W. A. MOZART
Mozart: Piano sonatas 10, 11, 16 / Fantasia K475 / Rondo K511 Alicia de Larrocha (piano) [ Sony Classical Masters / CD - released 10/Dec/2012 ] "She is sharply responsive, to the variety of mood and texture in the opening variations of K331..her fine shading and shaping of detail in the Adagio variation where, as at other points on this disc, she adds her own discreet ornamentation in... |
W. A. MOZART
Alicia de Larrocha Plays Mozart Alicia de Larrocha (piano), André Previn (piano) / English Chamber Orchestra, The Orchestra of St. Luke's, Sir Colin Davis [ Sony / RCA Classical Masters / 6 CD Box Set - released 13/Mar/2020 ] "...this is a profound reading with many subtleties of touch and altogether a more weighty approach, especially evident in the slow movement. K491 is predictably dramatic. Marriner's orchestra is excellent." classical-music |
VIVALDI / BOCCHERINI / HAYDN / BEETHOVEN / SERVAIS / FRANCHOMME
Anner Bylsma plays Concertos and Ensemble Works [6 CD set] Anner Bylsma (cello) with Tafelmusik, L'Archibudelli, Collegium Aureum, etc [ Sony Classical Masters / 6 CD Box Set - released 15/Sep/2014 ] "Anner Bylsma is a tremendous enthusiast, whose high spirits and nervous energy never fail to manifest themselves in his performances." (Gramophone) |
FREDERIC CHOPIN
Chopin: Piano Concertos Nos 1 & 2 Arthur Rubinstein (piano) / New Symphony Orchestra of London / Symphony of the Air [ Sony Classical Masters / CD - released 10/Apr/2012 ] "The result is wonderfully exciting. This is a really superb account of this lovely music." (Gramophone) |
FREDERIC CHOPIN
Artur Rubinstein: The Chopin Collection (10 CDs special price) Artur Rubinstein (piano) with New Symphony Orchestra & Symphony of the Air [ Sony Classical Masters / 10 CD Box Set - released 1/May/2011 ] "The florid gusto of Rubinstein's playing may not suit modern tastes, but he is clearly engaged with his material, rendering such considerations meaningless; and at his best, he is breathtaking." the Independent |
FELIX MENDELSSOHN
Claus Peter Flor conducts Mendelssohn Lucia Popp (sop) Marjana Lipovšek (mezzo) Josef Protschka (tenor) Sergei Edelmann (piano) Kyoko Takezawa (violin) / Bamberg Symphony, Claus Peter Flor [ Sony / RCA Classical Masters / 6 CD Box Set - released 1/Jun/2017 ] "Claus Peter Flor's Mendelssohn enjoys the classical virtues of good taste, fine attention to detail, and a real sense of style...these are perfectly respectable and entertaining performances, well recorded. You won't be disappointed." (ClassicsToday) |
W. A. MOZART / ANTON BRUCKNER / ROBERT SCHUMANN
Rafael Kubelik conducts Great Symphonies Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Rafael Kubelik [ Sony Classical Masters / 7 CD Box Set - released 20/Sep/2017 ] "These are on the whole extremely satisfying performances-well organized, beautifully played, and strongly classical in style without any frills or tricks of any kind." (Gramophone on the Mozart) |
GABRIEL FAURE
The Secret Fauré 3: Sacred Vocal Works Benjamin Appl (baritone), Katja Stuber (soprano) / Sinfonieorchester Basel, Balthasar-Neumann-Chor, Ivor Bolton [ Sony Classical Masters / CD - released 12/Jun/2020 ] Recording: August 23-29, 2019, Goetheaneum Dornach |
LUDWIG van BEETHOVEN
Beethoven: Symphonies 1 - 9 (5 CD set) Boston Symphony Orchestra, Erich Leinsdorf [ Sony Classical Masters / CD - released 20/May/2012 ] "The recording is atmospheric in the Boston manner, and with Dynagroove makes even small machines give an impression of opulence." (Gramophone on the LP release) |
CHOPIN / SCHUMANN / LISZT / RACHMANINOV / BEETHOVEN / etc
Byron Janis: The RCA Recordings 1950 - 1959 [5 CD set] Byron Janis (piano) / Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Fritz Reiner [ Sony / RCA Classical Masters / 5 CD Box Set - released 16/Oct/2016 ] Byron Janis has been called one of the most exciting and dynamic American pianists to emerge on the post-war scene. All of his RCA recordings, dating from 1947 to 1959, are collected in the new 5-CD set. |
RICHARD STRAUSS
