GIUSEPPE VERDI
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Verdi: Requiem / Quattro Pezzi Sacri [Four Sacred Pieces] Luba Orgonasova, Anne Sofie von Otter, Luca Canonici, Alastair Miles, Donna Brown / Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique, John Eliot Gardiner [ Philips / 2 CD Box Set - released 2/Feb/1995 ] "Gardiner, using period forces, is searingly dramatic and superbly recorded, with fine detail, combining transparent textures, weight and atmospheric bloom...The soloists make a characterful quartet." Penguin Guide |
SONGS OF THE CAT
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Songs of the Cat Garrison Keillor (reciter) Frederica von Stadt (mezzo) / Ensemble conducted by Philip Brunelle [ RCA Victor / CD - released 25/Sep/1991 ] "Here are all the cats you know and all you need to know...funny original stories set to well-known tunes" |
GEORGES BIZET
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Bizet: Carmen (complete opera recorded in 1985) Grace Bumbry, Jon Vickers, Mirella Freni, Justino Diaz / Vienna State Opera Choir & Vienna Philharmonic, Herbert von Karajan [ Deusche Grammophon DVD / DVD - released 1/Dec/2005 ] This famous film of the world's best-loved opera, directed by Herbert von karajan, features the three greatest exponents of their respective roles at the time. - "overwhelming in its truthfulness to the tragic vision of Carmen", wrote the... |
RICHARD WAGNER
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Gotterdammerung (complete opera recorded in 2004) Gran Teatre del Liceu / Harry Kupfer / Deborah Polaski / John Treleaven / Matti Salminem / Falk Struckmann / Gunter von Kannen / Bertrand de Billy [ Opus Arte DVD / 3 DVD Box Set - released 1/Jul/2009 ] "This is in many respects superb. The acid test is that one should emerge exhausted from Wagner's emotional outpourings, yet uplifted, and this de Billy and his team of soloists do in the final analysis achieve" (MusicWeb Sept 2005) |
LUDWIG van BEETHOVEN
Beethoven: Symphonies 1 - 9 [Complete 1963 recordings on CD & Blu-ray audio] Gundula Janowitz, Hilde Rassel Majdan, Waldemar Kmentt, Walter Berry / Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra / Herbert von Karajan [ Deutsche Gramophone / 6 CD/Blu-ray Disc - released 9/Jul/2022 ] The classic recording of the complete Beethoven symphonies conducted by master Karajan with the addition of a Blu-ray audio of all the symphonies plus rehearsals. |
CHOPIN / OFFENBACH / DELIBES / TCHAIKOVSKY / WALDTEUFEL / KHACHATURIAN
The Little Ballerina [includes 'Les Sylphides', 'The Skater's Waltz', & 'Sabre Dance'] Herbert von Karajan, Mstislav Rostropovich, Claudio Abbado, Seiji Ozawa, Arthur Fiedler [ Deutsche Grammophon Classics For Kids / CD - released 10/Oct/2018 ] Featuring some classic pieces from perennial favourites like Tchaikovsky, Chopin and Delibes, this is a must have for all your little ballerinas! |
STRAUSS / VERDI / ADAM / TCHAIKOVSKY / MOZART / etc
Herbert von Karajan - Complete Decca Recordings Herbert von Karajan with Vienna Philharmonic, with Mario del Monaco, Renata Tebaldi, Hilde Güden, Leontyne Price, etc [ Decca / 33 CD Box Set - released 21/Feb/2020 ] Presented with original sleeves and spined wallets, this 33CD set of Herbert von Karajan's complete Decca recordings includes a new essay by Karajan biographer, Richard Osborne. |
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 |
MOZART / FLIES / BRAHMS / SCHUBERT / WOLF
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Irmgard Seefried Irmgard Seefried (soprano) with Gerald Moore, Hermann von Nordberg, Wilhelm Schmidt / London Mozart Players, Harry Blech [ Testament / CD - released 2/Feb/1993 ] Original recordings from 1946 to 1953 |
JAKE HEGGIE
Passing By: Songs by Jake Heggie Isabel Bayrakdarian / Zheng Gao / Susan Graham / Joyce diDonato / Frederica von Stade / Paul Groves / Keith Phares / etc. [ Avie Records / CD - released 12/Oct/2010 ] "...the composer's own fluent piano-playing, an expert string group and a good if sometimes over-glossy recording provide support for some world-class singers...who are clearly revelling in the opportunities that Heggie has offered them here." BBC... |
