete edition coming out in September, a French publication, I think. It consists of 100 cds but in reality the edition is 85 discs plus fifteen cds of "classic performances" of works already included. The line-up of performers seems to be better.
Oddly, it seems to contain the same recording of "Leonore" as the one I have mentioned.
Amazon France gives on its site this information:
Beethoven : Intégrale De L'Oeuvre

Release CD audio (13 septembre 2007)
Nombre de disques: 100

Contenu:

Beethoven : l’intégrale de l’oeuvre
Détail des 100 CD

Price: EUR 83,88

85 CDs +
15 CDs additionnels proposant des versions historiques incontournables dans plus grands chefs d’oeuvre.

Here is a link: http://images.amazon.com/media/i3d/0..._beethoven.htm

(Melvyn - take note!)

[melvyn]

Hahaha yes, many thanks for pointing this new one out. I'll have to add that one to my collection.

I've just ordered the new Sony one, so this French one will be 'Complete' set number 6 ! (None of which are actually complete of course).

It will be interesting to see which performances are on these 'Classic Performances' CDs. 15 CDs is a lot of music. The DG set was similar to this in that the last volume contained 'Historic Performances' of works on the other CDs.

[Michael]

This looks to be a much better set than the cheaper one. The symphonies are conducted by Masur, the piano works have Gulda and Brendel and the quartets have the Guarneri. I wonder what the postage is?
I have no doubt that when this set is issued it will become available on eBay at a dearer price.

Here is another link: http://music.brilliantclassics.com/e...uct/View/93525
(Type "Beethoven" in the search box and the complete edition is about two or three pages in).

According to the website, this complete edition includes translations of lyrics, plus sleeve notes - all of which were noticeably missing from the earlier German edition.

[Michael]

The above link suggests that there is an english edition of this new set and that it consists of 85 CDs. The 15 CDs of special performances are not included but it seems to be the same otherwise. Cannot find a price for this version.

[Rutradelusasa]

My 87-CD set arrived today. I haven't played them yet, I'm savoring the sheer number of CDs for now.

The box they were mailed in fell apart in transit, and was held together by U.S. Post Office binding, but the contents were secure and undamaged.

I'm not familiar with the musicians. Taking a few at random, I see Eugen Duvier, Eduard Lindenberg, Hanspeter Gmur, and Zsolt Deaky as conductors, with orchestras Norddeutsche Philharmonie, Orchester der Wiener Volksoper, Suddeutsche Philharmonie, Nurnberger Symphoniker, and piano soloists Ernst Groschel and Hanae Nakajima. Do any of these sound familiar to anyone?

(It's maybe too late for a reply, but here it is) I've seen Duvier before, also the Norddeutsche Philharmonie and Suddeutsche Philharmonie. They are 'ghost' conductors (also: Alfred Scholz, Alberto Lizzio, etc) and 'ghost' orchestras (there are also others, I can't remember them now). They are pseudonyms cheap labels give to obscure recordings to avoid paying copyrights (thus getting lower costs). Also happens with recordings of Anton Nanut (he is real) that receive multiple outings.

[gardibolt]

A lot of lost opportunities with this set: by using the Prey and Schreier recordings of the lieder, they ended up with their truncated versions of songs like Der Bardengeist and So oder so, so those have never so far as I know been recorded in complete form. It looks like the Brilliant set makes the same mistake (though that's just from reading the track listings; I don't have it to verify). Some of the volkslieder I spot-checked take extreme liberties with Beethoven's arrangements, of which I heartily disapprove. The recording of Erlkoenig WoO 131 is sadly lethargic and missing all the drama inherent in the music. But I've only half-scratched the surface of this set.