CHARLES KOECHLIN
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Koechlin: The Jungle Book Johan Botha (tenor) Ralf Lukas (baritone) iris Vermillion (mezzo) / Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra [ RCA / 2 CD - released 3/Nov/1994 ] CD released in 1994; DDD recordings from June 1993. |
CARL MARIA von WEBER
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Weber: Der Freischutz (complete opera with libretto) Hermann Prey, Elisabeth Grummer, Lisa Otto, Rudolf Schock / Berlin Philharmonic, Joseph Keilberth [ EMI Studio / 2 CD - released 6/Mar/1989 ] "All soloists in this effort shine like the stars. Particularly the lovely (as always) Elisabeth Grummer...my God this lady was wonderful, and is, I am sure, greatly missed by all the great German opera houses today." (review) |
BACH FAMILY / BEETHOVEN / HAYDN / GLUCK / MONN / TELEMANN / VIVALDI / etc
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Lumieres: The Unprecedented Expansion of Music in the Age of Enlightenment [30 CD set] Paul Lewis (piano) / Tokyo String Quartet / Freiburg Baroque Orchestra / Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin / English Concert / etc [ Harmonia Mundi / 30 CD Box Set - released 1/Dec/2011 ] "Harmonia Mundi have somehow contrived to telescope that most industriously inventive of musical centuries into this 30CD set, by dint of ingenious thematic programming which apportions discs to different modes...it's an indisputable bargain... |
LUGWIG van BEETHOVEN
Beethoven: Triple Concerto / Choral Fantasia Itzhak Perlman (violin), Yo-Yo Ma (cello), Daniel Barenboim (piano) / Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Daniel Barenboim [ Warner Classics / CD - released 6/Feb/2017 ] "They perform with the most tender expression in the slow movement, and there are fireworks from all three in the last movement" James Longstaffe |
ALEXANDER SCRIABIN
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Scriabin: Complete symphonies - Prometheus - Poame de l'extase - Piano Concerto Peter Jablonski, piano - Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin - Vladimir Ashkenazy [ Decca Trio / 3 CD Box Set - released 14/Jul/2003 ] "outstanding sound-quality" (Penguin Stereo Guide on Symphony No 1) |
J. S. BACH
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Bach: Complete Secular Cantatas Peter Schreier, Edith Mathis, Arleen Auger / Berliner Solisten, Kammerorchester Berlin, Peter Schreier [ Brilliant Classics / 8 CD Box Set - released 1/Aug/2007 ] In his secular cantatas J.S. Bach tackled some of the lighter issues of life. Like coffee and marriage… Somehow these are heard not that often in concert halls. |
PFITZNER / BRAUNFELS
Pfitzner & Braunfels: Piano Concertos Markus Becker, Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin / Constantin Trinks [ Hyperion Great Romantic Piano Concertos Vol 79 / CD - released 30/Aug/2019 ] The Braunfels-a concerto in all but name-and Pfitzner make an apt pairing, two works dating from the twilight of German Romanticism. Both are heroically dispatched by Markus Becker, with Constantin Trinks and his Berlin Radio Symphony forces... |
VARIOUS COMPOSERS
The Berlin Concert - Live from the 'Waldbuhne' (complete concert) BLU-RAY Placido Domingo / Anna Netrebko / Rolando Villazon / Orchester der Deutschen Oper Berlin / Marco Armiliato [ Deutsche Grammophon Blu-Ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 1/Jan/2009 ] "The vocalism consistently stood out as superior...Domingo at 65 remains a phenomenon...His junior colleagues never lapsed vocally below their wonted high levels" (MusicalAmerica.com) |
GUSTAV MAHLER
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Mahler: Symphony No.10 (recorded in 1999) Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Sir Simon Rattle [ EMI Classics / CD - released 3/Apr/2000 ] "Rattle steals the prize in the three scherzo: Purgatorio is devilishly fast and sly, Schnelle Viertel explosive, and the lightning switches of mood in the Allegro pesante handled with flair." BBC Music |
WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART
Mozart: Die Entführung aus dem Serail / Die Zauberflöte René Jacobs, Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, RIAS Kammerchor Berlin [ Harmonia Mundi / 5 CD Box Set - released 10/Mar/2023 ] The alpha and omega of Mozart! With Die Entführung aus dem Serail (1782), probably his first absolute masterpiece, and Die Zauberflöte (1791 - the year of his death), René Jacobs penetrates to the heart of Mozartian singspiel. Featuring singers, a... |
