Buywell

[RebLem]

I can't access Buywell Australia anymore. I Google Buywell, and it still shows up, but I enter it as an address and it shows me a new Canadian site for health care products. Is it still in operation? Have they gone dark outside Australia?

WHAT GIVES?

[barney]

I get the same thing, and I'm in Australia. I wonder if their domain name lapsed and they failed to renew, and the Canadian firm bought it? Pure speculation. Or they may indeed have gone under.

[RebLem]

I get the same thing, and I'm in Australia. I wonder if their domain name lapsed and they failed to renew, and the Canadian firm bought it? Pure speculation. Or they may indeed have gone under.

Ohhhh, I hope not! Let me know if you find out any more information. Perhaps it has just been renamed? I have bought many wonderful recordings from them that were unavailable anywhere else. Their permanent loss with no replacement would be a serious disappointment for me.

[Lance]

I bought many an item from Buywell, especially the Australian Universal Eloquence CDs. Now those CDs have become more available through England and other gateways. I used to correspond with the original owner of Buywell who ultimately sold it off to someone else. It has been awhile since I've dealt with them. I would be interested to know if they are still in business, too.

[RebLem]

I bought many an item from Buywell, especially the Australian Universal Eloquence CDs. Now those CDs have become more available through England and other gateways. I used to correspond with the original owner of Buywell who ultimately sold it off to someone else. It has been awhile since I've dealt with them. I would be interested to know if they are still in business, too.

I've found a lot of things there that were unavailable elsewhere. It is true that more of what they sell is now available elsewhere. I have noticed that ArchivMusic used to have only 3 Tall Poppies CDs, now they have most of their catalogue, for example. But I never found anywhere else the CD version of a 1961 Karl Bohm recording of the Brahms First Symphony anywhere else, and its my favorite recording of the work.

[RebLem]

I bought many an item from Buywell, especially the Australian Universal Eloquence CDs. Now those CDs have become more available through England and other gateways. I used to correspond with the original owner of Buywell who ultimately sold it off to someone else. It has been awhile since I've dealt with them. I would be interested to know if they are still in business, too.

I've found a lot of things there that were unavailable elsewhere. It is true that more of what they sell is now available elsewhere. I have noticed that ArchivMusic used to have only 3 Tall Poppies CDs, now they have most of their catalogue, for example. But I never found anywhere else the CD version of a 1960 Karl Bohm Berlin PO recording of the Brahms First Symphony anywhere else, and its my favorite recording of the work.

Oh, oh! I checked at Amazon, and found this Australian Eloquence CD is now available there. Its coupled with the Tragic Overture. If you don't have it, jump on it! Its far better than Bohm's very good remake of all 4 with the VPO, and all three customer reviews give it 5 stars, as I think it deserves.

[Lance]

Reb, you said:
"Oh, oh! I checked at Amazon, and found this Australian Eloquence CD is now available there. Its coupled with the Tragic Overture. If you don't have it, jump on it! Its far better than Bohm's very good remake of all 4 with the VPO, and all three customer reviews give it 5 stars, as I think it deserves."

You mention a 1960 or 1961 recording of the Brahms Symphony No. 1 with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra with Bohm conducting, which is available on DGG-Eloquence.

I have a lot of Bohm's recordings, including the EMI/Warner mega set and the DGG retrospective set, "A Life in Music" [482 4254, 29 CD set], which contains an October 1959 Brahms Symphony #1 with the Berliners coupled with the VPO recording of 1977 of the Tragic Overture. Could this well be the same performance you allude to, though the dates you mention are a year or two later than 1959?

[Lance]

To add to the above post regarding Bohm's Brahms Symphony No. 1 with the Berlin PO, I quote annotator Andrea Fasano:

"It is no surprise, then, that the 1958 recording of Brahms' First Symphony was so authoritative. This was a piece very close to Bohm's heart, and the experience of hearing it performed live by him made a profound impression on generations of music-lovers, but musicians, too. Zubin Mehta himself recalled how he was practically 'transfixed' by hearing Bohm perform the symphony in Vienna, and that it was this experience that made him decide to pursue a conducting career. And we need only to listen to the opening or Finale of op. 68 to grasp how much 'humility and passion' in Bohm's almost incomparable Brahms."

[RebLem]

Reb, you said:
"Oh, oh! I checked at Amazon, and found this Australian Eloquence CD is now available there. Its coupled with the Tragic Overture. If you don't have it, jump on it! Its far better than Bohm's very good remake of all 4 with the VPO, and all three customer reviews give it 5 stars, as I think it deserves."

You mention a 1960 or 1961 recording of the Brahms Symphony No. 1 with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra with Bohm conducting, which is available on DGG-Eloquence.

I have a lot of Bohm's recordings, including the EMI/Warner mega set and the DGG retrospective set, "A Life in Music" [482 4254, 29 CD set], which contains an October 1959 Brahms Symphony #1 with the Berliners coupled with the VPO recording of 1977 of the Tragic Overture. Could this well be the same performance you allude to, though the dates you mention are a year or two later than 1959?

Could be. My DGG Eloquence recording, which I got from Buywell, has no recording dates on it, only an original publication year of 1960. It is important to understand that though the First Symphony is with the BPO, the accompanying Tragic Overture is with the VPO. I am not sure when it was recorded, but I will just quote the jacket: "P 1960, 1977 Polydor International GmbH, Hamburg." That's basically all it says about provenance. My guess is the 1977 publication date is associated with the Tragic Overture recording, but I have no idea when it was actually recorded.