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LUDWIG van BEETHOVEN
Beethoven: Piano Sonatas Nos. 1-32 Maurizio Pollini (piano) [ Deutsche Grammophon / 8 CD Box Set - released 25/Nov/2019 ] Winner - Instrumental Gramophone Awards 1977 |
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ROSSINI / VIVALDI / SCHUBERT / VERDI / GLUCK / HANDEL / etc
Fantastic Cencic [3 CD set] Max Emanuel Cencic (counter-tenor) / I Barocchisti, Concerto Koln, Il Pomo d'oro, etc / Norman Sheiler, Kazuhiro Hofstetter (piano) [ Warner Classics / Erato / 3 CD Box Set - released 20/Oct/2016 ] "Fasolis gives a vibrant account of a fine score with supple rhythms, well-judged tempos and dramatically charged recitative imparting character at every turn...Cencic enlivens [the title-role] with expressive virtuosity." (BBC Music on 'Farnace' Fi |
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BRAHMS
Music for Viola (2 CD set) Maxim Rysanov (viola) with Katya Apekisheva & Jacob Katsnelson (pianos) [ Onyx / CD - released 10/Jan/2009 ] "Strong-handedness and humour win over understatement, but nostalgia remains." Editor's Choice - Gramophone Magazine (January 2009) |
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LUDWIG van BEETHOVEN
The Very Best Of Beethoven London Classical Player, Roger Norrington / François-René Duchâble / Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Jukka-Pekka Saraste / Dmitry Sitkovetsky / etc [ Virgin / Warner Classics / 2 CD - released 25/Aug/2019 ] "This reissue is greatly to be welcomed as it usefully collects together some very thought-provoking performances at an affordable price and in good, clear recorded sound." (MusicWeb) |
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Meredith Monk
The Recordings (13 CD Box Set) [ ECM New Series / CD Box Set - released 11/Nov/2022 ] Meredith Monk - The Recordings, a 13-CD limited box set edition compiling all Meredith Monk ECM New Series recordings to date, is issued on the occasion of the composer and singer's 80th birthday. Meredith was the first singer to have a leader-date... |
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GIACOMO PUCCINI
Puccini: La Boheme (complete opera directed by Franco Zeffirelli recorded in 2008) Metropolitan Opera / Angela Gheorghiu, Ramon Vargas, Ludovic Tezier, Ainhoa Arteta / Nicola Luisotti (Cond) [ Warner Classics / DVD - released 29/Sep/2008 ] "[Gheorghiu] was superb as Mimì… distinctive and alluring. She sang with extraordinary precision, subtlety, control, nuance, and, above all, musicality" (New York Sun). |
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THE COUPERIN FAMILY
Couperin Dynasty Michael Borgstede, Yago Mahúgo, Massimo Berghella (harpsichords) Simone Pierini (fortepiano) [ Brilliant Classics / 19 CD Box Set - released 5/Jan/2024 ] Admiration for the French composer, harpsichordist and organist, Louis Couperin continues to grow steadily today, but it was not so during his lifetime. The first important edition of his work in modern times catalogues 129 pieces as authentic. |
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W. A. MOZART
Piano Sonatas 1-18 (complete) Michael Endres (piano) [ Oehms Classics / 5 CD Box Set - released 20/Apr/2011 ] The pianistic refinement and interpretive imagination Michael Endres brings to his Mozart sonata cycle easily ranks alongside leading modern-day contenders... (ClassicsToday.com) |
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W. A. MOZART
Mozart: Mitridate, Rè Di Ponto (complete opera) Michael Spyres, Julie Fuchs, Sabine Devieilhe, Elsa Dreisig, Paul-Antoine Bénos-Djia / Les Musiciens du Louvre, Marc Minkowski [ Erato / 3 CD Box Set - released 29/Oct/2021 ] "that this is probably the most successful recording of Mozart's opera we will ever see on disc; there is no doubt in my mind that it is the most exciting by a long stretch." MusicWeb Recommended Jan 2022 |
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PROKOFIEV / LISZT / BEETHOVEN / TCHAIKOVSKY / MENDELSSOHN / DEBUSSY / etc
Kurt Masur - The Complete Warner Classics Edition (Teldec & EMI recordings) Michel Beroff, Boris Berezovsky (piano) Sharom Kam (clarinet) Klaus Konig (tenor) Sylvia McNair (soprano) Sarah Chang (violin), etc / Kurt Masur [ Warner Classics / 70 CD Box Set - released 22/Apr/2022 ] Kurt Masur's achievement is defined above all by his relationships with two orchestras exemplifying vastly different traditions. This 70CD set consolidates the entirety of the catalogues that Masur built for EMI and Teldec between 1974 and 2009. |