FELIX MENDELSSOHN
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Mendelssohn: Antigone, Op. 55 Rene Pape (baritone) / Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra (Radio-Sinfonie-Orchester Berlin), Stefan Soltesz [ Capriccio / CD - released 10/Nov/1993 ] Incidental Music to the Tragedy of Sophocles for speakers, solo bass, two male choruses and orchestra. |
LUKAS FOSS / EINAR ENGLUND / WILLIAM THOMAS MCKINLEY
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Foss / Englund / McKinley - Clarinet Concertos Richard Stoltzman (clarinet) / Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Lukas Foss [ RCA Red Seal / CD - released 30/Sep/1996 ] Recorded in Berlin, May 1993 |
J. STRAUSS / SAINT-SAENS / VERDI / GODARD / ARDITI / FLOTOW / etc
Waltzes & Arias Rita Streich (soprano) / Radio-Symphonie orchester Berlin, RIAS-Symphonie Orchester Berlin [ Newton Classics / CD - released 1/Jul/2011 ] "…she delights the ear from start to finish. Highly recommended, this true Original." (Gramophone) |
W. A. MOZART
Rita Streich - Mozart Arias Rita Streich (soprano) / RIAS Symphony Orchestra Berlin, Camerata Academica des Salzburger Mozarteums, Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks [ Deutsche Grammophon Centenary Collection / CD - released 10/Apr/1998 ] 'Like a bird on the wing, crystal-clear, astounding in its virtuosity … sings with absolute naturalness, with the utmost ease and a completely unforced intimacy' Opéra International |
RICHARD WAGNER
Wagner: Tannhauser (complete opera recorded at the Festspielhaus, Baden-Baden 2008) BLU-RAY Robert Gambill, Camilla Nylund, Waltraud Meier / Berlin Deutsches Symphony Orchestra, Philippe Jordan, conductor [ Arthaus Musik BLU-RAY / Blu-ray Disc - released 10/Oct/2012 ] "The solo singing is the outstanding feature of this new recording. Robert Gambill might have more of the 'mad axeman' about him than Bayreuth's Spas Wenkoff, but he has immense stamina and the presence to command the stage, especially during the big... |
ZIEHRER / LEHAR / LANNER / STOLZ / STRAUSS FAMILY
Robert Stolz in Vienna : Waltzes, Marches, Polkas, etc Berlin Symphony Orchestra, Vienna Symphony Orchestra, Robert Stolz [ RCA Red Seal / Sony music Masters / 12 CD Box Set - released 3/Dec/2017 ] Robert Stolz was operetta royalty, and his recordings with the Berliner Symphoniker and Wiener Symphoniker document the world of light orchestral music with unique authority. Across 12 CDs, this Sony Classical Masters collection brings together... |
GIUSEPPE VERDI
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Roberto Alagna - Verdi Arias Roberto Alagna (tenor) / The Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Claudio Abbado [ EMI Music / CD - released 1/Dec/1998 ] "In answer to all those nay-sayers concerning Alagna's talents, the tenor here shows, in the most demanding programme imaginable, that there is little if anything wrong with his technique and a great deal right with his sense of Verdian style" Gramop |
J. S. BACH
Bach: Motets RIAS-Kammerchor & Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, René Jacobs [ Harmonia Mundi Musique d'abord / CD - released 21/Jul/2017 ] BBC Radio 3: Building a Library Highly Recommended - June 2005 |
BEETHOVEN / BRAHMS / DVORAK / WAGNER / etc
Icon: Rudolf Kempe: The Genius of the Podium Rudolf Kempe conducting the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Staatskapelle Dresden, Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, etc [ Warner Classics Icon / 11 CD Box Set - released 1/Feb/2011 ] The German conductor Rudolf Kempe (1910-1976) began his musical career playing the oboe in various symphony orchestras. The programme begins with recordings of four Beethoven Symphonies that Kempe made with the Munich Philharmonic in 1971-72. |
WAGNER
Der fliegende Holländer Rundfunkchor Berlin & Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin, Marek Janowski [ Pentatone / 2 Hybrid SACD - released 19/Sep/2011 ] Here is charm, wit and even kitsch alongside the spooky but never overdone drama. The recording is also first-rate in warmth, immediacy and clarity. |