PYOTR Il'yich TCHAIKOVSKY
Tchaikovsky: Eugene Onegin (complete opera with libretto) Thomas Allen, Mirella Freni, Anne Sofie von Otter, Neil Shicoff / Staatskapelle Dresden, James Levine [ Deutsche Grammophon Originals / 2 CD Box Set - released 2/Feb/1988 ] "James Levine's 1984 recording is characterised by an appropriately full recorded sound and much gutsy playing from his orchestral forces." (MusicWeb) |
BERG
Lulu-Suite / Altenberg Lieder / 3 Pieces for Orchestra Margaret Price (soprano) / London Symphony Orchestra / Claudio Abbado [ Deutsche Grammophon The Originals / CD - released 5/May/2000 ] 1001 Classical recordings you must hear before you die (1901-1950) - "Abbado makes it clear above all how beautiful Berg's writing is, not just in the Lulu excerpts but in the early Op 4 Songs and the op 6 Orchestral Pieces." (Three stars Penguin... |
BRUCKNER
Sacred works: Incls 'Te Deum in C major, WAB 45' & 'Ave Maria, WAB 6' Maria Stader, Sieglinde Wagner, Ernst Haefliger, Peter Lagger / Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks / Eugen Jochum [ Deutsche Grammophon The Originals / CD - released 20/Feb/2010 ] Chor der Deutschen Oper Berlin & Berliner Philharmoniker, Chor des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Eugen Jochum |
FREDERIC CHOPIN
Chopin: 24 Preludes / Piano Sonata No 2 Op 25 Martha Argerich (piano) [ Deutsche Grammophon The Originals / CD - released 1/Apr/2002 ] "In this complete version of the Preludes, recorded twenty seven years ago, the tigress of the keyboard laid down one of her finest Chopin performances. A great Chopin disc" (MusicWeb, 2002) |
LISZT / RAVEL / PROKOFIEV / BRAHMS / CHOPIN
Martha Argerich - Debut Album Martha Argerich (piano) [ Deutsche Grammophon The Originals / CD - released 1/Jan/2006 ] "This is a staggering first recording by any reckoning. Mercurial and marvellous." (Gramophone) |
J. S. BACH
Bach: Toccata / Partita No 2 / English Suite No 2 Martha Argerich (piano) [ Deutsche Grammophon The Originals / CD - released 18/Mar/2000 ] "Nothing I have heard from her on disc has ever impressed me more, either from the viewpoint of fine pianism or perceptive musicianship. Besides controlled fingerwork and vivid characterization, achieved through judicious contrasts of tempo and... |
PROKOFIEV / WEBERN / BOULEZ / STRAVINSKY
20th Century Piano Music Maurizio Pollini (piano) [ Deutsche Grammophon The Originals / CD - released 1/Jan/2006 ] 1001 Classical recordings you must hear before you die (1901-1950) - "An astounding a collection of virtuoso piano-playing as when the LP version appeared. Pollini is complete master of these immensely challenging pieces." (Gramophone) |
LUDWIG van BEETHOVEN
Beethoven: The Late Piano Sonatas Maurizio Pollini (piano) [ Deutsche Grammophon The Originals / 2 CD - released 6/Jul/2004 ] "Pollini's recordings of the late sonatas, which won the 1977 Gramophone critic's award for instrumental music, contain playing of the highest mastery." - Penguin Stereo Guide |
SCHUBERT / SCHUMANN
Piano Sonata in A minor D845 / Piano Sonata Op 11 Maurizio Pollini (piano) [ Deutsche Grammophon The Originals / CD - released 25/Oct/2002 ] Maurizio Pollini was born in Milan. His father is the architect Gino Pollini, one of the leading representatives of Italian rationalism and also an expert violinist. His mother, Renata Melotti, studied piano and singing and is the sister of the... |
FRANZ SCHUBERT / ROBERT SCHUMANN
Schubert: Wanderer-Fantasie / Schumann: Fantasie in C major Maurizio Pollini (piano) [ Deutsche Grammophon The Originals / CD - released 1/Jan/2006 ] 1001 Classical recordings to hear before you die (1801-1850) - "A performance of real Romantic power, flawlessly projected by the incomparable Maurizio Pollini" (Gramophone) |
JOHANNES BRAHMS
