Beethoven Complete Works boxed set recommendations


I’ve been thinking of getting one of the Beethoven "complete works" boxed sets currently available. The recent sets I’m aware of are the Naxos, Warner Classics, Brilliant and Deutsche Gramophone ones. If you are aware of any other current Beethoven complete works sets please let me know.. The Deutsche Gramophone set is currently an out of print limited edition, but possibly available second hand.

Which of these sets would you recommend? I am primarily interested in the quality of the performances and quality of the recordings. Some of the sets are more comprehensive than others, and include a greater number of Beethoven’s lesser known works and fragments, but that’s only of secondary interest to me. I’ve read some reviews online of these sets, but am interested in what you think, especially if you've had a chance to listen to or sample any of them. Thanks,

Mike

skyscraper

Showing 2 responses by melm

Sorry, I answered as though you asked for Symphony cycles.  

I agree with @goofyfoot that you might be better off with selections that don't all come in the same box.  Though big boxes may be cheap per disk.

The two sets I have enjoyed the most recently are Zinman with the Zurich Tonhalle orchestra and the new one by Savall with his hand-picked orchestra.  Terrific sound on both of these.

A classic though is the 1963 Karajan-Berlin set.

Another that many folks like is the SACD Vanska Minnesota Orchestra set.  But I find the BIS dynamics overly aggressive,