FRANZ SCHUBERT
Schubert: Complete Secular Choral Works Ruth Ziesak, Angelika Kirchschlager, Christoph Prégardien, Robert Holl / Wiener Concert-Verein, Arnold Schoenberg Choir, Erwin Ortner, with András Sch [ Warner Classics / 7 CD Box Set - released 19/Mar/2021 ] A voyage of discovery through a lesser-known area of Schubert's rich and prolific output, this collection comprises seven themed CDs: Transience; Love; Eternity; Heroism; Nature; Celebrations, and Circle of Friends. |
MAURICE RAVEL
Maurice Ravel: The Complete Works Sir Simon Rattle, Martha Argerich, Bertrand Chamayou, Samson François, André Cluytens, Armin Jordan, Lorin Maazel, Charles Münch, etc [ Warner Classics / 21 CD Box Set - released 4/Sep/2020 ] An essential collection of landmark performances, this 21-CD box of Ravel's complete works brings together major interpreters of the present day and preceding generations. |
SERGEI RACHMANINOV
Rachmaninov: Orchestral Works (Incls Symphonies, Concertos & The Isle of the Dead) St Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra & Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra, Mariss Jansons, with Mikhail Rudy (piano) [ Warner classics / 5 CD Box Set - released 10/Nov/2014 ] 1001 Classical recordings you must hear before you die (1901-1950) "Mariss Jansons is among the most respected musicians of his generation. He is a human dynamo, tireless in his pursuit of the highest musical standards." - David Gutman |
STEVE REICH
Phases - A Nonesuch Retrospective Steve Reich and Musicians / Kronos Quartet / Theatre of Voices / Pat Metheny [ Nonesuch / 5 CD Box Set - released 31/Oct/2006 ] Pioneer of US minimalism Steve Reich is 70 this year and to celebrate Nonesuch has released a bargain-priced 5 CD set of his greatest works including definitive recordings of "Music for 18 Musicians", "Different Trains" and "Drumming". |
GEORG FRIDERIC HANDEL
Handel: Theodora (Complete Oratorio) Susan Gritton, Susan Bickley, Robin Blaze, Paul Agnew / Gabrieli Consort, Paul McCreesh [ Archiv / 3 CD Box Set - released 14/Aug/2000 ] 1001 Classical recordings to hear before you die (1700-1760) - 2001 GRAMOPHONE AWARD FINALIST - Baroque Vocal |
SVIATOSLAV RICHTER
Icon: Sviator Richter - The Master Pianist (Complete EMI Recordings, 1961-1980) Sviatoslav Richter (piano) with with Oleg Kagaan (violin) David Oistrakh (violin) and others [ Warner Classics / EMI Icon / 14 CD Box Set - released 1/Feb/2011 ] 'Idiosyncratic, plain-speaking, heroic, reserved, lyrical, virtuosic and perhaps above all profoundly enigmatic, Sviatoslav Richter remains one of the greatest recreative artists of all time.' (Bryce Morrison) |
VARIOUS
100 Best Carols [6 CD set] Various Artists includes Choir of King's College, Cambridge, Kiri te Kanawa, Roberto Alagna, Thomas Hampson, Barbara Hendricks, Hermann Prey, etc [ Warner Classics / 6 CD Box Set - released 12/Nov/2007 ] This 6-CD set contains all the best-loved carols that gladden and enrich the Christmas season, performed by outstanding choirs, ensembles and soloists from all over the world. |
CAMILLE SAINT-SAENS
Saint-Saëns Edition Victoria de los Angeles, Marie-Claire Alain, Maurice Andre, Michel Beroff, Frank Braley, Gautier Capucon, Stephen Hough, Alexandre Tharaud, and more [ Warner Classics / 34 CD Box Set - released 15/Oct/2021 ] "Arriving in time to mark the centenary of his death, this is more than merely a sensible collection. It presents some of the very best recordings of the composer's music ever made" MusicWeb |
JULES MASSENET
Massenet: Operas Victoria de los Angeles, Nicolai Gedda, Cheryl Studer, Beverly Sills, Renee Doria, Teresa Berganza, Jose van Dam, Sherrill Milnes, etc [ Erato / 16 CD Box Set - released 1/May/2018 ] "This is as good a performance as we are likely to get of this persuasive work. Victoria de los Angeles as Charlotte is adorable, both in character and in the sheer beauty of sound." (Gramophone on Werther) |
