Arthur Rubinstein - Complete Album Collection

My father introduced me to Chopin and Rubinstein in the mid-70's when I was a pretty young kid, and that was the extent of any Polish heritage my family celebrated. I learned to love the music on one particular long since lost album, and it was while searching for that music recently that I stumbled across this stunning mega-set.I'm somewhat familiar with the great classical composers by name and their music that is commonly heard in Fantasia, Looney Tunes, and commercial use, but have rarely tried to get smarter and listen more closely to the less well known but no less beautiful music by the same composers. This set provides both a near-complete collection of Rubinstein recordings and a thorough library of 19th century piano-based classical compositions by all the greats, as well as some lesser-known composers and a handful of both 18th C. pieces and some 20th C. works, all at about $2 per disc. I would never have imagined finding any comparable set of quality performances of this many works at such a low price. In fact I've held off on exploring classical music more deeply because I never knew where to begin and have felt a bit overwhelmed. At this price I think this set makes a fantastic introduction to the breadth and depth of piano compositions as well as a fine way to celebrate Arthur Rubinstein's contribution to performances and recordings of these works.I've seen some reviews of this set that complain about the short length, by modern reckoning, of most of these CDs, with a typical length of around 40 minutes. For myself, I appreciate the shorter length as I think it's ideal for being introduced to this music, as most of it is unfamiliar to me, and I get to focus on a small set of pieces at a time. At this price, though, I don't think the number of CDs used should be a problem. I do appreciate the card-sleeve reproductions of the original albums, though the fine-print liner notes reveal how old I must be getting as my eyes adjust to read them. The book included has a lovely set of photos of Rubinstein and some useful essays along with details about each disc and a great index of the recordings by composer, which helps further the set as an educational tool.I hope that by playing these CDs for my kids, I can pass on to them an appreciation for this music--and perhaps a little of their Polish heritage, too.

Searched for this for my father-in law.. He plays the piano, used to teach piano, has read Arthur Rubinstein's two books (and lost them, so they have recently been replaced by copies bought via amazon). I came across this collection while finding copies of the books. He had an old VHS tape with Rubinstein playing, and was interested in this collection when I mentioned it had the Israel concert DVD, the documentary DVD, hard bound book, and of course the ultimate collection of his recordings.After reading reviews I was careful to have the collection sent to me so I could check the quality and completeness before giving it to him. I checked every disc to ensure there was no double ups or missing disc's. As far as I could tell, every disc is properly labelled and numbered. No discs missing. Package looks great. CD jackets are hard to read (get a magnifying glass like my father in-law) but the printing and images are stunning, so are the CD's themselves - all looking like vinyl records. The Hard bound book looks and feels good quality. I watched both DVD's to ensure they worked here in Australia. Sound and vision is fine, concert playing is great and the documentary interesting. I randomly played half a dozen discs in a portable CD player...they all worked... would have sounded better in a player with a graphic equaliser...but were still worthy of listening to. I played the same discs through my home entertainment system....turned the volume up... sounds fantastic..I personally was very impressed.. the quality and what you get for the price is mind blowing... I can not imagine buying a Beatles, Pink Floyd or Fleetwood Mac box collection with every album and single recorded remastered, enhanced, old tracks, B-sides, every major concert recording, previously unreleased tracks, plus a concert DVD, documentary DVD, plus a quality hardbound book.. for anywhere near the cost of this collection. This collection is fantastic value for money!My father in-law took one look at the box when I gave it to him and he said "WOW!.. This really is something special.. this is a collector item..." and is wondering "...who would appreciate it the most..." meaning who should inherit it. He is keeping the Collections box in the shipping box...so as to keep it...in collector condition. He loves the quality of the book, I left him happily planning when to watch the DVDs and start listening to the CDs. He has a portable CD player and a DVD player to listen to the discs with. I told him when I delivered the collection to him.. that he might want to go out and buy a better player...