GAETANO DONIZETTI
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Donizetti: Lucrezia Borgia (complete opera with libretto) Joan Sutherland, Marilyn Horne, Giacomo Aragall, Ingvar Wixell / National Philharmonic, Richard Bonynge [ Decca / 2 CD Box Set ] "Sutherland is in her element here - and what a wonderful score it is too...Horne has the odd moment of unsteadiness in the early parts of the opera, but she is impressive in the brilliant Brindisi of the last Act" Penguin Guide |
ARTHUR HONEGGER
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Honegger: Symphonies / Le Roi David / Pacific 231 / etc (with Frank Martin - In terra pax) Suzanne Danco, Marie-Lise de Montmollin, Pauline Martin / L'Orchestre de la Suisse Romande / Ernest Ansermet [ Decca SBS Australian Eloquence / 3 CD Box Set - released 1/Jan/2013 ] "This double CD set is almost worth its cost for the performance of Pacific 231 - one of the most vividly descriptive tone-poems of the twentieth century...Ansermet's is perhaps the finest ever committed to disc: it has a powerful, cumulative effect... |
GUSTAV MAHLER
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: In memoriam: Michael Gielen: Mahler: Symphony No. 6 [recorded 1971 & 2013] SWR Sinfonieorchester Baden-Baden und Freiburg, Michael Gielen, Michael Gielen (conductor) [ Hanssler / 3 CD Box Set - released 9/Aug/2019 ] "An extreme treatment matches extreme music. I was fascinated, frankly, and the excellent playing from the SWR Symphony, along with impeccable studio-quality sound, adds to the spell. " Fanfare |
W. A. MOZART
Sir Colin Davis conducts Mozart Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Sir Colin Davisa, The Orchestra of St. Luke's, Sir Colin Davis [ Sony / RCA Classical Masters / 4 CD Box Set - released 10/Dec/2021 ] "Twelve of Mozart scintillating Overtures are given superlative performances with the justly famous Staatskapelle of Dresden conducted with great panache by Colin Davis on this marvellous CD." classical-music.com |
PROKOFIEV / TCHAIKOVSKY / MINKUS / MOZART
Ballets: Romeo & Juliet / The Sleeping Beauty / Don Quixote / Le Corsaire / The Lovers' Garden (Blu-ray) Teatro Alla Scala Ballet, with Natalia Osipova, Leonid Sarafanov, Nicoletta Manni, Roberto Bolle, Misty Copeland, etc [ C Major Blu-ray / 5 Blu-ray Box Set - released 12/Nov/2021 ] Five outstanding ballets from the legendary Teatro Alla Scala. |
GIUSEPPE VERDI / W. A. MOZART
Operas - Aida / I Due Foscari / Die Zauberflote / Le Nozze di Figaro / Die Entfuhrung] (complete operas recorded 2015 - 2019) Teatro alla Scala / Anita Rachvelishvili, George Gagnidze, Placido Domingo, Anna Pirozzi, Martin Summer, Yasmin Ozkan, Carlos Alvarez, Diana Damaru [ C Major DVD / 8 Blu-ray Box Set - released 20/Aug/2021 ] FIVE OUTSTANDING OPERAS FROM THE LEGENDARY TEATRO ALLA SCALA: ON BLU-RAY |
GIOACCHINO ROSSINI
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Rossini: Il barbiere di Siviglia [The Barber of Seville] complete studio recording of the opera recorded in 1972 Teresa Berganza, Luigi Alva, Hermann Prey, Enzo Dara / Orchestra del Teatro alla Scala, Claudio Abbado [ Deutsche Grammophon 2 CD + Blu-ray Audio + DVD / 4 CD/DVD Box Set - released 17/Mar/2023 ] The hardcover edition of Claudio Abbado's legendary recording of Rossini's opera The Barber of Seville is out of print and now available in a new packaged set: 2 CD + BD audio (24bit/96kHz) + DVD video box set. |
W. A. MOZART
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Mozart: Don Giovanni (complete opera with full libretto) Bryn Terfel, Renee Fleming, Ann Murray, Michele Pertusi / London Philhmonic Orchestra, Sir Georg Solti [ Decca / 3 CD Box Set - released 2/Feb/1997 ] "It is as finely disciplined as any other Solti performance, the orchestral playing is excellent, and the rhythms are crisp, strong and tautly held. There is a sense of spaciousness to the direction that is unusual these days...But there is certainly... |
FRANZ SCHUBERT
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Schubert: Piano Sonatas D960, D459 & D840 (with works by Brahms, Chopin, Faure & Debussy) Tessa Birnie (piano) [ ABC Classics / 3 CD Box Set - released 20/May/2008 ] ABC Classics launches its new Australian Masters series with a 3-CD collection featuring Tessa Birnie's legendary interpretation of Schubert's B-flat major Piano Sonata and ground-breaking performance of Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata. |
