RICHARD WAGNER
Wagner: Parsifal (complete opera recorded at the Bayreuth Festival in 2023) Andreas Schager, Elīna Garanča, Georg Zeppenfeld / Bayreuther Festspielorchester, Bayreuther Festspielchor, Pablo Heras-Casado [ Deutsche Grammophon / 4 CD Box Set - released 5/Jul/2024 ] The acclaimed new production of Wagner's final opera "Parsifal" is "a musical godsend" (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung). The successful partnership between Deutsche Grammophon and the Bayreuth Festival continues, and what was started with the 2015... |
BACH / PROKOFIEV / RAVEL / CHOPIN / STRAVINSKY / SCHUBERT / GRIEG / BRITTEN
Andrei Gavrilov - Complete Recordings On Deutsche Grammophon Andrei Gavrilov (piano) [ Deutsche Grammophon Eloquencce / 10 CD Box Set - released 2/Dec/2022 ] Several long-deleted albums reissued in this comprehensive survey of Andrei Gavrilov's DG career: superbly engineered recordings of a pianist in the great Russian tradition. |
TCHAIKOVSKY / RACHMANINOV / MUSSORGSKY / DELIBES / BARTOK / etc
Antal Doráti: The Mercury Masters - The Stereo Recordings Antal Doráti, Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra [ Australian Eloquence Mercury Living Presence / 30 CD Box Set - released 21/Jul/2023 ] "With beautiful original album covers, a generous sampling of spectacular performances, and an immediate and bold recorded sound, there is so much to enjoy in this collection. Highly recommended." Fanfare |
ANTON BRUCKNER
Bruckner: Symphonies Nos. 4-9 (The Mature Symphonies) (6-DVD Box Set) Staatskapelle Berlin, Daniel Barenboim [ Unitel Classics DVD / 6 DVD - released 8/Aug/2011 ] "This unforgettable Bruckner cycle sets new standards, and guarantees the Staatskapelle Berlin and their principal conductor "a place in the Bruckner pantheon." Der Tagesspiegel |
RICHARD WAGNER
Wagner: Gotterdammerung (Complete opera recorded in 2022) BLU-RAY Bayreuther Festspiele / Clay Hilley, Iréne Theorin, Albert Dohmen, Elisabeth Teige, Michael Kupfer-Radecky / Cornelius Meister (cond) [ Deutsche Grammophon Blu-ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 27/Oct/2023 ] In 2022 Bayreuth Festival 2022 presented a long-awaited new production of Der Ring des Nibelungen, staged by young Austrian director Valentin Schwarz and conducted by Cornelius Meister. |
PROKOFIEV / TCHAIKOVSKY / ROSSINI / BERNSTEIN / VERDI / BRUCKNER / etc
Antonio Pappano: Complete Symphonic, Concertante & Sacred Music Recordings Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Antonio Pappano, with Beatrice Rana, Alexandre Tharaud (piano) Han-Na Chang (cello) Anna Netrebko [ Warner Classics / 27 CD Box Set - released 31/May/2024 ] The collaborative efforts, the mutual emulation and inspiration of Sir Antonio Pappano and the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome have spanned 18 years, led to one of the world's greatest and most versatile virtuoso ensembles and to... |
100 BEST OPERA
100 Best Opera Classics [6 CDs special price] Beverly Sills, Renata Scotto, Montserrat Caballe, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Maria Callas, etc [ Warner Classics / 6 CD Box Set - released 20/Jun/2019 ] A 6-CD collection at a special price which offers a hundred greatest operatic arias. The programme includes all the popular favourites from 'Tosca', 'La Boheme', 'Carmen' 'Norma', 'Samson et Dalila' and even selections from Wagner and Richard Strauss |
GASPARE SPONTINI
Spontini: La Vestale (complete opera remastered recorded live 1954) Maria Callas, Franco Corelli, Ebe Stignani, Nicola Rossi-Lemeni / Teatro alla Scala, Antonino Votto [ Warner Classics Maria Callas Live Remastered / 2 CD - released 1/Feb/2019 ] The central character in La Vestale, as in Norma, is a priestess who transgresses her holy vows for love. Spontini's nobly-conceived opera, composed for Paris in the Napoleonic era, brought Callas' first collaboration on a new production with the... |
GIOACCHINO ROSSINI
Rossini: L'Italiana In Algeri (complete opera recorded in 2018) BLU-RAY Salzburg Festival / Cecilia Bartoli, Ildar Abdrazakov, Edgardo Rocha, Alessandro Corbelli, José Coca Loza / Jean-Christophe Spinosi (cond) [ C Major Blu-Ray / Blu-ray - released 9/Aug/2019 ] "The role of Isabella is sung to perfection by Cecilia Bartoli - a clever, independent woman with an adventurous streak" (New York Times). Bartoli's superb performance in Gioachino Rossini's L'Italiana in Algeri (The Italian Girl in Algiers) at... |
GIACOMO PUCCCINI
Puccini: Madam Butterfly (complete opera recorded in 1960) Renata Tebaldi, Carlo Bergonzi, Enzo Sordell, Fiorenza Cossotto / Chorus & Orchestra Of Accademia St. Cecilia, Rome, Tullio Serafin [ Alto / 2 CD - released 11/Apr/2011 ] "sensitive and beautifully-paced reading finds Tebaldi at her most radiant. … her singing is consistently rich and beautiful, breathtakingly so in passages like the one where she tells Pinkerton she has changed her religion." (Penguin Guide 3 stars) |
