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LUDWIG van BEETHOVEN
Beethoven: Complete Piano Sonatas & Concertos (12 CD set recorded 1970 - 77) Alfred Brendel (piano) / London Philharmonic Orchestra, Bernard Haitink [ Decca / 12 CD Box Set - released 1/Oct/2019 ] He's a legend of the piano world, revered and applauded the world over. For long an exclusive Philips Classics artist, Alfred Brendel is the recipient of the 2010 Gramophone Lifetime Achievement Award. |
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MANUEL de FALLA
Manuel de Falla - The Spanish Soul Alicia de Larrocha (piano), Turibio Santos (guitar), Victoria de los Angeles (soprano), Jean-Claude Gérard (flute), Orquesta Nacional de España, etc [ Warner Classics / 11 CD Box Set - released 12/Nov/2021 ] Manuel de Falla is regarded as the greatest Spanish composer of the twentieth century. Established in Paris from 1907 to 1914, he met Debussy, Ravel and Dukas and steeped himself in their works. |
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J. S. BACH
Bach, (J.S.): 6 Partitas BWV 825-830 Angela Hewitt (piano) [ Hyperion / 2 CD Box Set ] "Effortlessly eclipsing all competition … the whole disc gives unalloyed pleasure; definitely one of my choices of the year" (Gramophone) |
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J. S. BACH
Bach: French Suites Angela Hewitt (piano) [ Hyperion / 2 CD Box Set ] "..the extra decorations she adds in repeats everywhere sound properly spontaneous and are in the best of taste; ornaments are always cleanly played and matched up in imitative voices." (Gramophone) |
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J. S. BACH
Das wohltemperirte Clavier [The Well-Tempered Clavier] (complete 2008 recording) Angela Hewitt (piano) [ Hyperion / 4 CD Box Set - released 20/May/2009 ] 'Her best Bach yet..Not everyone can improve on the best, but it looks as it Angela Hewitt might have done just that..This is a defining moment in the performance history of the '48'..Hewitt's second thoughts" BBC Music |
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J. S. BACH
Bach, (J.S.): The English Suites Angela Hewitt (piano) [ Hyperion / 2 CD Box Set - released 21/Sep/2003 ] CLASSICAL CD OF THE WEEK (The Sunday Times) CD OF THE WEEK (Daily Telegraph) DISC OF THE WEEK (BBC Radio 3) |
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RICHARD STRAUSS
Strauss, (R.): Orchestral Works [5 CD set] Anna Tomowa-Sintow (sop) / Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Herbert von Karajan, with Lothar Koch, oboe, & Norbert Hauptmann, horn [ Deutsche Grammophon Collector's Edition / 5 CD Box Set - released 10/Oct/2012 ] Herbert von Karajan's Strauss recordings of the early 1980s, remastered in the 1990s, for the Karajan Gold Edition are a benchmark of lifetime of engagement with the composer in the concert hall and studio, and won unparalleled critical acclaim. |
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JACQUES OFFENBACH
Offenbach: La princesse de Trébizonde (complete operetta) Anne-Catherine Gillet, Virginie Verrez, Antoinette Dennefeld, Josh Lovell / Philharmonic Orchestra, Opera Rara Chorus, Paul Daniel [ Opera Rara / 2 CD Box Set - released 22/Sep/2023 ] "... the whole thing has an immediacy that Daniel suggests is an attempt to recreate the acoustic of the Bouffes-Parisiens." Gramophone Recording of the Month November 2023 |
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JACQUES OFFENBACH
Offenbach: The Opera & Operettas Collection Anneliese Rothenberger, Teresa Berganza, Michel Dens, Jose Carreras, Nicolai Gedda, Gabriel Bacquier, John Aler, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, etc [ Warner Classics / 30 CD Box Set - released 1/Jul/2019 ] He was born in Cologne, but it was in Paris that Jacques Offenbach achieved fame. A special feature of this 30-CD collection are star-studded recordings in both French and German of his most celebrated operettas. |
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W. A. MOZART / BEETHOVEN / SCHUMANN / LISZT / BARTOK / SCHUBERT
Annie Fischer: The Complete London Studio Recordings Annie Fischer (piano) Philharmonia Orchestra, Sir Adrian Boult, Wolfgang Sawallisch, Otto Klemperer, etc [ Warner Classics Icon / 8 CD Box Set - released 23/Aug/2014 ] 'I can find no praise too high for Annie Fischer's playing, for she makes every phrase a delight. Sawallisch partners his soloist to perfection. Everybody has here combined to produce something really outstanding among recordings of Mozart... |
