EDWARD ELGAR
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Elgar: The Lighter Elgar / From the Bavarian Highlands / Serenade for Strings (with works by Sanford & Parry) Frederick Harvey (baritone) John Mark Ainsley (tenor) / Northern Sinfonia, Neville Marriner / Royal Philharmonic, Lawrence Collingwood / etc [ EMI British Composers / 5 CD Box Set - released 20/Dec/2011 ] A 5CD set containing titles from the acclaimed EMI British Composers series, based around the music of Sir Edward Elgar and his contemporaries; Sir Charles Villiers Stanford and Sir Hubert Parry. |
MOZART / FLOTOW / WAGNER / CORNELIUS / J. STRAUSS II / KALMAN / LEHAR / etc
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Fritz Wunderlich: The Very Best Of Fritz Wunderlich (tenor) with various orchestras & conductors [ EMI Classics / 2 CD - released 10/Oct/2003 ] "I urge every lover of the tenor to buy this set...one of the most beautiful, natural, refined and unforced tenor voices we have ever heard." (MusicWeb) |
J. S. BACH
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Bach: St.Matthew Passion (recorded in 1954) Anton Dermota, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Elisabeth Grummer, Otto Edlemann / Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra & Chorus, Wilhelm Furtwangler [ EMI Classics / 2 CD Box Set - released 10/Jul/1995 ] "Furtwangler mustered a conspicuously fine group of soloists, notable among whom in the context of this work are Anton Dermota and Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau. Their contributions perhaps provide the strongest reasons for wanting this St Matthew" Gramop |
RACHMANINOV / SCRIABIN / de FALLA / GRANDOS / GINASTERA / etc
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Recital & Improvisations Gabriela Montero (piano) [ EMI Classics / 2 CD - released 5/Sep/2005 ] "No matter how jaw-dropping her miraculously clean-fingered negotiation of such as Liszt's Mephisto Waltz, it's what happens between the notes, the way she grippingly characterises everything she plays." BBC Music October 2005 Instrumental Choice |
LECUONA / MONTERO / ESTEVEZ / GINASTERA / CARRENO
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Gabriela Montero - Solatino Gabriela Montero (piano) [ EMI Classics / CD - released 4/Oct/2010 ] "Montero has a phenomenal as an improviser...And what these amount to is a charming palimpsest from the Latin American classical tradition...everything has the freshness of novelty" BBC Music |
J. S. BACH
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Gabriela Montero - Bach & Beyond: Improvisations on themes Gabriela Montero (piano) [ EMI Music / CD - released 20/Jul/2010 ] One of the world's most exciting new talents lends her unique improvisational skills to the work of J S Bach. |
MODEST MUSSORGSKY / NIKOLAI RIMSKY-KORSAKOV / RYOTR TCHAIKOVSKY
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Galina Vishnevskaya - Songs and Dances of Death / Songs & Opera arias by Mussorgsky, Tchaikovsky and Rimsky-Korsakov (Recorded 1 Galina Vishnevskaya (soprano) / London Philharmonic orchestra. Mistislav Rostropovich [ EMI Great Recordings of the Century / CD - released 20/Dec/2003 ] "In this, the first ever recording of the Songs and Dances of Death in Shostakovich's orchestration, Vishnevskaya's art is quite exceptionally imaginative and magnetic." (Gramophone) |
MENDELSSOHN / VERDI / CHOPIN / SATIE / SAINT-SAENS
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Romantic Ballet Music - The Lady and the Fool / A Midsummer Night's Dream / etc [2 CD set] Garrick Ohlsson (piano) / Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden / London Philharmonic Orchestra [ EMI Ballet Edition / 2 CD - released 1/Jul/2011 ] Sir Frederick Ashton appropriates Mendelssohn's exquisite incidental music for A Midsummer Night's Dream and Satie's haunting Gymnopédies; John Cranko, ably abetted by Sir Charles Mackerras, cherry-picks from the early operas of Verdi. |
FRANZ LISZT
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Liszt: 10 (ten) Hungarian Rhapsodies Georges Cziffra (piano) [ EMI Classics Great Recordings of the Century / CD - released 1/Nov/2001 ] "Cziffra, with his superb technique, Hungarian birthright and virtuoso flair, is the ideal exponent of this music and, predictably, there are wonderful things in these performances" Gramophone |
FRANZ LISZT