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CLAUDE DEBUSSY
Impressions: The Sound of Debussy (LP) Michel Béroff, Samson François, Yuri Egorov (pianos) / Philharmonia Orchestra, Carlo Maria Giulini / Orchestre de chambre Jean-François Paillard, etc [ Warner Classics / LP - released 5/Mar/2018 ] "Music would take over at the point at which words become powerless, with the one and only object of expressing that which nothing but music could express… I love music passionately. And because I love it I try to free it from barren traditions that... |
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HANDEL
Messiah (Complete oratorio arranged by Mozart) Audrey Michael, Magali Dami, Jard van Nes, Hans Peter Blochwitz / Ensemble Vocal et Instrumental de Lausanne, Michel Corboz [ Warner Classics / 2 CD - released 6/Apr/2009 ] 'There is much to praise in Corboz's realization of Mozart's revision… he has most appealing soloists… the orchestral playing is very stylish…the recording is truthful and well balanced and the acoustics of the Casino de Vevey, Switzerland, are very |
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BEETHOVEN
Beethoven: Complete Symphonies transcribed for piano by Franz Liszt Michel Dalberto, Jean-Claude Pennetier, Alain Planès [ Harmonia Mundi / 7 CD ] This box set assembles the complete Beethoven symphonies, patiently transcribed for piano over a quarter of a century and recorded for harmonia mundi by a glittering array of soloists in the late 1980s. Liszt's assiduity in this task reminds us of... |
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JOHANN LUDWIG KREBS
Krebs: Complete Harpsichord Music Michele Benuzzi (harpsichord) [ Brilliant Classics / 6 CD Box Set - released 17/Sep/2021 ] This newly recorded 6-CD set contains the complete music for harpsichord by Krebs. Such was the power and influence of Bach that it is inevitable that Krebs' style is strongly inspired by his master. |
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CAMILLE SAINT-SAENS
Saint-Saëns: Complete Music for Organ Michele Savino (organ) [ Brilliant Classics / 4 CD Box Set - released 1/Dec/2021 ] Camille Saint-Saëns (1835-1921) is one of the most important French composers of the nineteenth century, his oeuvre embracing important orchestral and chamber works, as well as works for solo instruments, alongside a few operas and church music.... |
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ERICH ZEISL
Zeisl: Songs by Erich Zeisl, Vol. 2 Michelle DeYoung (mezzo-soprano), Jeremy Reger [ Naxos American Classics / CD - released 6/Dec/2024 ] Though he composed in a variety of genres - choral and orchestral works and an opera among them - Erich Zeisl was a consummate Lieder composer whose songs are richly melodic, inventive, and cast in a late Romantic idiom. |
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VARIOUS COMPOSERS
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Mina Foley and Michael Tarawhiti McGifford Mina Foley / Michael Tarawhiti McGifford with Val Hungerford (piano) [ Ode Records / CD - released 16/Aug/2007 ] This recording is available for the first time on CD and features a selection of fine songs for solo voice along with duets performed by Mina with another NZ great Michael Tarawhiti McGifford. |
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GUSTAV MAHLER
Mahler: Symphonies Nos 1 -10 (SACD Box Set) Minnesota Orchestra, Osmo Vänskä [ BIS SACD / 11 SACD - released 7/Jul/2024 ] Each of Gustav Mahler's ten symphonies is a sprawling epic, full of emotional turmoil. According to the composer, the symphony 'must be like the world. It must embrace everything'. |
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PUCCINI
The Ultimate Opera Album [2 CD set] Miriam Gauci, Luba Orgonasova, Nelly Boschkowa, Nelly Miricioiu, and other Naxos recording artists [ Naxos Opera / 2 CD - released 10/Dec/2010 ] Puccini's fascination with exotic locations, doomed heroines, high drama and tragic romance are brought to centre stage in this immensely moving selection from his greatest operas. |
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ALLEGRI / LULLY / MOUTON / BENEVOLO CHARPENTIER / etc
Miserere: Classical music for reflection and meditation Oxford Camerata / Le Concert Spirtuel / Capilla Flamenca / Ars Nova [ Naxos / CD - released 1/Apr/2009 ] Classical Music for Reflection and Meditation from the vast Naxos catalogue. |