49-CD Celibidache Box on Warner

[Modernistfan]

Warner has announced a 49-CD box of Sergiu Celibidache recordings with the Munich Philharmonic. Of course, there are only recordings of five different works in the box. Seriously, though, I cannot see purchasing this. (There are boxes with Ricardo Chailly and Claudio Abbado coming out, and I might look at those.)

[Len_Z]

Do you think it's the same material that was previously available on EMI box sets or is it something completely different?

[Modernistfan]

I don't know the contents as of yet. It probably is, as Warner has the rights to the previous EMI recordings with that orchestra. I certainly will not be buying it.

[Lance]

A 49-CD boxed set with only five (5) different works in one box and with the Munich Philharmonic? Do I read this correctly? I cannot imagine such a compilation. While I have long recognized the conductor's art and admired it many times, my acquisition of his commercial recordings on CD amounts only to five. I mostly collected him in collaborations. On the other hand, however, I have 62 recordings of his work on minor labels, including the cheap Membran/Intense label that "lifts" performances from other labels. There are many live performances, too, on labels such as Living Stage, Music & Arts, Tahra, Notes, Archipel, Frequenz, Concerto, Ermitage/Aura, and Memories. I still would like to know what is in that boxed set.

Warner has announced a 49-CD box of Sergiu Celibidache recordings with the Munich Philharmonic. Of course, there are only recordings of five different works in the box. Seriously, though, I cannot see purchasing this. (There are boxes with Ricardo Chailly and Claudio Abbado coming out, and I might look at those.)

[maestrob]

Celibidache was the most erratic minor conductor I've ever heard. Have to draw the line somewhere. I'm decidedly not interested in this.

[CharmNewton]

This box contains the 48 CDs that made up an earlier 4-box EMI release plus a bonus CD containing Prokofiev's Classical Symphony from Berlin in 1948.

John

[Modernistfan]

Of course, I was kidding about the box set having only five works in 49 CDs. I was mocking Celibidache’s ridiculously slow tempos. Don’t take me seriously. The reality is that I wouldn’t spend a nickel on recordings by that fraud. Please see the online postings by William Osborne about what his wife, trombonist Abbie Conant, went through in the Munich Philharmonic under Celibidache.

[Lance]

For those interested in this 49-CD boxed set, here's some information. I will be happy with what I already have with Celibidache and will not be acquiring this set. These are live performances with the Munich Philharmonic recorded between 1979 and 1996.

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"Sergiu Celibidache’s relationship with the Münchner Philharmoniker lasted from 1979 until the Romanian-born conductor’s death in 1996. Believing in unusually lengthy, detailed rehearsals and in achieving a state of transcendence in the concert hall, Celibidache moulded the Bavarian orchestra into an ensemble to rival the Berliner Philharmoniker, which he had conducted more than 400 times in the years following World War II. This 49-CD set, which reflects (though not exclusively) Celibidache’s particular dedication to Austro-German repertoire, includes seven of Bruckner’s symphonies in interpretations of characteristic expansiveness and spirituality."

[RebLem]

Here's an excellent, and not at all eccentric, to my ears, at any rate, recording of the Dvorak New World Symphony with the Munich Phil from 1991.
​https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_9RT2nHD6CQ

[Lance]

In looking what is inside this box, almost every conductor of greatest prominence has recorded nearly all these works with the finest orchestras in the world. While the Munich Phlharmonic may be a superb orchestra, there is nothing in this set that immediately appeals to me with Celibidache/Munich. For most collectors of recorded music, where does the name Celibidache loom in your analysis of really great conductors? Am i missing something here with Celibidache? Why am I not excited about this one?

[maestrob]

In looking what is inside this box, almost every conductor of greatest prominence has recorded nearly all these works with the finest orchestras in the world. While the Munich Phlharmonic may be a superb orchestra, there is nothing in this set that immediately appeals to me with Celibidache/Munich. For most collectors of recorded music, where does the name Celibidache loom in your analysis of really great conductors? Am i missing something here with Celibidache? Why am I not excited about this one?

Celibidache does not inspire me either, Lance. I've heard some of his interpretations on the radio in the past, and they simply didn't measure up to my way of thinking about how music should go. Willful, eccentric, erratic and ragged playing was my impression: truthfully, I dismissed him from my interest years ago. He may be someone else's hero for whatever reason, but as a Toscanini lover he's not mine. De gustibus and all that. This conductor just rubs me the wrong way.