LUDWIG van BEETHOVEN
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Beethoven: Complete incidental music to Egmont, Op. 84 Wiener Philharmoniker [Vienna Philharmonic], George Szell, with Pilar Lorengar (soprano) & Klaus-Jurgen Wussow (narrator) [ Decca The Classic Sound / CD - released 10/Apr/2012 ] Original 1970 recording recording remastered in 1996 |
BEETHOVEN / BRAHMS / CHOPIN / SCHUBERT
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Great Pianists of the 20th Century - Wilhelm Backhaus I Wilhelm Backhaus (piano) [ Philips / Decca / 2 CD - released 1/Jun/2000 ] Backhaus made his first concert tour at the age of sixteen. In 1900 he went to England and in 1901 played for the first time in Manchester at the Gentleman's Concerts. In 1902 he performed at the Hallé Concerts, and thereafter in 12 concerts at the... |
BACH / BEETHOVEN / BRAHMS / COUPERIN / HANDEL / RAMEAU / SCHUMANN
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE - Wilhelm Kempff: Complete 1950s Solo Recordings Wilhelm Kempff (piano) [ DG Original Masters / 5 CD - released 21/Jul/2003 ] "A free spirit liberated in the studio - these Kempff performances are beyond price." (Gramophone Awards Issue 2003) |
BEETHOVEN / BRAHMS / FAURE / MOZART / SCHUBERT / SCHUMANN
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Great Pianists of the 20th Century - Wilhelm Kempff III Wilhelm Kempff (piano) / Berlin Philharmonic, Ferdinand Leitner [ Decca / Philips / Deutsche Grammophon / 2 CD - released 20/Jan/1998 ] Few pianists on record convey quite the impression of actually composing the music while they perform it that sets Wilhelm Kempff's artistry apart. This quality may owe something to his gift as an improviser (Kempff had also received early training... |
HEITOR VILLA-LOBOS
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Music for Flute (Incls Bachianas Brasileiras No 6) William Bennett (flute) with Thea King (clarinet) Neil Black (oboe) and others [ Hyperion / CD - released 1/Feb/2006 ] 'A disc of pure delight from beginning to end. Another example of why Hyperion gets my vote as the most innovative record label. Full marks!' (Which CD) |
W. A. MOZART
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Don Giovanni (Highlights from the complete opera) William Shimell, Cheryl Studer, Samuel Ramey / Vienna Philharmonic / Riccardo Muti [ EMI Encore / CD - released 22/Feb/2005 ] Combining comedy and drama, Don Giovanni is one of the most well-known and often praised operas ever written. First performed in 1787, it has been appealing to audiences ever since with its multitude of moral, as well as musical themes. |
JOHN TAVENER
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Tavener: Angels & other choral works Winchester Cathedral Choir, Andrew Lumsden (conductor) [ Hyperion / CD - released 10/Apr/2019 ] "This is a showroom demonstration of just what boy and girl choristers singing together can achieve. A truly magnificent birthday present." Gramophoe Editor's Choice May 2019 |
FRANK MARTIN
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Martin: Concertos & Orchestral Music Wolfgang Schneiderhan (violin) / L'Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Ernest Ansermet [ Double Decca / 2 CD - released 10/Feb/1996 ] "..particularly magnificent, thanks in no small part to Marga Höffgen's superlative singing; but all the parts are beautifully sung and played, and the recording engineers have taken their roles accordingly.' High Fidelity (In terra pax) |
WYNTON MARSALIS
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Sweet Release & Ghost Story - two more ballets by Wynton Marsalis Wynton Marsalis (trumpet/conductor) / Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra [ Sony Music / CD - released 2/Sep/1999 ] The fifth in Wynton Marsalis's avalanche of eight releases in 1999 was another pairing of ballets, again issued on Sony Classical rather than Columbia. Sweet Release is easily the more ingratiating of the two - obviously, even slavishly, modeled on... |
ALBENIZS / GOSS / TARREGA / GRANADOS / etc
