I’ve always avoided these sets due to lack of space. It is so cool seeing you give them so much love. Now I’ll be on the hunt for these!!!

@ThePressingMatters

6 ай бұрын

You're sure to see them in the places you might haunt. Used bookstores, thrift stores, estate and garage sales, record store bargain bins.

Top-tier vc content right here. I really enjoy the shots of labels and booklets along with the recording / pressing insights. The classical content has been fantastic!

@ThePressingMatters

7 ай бұрын

Wow! Thank you for your comment! It's funny, I usually hesitant to release videos like this thinking no one cares like I do about these older classical records. Yet I try to put a lot into them anyway, if only to get the word out there. I've built up a small but enthusiastic audience for the classical series. I'm so glad to have you here to join me. There's lots more to come.

@mporentas

6 ай бұрын

@@ThePressingMatters this particular video appealed to me for a couple reasons. Firstly, I always like to hear about potential great sounding records I can get at a what I think is a good value. I know I’ve seen this set multiple times and have never given it a second glance, just because its readers digest. Also, your passion on this subject really is infectious. Very informative. Job well done!

I love hearing about these readers Digest collections, I've come across them at thrift stores and just assumed they wouldn't be worth it, that's me looking like a fool! I hope I come across one soon

@ThePressingMatters

5 ай бұрын

Stick to the Classical ones, and there are a few more I'll cover, and you'll be happy. Get a nice clean Indianapolis pressed box and let me know what you think! Thanks for watching!

To steal a line from South Park, "Well spank my ass and call me Charlie"! I'm not a hardcore classical music fan, but I do want it in my collection as a casual fan. I have some AP classical pressings, which are great. But I'll be honest - I've never taken these Readers Digest collections seriously....and theyre all over the place. AND, I, too, would have said "no" due to "Dynagroove" on the label. So thank you so much for your review of these boxes. I'll now be on the hunt, and I look forward to your discussion on other RD collections in the future. Well done!

@ThePressingMatters

6 ай бұрын

Well then my mission was accomplished! To alert viewers to what these boxes really are was my goal. Anyone who is a crate digger or haunting thrift shops has seen them. It would be easy to dismiss them if you are not in the know. Glad you'll be giving them a chance. Also you might come across the Chesky or Quintessence pressings of the same recordings, so that is a great option too.

I have been collecting as many R/D box sets i can find and they sound great.great value for money.

@ThePressingMatters

2 ай бұрын

Yes, they are wonderful. There's a series called Musical Treasure Chest that are from Readers Digest. Very similar, not quite as elaborate but great sounding sets.

Readers Digest boxes are easy to find, cheap, usually in great shape and always sound great.

@ThePressingMatters

7 ай бұрын

Yes, I don't think I've ever paid more than $10 for a box like this.

Hi Scott, Happy New Year. These are all “hidden treasures” I have quite a few and personally I love Romantic Rachmaninov/Earl Wild (who doesn’t?!) and the 10 LP box “Scheherazade - Rhapsodic Mood Music”. Thanks for the video!

@ThePressingMatters

7 ай бұрын

Hi David! I'm glad you enjoyed this look into a very special project. I haven't ever picked up the Scheherazade box, but I'll keep an eye for it now. It was so much fun discovering these gems. It would be easy to overlook them and I really wanted to shine some light on how great they really are. Thanks for watching and commenting!

This is really interesting a couple just turned up at my local thrift

@ThePressingMatters

7 ай бұрын

I hope this helped to decide if it's something you want. Keep in mind all I've said and you could get a nice set for a few bucks.

Thanks!

@ThePressingMatters

7 ай бұрын

Awesome! Thank you for your support , Marco! These Super Thanks make a big impact. Glad you found value in this video!

