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Wagner Great Recordings 40 CD Sony Box

3K views 6 replies 7 participants last post by  DavidA 
#1 ·
Any opinions on the contents of this boat anchor?
At under 20 dollars, the price is definitely right!

 
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#2 ·
Saw this when you posted about it elsewhere and snapped up a copy. Perhaps the title is a bit misleading, but at 50 cents a disc, what's not to like?

One of the amazon reviewers has posted a complete list of the works included.

Ordered yesterday. Thanks for the heads-up.
 
#5 · (Edited)
I just got this set. It is a pretty decent set. All the disks are sleeved in original cover heavy duty cardboard sleeves. Each CD slipcover has a tracklisting and singers listed on the back but not track times or who sings what role. However, the booklet, which repeats the cover images, also includes track times and cast lists. A quick check after I ripped everything indicates that only two of the items included are shabby in sound quality: Parsifal and the single disk of Kirsten Flagstad Arias and Duets with Melchior. All the rest have decent sound. I like Morris' Hollander but am not fond of Voigt for Senta.

Have only listened to the Hollander and the Ring so far. Hollander is okay but a bit slow. I have other Hollanders I like much better (Klemperer for the best Senta--Silja, and Sinopoli for a great Hollander). The Ring has great clarity and would certainly make a fine first Ring, or second, or third, etc., but for now I am sticking with my Swallisch Ring ad my first choice.

Ironically, it was a search for Parsifal that led me to this set and figuring $25 shipped was not bad for all the other music besides the Karajan Parsifal, but it turned out to be the wrong Karajan Parsifal, the live one. There is a different Karajan Parsifal that is supposed to be very good. But I didn't fret. Instead I grabbed a cheap copy of the Barenboim Parsifal, which is also a very good one.

I have this set and a 43 CD Wagner Opera set that I picked up about a year ago for $35. If I could do it over, I would take the total $60 and find a better set than either of these two.
 
#7 ·
The Kanowski Ring his pretty good, very well played and recorded. Not quite the personality off (say) Karajan or Solti but very well done. Altimeter struggles a bit as Brunnhilde.
Leinsdorf's is notable for Konya's Lohengrin but not much else frankly.
Karajan's Parsifal is a superb performance (with two Kundrys) with Ludwig giving a great Act 2. But the recording is pretty poor by modern standards so beware.
 
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