CAMILLE SAINT-SAENS
Saint-Saëns Edition Victoria de los Angeles, Marie-Claire Alain, Maurice Andre, Michel Beroff, Frank Braley, Gautier Capucon, Stephen Hough, Alexandre Tharaud, and more [ Warner Classics / 34 CD Box Set - released 15/Oct/2021 ] "Arriving in time to mark the centenary of his death, this is more than merely a sensible collection. It presents some of the very best recordings of the composer's music ever made" MusicWeb |
J. S. BACH
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Walter Gieseking: Complete Bach Recordings on Deutsche Grammophon Walter Gieseking (piano) / Berliner Philharmoniker, Wilhelm Furtwängler [ Deutsche Grammophon / 7 CD Box Set - released 10/Jul/2019 ] 'His tone is attractive (warmed by a little pedal) and subtly nuanced, his phrasing is musicianly, he gives the fugues (often long, in this book) control and cohesion; there is gentleness in the E flat major Prelude and lightness in that in G major.' |
MOZZART / SCHUBERT / BRUCKNER / R. STRAUSS / DVORAK / TCHAIKOVSKY / etc
Wolfgang Sawallisch: The Warner Classics Edition Complete Symphonic, Lieder & Choral Recordings Wolfgang Sawallisch, with Peter Schreier, Peter Zimmermann, Lucia Popp, Annie Fischer, Dennis Brain, etc [ Warner Classics / 65 CD Box Set - released 7/Jun/2024 ] For five decades Wolfgang Sawallisch (1923-2013) held a central position in the musical world. That centrality was reflected in a series of top orchestral and operatic posts and in his interpretations, free of self-regarding eccentricities. His... |
J. S. BACH / ELGAR / DVORAK / TCHAIKOVSKY / HAYDN / SCHUMANN
Yo-Yo Ma Plays Cello Masterworks (8CD box set) Yo-Yo Ma (cello) / various accompaniments [ Sony Classical / 8 CD Box Set - released 1/Apr/2013 ] "The CD gives an absolutely truthful projection of a cello image which in the concert hall can seem too reticent, but here is perfectly balanced with the orchestra." (Gramophone on the Lalo / Saint-Saens) |
STRAUSS / LEHAR / HEUBERGER / KALMAN / MOZART / BELLINI / DONIZETTI / HANDEL / etc
Richard Bonynge: The Opera Collection Yvonne Kenny, Isabel Buchanan, Joan Sutherland, Deborah Riedel, Heather Begg, Angela Denning, etc / Richard Bonynge, conductor [ ABC Classics / 4 CD Box Set - released 9/May/2025 ] Richard Bonynge is renowned as one of the finest opera conductors of his generation. His musicianship has been acclaimed around the globe - but it is at home in Australia that many of his closest musical collaborations have developed. |
LUDWIG van BEETHOVEN
Beethoven: Symphony No.9 "Choral" (studio & Live) / Egmont: incidental music Aase Nordmo-Løvberg, Christa Ludwig, Waldemar Kmentt, Hans Hotter, Birgit Nilsson / Philharmonia Chorus & Orchestra, Otto Klemperer [ Warner SACD / 2 Hybrid SACD - released 14/Feb/2025 ] "…Otto Klemperer's energy and momentum come not from his tempos but from the way the rhythms are articulated. In the first movement and Scherzo the heroic, teeth-gritted determination are physically gripping, In this Ninth combined urgency with... |
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. |
GIOACHINO ROSSINI
Rossini: La Pietra del paragone (complete opera) Agata Bienkowska (mezzo) / Alessandro Codeluppi (tenor) / Raffaele Constantini (bass) / Anna Rita Gemmabella (sop) / Anke Herrmann (sop) [ Naxos Opera Classics / 3 CD Box Set - released 2/Jun/2004 ] "Polish mezzo Agata Bienkowska...here evinces a rich-toned flexible voice of considerable promise ..The conductor, Alessandro de Marchi, is well known in early music circles. He brings clear articulation to the ensembles." MusicWeb |
FELIX MENDELSSOHN
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Mendelssohn: Elias (Elijah) (Complete Oratorio in German) Alastair Miles, Jard van Nes, Helen Donath / Israel Philharmonic, Kurt Masur [ Teldec / 2 CD Box Set - released 1/May/1993 ] Contains comprehensive book and translations |
FRANZ SCHUBERT
Schubert: String Quartets, Trout Quintet & String Quintet Alban Berg Quartet, Elisabeth Leonskaja (piano), Georg Hörtnagel (double bass) [ Warner Classics / 5 CD Box Set - released 17/Mar/2023 ] The Alban Berg Quartett approach Schubert with classical discipline while vividly conveying the mysterious fervent power that is so instantaneously unique in the composer's works. They capture the quintessentially Viennese spirit of Schubert, as... |
LUDWIG van BEETHOVEN