Fascinating talk. I don't have any of these, but I wish I did! Mind you, I don't have a turntable either, so I'd welcome a Readers Digest box set on CD, if RCA are up for it :)

@ThePressingMatters

7 ай бұрын

Thank you so much for watching! There was an audiophile series of CDs released of these performances, on the Chesky label. They are incredible, and might be the best way to get the best sounding CD editions. There have been compilations over time that draw from these sets, but they were not in the level of the Chesky CDs

I am happy that you featured these sets; I have had the Beethoven symphony set and the Festival of Light Classical Music since they were released; my mother bought these for me as Christmas presents when i was in middle school. You are right about the sound; as my audio system has improved since I left home, the sound quality of these records gets better and better (lol).

@ThePressingMatters

7 ай бұрын

Hi Thomas, I'm so happy someone found this video of interest! To me, it's a fascinating subject and I hope I caught the essence of the time (early "60s) It seems everyone had at least one of these classical sets and Festival more often than not was the one.

I had no idea about any of this. I am familiar with some of these famous recordings from Chesky reissues, but I did not know they were made for these box sets. I think I've seen these box sets in the used bins at the record store and have not even bothered with them; I will pay more attention from now on. I have wanted that Reiner Brahms 4th for a long time!

@ThePressingMatters

6 ай бұрын

That's right. Chesky used a lot of these recordings when they did their CD and LP reissues. Smart move, because they are some of the best sounding recordings made by Kenneth Wilkinson. If you have Chesky versions, you have a great record, but collecting them nowadays gets expensive. Here you have the original appearance of the records and it's fun and inexpensive to try one out.

Chesky Records released some of these in the late 1980s on vinyl from the original master tapes. Glad you mentioned this. Great video. Perfect for someone starting out collecting or not knowing where to start. Also for people like me that just never bought it or didn't see the value in any boxset.

@ThePressingMatters

7 ай бұрын

Thank you, Yes I probably should have elaborated more on the Chesky LPs and CDs. I'm discussing that with some others in the comments. While it would be pricey to collect all this material via Chesky CDs (or LPs), if you ever see them for a good price grab them. They are superb. For the original box sets, they are fun to try if cheap. I wouldn't pay a premium, say over $40, unless I could inspect it myself. I've been spoiled - I got these when a thrift shop would charge a dollar for a box! At the most $1 per disc!

Superb, as usual. So informative and always interesting vinyl subjects. Happy New Year, my friend.

@ThePressingMatters

7 ай бұрын

Happy New Year Anthony! Thanks for the kind words.

+1 on the Leibowitz Beethoven cycle-I have it on individual CD Chesky Records releases. It has brisk tempos close to Beethoven’s own metronome markings but without the astringent sound you often get with the period instrument recordings. One of the best Beethoven cycles, I always check to see if there’s a stereo set while shopping in used record stores.

@ThePressingMatters

7 ай бұрын

Awesome info, thank you!. The Chesky CDs are truly excellent. I'm trying to re-collect them now and it's not cheap.

Happy New Year, Scott and thanks for yet another excellent video. I’ll be keeping an eye out for any of these in future and would especially like to grab a copy of the Beethoven one.

@ThePressingMatters

7 ай бұрын

Hi Robert, Happy New Year to you! The Beethoven box is one that should be easy to find. I think the best selling one was Festival, and you'll find that just about anywhere. I would suggest looking around thrifts, garage sales, estate sales and such. This is something you want to examine in person and get for a bargain price. I'd be hesitant getting one online, unless from a trusted seller who can verify the pressing and condition. No reason to pay over a dollar or two a disc. The only exception might be Treasury. That one is less common and really is exceptional in content. All are very worthy to search out, including The Romantic Rachmaninoff that I reviewed long ago. kzread.info/dash/bejne/dI6KuMVsnrrWeso.htmlsi=OEUaS04XJO2mu8Hl

@robertmorgan9205

7 ай бұрын

@@ThePressingMatters I can’t remember having ever seen a copy so far but perhaps viewing this video will now present them to me all over the place. My parents used to subscribe to RD many years ago so it’s unlikely that we over here were left of the records side of their business.

Excellent & informative video. I have both a mono & stereo copy of the Festival of Light Classical Music. The stamper on the mono set for disc 1 is L709-5501-IW. The stereo is L70Y-6507-IAA. Is the stereo version an Indianapolis press? What about the mono? I also have many other RD boxes in my collection including the Liebowitz Beethoven, G&S, Operettas, etc. One you might want to mention in a follow-up is Music of the World’s Great Composers. Similar to the Conductor box you featured. Great versions as well.

