10 Box Set of Beethoven - DG/Poyldor - 1972


Someone just gave me a 10 box set (10 boxes, not 1 box with 10 records) of Beethoven that was produced by Deutsche Grammophon in 1972 for the 200th anniversary of Beethoven's birth. It was produced by Polydor in the US. Each box has 5 or 6 albums in it, along with a large format booklet on works in that box. It also came with a large format book of his life and works. It is in English, but it seems to have been translated from German.

I have not found out much about this set. I can look for information on each individual performance but that is a lot of work. This looks like a majority (if not all) of the DG recordings of Beethoven, re-pressed and re-packaged for the set.

Anyone familiar with this set? Are the pressing really good or just average? Were they done from original masters? Were they re-edited for this edition. etc.

Most of the records have hardly ever been played and some may be unplayed.

Any information would be appreciated, especially if they happen to be rare and valuable. Should I buy my dream home in Maui? Probably not, but any info would be appreciated.

Three of the boxes say Part 1, but I do not have a part 2 to go with them.

The 10 boxes are

I Symphonies and Overture - Part 1
II Symphonies and Overture - Part 2
III The Concertos
IV Piano Sonatas
V Music for the Stage
VI Choral Music
VII String Quartets - Part 1
VIII Music for Piano - Part 1
IX Chamber Music
X Music for Violin and Cello - Part 1
128x128dtc
Lowrider57 - I agree. My friend has never played them. There are several other boxed sets and single albums. I also got things like the sound track from Risky Business, with is worth it just for the cover :)
Dtc,
The book I am talking about is not the maroon book on Beethoven's life and works, which came with the 1st 10 volumes. There is a separate volume listing all the pieces on all 17 volumes, cross referenced so that you could locate them without having to pull out the Lp volumes. If you have that, consider yourself lucky. I have never seen it, and the only time I saw it on eBay, the seller wanted WAY too much.
Fantastic gift! Don't break up the set, and don't sell it!! To own every work by, arguably, the greatest composer of all time is a great thing, IMO. Why not use this as an opportunity to expand your musical horizons in a big way? The string quartets are glorious.
Elee - you are right, I have the big book, not the cross reference one. Thanks for the clarification.

Frogman - since it appears I cannot buy my vacation home on Maui, I will keep the set. I already have some of this music, like the Symphonies by George Szell and Cleveland Orchestra, the piano concertos, and some of the string quartets, so I will have to compare these new ones to the ones I have. My 10 boxes are not the whole collection, but 40 lps will probably get me through Frankenstorm.
Enjoy them. We spend so much energy discussing differences between tubes/ss, analog/digital, etc. The differences between Szell/Cleveland's and Karajan/Berlin's takes on the symphonies is huge by comparison.