CHARLES IVES
Michael Tilson Thomas conducts Ives Thomas Hampson (baritone) / San Francisco Symphony orchestra & Chorus, Michael Tilson Thomas, Richard R. Webster (organ) [ Sony Classical ./ RCA / 4 CD Box Set - released 17/May/2002 ] Rosette (highest rating) Penguin Stereo Guide |
JULES MASSENET
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Massenet: Thais (Complete Opera with libretto) Thomas Hampson, Renee Fleming, Giuseppe Sabbatini / Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine, Yves Abel [ Decca Records / 2 CD Box Set - released 16/Nov/2000 ] 2001 GRAMOPHONE AWARD FINALIST - Opera |
RALPH VAUGHAN WILLIAMS
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Vaughan Williams: Concertos & String Music Howard Shelley (piano) David Theodore (oboe) Kenneth Sillito (piano) / London Symphony Orchestra, Bryden Thomson [ Chandos / 2 CD Box Set ] The perfect introduction to the music of Ralph Vaughan Williams |
Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich, Paavo Järvi
Mendelssohn: Symphonies [ Alpha Classics / 4 CD - released 7/Jun/2024 ] "I don't think Mendelssohn gets the attention he deserves," said Paavo Järvi at the start of the 2020 -2021 season. Faced with this observation, he undertook to record a complete cycle of Mendelssohn's orchestral works with the Zurich Tonhalle... |
BEETHOVEN / HANDEL / von BINGEN / PART / HAYDN / DVORAK / etc
The Choral Collection Tonus Peregrinus, Camerata Bach Choir, Musica Ficta, Oxford Camerata, Choir of the Golden Age, TOWER Voices New Zealand, Simon Mayr Choir, etc [ Naxos / 30 CD Box Set - released 25/Oct/2019 ] "There's plenty to celebrate here, not least sterling performances by Oxford Camerata under Jeremy Summerly (including Bach's Magnificat, Vivaldi's Gloria, Fauré's Requiem and other choral pieces, and a fine Hildegard CD). |
JULES MASSENET
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Massenet: Don Quichotte (complete opera recorded in 1992) Jose van Dam, Teresa berganza, Alain Fondary, Isabelle Vernet / Toulouse Capital Orchestra & Chorus, Michel Plasson [ EMI Classics The Home of Opera / 3 CD Box Set - released 18/Jan/2010 ] "Van Dam, Berganza and Fondary sing beautifully." BBC Music |
JOACHIM RAFF
Raff: Complete Piano Works Tra Nguyen [ Grand Piano / 6 CD Box Set - released 19/Jan/2024 ] "excellent Nguyen playing with intelligence and devotion - especially the ambitious Grande Sonate." BBC Music (Vol 5) |
J. S. BACH
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Bach: Partitas Nos. 1-6 BWV 825-830 / Italian Concerto BWV 971 / French Overture BWV 831 / Goldberg Variations BWV 988 Trevor Pinnock (harpischord) [ Archiv Trio / 3 CD Box Set - released 26/May/2003 ] "captures every sound (musical and otherwise) of the Ruckers instrument with the utmost fidelityis pure pleasure." Gramophone, 08/1995 reviewing the Goldberg Variations |
LUDWIG van BEETHOVEN
Beethoven: Complete Piano Trios Trio Élégiaque [ Brilliant Classics Quintessence / 5 CD Box Set - released 25/Sep/2020 ] The young French Trio Elegiaque has already received great critical acclaim for their recording of Messiaen and Dusapin (Diapason d'Or!). They played the Beethoven trio cycle several times in concert series. |
PYOTR Il'yich TCHAIKOVSKY
Tchaikovsky: Symphonies 4 - 6 Wiener Philharmoniker [Vienna Philharmonic], Valery Gergiev [ Philips / 3 CD Box Set - released 3/Oct/2005 ] "Opulent, dramatic and powerful performances. This well recorded Philips set would be a welcome addition to any collection" MusicWeb |
COATES / KETELBEY / BINGE / MAYERL / TOMLINSON / LAMBERT / ELGAR / VAUGAN WILLIAMS / etc
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Best of British Composers Choir of King's College, Cambridge, Stephen Cleland, Richard Hickox / etc.obury / Pro Arte Orchestra, George Weldon / Northern Sinfonia of Eng [ EMI Classics / 5 CD Box Set - released 1/Aug/2011 ] The very best of British music, featuring contributions from the finest British artists, including: Sir Richard Rodney Bennett, the late Richard Hickox and of course, the Choir of King's College, Cambridge. |