News

Classical Fans Still Appreciate a Good Box Set

1:08 a.m. · March 17, 2009 · by Alexandria Symonds

This Times article starts, as they so often do, by acknowledging the obvious: nobody buys physical CDs anymore, and releasing box sets of them in almost any genre is a fool's errand. Curiously, though, there seems to be a notable exception: classical box sets sell like hotcakes. The article points, specifically, to a centennial edition of Herbert von Karajan conducting the Berlin Philharmonic — a 38-disc set originally released in a 35,000-print run. The results? Surprising:

 In a recent telephone interview Michael Lang, the president of Deutsche Grammophon, said the company expected the entire limited edition to sell out by this fall, a year after it became available.

 The article chalks up the appeal for classical fans to a couple of factors, most of which can be reduced to the single concept of posterity: on a Philip Glass retrospective, "Mr. Hurwitz compared the 'Glass Box' to a museum exhibition. 'The philosophy is to look at a body of musical works in the same way,' he said." Oh, and maybe a tiny bit of snobbery, too: 

There is a devoted, if limited, market for such a release. Just as Shakespeare fans want a complete edition of the plays on their shelf — even if they never get around to reading, say, “Henry VI, Part III” — Messiaen lovers will want to have this box in their collections.

 Worth noting (and the Times article doesn't) is that iTunes does sell their own version of box sets — though they seem more tailored to educating newbies than titillating collectors. Prominently featured in the store are "The 50 Most Essential Pieces of Classical Music," which includes everyone from Verdi to Gershwin; as well as an iTunes Essentials called "Classical 101," which is set up in their familiar The Basics–Next Steps–Deep Cuts format. There are also individual Essentials playlists for a couple of the major classical players — Beethoven, Bach, Mozart. But if you're searching for something a little more obscure (or a little more free), you might be better served by Classic Library, a treasure trove for classical freaks. Though it looks like it was designed in 1998 on a GeoCities account, it's really worth checking out and has quite a few box sets itself. [New York Times, Classic Library via The Daily Swarm]