I received my copy today, and it does indeed have the faulty non-Sibelius disc, as warned. Pity.
I'm reasonably satisfied, though. The price was very low, as others have noted, so value-wise, it's a steal. The presentation is quite good. It's an elegant black box with red lettering -- this being a colour scheme nearly as much associated with Karajan as DG's yellow label. (The Telemondial DVDs have also used black with red lettering).
The CDs -- and what a sight it is to see 88 of them! -- come in thin cardboard sleeves, very much like tiny LP sleeves, each of them black, with white lettering noting the works on the specific CD.
The set comes with one booklet, which catalogues the works that appear on each CD, and when they were recorded. The 88th CD contains the wonderful 70-min. audio essay about Karajan that is posted on EMI's Karajan Centenary site, and it's nice to have that in a permanent form.
Understandably but regrettably, there are no liner notes for the individual pieces. This is at least one reason
not to sell any EMI discs that become duplicates, when one purchases this set.
The works appear roughly chronologically in recording order, but only
very roughly. I wish that either a strict per-recording chronology or an alphabetical arrangement had been adopted, which would make it easier to find things. However, that would have probably meant more discs.
One piece of good news is that the Sinfonia Domestica appears on a single CD, as it was in the "Karajan Edition," and not absurdly broken up over two, as it was in the later "Karajan Collection" release.
Since I had many of the pieces already (or DG equivalents), I could almost say that I bought this set for two specific CDs: #31 (Peter and the Wolf) and #25 (the Leimer concerti).
At a first hearing, the Leimer works are much better than I expected. They're modern, but sound more like Rachmaninoff than, say, Webern. I definitely plan to revisit the Piano Concerto in C, which is an engaging work. The only shortcoming is that the recordings are in mono. I'll never get used to that "sound tunnel" effect.
The Peter and the Wolf is every bit as excellent as I hoped it would be. Ustinov is a solid (if uninspiring) narrator, but the musical performance is completely splendid. Karajan presents the hunters as figure of supreme menace, while Peter's theme is the most lyrical I've ever heard it. Until now, my Peter and the Wolf was a Karl Boehm recording, and while Boehm's son was perhaps a more engaging narrator than Ustinov (alas, though, the Boehm narration was in German), there is no comparison at all between the two orchestral performances. Best of all, the recording is in stereo. The sound is very clear and vivid considering the vintage, although in the quietest passages, one can detect a trace of tape hiss. I simply can't fathom why EMI hasn't ever released this English version as a separate CD.
I don't feel any rush to go through the set as quickly as possible. I intend to work through it slowly -- after all, it isn't going anywhere.
I am delighted to have many extra recordings that I've never heard before. But was it worth it the purchase for two new CDs? Only if EMI never releases them separately in the future.
On the other hand, any listener who has fewer EMI recordings in the first place will soon find the purchase price cheaper than buying CDs individually.
I am delighted to have many extra recordings that I've never heard before. But was it worth it the purchase for two new CDs? Only if EMI never releases them separately in the future.