CLAUDIO MONTEVERDI
Monteverdi: Complete Madrigals Le Nuove Musiche, Krun Koetsveld [ Brilliant Classics / 12 CD Box Set - released 1/Feb/2019 ] This set presents the complete recording of all nine books of Madrigals by Claudio Monteverdi, as performed by Le Nuove Musiche conducted by Krijn Koetsveld. "A polished, well-balanced sound.. consistently musical and intelligent" (Early Music) |
J. S. BACH / BEETHOVEN / STRAVINSKY / SCHUMANN / MOZART / HANDEL / etc
Sir John Eliot Gardiner: Complete recordings on Archiv and Deutsche Grammophon The Monteverdi Choir / English Baroque Soloists / Orchestre Revolutionnaire et Romantique, John Eliot Gardiner [ Deutsche Grammophon / Archiv / 104 CD Box Set - released 21/May/2021 ] Vocal soloists include Nancy Argenta, Olaf Bär, Barbara Bonney, Michael Chance, Bernarda Fink, Magdalena Kožená Derek Lee Ragin, Sara Mingardo, Anne Sofie von Otter, Mark Padmore, Anthony Rolfe Johnson, Andreas Schmidt and Stephen Varcoe. ... |
HENRY PURCELL
Purcell: King Arthur, Music for Queen Mary, The Indian Queen, The Tempest Monteverdi Choir, Monteverdi Orchestra, English Baroque Soloists, John Eliot Gardiner, with Jennifer Smith, Gillian Fisher, Stephen Varcoe, etc [ Warner Classics / 9 CD Box Set - released 25/Mar/2022 ] "Solo singing for the most part is excellent, with Stephen Varcoe outstanding among the men." *** Three Stars (Penguin Stereo Guide on King Arthur) |
W. A. MOZART
Mozart: La clemenza di Tito (complet opera) Anna Stéphany, Antoinette Dennefeld, Nicky Spence, David Steffens / Opéra de Rouen Haute-Normandie, Ben Glassberg [ Alpha Classics / 2 CD Box Set - released 11/Nov/2022 ] Flanked by a spectacular cast featuring the role debuts of Nicky Spence (named 'Personality of the Year' by BBC Music Magazine in 2022) and Simona Šaturová, the conductor Ben Glassberg (Music Director of the Opéra de Rouen Normandie) once again... |
W. A. MOZART
Mozart: Le Nozze di Figaro, Don Giovanni, Cosí fan Tutte, Die Zauberflöte; Sigiswald Kuijken, La Petite Bande Monica Groop, Huub Claessens, Nancy Argenta, Christina Högman, Soile Isokoski, Harry van de Kamp / La Petite Bande [ Brilliant Classics / 12 CD Box Set - released 1/Mar/2019 ] "..this is an excellent way to obtain four of Mozart's greatest works, well performed, cleanly recorded and at a very modest price point." Gramophone |
LISZT / SCHUBERT / TCHAIKOVSKY / BRAHMS / CHOPIN / SHOSTAKOVICH / etc
Emil Gilels - the complete RCA and Columbia Album Collection Emil Gilels (piano) [ Sony / RCA Originals / 7 CD Box Set - released 20/Jan/2017 ] One of the greatest pianists of the 20th century, Gilels was best-known for his remarkable vitality and sensitivity to the Romantic style. |
GEORG PHILIPP TELEMANN
Telemann: Tafelmusik (complete) (Rec 2003) Musica Amphion / Pieter-Jan Belder (conductor) [ Brilliant Classics / 4 CD - released 26/Aug/2005 ] "There is plenty of variety and colour and moments...Characterisation of the various movements, whether Francophile or Vivaldian is acutely judged and the rewards are uniform - and lasting." (Musicweb) |
MONTEVERDI / COSTELEY / CHARPENTIER / JANEQUIN / RAMEAU / BRAHMS / etc
Nadia Boulanger - Icon: The American Decca Recordings Nadia Boulanger (harpsichord/piano/conductor) [ Deutsche Grammophon Decca Eloquence / 5 CD Box Set - released 20/Oct/2020 ] "Nadia Boulanger's control of the score is wholly magnificent, a great artist at work … wonderfully vivid" Philip Hope-Wallace, Gramophone, July 1954 (Charpentier) |
JOHANNES BRAHMS
Brahms: Chamber Music [Piano Quartets, String Quintets, String Sextets, etc] The Nash Ensemble, with Richard Hosford (clarinet) [ Onyx / 4 CD Box Set - released 1/Dec/2012 ] "The splendid performance of the piano quartet shows the young Brahms's intellectual power and melodic abundance to magnificent advantage." (Sunday Times) |
KIRCHNER / KILLMAYER / HARRISON / LEES / DENNY / ROSEN / etc
