LUDWIG van BEETHOVEN
Beethoven: The Piano Concertos (complete) / Bagatelles Vladimir Ashkenazy (piano) / Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Sir Georg Solti [ Decca Collector's Edition / 3 CD Box Set - released 5/Aug/2013 ] "He is one of those pianists who so often seems to me to sound just right. No gimmicks, the music just speaks as it should . . . innate musicality, impeccable taste." Jed Distler, Gramophone (London) |
MAHLER
The People's Edition: Symphonies 1 - 10 Wiener Symphoniker, Berliner Philharmoniker, Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Chicgao Symphony, various conductors [ Deutsche Grammophon / 13 CD Box Set - released 1/Aug/2012 ] Over 5000 votes were cast in DG's Mahler web poll, over 400 customers have submitted their suggestions for a complete Mahler Symphony cycle … and now we know who will appear in the People's Edition. |
BEETHOVEN / MENDELSSOHN / SCHUMANN / SCHUBERT / WAGNER / FRANCK / etc
The complete Wilhelm Furtwangler on record Yehudi Menuhin (violin) Edwin Fisher (piano) / Philharmonia Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Berliner Philharmoniker, Wilhelm Furtwängler [ Warner Classics / 55 CD Box Set - released 24/Sep/2021 ] Wilhelm Furtwängler is a musical titan, one of the greatest conductors of the 20th century. Some would say he is the greatest of all. A supreme, inimitable interpreter of the Austro-German symphonic repertoire, and of Wagner's music dramas. |
JOHANNES BRAHMS
Brahms: Symphonies / Concertos / German Requiem Yehudi Menuhin (violin) Edwin Fisher (piano) / Stockholm Philharmonic Chorus & Orchestra, Wiener Philharmoniker, Berliner Philharmoniker, Wilhelm Furt [ Warner Classics / 6 CD Box Set - released 24/Aug/2018 ] Wilhelm Furtwängler saw "a wild, fantastic and even demonic universe" in the symphonies of Brahms. "Music is not something that is invented and constructed," he wrote, "but something that grows, emerging … directly from the hands of nature." |
Symphonic Highlights For Capriccio's 40 Year Anniversary
[ Capriccio / 10 CD - released 20/May/2022 ] Following Capriccio's founding in 1982 as a producer of LPs and tapes, the label's first recording to turn heads was its pioneering digital Beethoven Symphonies cycle with the Dresden Philharmonic under Herbert Kegel, which was issued on CD two years... |
JOSEPH HAYDN
Haydn: Symphonies Academy of Saint Martin in the Fields, Sir Neville Marriner [ Decca Australian Eloquence / 15 CD Box Set - released 22/Jan/2021 ] With the delightful original LP cover illustrations, this 'original jackets' presentation collects together for the first time the 33 Haydn Symphonies recorded by Sir Neville Marriner and the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields. |
GEORG FRIDERIC HANDEL
Handel - Marriner: The Decca Legacy Academy of St Martin in the Fields, Neville Marriner [ Decca Australian Eloquence / 19 CD Box Set - released 22/Mar/2024 ] A unique collection of L'Oiseau-Lyre, Argo, Decca and Philips albums in original covers, showcasing both the genius of Handel and the musicianship of the classic ASMF/Marriner pairing at its most stylish. |
MODEST MUSSORGSKY
Mussorgsky: Boris Godunov, opera in seven scenes (1869 version) Alexander Tsymbalyuk, Maxim Paster, Mika Kares, Sergei Skorokhodov, Göteborg Opera Chorus [ BIS SACD / 2 CD - released 6/Sep/2019 ] "This new account, based on live performances, is beautifully sung and played, and recorded in surround sound" MusicWeb |
VARIOUS COMPOSERS
Alexei Lubimov Alexei Lubimov (piano) [ Alpha Classics / 7 CD Box Set - released 13/Mar/2020 ] Composers: Beethoven, Ludwig van (1770-1827) Berg, Alban (1885-1935) Haydn, Franz Joseph (1732-1809) Ives, Charles (1874-1954) Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus (1756-91) Satie, Erik Alfred Leslie (1866-1925) Schubert, Franz Peter... |
LUDWIG van BEETHOVEN
Beethoven: Piano variations and Bagatelles Alfred Brendel (piano) [ Brilliant Classics / 5 CD Box Set - released 14/Dec/2006 ] A truly historic document: some 40 years ago Alfred Brendel recorded Beethoven's Bagatellen and Piano variations. Here the eminent pianist already showed his idiosyncratic self. Some people consider his playing dull; others find it refreshingly... |
HANDEL
