Scott,
I'll just leave the post as is. Too much trouble to go back and delete!
Masolino,
Hi!! I ordered the Bertini through amazon canada as the price was about $20 less than the price to preorder at amazon.com (usa). At Amazon.com price is $72, but partners have it for about $50 which is around what I paid at amazon canada. Shipping was about the same.
Yes, they have divided many of the symphonies awkwardly as with most boxed sets. The Gielen boxed set actually starts the 3rd on the disc with the end of the 2nd which is divided between the Urlicht and 5th movement -- extremely awkward! In fact, I emailed David Hurwitz to complain that he had said nothing about it in his review and he told me that he just burned a copy of that symphony with the break between the first movement on one cd and the rest on the second cd. He also said that it was such a minor thing as no one complained when they had to change an LP the way they do when it comes to changing a cd. Ofcourse with advances in technology that remark is far off the mark. Hännsler also has the cds packaged in glassine lined paper sheathes (very cheap -- looks like a small step above the envelopes you get at the post office for sheets of stamps). I don't know how they can in conscience charge what they do for that boxed set, except that prices seem to be determined by the number of cds it takes to compose them.
The breaks in the Gielen set are as follows
CD 1 has M1 complete
CD 2 has M2 I-IV
CD 3 has M2 V, M3 I
CD 4 has M3 II-VI
CD 5 has M4 complete,
CD 6 has M5 complete
CD 7 has M6, I-III
CD 8 has M6 IV
CD9 has M7 complete
CD 10 has M8 part 1
CD 11 has M8 part 2
CD 12 has M9 I-III
CD 13 has M9 IV and Adagio from M10 (recently released separately to the obligatory 10/10 from our esteemed Mr. Hurwitz
)
The Bertini set is a much more beautifully packaged set! Beautiful cardboard cd sleeves with a lovely sepia toned photo of the composer on them which shades into reddish brown as the cds progress from no. 1 to No. 11, which is a rich brick tone. I only wish they had spent as much thought on the breaks as they did on the package. The first cd has symphony no. 1 and the first movement of the 2nd on it so that Mahler's directions are followed! It is the most sensible way to do this and EMI is to be congratulated on that, although I imagine it was just by accident of timing. The rest of the breaks are not as felicitous. Here is the breakdown:
CD 1 M1, M2 I
CD 2 M2 II-V
CD 3 M3 I-IV
CD 4 M3 V-VI; M4 I-III
CD 5 M4 IV; M5
CD 6 M7
CD 7 M6 I-III
CD 8 M6 IV; M9 I-II
CD 9 M9 III-IV; M10 Adagio
CD 10 M8
CD 11 Das Lied von der Erde
Now, if I have some time later this afternoon I'll start listening to the set, probably starting with the M6 in order to compare it with the Oué which I have been giving a lot of playtime to.
