TCHAIKOVSKY
The Nutcracker (Complete ballet recorded in 2014) BLU-RAY Berlin State Ballet / Iana Salenko, Marian Walter, Michael Banzha, Arshak Ghalumyan / Robert Reimer (cond) [ Bel Air Classiques Blu-Ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 1/Feb/2016 ] In combination with the brilliance of modern dance, this production - a loving reconstruction designed as a great ballet féerie - reveals its nostalgic charm and the promise of Christmas: it's as if Tchaikovsky had composed the falling of snowflakes |
LUDWIG van BEETHOVEN
Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 2 and 4 (Kleiber / Pfitzner) (1928-1929) Berlin State Opera Orchestra / Hans Pfitzner / Erich Kleiber [ Naxos Historical Great Conductors / CD - released 13/Jan/2002 ] Erich Kleiber's Berlin State Opera Orchestra set of the Second Symphony was one of the first to enjoy the benefits of electrical recording techniques and, during the LP era, was even passed off as the work of Wilhelm Furtwängler - not surprisingly,... |
Berlin State Opera Orch/Muck
Wagner: Overtures & Preludes [ Naxos Historical / CD - released 29/Jul/2002 ] |
RICHARD WAGNER
Wagner: Parsifal (complete opera recorded at Deutsche Staatsoper Berlin, 1992) Berlin State Opera / Poul Elming, Waltraud Meier, John Tomlinson, Günter von Kannen / Daniel Barenboim [ Euroarts DVD / 3 DVD - released 15/Sep/2016 ] "a must for those who love this work...[Elming] is remarkable in the title role, his concentration and reactions on a par with Jon Vickers's and the voice in pristine shape" (International Record Review) |
RICHARD WAGNER
Wagner: Parsifal (Complete opera recorded in 2015) BLU-RAY Berlin State Opera / Wolfgang Koch, Andreas Schager, Anja Kampe, Matthias Hölle / Daniel Barenboim (cond) [ Bel Air Classiques Blu-Ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 28/Sep/2016 ] The Wagner's mystic masterpiece "Parsifal" at Staatsoper Berlin staged by Dmitri Tcherniakov and conducted by Daniel Barenboim. |
KARL AMADEUS HARTMANN
Symphony 5 / Symphony 6 / Symphony 8 (rec 1979) Berlin Symphony Orchestra / Genther Herbig / Leipzig Radio Symphony Orchestra / Herbert Kegel [ Berlin Classics / CD - released 1/Sep/2007 ] "Hartmann's Bergian music is dour but glowingly lit with strong elements of impressionism." (MusicWeb July 1999) |
JOHANNES BRAHMS
Brahms: The Symphonies, Ein deutsches Requiem & Concertos Berlin & Vienna Philharmonic Orchestras, Wilhelm Furtwangler, with Yehudi Menuhin, Edwin Fisher, Willi Boskovsky, etc [ Warner Classics / CD - released 20/Aug/2008 ] Wilhelm Furtwängler saw "a wild, fantastic and even demonic universe" in the symphonies of Brahms. "Music is not something that is invented and constructed," he wrote, "but something that grows, emerging … directly from the hands of nature." With... |
SCHUMANN
The 4 Symphonies / Overtures Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Rafael Kubelik [ Deutsche Grammophon Originals / 2 CD - released 18/Jan/2010 ] "Kubelik's Schumann is dramatic, weighty and loving" (BBC Music) |
RICHARD STRAUSS / MOZART / BEETHOVEN / LISZT / NONO
Claudio Abbado Edition Vol. 2 Berliner Philharmoniker [Berlin Philharmonic], Claudio Abbado [ Sony Classical / 5 CD Box Set - released 10/Apr/2014 ] As the endlessly sad news of Claudio Abbado's passing broke on Monday 20th January 2014, heartfelt tributes quickly poured in from around the world: "a great musician and a generous man" (Sir Simon Rattle); "will always be part of the exalted group... |
W. A. MOZART
Barenboim plays Mozart Piano Concertos [Nos 20 - 27] (rec 1986-1989) Berliner Philharmoniker [Berlin Philharmonic], Daniel Barenboim (piano/conductor) [ EuroArts DVD / 2 DVD - released 1/Apr/2014 ] "these are impeccably presented and beautifully rendered performances" (Five Stars BBC Music) |