Fritz Reiner conducts Richard Strauss (5 CDs) Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Fritz Reiner, with Antonio Janiqro (cello) Bryon janis (piano) Inqu Borkh (soprano) [ Sony Classical Masters / 5 CD Box Set - released 20/May/2011 ] "These were the first stereo sessions the RCA engineers arranged with Fritz Reiner. The RCA recording team 'got it right' from the very beginning. Reiner achieves an admirable balance and whatever he does is convincing." Rosette (Penguin Stereo Guide) |
CARL NIELSEN / JEAN SIBELIUS
Esa-Pekka Salonen conducts Nielsen Cho-Liang Lin (violin) / Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Philharmonia Orchestra [ Sony Classical Masters / 6 CD Box Set - released 20/May/2017 ] The second core cycle of symphonic works in this Masters Series comes from the 20th century. The six masterful symphonies by Nielsen with the Swedish Radio Orchestra conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen, "performances of great thrust and unflagging energy,... |
PYOTR ILYICH TCHAIKOSVKY
Tchaikovsky: The 6 Symphonies / The Nutcracker Suite / Romeo and Juliet / The Tempest / etc Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Claudio Abbado [ Sony Classical Masters / 6 CD Box Set - released 20/May/2011 ] "Romeo & Juliet played by Chicago SO is one of the most exciting and powerfully moving accounts on record, and the sound is sumptuous and every part of the score is articulated and vividly captured." 1001 Classical recordings you must hear before... |
ANTONIN DVOARK / BEDRICH SMETANA
George Szell conducts Dvorak & Smetana The Cleveland Orchestra, Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra of New York, George Szell [ Sony Classical Masters / 7 CD Box Set - released 5/Jun/2019 ] "George Szell's Dvorák performances feature his customary blend of razor sharp orchestral discipline allied to a wholly idiomatic, singing line..Indispensable!" ClassicsToday Dvorak Symphonies |
GEORGE GERSHWIN
Gershwin: An American in Paris / Rhapsody in Blue (with works by Bernstein) Columbia Symphony Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Leonard Bernstein (piano/conductor) [ Sony Classical Masters / CD - released 20/May/2011 ] "Mr. Bernstein is not only brilliant where brilliance is called for but he is supremely affectionate in the improvisatory passages and gives the impression of thoroughly enjoying himself, one that is by no means common." (Gramophone on Rhapsody in Blue) |
JOHANNES BRAHMS
Brahms: James Levine Conducts Brahms Chicago Symphony Orchestra & Chorus, James Levine [ Sony Classical Masters / 4 CD - released 4/Apr/2011 ] "It goes almost without saying that the playing of the Chicago orchestra is superb, and in the outer movements at least Levine's vivid sense of drama and concentrated control of structure are again most compelling." (Gramophone on Symphony No 3) |
LUDWIG van BEETHOVEN
Michael Tilson Thomas Conducts Beethoven English Chamber Orchestra, Ambrosian Singers, London Symphony Orchestra, Michael Tilson Thomas, with Éva Marton (soprano) [ Sony Classical Masters / 6 CD Box Set - released 13/Mar/2020 ] "Ormandy's reading generates excitement through exact accentuation as well as vibrant instrumental color and striking ensemble balances. You'd expect to hear the piano clearly at the start of the first-movement development section, but it makes a... |
FRANZ LISZT
Kissin plays Liszt Evgeny Kissin (piano) [ Sony Classical Masters / 2 CD - released 20/Apr/2011 ] A dazzling selection of Liszt performances - the great virtuoso pianist of the nineteenth century interpreted by a pianist in the Russian virtuosi tradition. |
JEAN SIBELIUS
Sibelius: Symphonies Nos 1 - 7 / Karelia Overture & Suite / Violin Concerto / etc Finnish Radio Symphony, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, with Joseph Swensen (violin) [ Sony / RCA / Finlandia / 8 CD Box Set - released 13/Mar/2020 ] "His tempos grab and hold the listener, and the orchestra plays with a sure sense of style. The brasses are incisive, the woodwinds reedy and a bit nasal, the strings strident or cushioning, all as appropriate." New York Times |
LUDWIG van BEETHOVEN
Glenn Gould plays Beethoven [6 CD set] Glenn Gould, piano [ Sony Classical Masters / 6 CD Box Set - released 1/May/2011 ] "Gould had a distinctive range of personae where the Beethoven was concerned. (his 3rd is a) studiously intense, intimately scaled studio recording Gould made with Leonard Bernstein in 1959." (Gramophone on the 3rd piano Concerto) |