RICHARD STRAUSS
Eugene Ormandy Conducts Richard Strauss Philadelphia Orchestra, Eugene Ormandy, with Rudolf Serkin (piano) & Lorne Munroe (cello) [ Sony Classical / 4 CD Box Set - released 13/Mar/0020 ] Ormandy is best known for his longstanding post as the conductor of The Philadelphia Orchestra. He also developed what came to be known as the "Philadelphia Sound" emphasizing lush string sonorities and, legato phrasing and rounded tone. |
SERGEI RACHMANINOV
Rachmaninov: Pianist and Conductor - Legendary Recordings, 1919-1942 Sergei Rachmaninov (piano) / Philadelphia Orchestra, Leopold Stokowski & Eugene Ormandy [ Naxos Historical / 9 CD Box Set - released 6/Dec/2010 ] In every recording by Rachmaninov, whether it be of his own compositions or not, one is immediately aware of his complete control. This is combined with acute clarity, sparse use of the sustaining pedal and an orchestral conception of sound. |
BACH / BERLIOZ / BRAHMS / DEBUSSY / GERSHWIN / SHOSTAKOVICH / etc
Eugene Ormandy: The Columbia Stereo Recordings (1964-1983) The Philadephia Orchestra, Eugene Ormandy, with Philippe Entremont, Emil Gilels, Eugene Istomin, Rudolf Serkin, Isaac Stern, Leonard Rose, etc [ Sony RCA Classical Masters / 94 CD Box Set - released 28/Mar/2025 ] This massive new reissue from Eugene Ormandy's stereo discography collects all the Columbia Masterworks recordings he made in Philadelphia between the early 1960s and early 1980s. |
JACQUES OFFENBACH
Offenbach: Le voyage dans la lune (complete operetta) Violette Polchi, Sheva Tehoval, Matthieu Lécroart, Pierre Derhet / Chœur et Orchestre national Montpellier Occitanie, Pierre Dumoussaud [ Bru Zane / 2 CD/Book - released 27/May/2022 ] "With Offenbach's opéra féerie - Le Voyage dans la Lune Bru Zane has come up trumps." MusicWeb |
VARIOUS COMPOSERS
Complete Fitzwilliam Virginal Book Pieter-Jan Belder (harpsichord) [ Brilliant Classics / 15 CD Box Set - released 20/Nov/2020 ] This landmark set gathers all seven volumes of Pieter-Jan Belder's exhaustive exploration of the Fitzwilliam Virginal Book in recordings spanning the current decade. |
ARCANGELO CORELLI
Corelli: Complete Edition Pieter-Jan Belder (harpsichord), Musica Amphion [ Brilliant Classics / 10 CD Box Set - released 15/Nov/2010 ] "The Concerti grossi, Op. 6 are full of verve here; there's a real sense of enjoyment in the playing and the same enthusiasm is to be found throughout. At its most zestful the set is excellent, and the disappointments are few." Penguin Guide |
J. S. BACH
Complete Concertos Pieter‐Jan Belder (keyboard), Thomas Zehetmair (violin), Christine Schornsheim (harpsichord), Andrius Puskunigis (oboe) / Amsterdam Bach Soloists, etc [ Brilliant Classics / 9 CD Box Set - released 6/May/2016 ] This 9 CD set contains the complete solo concertos by Johann Sebastian Bach: the Brandenburg Concertos, violin concertos, keyboard concertos for one, two, three and four harpsichords and the triple concerto. As an attractive "bonus" two CD's are... |
RAVEL / MOZART / MUSSORGSKY / R. STRAUSS / WAGNER / BACH / BRAHMS / etc
Fritz Reiner - The Complete Columbia Album Collection Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Columbia Broadcasting Concert Orchestra, Columbia String Ensemble, Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, Fritz Reiner [ RCA / Sony Classical / 14 CD Box Set - released 11/Jun/2020 ] Limited 14CD set. When the 50-year-old Fritz Reiner was appointed conductor of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra in 1938, he was still relatively unfamiliar in his adopted American homeland. This pupil of Bartók at the Academy of Music in his native... |
GUSTAV MAHLER
Mahler: Complete Symphonies Lynda Russell (soprano) / Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra, Warsaw Philharmonic Choir and Orchestra, Warsaw Boys' Choir, Antoni Wit, Michael H [ Naxos / 15 CD Box Set - released 10/May/2017 ] "The excellent quality of the Katowice Orchestra of Polish Radio is impressively demonstrated...it stands comparison with any rival" Penguin Guide on No 6 |
MENDELSSOHN / BRUCH / TURINA / ALBÉNIZ / TORROBA / RODRIGO / etc
Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos - The Decca Legacy Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, Narciso Yepes, Alicia de Larrocha, Ion Voicu [ Decca Eloquence / 11 CD Box Set - released 16/May/2025 ] Of German parentage, but growing up in Burgos, Spain, Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos had an innate sympathy with both musical traditions of his heritage, and Decca played to this strength. |