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GUSTAV MAHLER
Mahler: Symphonies 1-10 (complete) Arleen Auger, Janet Baker / City of Birmingham Symphony Chorus & Orchestra / Berlin Philharmonic / Vienna Philharmonic / Simon Rattle [ Warner Classics / 12 CD Box Set - released 4/Aug/2017 ] "There's no doubt that Rattle has inspired all concerned to an achievement which joins his groundbreaking readings of the Third, Seventh and Tenth Symphonies in the Mahlerian heaven." ***** BBC Music Magazine, May 2005, on Mahler 8 |
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LUDWIG van BEETHOVEN
Beethoven: Complete Piano Sonatas Artur Schnabel (piano) [ Warner Classics / 8 CD Box Set - released 1/Aug/2016 ] 50 GREATEST RECORDINGS OF ALL TIME (No 15) - BBC MUSIC |
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CLAUDE DEBUSSY
Debussy: Préludes, Images and Children's Corner [CDs + Blu-ray audio] Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli (piano) [ Deutsche Grammophon 2 CDs + Blu-ray audio / 3 CD/Blu-ray Disc - released 6/Mar/2020 ] "I loved the Images and Children's Corner when they first came out, in 1971, and still think them among the finest versions recorded." Gramophone |
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LUDWIG van BEETHOVEN
Beethoven: Complete Symphonies (Nos 1-9) Barbara Bonney, Birgit Remmert, Kurt Streit, Thomas Hampson / City Of Birmingham Symphony Chorus / Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra. Sir Simon Rattle [ Warner Classics / 5 CD Box Set - released 1/Jul/2010 ] A superbly played account by one of the world's great orchestras. ***** Five Stars (Pick of the Month) BBC Music Magazine |
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BRITTEN / DELIUS / ELGAR / VAUGHAN WILLIAMS / TIPPETT / HOLST
The British Line: A celebration of British Music BBC Symphony Orchestra, Sir Andrew Davis, with Dame Evelyn Glennie, Thomas Hampson, Tasmin Little, Sir Bryn Terfel, etc [ Warner Classics / 16 CD Box Set - released 19/Jul/2019 ] In 1991, Hamburg-based record label Teldec Classics embarked on a fruitful partnership with Sir Andrew Davis and the BBC Symphony Orchestra. "The British Line" was soon to become an essential series of critically acclaimed digital recordings of major... |
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DEBUSSY / DUTILLEUX / SCHUBERT / BRITTEN / MOZART / BARTOK / etc
Belcea Quartet - The Complete Warner Classics Edition Belcea Quartet, with Jonathan Lemalu (bass-baritone), Ian Bostridge (tenor), Julius Drake (piano), Leon Bosch (double bass) [ Warner Classics / 11 CD Box Set - released 17/Mar/2023 ] One of today's most highly respected string quartets, the Belcea were established in 1994 at the Royal College of Music in London and studied with the Chilingirian, the Amadeus, and later the Alban Berg quartets. |
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ANTON BRUCKNER
Bruckner: The Nine Symphonies Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Daniel Barenboim [ Warner Classics / 9 CD Box Set - released 20/Aug/2021 ] "Daniel Barenboim and the Berlin Philharmonic have given us one of the finest (and certainly the best-recorded) Bruckner Sixths of all time - this represents a major landmark in Brucknerian discography." Fanfare |
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DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH
Shostakovich: Complete Symphonies, Piano Concertos & Cello Concertos Berliner Philharmoniker / London Philharmonic Orchestra / Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks / Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, Mariss Jansons [ Warner Classics / 13 CD Box Set - released 13/Sep/2024 ] Mariss Jansons's complete EMI recordings of Dmitri Shostakovich's symphonies, with various top-class orchestras is one of the most ambitious and accomplished discographic projects related to the Russian composer. |
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TCHAIKOVSKY / SHOSTAKOVICH / SCHNITTKE
Russian Chamber Music Borodin Quartet [ Warner Classics / 8 CD - released 21/Aug/2020 ] Established in Moscow in 1945, and still performing today, the Borodin Quartet sustains a distinctive tradition in the interpretation of Russian chamber music. |
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SHOSTAKOVICH
String Quartets [complete] Brodsky Quartet [ Teldec Warner Classics / 6 CD Box Set - released 27/Oct/2003 ] "If you do not presently own a version of these quartets, then the Brodsky would be a very good one as a first set." (Bargain of the Month MusicWeb January 2004) |