RICHARD WAGNER
Jess Thomas sings Wagner Jess Thomas (tenor) / Orchestras conducted by Walter Born, Herbert von Karajan & Wolfgang Sawallisch [ Deutsche Grammophon SBS Eloquence / CD - released 1/Sep/2013 ] "Mr. Thomas sings, and sings most sensitively, producing a steady flow of pleasing tone. He sings with intelligence and musicianship, too." (Gramophone) |
JOHANNES BRAHMS
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Brahms: Violin Concerto / Hungarian Dances Nos 1 - 10 Joshua Bell (violin) / Cleveland Orchestra, Christoph von Dohnanyi / Budapest Festival Orchestra, Ivan Fischer [ Decca Classic FM The Full Works / CD - released 25/Jun/2018 ] "Joshua Bell, in one of his finest recordings to date, is daring in his expressiveness, often more expansive, using a far wider range of dynamics." Gramophone |
JACK HEGGIE
Heggie: Great Scott (complete opera) Joyce DiDonato, Ailyn Pérez, Frederica von Stade, Nathan Gunn / Orchestra and Chorus of The Dallas Opera, Patrick Summers [ Erato / Warner Classics / 2 CD - released 25/Jan/2018 ] "[Heggie's] gift for creative partnerships is supreme...The conceit gets DiDonato singing watery pastiche Bellini, scaling coloratura flights, surviving a mad scene and crooning in velvet; all pleasing to hear" Times |
DVORAK
Alfred (complete opera) Jörg Sabrowski, Tilmann Unger, Ferdinand von Bothmer, Petra Froese / Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra, Heiko Mathias Förster [ Arco Diva / 2 CD - released 1/Jul/2015 ] "Heiko Matthias Förster deserves praise for revealing the vitality of the piece." (Gramophone) |
GEORGES BIZET
Bizet: L'Arlesienne Suites Nos. 1 & 2 / Carmen - Suite No.1 Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Herbert von Karajan [ Deutsche Grammophon / CD - released 2/Feb/1988 ] Original recordings from 1983 & 1985 |
BEDRICH SMETANA / JEAN SIBELIUS / FRANZ LISZT
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Smetana, Liszt & Sibelius Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Herbert von Karajan [ Deutsche Grammophon Masters / CD - released 1/Jan/1990 ] "No one would deny the beauties of these performances...Recorded [in 1983], these are some of the most ravishingly beautiful performances of orchestral favorites by Sibelius ever preserved on disc." AllMusic on the Sibelius |
GUSTAV MAHLER
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Mahler: Das Lied von der Erde [Song Of The Earth] Christa Ludwig, Rene Kollo / Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Herbert von Karajan [ Deutsche Grammophon / CD - released 30/Nov/2001 ] "perfectly drilled execution, refined instrumental balancing and superb solo work distinguish virtually every measurer." New York Times on the original release |
THE STRAUSS FAMILY
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: New Year's Concert 1987 Kathleen Battle (soprano) / Wiener Philharmoniker, Herbert von Karajan [ Deutsche Grammophon Grand Prix / CD - released 15/Feb/2007 ] "A splendid and indispensable issue for all admirers of Karajan and Johann Strauss.." Gramopohone |
COLE PORTER
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Porter: Anything Goes Kim Criswell, Cris Groenendaal, Frederica von Stade, Jack Gilford / Ambrosian Chorus & London Symphony Orchestra, John McGlinn [ EMI Classics / CD - released 1/Jul/1989 ] Of all the great American song-writers of the time Cole Porter was, perhaps, the most sophisticated and 'European'. In 1917 Porter moved to Paris where he kept a luxury apartment and where he gave parties for his large group of friends of varying... |
VERDI / PUCCINI / HUMPERDINCK / MOZART / R. STRAUSS / SCHUBERT / etc
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: A Portrait of Kiri te Kanawa Kiri Te Kanawa (soprano), Laurence Dale (tenor), Frederica von Stade (mezzo), Ileana Cotrubas (soprano) / London Philharmonic Orchestra, Sir John Prit [ Sony / CD - released 1/Mar/1983 ] Created a Dame Commander of the British Empire in 1982, Kiri Te Kanawa has been conferred with honorary degrees from the Universities in Oxford, Dundee, Warwick, Auckland, Waikato, Nottingham, Chicago, Durham and Cambridge. |