[Merl]

Sorry for the double-post. Of the 10 sets I have on cd (pic below) I have an eye for a bargain and none of these sets cost me more than a fiver and some were ridiculously priced (the Marriner being the silliest price at only £3). I have most of the other cycles on the HD but I've never been able to get hold of a few due to their rarity. The Davis set was a similarly silly £2 and I really like him in the symphonies up to #6. The other issue with the Muti, btw, is that the 9th is stupidly split over 2 discs. As I mentioned in another thread, some time back, I got around that by burning the whole symphony onto a spare blank disc (not that I ever play it these days). My current set on the car USB is Zander, which is pretty decent. Before that I'd had the Herreweghe, Dausgaard and Immerseel sets in the car. The Immerseel and Dausgaard are the priciest sets I've bought on download. Got the others way cheaper.

 

[Enthusiast]

Those recommendations were based on a mix of price /availability /quality. Like you, Enthusiast, I much prefer the Berlin set but last time I looked it was stupidly expensive and you could pick the Concertgebouw cycle up really cheap (I paid an obscene £3 for it). That was some time ago and I'm probably out of step with prices so yeah, if the Berlin one is at a good price, I'd go for that but I suspect it'll still be stupidly priced. I love the Suitner but thats really overpriced. The Abbado is a bit 'slick' but it's a decent set and you can usually get it at a good price. Blomstedt has always been great value and you still see it at cheap prices. That's the problem with the Schubert cycles, they don't seem to hang around long on the catalogue. Some cycles disappeared rapidly (Viotti, Bott, Zander, Maag, Zinman, etc) and now command daft prices.

Ah, OK. The two best sets that I know IMO are that Berlin Harnoncourt one (currently £35 from Presto but double that from Amazon UK) and the Kertesz one (Amazon UK has a used - vg condition - one for £30). I don't know the Suitner (I really must search it out for a listen after your praise) and as you say it seems to be OOP.

I know others that have merits - Zinman, van Immerseel etc - but they also seem to be OOP. Minkowski's set can be had for a little under £30 and is good if occasionally a little driven. And then there is Menuhin (the one with Sinfonia Varvosa) which I like a lot and has an extraordinarily fast 9th (fast but it works!) and can be had from Amazon UK for £15 (less for used). Finally there is Bohm - some find it dull but it has a certain style in the way that much of Bohm's work for Classical period music did - that can be had for under £20 and has a great 9th and a pretty good 8th.

As you say recordings come and go very quickly and I have found it impossible to keep up. Some sets get started (recently Holliger and Jacobs) but then get lost. But the thing is for me is that symphonies 1-6 are slight works and need a special touch to really flower. That's why Berlin Harnoncourt and Kertesz are worth the money for me.

 

[Enthusiast]

Sorry for the double-post. Of the 10 sets I have on cd (pic below) I have an eye for a bargain and none of these sets cost me more than a fiver and some were ridiculously priced (the Marriner being the silliest price at only £3). I have most of the other cycles on the HD but I've never been able to get hold of a few due to their rarity. The Davis set was a similarly silly £2 and I really like him in the symphonies up to #6. The other issue with the Muti, btw, is that the 9th is stupidly split over 2 discs. As I mentioned in another thread, some time back, I got around that by burning the whole symphony onto a spare blank disc (not that I ever play it these days). My current set on the car USB is Zander, which is pretty decent. Before that I'd had the Herreweghe, Dausgaard and Immerseel sets in the car. The Immerseel and Dausgaard are the priciest sets I've bought on download. Got the others way cheaper.

Our posts crossed. You obviously got a bargain with the Marriner set - I've been looking at it for years and it has often been over £100 (as it is now).

And. oh yes, I had forgotten the Davis set ... also one I remember as being very good. I must replay some of it to refresh my memory.

 

[EvaBaron]

Thanks for all the recommendations, based on this I will be checking out Suitner, Harnoncourt (berlin), Kertesz and Davis. Luckily price and availability is not a problem for me since I stream everything

 

[Merl]

Our posts crossed. You obviously got a bargain with the Marriner set - I've been looking at it for years and it has often been over £100 (as it is now).

That Marriner has gotta be my bargain of the Century. I was looking on Fleabay one day, about 10 years ago, when I put in 'Shubert' for a bit of fun (missing out the C - btw this trick doesn't work anymore!). A few things came up but one was the Marriner set labelled as 'Shubert simphonies' (it was on auction with a starting price of £3 including p&p), had no bids, there was no pic (but it did say 6 discs in the description) and only a day or so left. A few days later still no bids and 15mins left so I threw in a bid (with a top bid of about £8) expecting it would go nuts. Unbelievably I was the only bid so got it at initial price. The guy sent me a message afterwards saying "you got a bargain". I certainly did but with the spelling mistakes and the fact he'd put it in the wrong category (LPs) I didn't say anything. I also picked up a few other items from him at silly prices on 'buy now' on the same day (also poorly labelled on his adverts).

 

[Judith]

I love the recording by
asmf/Marriner

from the 10 symphony set

 

[RobertJTh]

Marriner is great in the early symphonies, I find him lightweight and superficial in the 8th and 9th.
And that completed 10th, ugh Just listen to what Bartholomee/Liege does with it - or rather, don't bother at all.

 

[hammeredklavier]

I was looking on Fleabay one day, about 10 years ago, when I put in 'Shubert' for a bit of fun (missing out the C - btw this trick doesn't work anymore!). A few things came up but one was the Marriner set labelled as 'Shubert simphonies' (it was on auction with a starting price of £3 including p&p), had no bids, there was no pic (but it did say 6 discs in the description) and only a day or so left.

Sentimental Viennese Sh

 

[clavichorder]

The 3rd is such a sweet and magical work. I actually like it better than the 5th or 6th. I'm not even terribly picky about the recording because it's a hard one to mess up.

 

[Kreisler jr]

The 3rd is such a sweet and magical work. I actually like it better than the 5th or 6th.

So do I, 2 and 3 are my favorites of Schubert 1-6.

 

[MatthewWeflen]

I just listened to the Blomstedt/Staatskapelle Dresden set, and it is very high quality. It's a very easy recommendation, especially at its current Presto Classical sale price of six bucks.

 

[EvaBaron]

I think I will listen to that Blomstedt cycle. I already have recordings for 8 (Kleiber) and 9 (Munch) but is the cycle good for 1-6?

 

[MatthewWeflen]

I think I will listen to that Blomstedt cycle. I already have recordings for 8 (Kleiber) and 9 (Munch) but is the cycle good for 1-6?

Of the 4 cycles I own, the Blomstedt is at least tied for best in the earlier symphonies (which I quite like).

 

[Enthusiast]

I've probably said this already (in this thread or elsewhere?) but there are many good recordings of Schubert 3 but there are very few that really make it sparkle as it can. Without that sparkle it is a good young Romantic composer's symphony but it can rise to the top of that pile in the right hands.

 

[Animal the Drummer]

The 3rd is such a sweet and magical work. I actually like it better than the 5th or 6th. I'm not even terribly picky about the recording because it's a hard one to mess up.

I certainly prefer it to no.6, but no.5 is probably my favourite of all of them. I've heard the "Unfinished" a tad too many times now and I've always found the Great C Major easier to admire than to love.