GIOCOMO PUCCINI
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Puccini Arias Jose Cura (tenor) / Philharmonia Orchestra, Placido Domingo [ Erato / CD - released 10/Apr/2014 ] Original Recording: Air Studios, London, June/July 1997 |
CHOPIN / GRIEG / LISZT / MENDELSSOHN / RACHMANINOV / etc
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Great Pianists of the 20th Century - Josef Hofmann Josef Hofmann (piano) [ EMI / Philips / Sony / 2 CD - released 1/Jun/2000 ] Before he became the brilliant and charismatic virtuoso to whom Rachmaninov dedicated his Third Piano Concerto, Joseph Hofmann was a child prodigy. He was also the first pianist ever to make a record: in 1888, at age 12, he sat on Thomas Edison's lap... |
RICHARD WAGNER
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Wagner: Der Fliegende Hollander [The Flying Dutchman] (complete opera recorded in 1953) Josef Metternich, Annelies Kupper, Wolfgang Windgassen, Josef Greindl / RIAS Kammerchor & RIAS-Symphonie-Orchester, Ferenc Fricsay [ Australian Deutsche Grammophon Eloquence / 2 CD - released 10/Aug/2015 ] "By a fair margin [this set] remains my favourite, with Fricsay at his most electrifying and the team of men quite unbeatable." (Gramophone) |
SAMUEL BARBER / WILLIAM WALTON
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Barber / Walton: Violin Concertos (with Bloch's Baal Shem) Joshua Bell (violin) / Baltimore Symphony, David Zinman [ Decca / CD - released 20/Aug/1997 ] 1998 Gramophone Concerto Winner - "Bell's passionate playing in the Barber, full of tender poetry, is well matched by the excellent orchestra, ripely and brilliantly recorded." |
MOZART / SCHUMANN / CHOPIN / RACHMANINOV / etc
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Great Pianists of the 20th Century - Jozef & Rosina Lhevinne Jozef & Rosina Lhevinne (piano) with Juilliard Orchestra, Members of the National Orchestra Assiociation [ Philips Great Pianists Of The 20th Century Vol. 64 / 2 CD - released 1/Jun/2000 ] "These discs celebrate both an incomparable partnership and two Moscow Gold Medallists who achieved a legendary status in their separate careers." Gramophone |
VARIOUS COMPOSERS
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Santo - Sacred Songs Juan Diego Florez (tenor) & Nicoletta Mezzini (organ & harpsichord) / Orchestra e Coro del Teatro Comunale di Bologna, Michele Mariotti [ Decca Music Group / CD - released 28/Oct/2010 ] "Good for Juan Diego Florez for this release! I'm second to none in my love for the bel cantists, but it's good to hear a "pigeon-holed" tenor in repertoire that is somewhat different. The engineering is superb and the accompaniments are excellent." |
BELLINI / ROSSINI / DONIZETTI
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Arias for Rubini Juan Diego Florez (tenor) / Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia / Roberto Abbado [ Decca / CD - released 5/Sep/2007 ] 'The King of the High Ds' celebrates the first superstar tenor with this disc of beautiful and thrilling arias by Rossini, Bellini and Donizetti. |
GLUCK / VERDI / ROSSINI / CIMAROSA / HALEVY / etc
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Juan Diego Florez - Great Tenor Arias Juan Diego Florez (tenor) Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano Giuseppe Verdi. Carlo Rizzi [ Decca Records / CD - released 12/Sep/2004 ] "Another congenial programme for the formidably gifted Peruvian tenore di grazia. He's finely supported by secure and stylistically credible accompaniemnets, and by Decca's bright and forward sound." ***** Five Stars (Pick of the Month) BBC Music... |
LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Beethoven: Early Cantatas Judith Howarth, Janice Watson (soprano), Jean Rigby (mezzo soprano), John Mark Ainsley (tenor), Jose Van Dam (bass) / Corydon Singers & Orchestra [ Hyperion Helios / CD - released 28/Aug/1997 ] 'Arguably Beethoven's first major masterpiece … superb performance, at once fresh and incisive and deeply moving' - PENGUIN GUIDE ROSETTE |
ROBERT SCHUMANN
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Schumann: Das Paradies und die Peri / Overture, Scherzo and Finale Julia Faulkner, Heidi Grant, Florence Quivar, Elisabeth Wilke, Keith Lewis, Robert Swensen / Staatskapelle Dresden, Giuseppe Sinopoli [ Deutsche Grammophon / 2 CD Box Set - released 18/Mar/2013 ] "I found very much to enjoy from the mellifluous Keith Lewis, a tellingly expressive yet never over-operatic tenor narrator. And the lyrical warmth of Robert Hale as the penitent sinner (and the baritone soloist in ''Jetzt sank des Abends goldner... |
GEORGES BIZET
