Music CD Box Set Review: 'The Complete Beethoven Symphonies'
© 1993 Intersound Inc. In December 1993, Roswell, Georgia's Intersound Inc. released The Complete Beethoven Symphonies, a five-CD box set which presented all nine of Ludwig van Beethoven's nine symphonies in digital surround sound. Along with Piano Masterpieces and other recordings, this box set was part of Intersound's "Classical Heritage" (or CH) collection. Because Intersound's business model was based on direct sales to record shops and big box stores such as the now-vanished Camelot Music and Circuit City rather than adding a separate (and pricier) distributor, box sets such as The Complete Beethoven Symphonies were not only easy to find but cheaper than similar collections by Deutsche Gramophone or Philips. And because the company focused at first almost exclusively on the classical repertoire, aficionados of Beethoven, Brahms, Bach, Berlioz, Mozart, and Wagner who couldn't afford the offerings of the more prestigious labels could build up a de...