Jos Janssen writes:

>...suppose you are a beginner in the Bach cantata area, what seems more
>reasonable of the following two alternatives: buy a discounted one disc
>excellent performance of the two or three well known cantatas (and they
>ARE available; I'm sure Don would know of many examples) OR buy the 60
>discs Brilliant edition of all of them?

I think it would not be a wise move to buy 60 cds of music the listener
is not familiar with, and Jos is certainly correct about discounted
excellent single or 2-cd sets.  I tend to buy before any discounts kick
in (not enough patience), but Harmonia Mundi has been releasing discounted
Herreweghe cd's, and Virgin has done the same for Parrott cd's.  My
strongest recommendation would be discounted double cd's on Decca from
Joshua Rifkin.

I would feel totally overwhelmed if 60 cd's showed up at my house one day,
and my wife would likely get "steamed" and take back at least one of the
audio presents she has bought me over the years.  Some bargains are no
bargains at all.

Don Satz
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