Beethoven: Complete Works [Box Set]

Beethoven: Complete Works [Box Set]

Beethoven: Complete Works [Box Set]

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Category: Music CD
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CD Details

Performer: Vladimir de Kanel
Performer: Siegfried Lorenz
Performer: Alan Titus
Performer: Alessandro Sved
Performer: Hermann Prey
Performer: Gunther Leib
Performer: Wolfgang Holzmair
Performer: John Noble
Performer: Frederik Baldus
Performer: Jan Opalach
Composer: Ludwig van Beethoven
Conductor: Eugen Duvier
Conductor: Edouard Lindenberg
Conductor: Hanspeter Gmur
Conductor: Anton Nanut
Conductor: Zdenek Kosler
Conductor: Gunther Neidlinger
Conductor: Räto Tschupp
Conductor: Othmar Maga
Conductor: Michael Gielen
Edition: Music CD
Audio: English (Unknown)
Format: Box set, Import
CD Release Date: 2007-06-26
Music Label: Amado

Music reviews of Beethoven: Complete Works [Box Set]

Music Review: Who could complain?
Rating: 4 Stars

Okay, so I ordered this boxed set from Europe at a much cheaper price (even when S & H are added in) and I now own "the complete" Beethoven on CD! I have listened to the entire set and of course there is a range of quality but who could complain about having 87 CDs of Beethoven for less than $1 per disc? Most of the versions are quite serviceable or even very good.

HOWEVER....
I decided that there are some things that I really have to complain about, despite this being a good deal.

1. The tracks are often "run together" with absolutely no break being provided between them. Thus, as soon as one movement ends we often hear a new movement or even a new work (of entirely different character) starting up with no pause whatsoever!

2. Whoever wrote up the information on the disc sleeves apparently knew nearly nothing about classical music. The information about the timings isn't 100% reliable, it is common that fast movements with an introduction will be marked only with the tempo of that introduction (andante, adagio) instead of including the predominant tempo (allegro, presto, vivace), and the completeness of the set is difficult to verify due to the different numberings used in the Hess and the WoO listings.

3. Indexing is inferior - there's a general overview of the type of content on each disc, for a quick reference, but if one is looking for a specific work, it helps to speak German, and even then it's really hard to predect how they've classified things in the alphabetical German index. I went looking for a particular set of Lieder (Op. 48) and eventually found them listed under "Bitten" - how would I have known?? Other song sets are listed by the name of the individual song - I try to figure out where to find the songs in WoO 99 and they are split semi-randomly among two discs and then I have to do a web search to see why number 8 appears to be missing (My best guess at this time is considered part of WoO 119 and they didn't feel the need to duplicate it?). Then I can't find number 12 of the WoO 99 set at all! Maybe it's there if I scrutinize the tiny listings on each disc, or read through the entire 16 page index booklet? The only solution, I think, is to do just that - I have had to create my own indexes so that I can find smaller works in the set, based on catalog and opus numbers. What a chore!

4. The disorder of the set is a real problem for scholars. Ok, sure, if I want to listen only to the symphonies and concertos and overtures, like the average casual listener, there's no problem - those most popular works are all at the front of the set. But if I want to listen to the complete piano sonatas in order, a bit more searching is required. The real problem comes with more obscure works like WoO 99 (or, more specifically, all those works Beethoven wrote as an exercise for Salieri, in the transition from his early to middle period, numbered from 208 to 232 in the Hess catalog). That's when the problems of the set's construction become very clear. Perhaps things are disordered to cover up for some missing minor pieces, and this set really isn't complete? Did they think that listeners couldn't bear to hear the full sets of folk songs and other minor works at one sitting, and needed these tracks shuffled between discs, for listening variety? Did they have to piece these sets together from different performers and recording sources, and felt it was therefore simpler to place random partial clumpings of them on different discs? I do know that when I want to listen to particular collections of works from a specific year or genre, I have had to switch discs a great deal... in some cases only to hear a 30 second or 15 second micro-work (mini-songs or exercises or fragments) rather than having such things more reasonably organized chronologically, or at least by catalog number or at the very very least by not having the same song/dance or other collections split across multiple discs. There is a semblance of order preserved, but I should be able to listen to compendium works in their original order without having to switch between 2 or 3 discs! Ridiculous.

Thus, many things about the set are designed for a casual listener, it seems. However, can one really complain about having at least a practically complete box of Beethoven CDs for less than $1 per disc? This set has problems, but in terms of a listening experience it's still a very good value. On the other hand, there may be (and likely are) other boxed sets that have a much better organization, indexing, and recording quality than this one...without paying too much more for those benefits.

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