RACHMANINOV / CHOPIN / SCHUMANN / LISZT
Rafael Orozco - The Philips Legacy Rafael Orozco (piano) / Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, Edo de Waart [ Decca / Eloquence / 8 CD Box Set - released 5/Jul/2024 ] Collected here are the complete Philips recordings of one of Spain's piano aristocracy, winner of the 1966 Leeds Piano Competition. There is passion and poetry in equal measure, and an instinctive feeling for the ebb and flow of a phrase... |
BACH / GABRIELI / HANDEL / MOZART / VIVALDI / etc
Canadian Brass: from Monteverdi to Mozart [5 CD set] Canadian Brass [ Sony Classical Masters / 5 CD Box Set - released 1/Sep/2011 ] This album is a re-issue of the acclaimed ensemble Canadian Brass who have recorded works from the Renaissance and Baroque as well as a number of works by Mozart. |
J. S. BACH / MARC-ANTOINE CHARPENTIER / ARCANGELO CORELLI / etc
A Baroque Christmas (Limited Edition) Akademie fur Alte Berlin, RIAS Kammerchor, René Jacobs / Ensemble 415,Chiara Banchini / Ensemble Correspondances, Sébastien Daucé [ Harmonia Mundi / 4 CD Box Set - released 4/Oct/2019 ] Ranging from unaffected simplicity to elaborate polyphony, the composers of the 17th and 18th centuries left us some of the most sublime pages of sacred music intended to tell the story of the Nativity. The extraordinary musical legacy produced as a... |
GIACOMO PUCCINI
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Puccini: Madama Butterfly (Complete Opera recorded in 1959) Renata Tebaldi, Carlo Bergonzi, Fiorenza Cossotto, Enzo Sordello / Coro Dell'Accademia Nazionale Di Santa Cecilia, Tullio Serafin [ Decca / 2 CD Box Set - released 20/Sep/2009 ] "There are few accounts of the role that are more securely, more gloriously sung, and with a voice that seems without a flaw throughout its register" Gramophone |
LUDWIG van BEETHOVEN
Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 1 - 9 (Recorded live from the Opéra Bastille and the Palais Garnier, Paris 2014-15) Ricarda Merbeth, Daniela Sindram, Robert Dean Smitm, Günther Groissböck / Paris National Opera Chorus and Orchestra, Philippe Jordan [ Arthaus DVD / 4 DVD Box Set - released 20/Sep/2016 ] "A seasoned Beethovenian will likely conclude that a lot of care and thought went into the interpretations as well." Classical-Net |
MATTHIAS WECKMANN
Complete Works Ricercar Consort, La Fenice [ Ricercar / 5 CD Box Set - released 22/Apr/2016 ] Matthias Weckmann is doubtless the most fascinating Hamburg composer of the mid-17th century. A disciple of Schütz, nurtured on Italian music and, in particular, that of Claudio Monteverdi, he shone in all genres, achieving an impressive blending of... |
LOUIS COUPERIN
The Complete Harpsichord Works RIchard Egarr (harpsichord) [ Harmonia Mundi / 4 CD Box Set - released 3/Oct/2011 ] "Egarr revels in the variety, both harmonic and rhythmic, that this music contains, and the interpretative opportunities it offers. I don't think anyone, even Egarr, would suggest listening to all four of these CDs at a single sitting, but in smaller... |
ANTON WEBERN
The Complete Music of Anton Webern Robert Craft (conductor & musical director) with Marni Nixon, Grace-Lynne Martin, Richard Robinson, Charles Scharbach & others [ Sony Classical Masters / 4 CD Box Set - released 10/Dec/2021 ] The most comprehensive collection of Anton Webern. All of the performers, as well as additional instrumentalists and choral singers, were selected from Hollywood film studios. |
GERALD FINZI
A Finzi Anthology Robert Plane (clarinet), Tim Hugh (cello), Roderick Williams (baritone), Iain Burnside (piano), James Gilchrist (tenor), John Mark Ainsley (tenor) [ Naxos / 8 CD - released 9/Sep/2016 ] More than any other composer, Gerald Finzi (1901-1956) has come to embody the lyrical pastoralism so associated with English twentieth-century music. This anthology includes eight critically acclaimed recordings of Finzi's works. The themes of... |
GIROLAMO FRESCOBALDI
Frescobaldi: Complete Keyboard Works Roberto Loreggian (organ & harpsichord) [ Brilliant Classics / 15 CD Box Set - released 1/Mar/2023 ] Definitive recordings by the leading Frescobaldi performer of our time, now more conveniently packaged than ever. In 2007, Roberto Loreggian embarked on a project that would see him record every published work by Girolamo Frescobaldi. Issued as a... |