Brahms: Piano Quintet Op 34 Maurizio Pollini (piano) / Quartetto Italiano [ Deutsche Grammophon The Originals / CD - released 16/Mar/2004 ] [Gramophone Award 1980] "In this recording I am confident you will find an exceptional degree of inspiration in both the music and in the way it is played. [... ] all four movements have an almost mesmeric tension, a positively creative musicality;... |
W. A. MOZART
Piano Concertos No 19 K459 & 23 K488 Maurizio Pollini (piano) / Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, Karl Bohm [ Deutsche Grammophon Originals / CD - released 10/Oct/2012 ] "[One] of the best versions of these works we have had in recent years... [O]ne could say that in general Pollini is a shade more open and direct in his projection of the solo part than Perahia, so that there are times when he suggests a greater... |
BEETHOVEN
Beethoven: Piano Concertos Nos 3 & 4 Maurizio Pollini (piano) / Wiener Philharmoniker / Karl Bohm [ Deutsche Grammophon Originals / CD - released 1/Feb/2008 ] "Of all piano concertos, Beethoven's Fourth perhaps best suits Pollini's qualities. His tone is exceptionally beautiful in quiet passages, rich and full at loud moments. [...] a performance of the highest quality, one of the very best on record."... |
TCHAIKOVSKY
Violin Concerto (with Encores by Geminiani, Kodaly, Liszt, Milstein, Mussorgsky, etc) Nathan Milstein (violin) / Vienna Philharmonic, Claudio Abbado / with Georges Pludermacher (piano) [ Deutsche Grammophon Originals / CD - released 1/Apr/2006 ] "A highly distinguished performance, very well accompanied. Bright, clean and clear sound." - Penguin Guide to Compact Discs |
MOZART / REINECKE / RODRIGO
Harp Concertos Nicanor Zabaleta (harp) / Berlin Philharmonic / Ernst MANrzendorfer [ Deutsche Grammophon The Originals / CD - released 22/Aug/2001 ] "This is an attractive work, Zabaleta's performance is an outstanding one, and is truthfully recorded. If the couplings are suitable this is a highly recommendable disc." (Penguin Guide on the Reinecke) |
RICHARD STRAUSS
Scenes from Salome / 5 Lieder (plus Boito's prologue from Mefistofele) Nicolai Ghiaurov / Montserrat Caballe / Wiener Philharmoniker / Leonard Bernstein [ Deutsche Grammophon Originals / CD - released 25/Mar/2006 ] "This disc offers Leonard Bernstein in some quite rare (at least for him, on disc) operatic repertoire." www.classicstoday.com |
BERLIOZ
Requiem op 5 [Grande Messe des Morts] Peter Schreier / Choir und Bayerische Rundfunk Sinfonieorchester, Charles Munch [ Deutsche Grammophon Originals / 2 CD - released 1/Aug/2011 ] "Munch's second recording of Berlioz's setting of the Requiem Mass resonates to a vision recognising that the devil is in the quiet detail, and that (paradoxically) intimacy triumphs." (BBC Music) |
J. S. BACH
Bach: Six (6) Suites for Solo Violoncello BWV 1007-1012 Pierre Fournier (cello) [ Deutsche Grammophon The Originals / 2 CD - released 24/May/2004 ] "Pierre Fournier gives memorably eloquent readings" - Gramophone |
BRAHMS / SIBELIUS
Violin Concertos [with Beethoven - Romance No 1 in G] Pinchas Zukerman (violin) / London Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestre de Paris, Daniel Barenboim [ Deutsche Grammophon Originals / CD - released 5/Sep/2014 ] "I think the performance is superb and Barenboim's evident enthusiasm for the music, allied to the splendid orchestral playing and a flawless recording, all add up to a desirable record." Lionel Markson, Records and Recording, October 1975 (Sibelius) |
ROSSINI
Overtures (with Bizet-Preludes and Ballet Music from Carmen) Radio-Symphonie-Orchester Berlin / Ferenc Fricsay [ Deutsche Grammophon Originals / CD - released 25/Mar/2006 ] "Fricsay is an easy recommendation for those not minding fast overall speeds. The orchestral playing is well up to the chosen tempi, the recording is first-rate and the whole effect exhilarating." [Rossini Overtures] Penguin Guide, 1966 |