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Xuefei Yang - 40 Degrees North Xuefei Yang (guitar) [ EMI Classics / CD - released 20/Jul/2008 ] "Aficionados of fine music, irrespective of specific disposition, will not be disappointed by this excellent recording." (MusicWeb July 2008) |
Yehudi Menuhin and Stephane Grappelli (violins), Alan Claire Trio, etc
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Jealousy [ EMI Music / CD - released 26/Jul/2005 ] A classic album from these two masters of their art. Full of fun and infectious music-making, the recording is supplemented here with tracks from the 1975 LP 'Fascinatin' Rhythm'. |
JOHANNES BRAHMS
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Brahms: Piano Trios Nos. 1-3 (Complete) Yo-Yo Ma (cello) Emanuel Ax (piano) Leonidas Kavakos (violin) [ Sony Classics / 2 CD - released 25/Oct/2017 ] "The quality of their playing is never in doubt, and the ensemble is faultless. There's tremendous authority in the assertive movements...but there could be something more personal in the more wistfully introspective ones." The Guardian |
FREDERIC CHOPIN
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Chopin: Complete Waltzes Zoltan Kocsis (piano) [ Philips Insignia / CD - released 1/Jan/1994 ] Zoltan Kocsis won the Hungarian Radio Beethoven Competition in 1970, and made his first concert tour of the United States in the following year. He received the Liszt Prize in 1973, and the Kossuth Prize in 1978 |
GIACOMO PUCCINI
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Puccini: La Boheme (complete opera recorded in 2005) Zurich Opera / Cristina Gallardo-Domas, Elena Mosuc, Marcello Giordani, Cheyne Davidson / Franz Welser-Most (cond) [ EMI Classics / DVD - released 26/Mar/2007 ] The Belgian director of this production, Philippe Sireuil, was heavily inspired by Aki Kaurismäki's film version of Henri Murger's novel "Scènes de la vie de Bohème". |
RICHARD STRAUSS
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Ariadne auf Naxos (complete opera recorded 1986 with libretto) Anna Tomowa-Sintow, Agnes Baltsa, Kathleen Battle, Gary Lakes, Hermann Prey / Wiener Philharmoniker, James Levine [ Deutsche Grammophon / 2 CD Box Set - released 30/Oct/2014 ] "For its debut on CD, Ariadne auf Naxos receives a bright, clear DG recording, ... Much of this can be credited to James Levine's acute sense of tempo throughout" Gramophone |
LUDWIG van BEETHOVEN
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Beethoven: String Quartets Opp.127 & 135 Alban Berg Quartett [ EMI Encore / CD - released 6/Jul/2005 ] Recorded: 18-22.XII.1981, Seon, Switzerland |
W. A. MOZART
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Barbara Hendricks - Mozart Opera and Conceret Arias Barbara Hendricks (soprano) / English Chamber Orchestra, Ion Marin [ EMI Classics / CD - released 12/Dec/1998 ] Recorded at Air Studios, London, March 1997 |
W. A. MOZART
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Mozart: Concerto for Clarinet & Orchestra / Quintet for Clarinet & String Quartet Benny Goodman (clarinet) / Boston Symphony Orchestra, Charles Munch / Budapest String Quartet [ RCA Red Seal / CD - released 20/May/1986 ] Original recordings from 1956 (concerto) and 1938 |
GRIEG / GLUCK / RESPIGHI / VIVALDI / SIBELIUS / MOZART / etc
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Adagio 2 Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Herbert von Karajan [ Deutsche Grammophon / CD - released 15/Jan/2001 ] Beautiful sounds of Karajan and the Berlin Philharmonic |
GIUSEPPE VERDI / LUDWIG van BEETHOVEN / J. S. BACH
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Sacred Music [4 DVDs Special Price] Christian Elsner, Rene Pape, Midori Suzuki, Robin Blaze, Ruth Ziesak / Dresden State Opera, Musicale Fiorentino, Bach Collegium Japan, etc [ DV1 / Ovation Entertainment / 4 DVD Box Set - released 16/Sep/2010 ] The great sacred works Masses, oratorios and requiems are among the most moving and sublime creations of classical music. They provide solace and can lift you in ways that mere words can never achieve. |