PYOTR ILYICH TCHAIKOSVKY
Tchaikovsky: The 6 Symphonies / The Nutcracker Suite / Romeo and Juliet / The Tempest / etc Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Claudio Abbado [ Sony Classical Masters / 6 CD Box Set - released 20/May/2011 ] "Romeo & Juliet played by Chicago SO is one of the most exciting and powerfully moving accounts on record, and the sound is sumptuous and every part of the score is articulated and vividly captured." 1001 Classical recordings you must hear before... |
FELIX MENDELSSOHN
Mendelssohn: The Great Edition Daniel Adni, Martha Argerich, Wayner Marshall, Marie-Claire Alain, Emmanuel Pahud, Maxim Vengerov, Victoria de los Angeles, Janet Baker, Sabine Meyer [ Warner Classics / 40 CD Box Set - released 16/Feb/2024 ] A child prodigy, Felix Mendelssohn is considered one of Europe's greatest composers. A virtuoso conductor and pianist, he was a respected all-round musician for whom Robert Schumann had great friendship and admiration. |
LUDWIG van BEETHOVEN
Beethoven: Violin Sonatas, Cello Sonatas, String Trios, Piano Trios Jacqueline du Pré (cello), Lynn Harrell (cello), Pinchas Zukerman (violin) Itzhak Perlman (violin), Daniel Barenboim (piano) [ Warner Classics / 11 CD Box Set - released 5/Oct/2019 ] "The result is music-making of rare concentration, spontaneity and warmth." (Penguin Guide) |
W. A. MOZART / SCHUBERT / STRAVINSKY / BEETHOVEN / RAVEL / etc
Martha Argerich & Daniel Barenboim: Piano Duos & Concerti (from the Teatro Colon, Buenos Aires Daniel Barenboim (piano/conductor), Martha Argerich (piano) / West-Eastern Divan Orchestra [ EuroArts DVD / 2 DVD - released 7/Oct/2016 ] G. For the first time the two musicians performed together in the city of their birth. The West-Eastern Divan Orchestra enthralled their audience at the Teatro Colón. With works by Beethoven, Bizet, Mores, Mozart, Ravel, Schubert,... |
MOZART / BEETHOVEN / WAGNER / C.P.E. BACH / HANDEL / DVORAK / etc
Dennis Brain - Homage Dennis Brain (horn) with Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Sena Jurinac, Walter Gieseking, George Malcom, Gerald Moore, Malcolm Sargent, Herbert von Karajan, etc [ Warner Classics / 11 CD Box Set - released 14/May/2021 ] This 11CD collection presents all of Brain's Warner recordings as concerto soloist and chamber and ensemble player - including music composed with him in mind - and his most notable contributions to symphonic, choral and operatic works. |
MENDELSSOHN / SCHMITT / SIBELIUS / CHABRIER / BEETHOVEN / SUPPÉ / etc
Paul Paray - The Mercury Masters: Volume 2 Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Paul Paray, with Monique Haas (piano) [ Mercury Living Presence Eloquence / 22 CD Box Set - released 17/Jun/2022 ] This edition of their recordings, remastered from the original sources by Thomas Fine and Wilma Cozart Fine, chronicles the last five years of this partnership (1958-62). This original jackets collection is presented chronologically. |
LUDWIG van BEETHOVEN
Beethoven: Complete sonatas & variations for cello & piano Gautier Capucon (cello) Frank Braley (piano) [ Erato / Warner Classics / 2 CD - released 20/Mar/2019 ] "..the partnership is one of Classical balance, and the result is by turns poised, polished, intimate and exuberant…undeniably a class act" Gramophone |
SILVESTROV / PIAZZOLLA / KANCHELI / SCHNITTKE / SCHUMANN / BRAHMS / etc
Gidon Kremer: The Warner Collection Complete Teldec, EMI Classics & Erato Recordings Gidon Kremer (violin), with Andrei Gavrilov (piano) Oleg Maisenberg (piano) Clemens Hagen (cello) Kremerata Baltica, etc [ Warner Classics / 21 CD Box Set - released 1/Oct/2021 ] Gidon Kremer avoids the well-trodden paths of the musical world as he explores it with style and sensitivity. Kremer combines a passion for freedom with a quest for authenticity, as is revealed in the recordings he made over a period of two decades. |
GIUSEPPE VERDI
Verdi: Simon Boccanegra (Complete Opera recorded at the New Zealand Festival 2000) Gordon Hawkins, Vladimir Vaneev, Yaron Windmuller, Nuccia Focile / New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, Chapman Tripp Opera Chorus, Marco Guidarini [ Trust / 2 CD Box Set - released 25/Feb/2006 ] Verdi's sombre and powerful operatic masterpiece, with its themes of love, hate, treachery and reconciliation, is brought to life in this production from the 2000 New Zealand Festival, featuring the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra and the Chapman... |
JEAN SIBELIUS
Sibelius: The Complete Symphonies / Orchestral Works Hallé Orchestra, Sir John Barbirolli [ Warner Classics / 6 CD Box Set - released 19/Mar/2021 ] Sir John Barbirolli's electrifying interpretations of the works of Jean Sibelius have inspired audiences all over the world. In a letter to Barbirolli, Sibelius declared himself to be a 'devoted admirer' of the conductor, adding that he was always... |