The Complete Recordings

I received my copy today. I had no problem playing the DVDs on both a PS4 and a Sony 800 player, so I don’t understand the assertion that the DVDs won’t play on Region 1 players. Also, the CDs are not packed any tighter than they are in any other Warner box set. Very easy to remove and the CD sleeves are the standard thickness for a Warner set.

I can't comment on this overwhelming set. The music contained therein is something I will enjoy in future. I note, though, aside from the 62 CDs there are also seven DVDs. Two ("ABQ in St. Petersburg" and the documentary of Schubert's "Death and the Maiden" quartet) play on my DVD players -- which are standard Sonys, and not very old. Five others, which contain Beethoven string quartets, do not. They seem to play on my MacBook Air DVD drive, though enabling them to play over AirPlay to televisions in the network seems to be a problem. I sent a message to Warner Classics about this issue. As of yet there has been no response.

I'm delighted with the collection.However:When you're scanning these discs into your collection, or playing them with a CD/DVD player attached to your computer, you may find they are not recognized as being in this collection (or may not be recognized at all!). I've found (so far...) that each of these discs previously existed as a single or multi-disc release. You'll want to get them recognized as these individual past releases, as no-one has yet set up an encompassing "Complete Recordings" metadata item for this collection. If your importer (I'm using XLD) lets you specify a URL to identify the disc you are reading, you can search the Musicbrainz service for the disc title if the disc was mis-identified or unknown. So far, there's a Musicbrainz match for each, and the cover art matches the sleeve in the collection.Good luck!

The music is great.The packaging is terrible.I made my own box to store the cd's so I could easily flip through to find something.

I bought this set based on a NY Times review calling the Berg "the best quartet ever". Not so. I find their playing stiff and wooden, and I disagree with their phrasing quite often. I have a 600+ Classical CD collection and this set duplicates much of what I already own. I suggest passing on this set and carefully buying individual Cds instead. The Guarneri, Budapest, Tokyo, and Emerson quartets are all much better. Caveat emptor. I'm donating this set to my library.

Questions have arisen about the formats of the 8 DVDs in this box. I am attaching a photo of the bottom of the box, which indicates accurately that DVDs 1-6 (the complete Beethoven cycle, duplicated on CD) are PAL, no region coding; DVD 7 (the Schubert Quartet film) is NTSC, no region coding; and DVD 8 (St Petersburg concert) is PAL, no region coding. See the attached photo. You should be able to tell from this information whether or not your equipment will play them. Others have had different experiences, but I was unable to play DVDs 1-6 and 8 on any of my DVD or Blu ray players. I was, however, able to play them on my MacBook Pro, ostensibly without having to change the region on my laptop DVD player, presumably because all of the DVD's have "no region coding". Happy viewing! I'm a fan of the Alban Berg Quartet and am very happy to have this collection.

Estas grabaciones, que abarcan un repertorio desde lo clásico hasta lo contemporáneo y unos 30 años de carrera del Alban Berg Quartett, demuestran el logro de un conjunto que honra tanto la tradición como el espíritu musical innovador de su ciudad natal, Viena.Este conjunto de 70 discos, que además incluye DVD de Schubert y una actuación en directo en San Petersburgo, también documenta las colaboraciones del Alban Berg Quartett con artistas como Sabine Meyer, Elisabeth Leonskaja, Alfred Brendel, Rudolf Buchbinder y Philippe Entremont.Desde 1981 mantuvo la misma alineación: Günter Pichler, Gerhard Schulz, Thomas Kakuska y Valentin Erben.El conjunto, que abarca más de 100 obras de 28 compositores, abarca desde el período Clásico hasta finales del siglo XX. Si bien hay un énfasis particular en los maestros austro-alemanes (Mozart, Haydn, Beethoven Schubert, Mendelssohn, Brahms), incluye música de los principales compositores checos, húngaros, rusos y franceses, una serie de obras de compositores contemporáneos de Alban Berg Quartett.Las piezas centrales de la colección son dos versiones de los cuartetos completos de Beethoven; el primero se grabó en el estudio entre 1978 y 1983 y el segundo se grabó en 1989 en conciertos en Viena.