W. A. MOZART
Barenboim plays Mozart Piano Concertos [Nos 20 - 27] (rec 1986-1989) BLU-RAY Berliner Philharmoniker [Berlin Philharmonic], Daniel Barenboim (piano/conductor) [ EuroArts Blu-Ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 1/Feb/2014 ] "With more than four hours of music, and with some wonderful performances of Mozart's last 8 piano concertos, this is a real bargain." (Musicweb) |
W. A. MOZART
Barenboim plays & conducts Mozart (rec 2006) Berliner Philharmoniker [Berlin Philharmonic], Daniel Barenboim (piano/conductor) with Radek Baborak (horn) [ EuroArts DVD / DVD - released 1/Jul/2016 ] The Grammy award-winning pianist Daniel Barenboim, long known for his Mozart interpretations, turns his attention to a selection of symphonies and concertos. |
W. A. MOZART / RICHARD STRAUSS
Karajan conducts Mozart & Strauss (Recorded at the Salzburg Festival, August 1970) Berliner Philharmoniker [Berlin Philharmonic], Herbert von Karajan [ Testament / CD - released 1/Mar/2014 ] Recorded at the Salzburg Festival, August 1970 |
MAHLER
Symphony No. 7 Berliner Philharmoniker [Berlin Philharmonic], Michael Gielen [ Testament / CD - released 15/Mar/2015 ] "In this fabulously executed account, all lead inexorably toward the apocalyptic nightmare world of the Rondo-Finale, Mahler's most avant-garde music: never more "contemporary" in its sound than Gielen makes it here." (Sunday Times) |
LUDWIG van BEETHOVEN
Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 3, 7, 8 & Consecration of the House Overture Berliner Philharmoniker [Berlin Philharmonic], Paul van Kempen [ Decca SBS Australian Eloquence / 2 CD - released 25/Mar/2015 ] "this is an outstanding issue. […] Van Kempen and the Berlin orchestra do indeed play the work in a wonderfully sensitive manner" (Gramophone on Symphony 3) |
BEETHOVEN / HAYDN / MOZART
Rudolf Kempe conducts Haydn, Beethoven and Mozart (recorded in 1962) Berliner Philharmoniker [Berlin Philharmonic], Rudolf Kempe [ Testament / CD - released 1/Mar/2014 ] "I had the good fortune to attend a Rudolf Kempe (1910-1976) concert at Carnegie Hall, one of the "visiting orchestra series" of concerts that featured the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and solo Heather Harper in the Richard Strauss Four Last Songs.... |
TCHAIKOVSKY
The Nutcracker [complete ballet] / Entr'acte & Waltz and Polonaise (from Eugene Onegin, Op. 24) Berliner Philharmoniker [Berlin Philharmonic], Semyon Bychkov [ Decca Virtuoso / 2 CD - released 1/Nov/2013 ] |
LIGETI / WAGNER / ELGAR / STRAVINSKY
Sir Simon Rattle & Sol Gabetta (Recorded live at Festspielhaus Baden-Baden, 2014) BLU-RAY Sol Gabetta (cello) / Berliner Philharmoniker [Berlin Philharmonic], Simon Rattle [ EuroArts Blu-ray / Blu-ray - released 10/Apr/2017 ] "Overall then this is rather more than a souvenir of a very good concert, for it enshrines four performances each of which is worth not only hearing, but rehearing." MusicWeb Feb 2017 |
STRAVINSKY
Le sacre du printemps [The Rite of Spring] / Symphonies of Wind Instruments / Apollon musagète Berliner Philharmoniker [Berlin Philharmonic] / Sir Simon Rattle [ EMI Classics / CD - released 20/Mar/2013 ] Simon Rattle returns to Stravinsky with a recording of the ground-breaking ballet 'Le Sacre du printemps', whose premiere a century ago marked a turning point in 20th century music history. |
FRANZ SCHUBERT / JOSEPH HAYDN
Schubert: Symphony No. 9 'The Great' / Haydn: Symphony No. 88 (LP) Berliner Philharmoniker [Berlin Philharmonic], Wilhelm Furtwangler [ Vinyl Passion Classical / 2 LP - released 25/Feb/2018 ] Recorded in Jesus-Christus-Kirche, Berlin, 1951 |