Plasson Big Box

[Don Petter]

In October EMI France issued a 37 CD box of Michel Plasson conducting a wide variety of French orchestral works. Many have been and are still availabe in single issues, but I suspect there are quite a few rarities within, and the price, as always with these issues, is pretty good. The cheapest I've seen is from Amazon France at €62 plus €7 postage to the UK:

http://www.amazon.fr/gp/product/B0041MFIP0/ref=ord_cart_shr?ie=UTF8&m=A1X6FK5RDHNB96

The above site also lists the works, though there is a more detailed listing on the ArchivMusic site:

http://www.arkivmusic.com/classical/album.jsp?album_id=526521&album_group=1

All the Magnard symphonies, a lot of obscure Berlioz, Sauguet, Dutilleux, Honneger as well as the expected Ravel, Bizet, et al.

I think I'm going to be tempted, though I know that in practice that it takes self-discipline to work through such big boxes rather than just cherry pick and never get to the rest.

Has anyone else plumped?

[Don Petter]

Replying to my own thread - bad form, I know, but no-one else has, and I've given it time to mature.

I've now caught sight of the box in the flesh, in a shop in Venice, but the price there was €100, so I wasn't tempted.

I wonder why no-one else here is interested in Plasson. Is he considered too work-a-day a conductor, or Toulouse too parochial an orchestra? Without his recordings we would be without a lot of interesting French orchestral music, and I've always found his recordings more than acceptable.

I'm still undecided about buying the box, knowing what self control is needed to work through such a large coffer, rather than just grab a single CD to play.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

I missed your original posting, DP, but it looks an interesting buy, provided that not too much duplication is involved. In my case, being fairly knowledgeable of Ravel's & Berlioz's music, but not so much of other French composers, this opportunity is extremely tempting.

[Don Petter]

EA

OT - Have you cancelled your trip today? Very wise, if you have, I should have thought. Now snowing again in this part of East Sussex, and we've just had a large clap of thunder for good measure.