Arthur Rubinstein - The Complete Album Collection

[crisp]

Coming on November 7 according to Amazon UK. No other details, but this must surely be the next in the complete Original Jacket series.

[MomsMobley]

thanks for the head's up, crisp-- this was predicted/hoped for but we weren't sure it'd actually HAPPEN. I'm sure like most here i couldn't afford the big Artie box (chest!) when it came out...

in related news, it appears the fast-disappearing Bernstein Symphony Edition might be coming back-- both Jpc.de and amazon.de have it listed for September 9 tho' in typical major label idiocy fashion, good luck finding that info out elsewhere (wouldn't want to build excitement or anything).

http://http://www.amazon.de/Bernstein-Symphony-Leonard/dp/B003Z9Q4WG

lastly, on the EMI side, anyone even thinking of the astounding Gyorgy Cziffra set should grab it if/when they can because that seems to be gone.

Edited August 18, 2011 by MomsMobley

[alankin]

Perhaps the Bernstein Symphony Edition listed is a new edition with cheaper packaging? 72 Euros isn't bad for 60 CDs.

[Chuck Nessa]

I bought about 25-30 individual discs from the previous complete set. The earlier set included the EMI recordings and I bet they are missing from the new box.

[crisp]

in typical major label idiocy fashion, good luck finding that info out elsewhere (wouldn't want to build excitement or anything)

Tell me about it. There's a perception that nothing gets released, whereas in fact quite a lot of good stuff comes out. Yet the labels themselves never bother to promote them. I usually find out about releases by doing a label or series search on Amazon then post anything I find on here, but it's still hard to get some info. To this day the only place I've found that has a track listing on the Heifetz box is this obscure site. The next batch of CTI discs from Masterworks isn't even on the Masterworks site. It's like the record industry *wants* to die.

[RiRiIII]

200 EURO at jpc:

http://www.jpc.de/jpcng/classic/detail/-/art/Arthur-Rubinstein-Complete-Album-Collection/hnum/9706662

[jazzbo]

Looks beautiful!

[crisp]

Nice, but I would have preferred it in a long box like the previous Original Jacket big boxes, Horowitz, Heifetz and Gould*

*Sounds like a firm of lawyers...

[jazzbo]

In that case it might be over 24" long!

[crisp]

Good point!

[crisp]

Amazon UK's preorder price for this is pretty good: £173.30 here. That's about £1.20 per disc.

[mattes]

Thanks for the info

[jazzbo]

I ordered this set from amazon.de for a total of 226 dollars, and it arrived in four days!

Beautiful set. I'm listening to the very earliest material, from 1928 on and I find the restoration and mastering excellent.

Notes in the booklet about sound: "This edition also boasts the finest sound quality ever bestowed on Arthur Rubinstein's complete recordings. The masters for the principal works in the collection come from the series of Living Stereo SACDs and Japanese XRCDs. All the other recordings are based on masters from the Rubinstein Collection of 1999, technically and sonically refurbished for this edition. In cases where the desired results could not be obtained, Sony Classical has gone back to the original analogue tapes."

The set opens with 14 packed cds of the earliest material, recorded for HMV in London which would be the EMI recordings, correct? The notes say that they were all 78s and EPs and never reissued on LP. Great great music to savor the next year and beyond.

Edited December 17, 2011 by jazzbo

[Van Basten II]

For those interested , if you buy this with the Bernstein on Amazon France, you get both of those mammoth sets for around 300 $ Invidually the Rubinstein is at 216 while the Bernstein is around 92 in US bucks.

[jazzbo]

Both are excellent, I've been enjoying the Bernstein this year.

[Chuck Nessa]

The set opens with 14 packed cds of the earliest material, recorded for HMV in London which would be the EMI recordings, correct? The notes say that they were all 78s and EPs and never reissued on LP. Great great music to savor the next year and beyond.

Most/probably all of the EMI stuff has been reissued on lp and cd. I've had much of it for 40 years. The previous RCA/BMG set had this stuff and smaller chunks have been on EMI cds.

[Leeway]

This is really a strong selling point, for me at least:

Notes in the booklet about sound: "This edition also boasts the finest sound quality ever bestowed on Arthur Rubinstein's complete recordings. The masters for the principal works in the collection come from the series of Living Stereo SACDs and Japanese XRCDs. All the other recordings are based on masters from the Rubinstein Collection of 1999, technically and sonically refurbished for this edition. In cases where the desired results could not be obtained, Sony Classical has gone back to the original analogue tapes."

Have to give this one serious consideration.

[jazzbo]

The set opens with 14 packed cds of the earliest material, recorded for HMV in London which would be the EMI recordings, correct? The notes say that they were all 78s and EPs and never reissued on LP. Great great music to savor the next year and beyond.

Most/probably all of the EMI stuff has been reissued on lp and cd. I've had much of it for 40 years. The previous RCA/BMG set had this stuff and smaller chunks have been on EMI cds.

Thanks for the info Chuck.

[jazzbo]

I'm really enjoying the sonics on these earliest dates recorded for HMV. Wow if more jazz releases of this vintage sounded this great . . . .

[Van Basten II]

Had to pick up the Rubinstein and Berstein from the post office, man these are huge motherfuckers, The plastic bag that I had got ripped off so I had to carry these thing in my arms for a 15 minutes walk at -9 F weather with windchill. Fortunately the music will be worth it. Not recommended if you live in a small place.

Edited December 31, 2011 by Van Basten II

[jazzbo]

Whoa, sorry about that walk with these heavies! You're going to love these sets.

[sidewinder]

Had to pick up the Rubinstein and Berstein from the post office, man these are huge motherfuckers, The plastic bag that I had got ripped off so I had to carry these thing in my arms for a 15 minutes walk at -9 F weather with windchill. Fortunately the music will be worth it. Not recommended if you live in a small place.

Sounds like the good ol' Montreal Winter weather is kicking in. Brrr ! Enjoy the music, sounds great !

Do they still have those postal stations with lockers where you have to collect everything from? Extremely inconvenient, from my own recollection.

Edited December 31, 2011 by sidewinder

[Van Basten II]

Postal office in my neighborhood is in a drugstore, you show a few id cards with the shipping notice and they bring it up to the counter, rather efficient actually. Ideally you need someone at home to receive the package but it is still a nice alternative better than UPS. Weatherwise these are the first "real" winter days we had. For the most part weather was over the chilling point with about no snow.

Edited December 31, 2011 by Van Basten II

[blind-blake]

Anyone have any thoughts about the Rubinstein Icon box featuring his early Chopin recordings. The bits and pieces I've heard are great, but I've read reviewers who say that his later RCA recordings are a better bet. Thanks in advance.

https://www.google.com/#q=arthur+rubinstein+icon&facrc=_&imgrc=ic5ooWnU3WhU0M%253A%3Bundefined%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fecx.images-amazon.com%252Fimages%252FI%252F61hD9anAHvL._SY300_.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.amazon.com%252FIcon-Chopin-Recordings-Artur-Rubinstein%252Fdp%252FB0032700TY%3B300%3B300

[Bigshot]

It's hard to generalize, because there are so many recordings, but earlier Rubinstein is freer and more mercurial with wider dynamics, while later Rubinstein is more focused on perfection and balance. I like both myself.