Fromm Music Foundation - Twentieth Century Composer Series Nathan Rubin, Ludwig Shapero (violins) George Neikrug (cello) Leon Kirchner (piano) / The New York Concert Choir & Orchestra, Juilliard String Quartet [ Sony Classical / 10 CD Box Set - released 20/May/2020 ] From January 1957 to March 1962 Columbia Masterworks in collaboration with the Fromm Music Foundation released a series of 9 highly acclaimed LPs in the Twentieth Century Composer Series with music by, then, contemporary composers. |
HERRMANN / NEWMAN / KORNGOLD / TIOMKIN / ROZSA / WAXMAN
Charles Gerhardt conducts Classic Film Scores National Philharmonic Orchestra, Charles Gerhardt, with Kiri te Kanawa (soprano) & Norma Procter (contralto) [ RCA Red Seal / Sony music Masters / 12 CD Box Set - released 13/Mar/2020 ] In the 1970s, the Classic Film Scores series introduced a new generation to the sumptuous sound of music in Hollywood's "Golden Age." |
JOHANNES BRAHMS
Brahms: Complete Symphonies & Serenades Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra, Jaap van Zweden [ Brilliant Classics / 5 CD Box Set - released 25/Sep/2020 ] "This is an unfailingly warm-hearted, full-blooded Brahmsian sound and seems to represent a genuine attempt at redirecting the modern symphony orchestra towards the sort of sound-mix Brahms himself is likely to have heard." MusicWeb |
GERSHWIN / GROFE / HAYDN / BEETHOVEN / STRAVINSKY / BERNSTEIN / MAHLER
This is Leonard Bernstein: His Greatest Recordings Rudolf Serkin, Lukas Foss (pianos), Original Broadway Cast, Dietrich Fischer Dieskau (baritone) / New York Philharmonic Orchestra, Leonard Bernstein [ Sony Classical / 16 CD Box Set - released 1/Nov/2009 ] This special edition collects the conductor-composer's 15 most celebrated original albums from the 1950s and 60s on 16 CDs. The best selection of his benchmark recordings as a conductor, composer and pianist. |
CLAUDE DEBUSSY
Debussy: Piano Music (complete on 6 CDs) Noriko Ogawa, piano [ BIS / 6 CD Box Set - released 1/Jan/2012 ] "This first instalment of an ongoing cycle should be collected by all Debussy enthusiasts who have so far missed out on it" (MusicWeb Feb 2008 on Vol 1) |
JOHN DOWLAND
Dowland: Complete Lute Music Nigel North (lute) [ Naxos / 4 CD - released 5/Oct/2009 ] Arguably the finest recordings of Dowland's much-loved lute music, Nigel North's Dowland Lute Edition has gained him a garland of critical accolades: 'A collector's item' (The Times on Vol 1, 8.557586), 'a remarkable performance of wonderful music'... |
SERGEY IVANOVICH TANEYEV
Taneyev: Orchestral Works Novosibirsk Academic Symphony Orchestra & Russian Philharmonic Orchestra, Thomas Sanderling, with Ilya Kaler (violin) & Gnesin Academy Chorus [ Naxos / 4 CD Box Set - released 27/May/2022 ] Sergey Taneyev was a monumental figure of late 19th-century Russian music. He was a student of Rubinstein and Tchaikovsky, and became teacher to Rachmaninov and Scriabin. |
OTTORINO RESPIGHI
Respighi: The Complete Orchestral Music [8 CD set] Orchestra Sinfonica di Roma, Francesco La Vecchia [ Brilliant Classics / 8 CD Box Set - released 22/Aug/2015 ] The only edition of the orchestral works by Respighi, now available in a 8CD set! |
DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH
Shostakovich Symphonies 4, 5 & 6 Oslo Philharmonic, Klaus Mäkelä [ Decca / 2 CD Box Set - released 13/Sep/2024 ] "...the account of the Sixth Symphony is beautifully controlled and paced, the Oslo strings radiant as the first movement steadily intensifies, the woodwind fabulously agile in the scherzo second, and the finale a joyous, witty romp." The Guardian |
JEAN SIBELIUS
Sibelius: Complete Symphonies Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, Klaus Mäkelä [ Decca / 4 CD - released 25/Mar/2022 ] BBC MUSIC AWARD NOMINATION 2023 - Orchestral |
TELEMANN / MOLTER / TORELLI / HAYDN / VIVALDI / L. MOZART / etc
Trumpet Concertos [special priced box set] Otto Sauter, Thomas Hammes, Franz Wagnermeyer, Reinhold Friedrich, Joachim Pliquett, etc (trumpets) [ Brilliant Classics / 10 CD Box Set - released 25/May/2018 ] "Many good things: music by composers generally badly served by other labels, the standard of musicianship high and sound quality generally excellent." (Bargain of the Month MusicWeb April 2011 on the original release) |