Beethoven: Complete String Quartets Alban Berg Quartett [ Warner Classics / 7 CD Box Set - released 24/Aug/2012 ] "The Alban Berg Quartet possess a wonderfully burnished tone, superbly blended ensemble and unanimity of attack as well as flawless intonation." (Gramophone) |
LUDWIG van BEETHOVEN
Beethoven: The 9 Symphonies (complete) Soile Isokoski (sop), Rosemarie Lang (cont) Robert Gambill (ten) René Pape (bass) / Staatskapelle Berlin / Daniel Barenboim [ Warner Classics / 6 CD Box Set - released 22/Aug/2017 ] "I waited a very long time to record the Beethoven symphonies," said Daniel Barenboim when this cycle was first released in 2000. |
GIOACHINO ROSSINI
Rossini: Complete Piano Music Péchés de vieillesse (Sins of Old Age) Alessandro Marangoni (piano), with Giuseppina Bridelli (mezzo-soprano), Ars Cantica Choir & others [ Naxos / 13 CD Box Set - released 26/Nov/2021 ] Rossini drew a line under his hugely successful operatic career at the age of 37 and wrote little until his final years in Paris, where he became renowned for his musical salons. For these he wrote numerous short piano pieces. |
W. A. MOZART
Alicia de Larrocha Plays Mozart Alicia de Larrocha (piano), André Previn (piano) / English Chamber Orchestra, The Orchestra of St. Luke's, Sir Colin Davis [ Sony / RCA Classical Masters / 6 CD Box Set - released 13/Mar/2020 ] "...this is a profound reading with many subtleties of touch and altogether a more weighty approach, especially evident in the slow movement. K491 is predictably dramatic. Marriner's orchestra is excellent." classical-music |
MANUEL de FALLA
Manuel de Falla - The Spanish Soul Alicia de Larrocha (piano), Turibio Santos (guitar), Victoria de los Angeles (soprano), Jean-Claude Gérard (flute), Orquesta Nacional de España, etc [ Warner Classics / 11 CD Box Set - released 12/Nov/2021 ] Manuel de Falla is regarded as the greatest Spanish composer of the twentieth century. Established in Paris from 1907 to 1914, he met Debussy, Ravel and Dukas and steeped himself in their works. |
JOSEPH HAYDN
Haydn: 27 String Quartets Amadeus Quartet [ Decca / 10 CD Box Set - released 6/Apr/2009 ] "This is poised and civilised music-making, much of which is familiar and all of it intensely thoughtful and revealing...the playing of slow movements especially seems to anticipate the profundity of Beethoven." Guardian |
LUDWIG van BEETHOVEN
Essential Beethoven - The New Complete Essential Edition Amadeus Quartet, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Emil Gilels, Anne-Sophie Mutter, Amadeus Quartet, Claudio Arrau, John Eliot Gardiner, Wilhelm Kempff, etc [ Deutsche Grammophon / 95 CD/DVD Box Set - released 22/Oct/2021 ] Deutsche Grammophon are proud to present the most modern and complete set of Beethoven's work ever issued. Assembled in cooperation with Decca and ten other labels, this New Complete Edition features over 250 legendary performers. |
HAYDN / SCHUMANN / HANDEL / BRAHMS / REGER / SMETANA
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Andras Schiff - Solo Piano Music Andras Schiff (piano) [ Warners Classics / 6 CD Box Set - released 25/Jun/2007 ] "Schiff is unquestionably among the most gifted and mercurial musicians of our time; a 'masterpianist' indeed. His programme, too, is exemplary with Handel's theme heard again in Brahms's Handel Variations." Gramophone |
VARIOUS COMPOSERS
Europakonzert - 30th Anniversary Blu-ray Edition Andreas Ottensamer (clarinet) Magdalena Kožená (mezzo) Vadim Repin (violin) etc / Berliner Philharmoniker [Berlin Philharmonic] [ EuroArts Blu-ray / 31 Blu-ray Box Set - released 21/Jan/2022 ] An absolute must-have for collectors and fans of the annually celebrated event. Many renowned conductors have chosen to perform with the Berliner Philharmoniker over a time period of 30 years. |
J. S. BACH
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Bach: Cantatas for alto / Cantatas for Solo Bass / German Cantatas [before Bach] Andreas Scholl (countertenor) Peter Kooy (bass) / Collegium Vocale Orchestra Philippe Herreweghe (conductor) [ Harmonia Mundi Herreweghe Bach Edition / 3 CD Box Set - released 10/Oct/2010 ] "There is probably no living countertenor whom I would rather hear singing these cantatas than Andreas Scholl. Scholl is on top form in BWV170, paying close attention to the relationship between text and music." (Gramophone) |