@ThePressingMatters

7 ай бұрын

Hi Jeffery Happy New Year! You've got to look directly across from those matrix numbers on the opposite side of the deadwax. There you'll find the I, R, or H indicating the plant. I'm not saying Rockaway couldn't press a good disc, and they sound similar, but physically the Indianapolis discs have the extra care overall. I almost included Music Of The Worlds Great Composers, but the video was getting a bit too long. If the interest is there, I'll do a follow up video on that one, and the Musical Treasure Chest sub series, also superb.

Happy New Year Scott. A fascinating discussion of the US pressings of these awesome Readers Digest recordings. Based on my experiences with the UK Decca versions the Indianapolis pressings sound likely to be more reliable and superior sounding. It may just be bad luck but my experiences with early Decca pressings of RD boxsets such as the Beethoven symphony boxset and another called Concert Classics which was a mix of the best of Treasures and Light Music boxset has been disappointing with a large number suffering from significant distortion issues near the end of each side. This can be upsetting as until then they can sound magnificent. This has included pressings mastered by shock horror the maestro Ted Burkett! There are later German Pressings of these boxsets but they sound a bit meh! So normal service is resumed with me very jealous of those Indianapolis pressed boxsets of yours.

@ThePressingMatters

7 ай бұрын

Happy New Year my friend! Thank you for chiming in on your experience with the Decca pressed sets. These sets were produced in large quantities and not every mastering is great. The Indianapolis guideline is a good start. Fortunately these can often be had for $10 a box here in the states, so experimenting isn't too expensive.Treasury generally cost more than any of the others and it's probably the most appealing of all. Much of that box was released by Chesky in CD, and they are wonderful. In fact I'm trying to put together a set of those as well. Years ago when I moved in from CD, I let them go. Of course I regret that! I'm so glad you liked this video. Thanks so much for your comments!

@analogueanorak1904

7 ай бұрын

@@ThePressingMatters thanks Scott for the extra information and tips I think you are right to suggest exploring the Chesky CD pathway as the cost of postage to the UK of a significant chunk of vinyl such as Treasury would be massive. I did manage to pick up the Chesky CD57 of the Readers Digest session in 1960 in Paris titled Rene Liebowitz A Portrait of France with the Paris Conservatoire which sounds superb. As you are actively trying to get hold of these cds again and your comments section indicates significant interest in the Chesky CDs, which often have different titles and do not have the reader’s digest branding, do you know any of the specific Chesky titles to make it easier to track down copies?

@ThePressingMatters

7 ай бұрын

@analogueanorak1904 I'll see if I can assemble a list asap. A good way to know would be by conductor. The titles by Horenstein, Gibson, Boult, Danon etc as well as anything with Earl Wild, pianist are from Readers Digest. I'll work on it tonight and post my findings here and in the description. I think it's really wise to go for the CDs.

@ThePressingMatters

7 ай бұрын

A very quick check on Discogs- pull up the label and just about all the classical CDs with the conductors I name in the video are numbered CD1 and up. Look for Leibowitz, Freccia, Reiner, Gibson, Horenstein etc and you'll see several dozen. I don't think they released any classical but the Readers Digest catalog. Later on David Chesky composed some classical, but from 1988- early "90s it looks like all Readers Digest. Please contact me about any particular title to confirm before you order one. I'll be happy to verify.

@analogueanorak1904

7 ай бұрын

@@ThePressingMatters sorry Scott I didn’t realise the boxsets were split up that much by conductor. I had just assumed the recording sessions had been chopped up and spread over a few different cds and renamed by Chesky like the Paris session. It sounds a lot of work, maybe an option would be to focus mainly on the absolute killer seminal recordings in the Treasury boxset like the Barbirolli and Danon rather than do the whole lot. One of the things it is important to stress is the Chesky CD’s are in a different audiophile league to the later CD rereleases Readers Digest did of this content which may be easier to track down but likely pretty ordinary.

