Box sets - infuriating!

[Christopher]

I am going crazy with box set editions.  Often a box set will consist of 10 discs with the performances/recordings of a certain conductor or soloist, with a number of major pieces (say, Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No.1), and then a few tantalising pieces by unsungs.   If these artists thought these pieces worth recording, I am curious to hear them. However, there is no way I am going to spend upwards of 40 pounds just to listen to these pieces, which are often short.   Does anyone know of any (legal) websites where one can purchase these rare tracks?  I-tunes and classicsonline.com have not been much use in this respect!

For example (and these are all from the Historical Russian Archives series):

Historical Russian Archives: Alexander Gauk Edition
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Alexander-Gauk/dp/B0010SU4UM/ref=pd_sim_m_h_1
Ivanov-Radkevich - Russian Overture

Historical Russian Archives: Gauk Edition Vol 2
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Gauk-Vol-Historical-Russian-Archive/dp/B0036J02HI/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1317037789&sr=1-1
Includes unsungs such as:
Laskovsky - Mazurka
Kryukov - Czech Rhapsody
Boris Tchaikovsky - Sinfonietta for Strings; Fantasia on Russian Folk Themes; Capriccio on English Themes
Solodukho - Zoya
Svetlanov - Daugava
Machavariani - Fantasia
Amirov - Azerbaijan
Dolukhanian - Armenian Capriccio
Ivanovs - Symphony No.7

Historical Russian Archives: Gennady Rozhdestvensky Edition
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Historcial-Russian-Archives-10-Boxset/dp/B002VZ2MQM/ref=pd_sim_m_h_7
Shebalin - Symphony No.3
Shaporin - The Flea - suite
Rakov - Sinfonietta; Symphony No.3
Agadzhikov - Concerto-Poem
Volkonsky - Immobile
Belimov - Concerning Water, Dead and Alive
Polovinkin - Telescope 2

Historical Russian Archives: Gidon Kremer Edition
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Gidon-Kremer-Historical-Russian-Archives/dp/B000V3SXE6/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1317037957&sr=1-1
Karayev - Violin Concerto
Lourié - Concerto da Camera
Martynov - Come in! for violin & ensemble
Kupkovic - Souvenir

Historical Russian Archives: Daniel Shafran Edition
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Historical-Russian-Archives-Daniel-Shafran/dp/B000HC2NSS/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1317038014&sr=1-1
Artemiy Ayvazian - Armenian Dance

Historical Russian Archives: Evgeny Mravinsky Edition
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Historic-Russian-Archives-Evgeny-Mravinsky/dp/B000PFU96K/ref=sr_1_2?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1317038065&sr=1-2
Maximilian Steinberg - Dance of the Buffons; Dance of Gillina
Vadim Salmanov - Symphony No. 2 in G major
Zhivotov - Heroic Poem 

Historical Russian Archives: Evgeny Svetlanov Edition
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Historic-Russian-Archives-Svetlanov-Composers/dp/B001ACTND2/ref=sr_1_11?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1317036417&sr=1-11
Napravnik - Dances
Arensky - Dances
Parsadanian - Symphony No.2
Pakhmutova - Concerto for Orchestra
Mazaev - The Krasnodarians
Boiko - Symphonies 2 & 3; Peter's Chimes
Zaimov - Overture
Svetlanov - Siberian Fantasy; Preludes (Symphonic Reflections); Festive Poem; Daugava; Symphony No.1; Pictures of Spain
Muravlev - Azov Mountain

Historical Russian Archives: Viktor Tretiakov Edition
http://www.amazon.com/Viktor-Tretiakov-Historic-Russian-Archives/dp/B000EPE6U6/ref=sr_1_18?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1317037429&sr=1-18
Boris Tchaikovsky - Violin Concerto

Historical Russian Archives: Rudolf Barshai Edition
http://www.mdt.co.uk/MDTSite/product//9010.htm
Rääts: Concerto for Strings
Boris Tchaikovsky - Chamber Symphony
Meerovich - Serenade
Karen Khachaturian - Aria
Lokshin - Symphony No.7
Bunin - Symphony No.5; Concerto for chamber orchestra

[semloh]

I share you frustration, but I think it's simply a marketing strategy. Symphony sets are often topped up with short pieces that are otherwise hard to get.... I have a list of about 50 pieces which I would like but don't have on CD, simply because they can only be found in sets comprising music which I already have. Like most collectors, I have to keep costs down by keeping duplication to a minimum. I suppose the only answer is to purchase individual track downloads, where these are available, through online music stores.

[Christopher]

Yes it's definitely a marketing strategy, but it's a stupid one as I and I( am sure) many others on this site prove, as I am point blank no way going to buy a box set, for two reasons: (i) it's too much money, and (ii) I don't want my home filling up with useless clutter, I have enough CDs as it is. So these record companies need a rethink.

[eschiss1]

tangentially- Ivanovs 7?

[Christopher]

er.....what about it?

[eschiss1]

I keep being in the 21st century (US) habit of thinking of the great conductors as having limited repertoire (there was some truth to this earlier too but then again these composers weren't obscure at the time, so of course there are recordings of Lyatoshinsky, Ivanovs and others by conductors of a "stature" who would almost never think of taking them (... or parallel examples.) on today- generalizing exceedingly and madly.

[mbhaub]

There are other options...some legal, some not.  Get a group of people to chip in and buy all the sets, then start a "lending library".
Then there's also the immoral one: buy the cds, rip them, then send them back and ask for a refund. Not that I've ever done this!
Or wait for them to show up on ebay. Before you think I'm evil and a scofflaw, I'm not. I have only one bootleg cd in my entire collection. And that's only because the original Unicorn cd deteriorated so badly I couldn't play it or copy it. (Raff 5 by the way.) Of course, there's always hoping Naxos will continue to mine libraries for obscure repertoire.

[Christopher]

I keep being in the 21st century (US) habit of thinking of the great conductors as having limited repertoire (there was some truth to this earlier too but then again these composers weren't obscure at the time, so of course there are recordings of Lyatoshinsky, Ivanovs and others by conductors of a "stature" who would almost never think of taking them (... or parallel examples.) on today- generalizing exceedingly and madly.

I think there's another reason these pieces were recorded: a lot of these composers are from the non-Russia republics of the USSR - for example coming next to each other are pieces by a composer from each of Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan.  Just to show how culturally and peacefully the peoples of the USSR lived with each other, of course (when the truth is a little more colourful...)!  But I still want to hear them!

[Amphissa]

Yes, I agree, these box sets are a problem. For people like me, I already have a lot of the recordings that were commercially available. I don't want to pay for additional copies of those. So I usually do not buy box sets.

I wish the companies would release a special subset of these collections separately, which contain rarities. I suspect the market for rarities would be small, even by classical sales standards.

I wonder if Arkiv Music or some small label could license the rarities to produce "on demand" CD-Rs.

[markniew]

Hello Christopher,

on the Russian intoclassics.net you can find Ivanov-Radkevich
http://intoclassics.net/news/2010-03-01-14389
knowing of Russian is - I think - essential to goo through it

if you then click the link for downloading you get
http://files.mail.ru/HCMD8G
that is the list of 10 tracks - however with no description which one is for what piece!

the note states that Myaskovski's symphony is not uploaded - if I got well the sense

I believe on the same website also other pieces (not all) of your interest might be found - it needs however time

[eschiss1]

intrigued by the mention of Lokshin there too (a look over the score of his 2nd symphony, whose recording exists but which I haven't heard, was interesting. Haven't heard the more recent BIS and other recordings of works of his though.) ... anyhow. I wonder if there is any actual incentive for them to release these separately, practically speaking