Tony Tommasini offers his two cents on box sets in today's Times. I agree with his general premise that the record companies are tone-deaf, putting out these back catalog data dumps in lieu of having anything new and noteworthy to release. I mean, who the hell is going to spend $255 on DG's Messiaen Complete Edition (pictured above)? Novice's will balk at the price for a non-entry level composer; fans already own the key releases from here.
Hey, here's an idea: why don't you take that $255 and buy a NY Phil subscription to next season, which kicks off with Renée Fleming singing Poemes Pour Mi with Alan Gilbert?