Happy New Year to you! You and I must be on the same wavelength right now, Scott. I have some time off right now, and I want to hit the second hand stores to search for original vinyl records. My focus is going to be classical music. I've seen the first box set you presented many times. I'm sure the others were there as well, but I overlooked them. I wasn't really focusing on classical unless I found something particularly unusual. I have one or two of the Reader's Digest box sets outside of classical. They sound good, but not great. The Longines Symphonette Society and the Franklin Mint Record Society were other makers of box sets I have. Do the recordings you covered really sound as good as the RCA Living Stereo "shaded dog" series? I usually grab any of those releases if they're in good shape. I actually found the multi-disc set called "Stereo For The Joy of It" (RCA Victor LSC-9300) in a second hand shop. It's not in the best shape, but worth the 25 cents I paid for it. I also like Mercury's "Living Presence" series. Anyhow, I really found this video to be interesting and would like to see more videos like this. Thank you for taking the time to make this video. 👍👍👍

@ThePressingMatters

7 ай бұрын

Thank you so much for your encouragement with this type of video. I know it's a niche within a niche but it something I've wanted to do for a while. The fact that you responded positively gives me a good feeling about it. I've covered that Franklin Mint set before and can recommend it. The ones discussed here particularly the Festival and Treasury boxes really are as good as many Deccas and RCAs. I was glad to see Arthur Salvatore from the website High End Audio add them to his Supreme Recordings list. They deserve it. If you keep in mind the tips I've told you in this video (Indianapolis pressings preferred) and check carefully the condition, once cleaned they can sound wonderful. The recordings themselves are fantastic. The Chesky reissues of this material on vinyl and CD show that. Also since you'll be digging around, many of the recordings were reissued in a budget series called Quintessence. Often these are mint and well worth picking up. Wishing you a wonderful and happy New Year.

@audiophileman7047

7 ай бұрын

Sure, you bet. I'm not really well versed in classical music when it comes to pressings. Over time as a music fan in general, I like to check out other kinds of music. Classical music is a genre that I always said I'd dive deeper into someday. Now seems to be the time. I honestly take far more interest in your classical music videos than some of the other videos you've made, since it's an area of music that I really would like to expand my knowledge on particular pressings. Another thing I love about vinyl is finding those little known vinyl treasure like the box sets in this video. 😻 Do more videos like this, and I will definitely watch if I can. I often see classical records on the Columbia label. What is their equivalent to Living Stereo? Is it the "Masterworks" series?@@ThePressingMatters

@ThePressingMatters

7 ай бұрын

@audiophileman7047 I really do enjoy doing the classical videos, and bargain hunting for classical was one of my favorite things to do, especially in thrift shops! I try and move stuff back to the thrift as I downsize. Today I let a box of opera sets go back. It was hard to let go of but I rarely listen to full operas, and they were not in top condition, so I hope someone else can discover them as I did. Keep an eye out for London label records - these are Decca recordings for the US market. Same UK pressings in most every case. Their budget label Stereo Treasury is another to look for. Early RCA Victrola, and of course Living Stereo. Columbia had great artists but their mastering and pressing left a lot to be desired. Modern remasterings by Classic and others are generally better. Some early Capitol can be good too.

@audiophileman7047

7 ай бұрын

Thanks for the further information. It's much appreciated. I am familiar with the London label, and I have a few others from your other videos to look for. Chad Kassem put out a video on his 10 favorite classical music albums (his classical "diaper" moments). I'll look for them too. I just might faint if I find a nice copy of The Royal Ballet Gala Performances in Stereo you covered recently. If I do, I'll let you know. I look forward to your next video, and I'll see you on the flip side.👍💖🎸😎 @@ThePressingMatters

Why only 3 views??

@ThePressingMatters

7 ай бұрын

I've held back the release. I think I've viewed it three times! I'm surprised you can see this listed at all. Is it something you'd be interested in?

@ThePressingMatters

7 ай бұрын

Oh I see it's remained in a playlist. Well I guess I'll premiere it today then?