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Liszt: Piano works [Incls 'Hungarian Rhapsodies'] Georges Cziffra (piano) [ EMI Classics / 5 CD Box Set - released 20/Oct/2011 ] "Cziffra, with his superb technique, Hungarian birthright and virtuoso flair, is the ideal exponent of this music and, predictably, there are wonderful things in these performances" Gramophone on the Hungarian Rhapsodies |
VERDI / SAINT-SAENS / PUCCINI / GIORDANO / OFFENBACH / DVORAK / MOZART / etc
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: The Best Opera Album in the World...Ever! Roberto Alagna, Mirella freni, Luciano Pavarotti, Mady Mesple, Placido Domingo, Thomas Hampson, Nicolai Gedda, Victoria de los Angeles, etc [ EMI Classics / 2 CD - released 13/Oct/2016 ] This CD set presents an extensive opera sampler of mostly arias, with some famous choruses as well, such as Va, Pensiero from Verdi's Nabucco. |
CARL ORFF
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Orff: Weihnachtsgeschichte [The Christmas Story] / Alpine Christmas Songs Tolzer Boys Choir, Die Hammerauer Musikanten, Gerhard Schmidt-Gaden / Collegium Pro Musica Innsbruck [ EMI Classics / CD - released 20/May/2000 ] Original recordings from 1985 & 1989 |
EDVARD GRIEG
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Grieg: Orchestral Works Halle Orchestra, Sir John Barbirolli / Bournemouth Symphony, Paavo Berglund / Royal Philharmonic, Sir Thomas Beecham / Northern Sinfonia, Paul Torteli [ EMI Classics Gemini / CD - released 2/Feb/2005 ] Recorded: Kingsway Hall, London. 1969 & 1970 (Halle) Guildhall, Southampton 1981 (Bournemouth) Abbey Road Studios, London. 1973 & 1955 (Northern Sinfonia & Royal Philharmonic) |
COLE PORTER
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Thomas Hampson sings Cole Porter - Night & Day Thomas Hampson (baritone) with Ambrosian Chorus & London Symphony Orchestra, John McClinn [ Emi Classics / CD - released 8/May/2006 ] "One suspects that Hampson dislikes being described as a "crossover" singer, as he sometimes is. To cross over something, there must first be a barrier to be crossed. Hampson's career has demonstrated that many divisions in music are false, and that,... |
SERGEI PROKOFIEV
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Prokofiev: Sinfonia Concertante / Cello Sonata Han-Na Chang (cello) / London Symphony Orchestra / Antonio Pappano [ EMI Classics / CD - released 1/Sep/2003 ] "The Korean, Han-Na Chang, joins Antonio Pappano for a superb recording." Editor's Choice: Gramophone Magazine (May 2003)- GRAMOPHONE AWARD WINNER 2003 - Concerto |
LUDWIG van BEETHOVEN
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Beethoven: Fidelio, Op. 72 (Complete Opera recorded in 1970) Helga Dernesch, Jon Vickers, Zoltán Kéléman, Helen Donath / Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Herbert von Karajan [ EMI Classics Opera / 2 CD Box Set - released 1/Aug/1995 ] "Helga Dernesch as Leonare gives a glorious, thrilling peformance. The orchestral playing is superb." (Penguin Guide) |
JEAN SIBELIUS
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Sibelius: Symphonies Nos. 4 & 7 Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, Paavo Berglund [ EMI / CD - released 20/Mar/1984 ] "Berglund a fine, no-nonsense No. 7." (BBC Music) |
MANUEL MARIA PONCE
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Ponce: Violin Concerto (with works by Galindo & Revueltas) Henryk Szeryng (violin) / Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Orquesta Sinfonica de la Ciudad de Mexico, Enrique Batiz [ EMI / CD - released 1/Feb/1989 ] "A life-enhancing record. For within it two distinct fields are explored; both of them, in different ways, very rewarding. Try it." (Gramophone) |
SCHUBERT / SCHUMANN / WAGNER / BRAHMS / GRIEG / etc
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Hans Hotter - The Early EMI Recordings Hans Hotter (baritone), Hermann von Nordberg, Gerald Moore (piano), various orchestras [ Testament / CD - released 23/Oct/2000 ] Recorded between 1947 & 1987 |
ROBERT SCHUMANN
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Schumann: Liederkreis, Op. 24 / Dichterliebe, Op. 48 / 7 lieder Ian Bostridge (tenor) / Julius Drake (piano) [ EMI / CD - released 11/Jan/2008 ] 1001 Classical recordings you must hear before you die (1801-1850) - "My choice is Ian Bostridge… his velveteen, youthful timbres and intense, subtle delivery suit Schumann's cycle to perfection." The Sunday Times, March 2001 |