Después de casi mes y medio desde que realicé el pedido, y de algunas tiranteces e intercambio de correos con el vendedor, Nagiry (pero que se solventaron adecuadamente), llegó la caja de 62 CD's y 8 DVD's. Excelente presentación, cartones para los discos de grosor adecuado, con las contraportadas mostrando el contenido de cada disco en un tamaño de letra adecuado. La presentación de la caja creo que ya dice todo sobre la calidad de esta colección.De la música creo realmente que no es necesario comentar nada, sólo disfrutarla.Recomendable, muy recomendable.

1. First about the concerns about the playability of DVDs - I am in Canada and have a Sony Bluray player BDPS6700 2016 model, and it CANNOT play the 6 DVDs of Beethoven String Quartets, although it can play the remaining 2 DVDs (Schubert and St. Petersburg). The Beethoven DVDs can be played in my old DELL laptop with DVD reader. However, it is not too bad as the same performances are also in CDs in the same boxset.2. The packaging "made in EU" is extremely cheap. The box is not in good shape, and one side already starts to fall apart. It is unlikely to be the damage due to amazon shipping, but the poor quality of original manufacture. The box is so small and the 60+ CDs squeeze together. It is very difficult to get one CDs out or sort them in the box. The CD covers are from the original issues, but the printing quality is poor with fading colors. If you want to pay 164$ + tax for something "collectable", this is a great disappoint.3. The music is great though. But ABQ recorded many works more than once. So there are a lot of repetitions here. You have 2 sets of Beethoven String Quartets (plus one set of DVD of the 2nd performance), 2 set of Mozart major work, and repeated Haydn and Brahms. Their later recording of the same work is not necessarily better than the earlier one. It is really a personal preference whether to collect things like this, or go for the individual CDs/downloads.I bought this set because:1. I have interests in chamber music, but I never bought anything by ABQ.2. I did not have some string famous quartets, Dvorak, Debussy, Ravel, or Bartok. They happen to in this boxset and it is easier for me to get them all.3. Some people recommended some of their recordings to me, noticeably the two Beethoven sets, Schubert "Death and Maiden" and String quintet. I had CDs of these masterpieces played by others, but would like to listen to theirs.4. ABQ only recorded for live performances in their late years. So many CDs here, including the 2nd Beethoven set, catch special atmosphere of real concerts unavailable in studio recordings.I haven't got the time to listen all the CDs. However I do not worry too much about the performance and sound quality. Just go for the music, not for the physical box and CDs.

Solo un idiota poteva concepire una confezione del genere. Il cofanetto è quasi impossibile da aprire. Sono costretto a tenerlo sempre aperto sullo stereo. Quando lo devo riporre dietro le insistenze di mia moglie so già che alla riapertura dovrò impiegare una buona mezz'ora nel tentativo di disincastrare il coperchio dal cofanetto.L'Alban Berg Quartet è a mio avviso il miglior quartetto d'archi che si sia mai riunito, assieme all'Italiano e al Borodin. Il contenuto del cofanetto è eccezionale, ulteriormente arricchito da 8 DVD. L'ho pagato poco più di €100, meno di €2 a CD/DVD. Che altro dire? Molto soddisfatto. La stella in meno è ovviamente dovuta esclusivamente alla confezione.

Ich bin bestimmt nicht doof aber es ist fast unmöglich die Box zu öffnen um die CDs zu entnehmen oder wieder zurückzulegen. Der "Deckel" ist derart sparsam gearbeitet worden, daß er schon bevor ich die Folie entfernte aufgeplatzt war. Es war ein Drama an die CDs heranzukommen. Hier waren offensichtlich Idioten am Werk. Musikalisch sind die Aufnahmen zwischen gut und hervorragen, wobei ich noch nicht alle CDs hören konnte.