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Bizet: Carmen (complete opera with full libretto) Julia Migenes Johnson, Placido Domingo, Ruggiero Raimondi, Faith Esham / National Orchestra of France, Lorin Maazel [ Erato / CD - released 1/May/1984 ] "Carmen is sung here by Julia Migenes Johnson. Her Habanera is wonderfully shapely and sexy, in a quite light flirty manner. In Act 4 she and Placido Domingo (as Don José) give us a wonderfully dramatic climax to the opera." (MusicWeb) |
FREDERICK DELIUS / EDVARD GRIEG
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Delius & Grieg: Music for Cello and Piano Julian Lloyd Webber (cello) Bengt Forsberg (piano) [ Philips / CD - released 1/May/1996 ] 'Though a very high proportion of the music here is reflective, the meditative intensity of the playing sustains it well. The booklet contains a delightful photo of Delius with Grieg and his wife as well as Halvorsen and Sinding, all playing cards.'... |
VARIOUS COMPOSERS
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Pieces Julian Lloyd Webber (cello) / Royal Philharmonic Orchestra / Barry Wordsworth [ Philips / CD - released 10/Aug/2007 ] Julian Lloyd Webber made his professional debut as a cellist at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, London, in September 1972 when he gave the first London performance of the cello concerto by Sir Arthur Bliss. |
ROBERT SCHUMANN
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: The Songs of Robert Schumann:Vol 3 Juliane Banse (soprano) Graham Johnson (piano) [ Hyperion / CD ] "The care that has gone into the literary and musicological side of the project is perfectly matched by the musical results. Banse proves to be a wonderfully perceptive interpreter. In every respect this is a wonderful Lieder disc" The Guardian |
J. S. BACH
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Bach: Mass in B minor Julianne Baird, Judith Nelson, Jeffrey Dooley, Jan Opalach / The Bach Ensemble (original instruments), Joshua Rifkin [ Nonesuch Ultima / 2 CD - released 11/Sep/1982 ] Composed in spurts of productivity over the last 20 years of Bach's life, the Mass in B Minor was not completed until just before the composer's death, making it one of his last great works. It is performed here on original period instruments by the... |
ERICH KORNGOLD
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Korngold: Orchestral Works, Vol. 3 [Incls 'Cello Concerto'] Julius Berger (cello) / North West German Philharmonic Orchestra, Werner Andreas Albert [ CPO / CD - released 4/Dec/1991 ] "If sweet tunes and sumptuous orchestration constituted all the necessary for a great composer, Korngold would count as one of the greatest. Furthermore, a vein of genuine, individual poetry runs through just about everything he wrote." ClassicalNet |
LUDWIG van BEETHOVEN / W. A. MOZART
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Beethoven: Piano Sonatas 23 "Appassionata" & 32 / Diabelli Variations, etc / Mozart: Piano Sonatas Nos. 13 & 16 Julius Katchen (piano) [ Decca The Art of Julius Katchen / 2 CD - released 12/Mar/2000 ] "His Beethoven Sonatas are commanding edifices but the towering achievement here is his 46-minute Diabelli Variations." MusicWebute... |
JOHANNES BRAHMS
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Brahms: Works for solo piano (special price) Julius Katchen (piano) [ Decca Collector's Edition / 6 CD Box Set - released 7/Sep/2007 ] 1001 Classical recordings you must hear before you die (1851-1900) "... there's plenty of fire here and much to enjoy. Altogether, this Brahms set is a fine memorial to Katchen and a worthy issue." Gramophone |
LUDWIG van BEETHOVEN
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Beethoven: Piano Concertos 1, 2, 3, 5 & Rondo in B flat Julius Katchen (piano) / London Symphony Orchestra, Piero Gamba [ Decca The Art of Julius Katchen / 2 CD - released 12/Mar/2004 ] "The performances are fresh and commanding … Tempi are often on the fast side, but Katchen keeps a classical firmness and provides the necessary contrast in relaxed, poetic accounts of slow movements and sparkling readings of finales." Penguin Guide... |
LUDWIG van BEETHOVEN / W. A. MOZART
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Beethoven: Piano Concerto No.4 / Choral Fantasy in C minor / Mozart-Piano Concertos, K415, 466 & 503, Piano Sonata K331) Julius Katchen (piano) / Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra, Karl Munchinger [ Decca The Art of Julius Katchen / 2 CD - released 12/Mar/2004 ] "The pared-down sonority of Karl Münchinger's Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra, together with Decca's close miking points up Mozart's ceaselessly inventive woodwind scoring." International Record Review |