Belshazzar (complete oratorio) Allan Clayton, Rosemary Joshua, Iestyn Davies / Les Arts Florissants, William Christie [ Les Arts Florissants Editions / 3 CD Box Set - released 20/Jun/2014 ] "The choir of Les Arts Florissants acquit themselves with full honours in Handel's imaginative dramatic narrative choruses" (Gramophone Magazine, December 2013) |
RAVEL / PROKOFIEV / MOZART / BACH / CHOPIN
Andre Tchaikowsky - The Complete RCA Collection André Tchaikowsky (piano) / Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Fritz Reiner [ RCA Red Seal / Sony Classical / 4 CD Box Set - released 15/Feb/2018 ] First ever release of André Tchaikowsky's complete RCA recordings in a 4CD collection. The set includes Tchaikowsky's debut LP recording remastered for the first time on CD. This recording features Ravel's Gaspard de la Nuit which Tchaikowsky... |
J. S. BACH
Bach, (J.S.): 6 Partitas BWV 825-830 Angela Hewitt (piano) [ Hyperion / 2 CD Box Set ] "Effortlessly eclipsing all competition … the whole disc gives unalloyed pleasure; definitely one of my choices of the year" (Gramophone) |
ANGELO GILARDINO
Gilardino: Complete Music for Solo Guitar 1965-2013 Angelo Marchese (guitar) [ Brilliant Classics / 14 CD Box Set - released 14/Aug/2015 ] Angelo Gilardino is one of the most important guitar composers of the last half century. His unique style is a blend of the old and new, folk art and contemporary music, from Mozart to Messiaen. |
HENRYK GORECKI
Antoni Wit Conducts Henryk Górecki [Incls Symphony No. 3 (Symphony of Sorrowful Songs) ] Anna Górecka (piano) Carol Wincenc (flute) Zofia Kilanowicz (soprano) / Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra. Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra [ Naxos / 3 CD Box Set - released 10/Apr/2014 ] "What impresses me most about this performance is its sprituality" - Gramophone on the Symphony of Sorrowful Songs |
CHARLES LECOCQ
Lecocq: La fille de Madame Angot (complete operetta) Anne-Catherine Gillet; Véronique Gens; Mathias Vidal / Orchestre de chambre de Paris; Sébastien Rouland; Chœur du Concert Spirituel, Sébastien Rouland [ Bru Zane / 2 CD Box Set - released 22/Oct/2021 ] La Fille de Madame Angot, an opéra-comique in three acts, was premiered at the Théâtre des Fantaisies-Parisiennes in Brussels on 4 December 1872 before scoring a similar triumph in France on 21 February 1873. |
VARIOUS COMPOSERS
Decca Conductors' Gallery Ansermet, Van Beinum, Bernard, ·Blech, Celibidache, Coates, Coppola, Desormiere, Enescu, Fitelberg, Furtwangler, Harty, Van Kempen, Kleiber, Knapperts [ Decca ABC Australian Eloquence / 21 CD Box Set - released 25/Aug/2023 ] An A-Z of 23 conductors in a feast of classic recordings from Decca's early years - 1929-1949 - including the golden age of its 'ffrr' technology. Newly remastered from the best available sources. |
BRAHMS / ARENSKY / TCHAIKOVSKY / YEARDUMIAN / CHERUBINI / HAYDN / IBERT / etc
The Complete RCA Album Collection Anshel Brusilow Conducts the Chamber Symphony Of Philadelphia, with Lili Chookasian (contralto) [ Sony Originals / 6 CD Box Set - released 1/Dec/2023 ] "An orchestra of rare quality" - that's how High Fidelity described the Chamber Symphony of Philadelphia, founded in 1966 by Anshel Brusilow, then concertmaster of The Philadelphia Orchestra. |
RIMSKY-KORSAKOV / RACHMANINOV / DEBUSSY / MENDELSSOHN / RESPIGHI / TCHAIKOVSKY/ MOZART / etc
Antal Doráti: The Mercury Masters - The Mono Recordings Antal Doráti, Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra [ Australian Eloquence Mercury Living Presence / 31 CD Box Set - released 26/May/2023 ] A tour de force of thrilling orchestral playing and brilliant audio engineering, Antal Doráti's mono recordings are collected for the first time. Newly remastered, this collection comprehensively documents a golden era in American classical recording |
HAYDN / MOZART / BOCCHERINI / DVORAK / BEETHOVEN / KELEMEN / etc
Antonio Janigro: the rare Cello Recordings Antonio Janigro (cello), with Gunhild Stappenbec, Paul Badura-Skoda (piano) / Orchestra Sinfonica di Roma della RAI, Zagreb Soloists, etc [ Profil Hanssler / 4 CD Box Set - released 20/Mar/2020 ] "Janigro was one of those all-round musicians who excel in anything they turn their hands to. This welcome release showcases his artistry to the full, and it receives my wholehearted recommendation." MusicWeb |