LUDWIG van BEETHOVEN
Beethoven: The Piano Concertos (complete) / Bagatelles Vladimir Ashkenazy (piano) / Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Sir Georg Solti [ Decca Collector's Edition / 3 CD Box Set - released 5/Aug/2013 ] "He is one of those pianists who so often seems to me to sound just right. No gimmicks, the music just speaks as it should . . . innate musicality, impeccable taste." Jed Distler, Gramophone (London) |
MAHLER
The People's Edition: Symphonies 1 - 10 Wiener Symphoniker, Berliner Philharmoniker, Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Chicgao Symphony, various conductors [ Deutsche Grammophon / 13 CD Box Set - released 1/Aug/2012 ] Over 5000 votes were cast in DG's Mahler web poll, over 400 customers have submitted their suggestions for a complete Mahler Symphony cycle … and now we know who will appear in the People's Edition. |
BEETHOVEN / MENDELSSOHN / SCHUMANN / SCHUBERT / WAGNER / FRANCK / etc
The complete Wilhelm Furtwangler on record Yehudi Menuhin (violin) Edwin Fisher (piano) / Philharmonia Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Berliner Philharmoniker, Wilhelm Furtwängler [ Warner Classics / 55 CD Box Set - released 24/Sep/2021 ] Wilhelm Furtwängler is a musical titan, one of the greatest conductors of the 20th century. Some would say he is the greatest of all. A supreme, inimitable interpreter of the Austro-German symphonic repertoire, and of Wagner's music dramas. |
JOHANNES BRAHMS
Brahms: Symphonies / Concertos / German Requiem Yehudi Menuhin (violin) Edwin Fisher (piano) / Stockholm Philharmonic Chorus & Orchestra, Wiener Philharmoniker, Berliner Philharmoniker, Wilhelm Furt [ Warner Classics / 6 CD Box Set - released 24/Aug/2018 ] Wilhelm Furtwängler saw "a wild, fantastic and even demonic universe" in the symphonies of Brahms. "Music is not something that is invented and constructed," he wrote, "but something that grows, emerging … directly from the hands of nature." |
Symphonic Highlights For Capriccio's 40 Year Anniversary
[ Capriccio / 10 CD - released 20/May/2022 ] Following Capriccio's founding in 1982 as a producer of LPs and tapes, the label's first recording to turn heads was its pioneering digital Beethoven Symphonies cycle with the Dresden Philharmonic under Herbert Kegel, which was issued on CD two years... |
GEORG FRIDERIC HANDEL
Handel - Marriner: The Decca Legacy Academy of St Martin in the Fields, Neville Marriner [ Decca Australian Eloquence / 19 CD Box Set - released 22/Mar/2024 ] A unique collection of L'Oiseau-Lyre, Argo, Decca and Philips albums in original covers, showcasing both the genius of Handel and the musicianship of the classic ASMF/Marriner pairing at its most stylish. |
MODEST MUSSORGSKY
Mussorgsky: Boris Godunov, opera in seven scenes (1869 version) Alexander Tsymbalyuk, Maxim Paster, Mika Kares, Sergei Skorokhodov, Göteborg Opera Chorus [ BIS SACD / 2 CD - released 6/Sep/2019 ] "This new account, based on live performances, is beautifully sung and played, and recorded in surround sound" MusicWeb |
VARIOUS COMPOSERS
Alexei Lubimov Alexei Lubimov (piano) [ Alpha Classics / 7 CD Box Set - released 13/Mar/2020 ] Composers: Beethoven, Ludwig van (1770-1827) Berg, Alban (1885-1935) Haydn, Franz Joseph (1732-1809) Ives, Charles (1874-1954) Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus (1756-91) Satie, Erik Alfred Leslie (1866-1925) Schubert, Franz Peter... |
LUDWIG van BEETHOVEN
Beethoven: Piano variations and Bagatelles Alfred Brendel (piano) [ Brilliant Classics / 5 CD Box Set - released 14/Dec/2006 ] A truly historic document: some 40 years ago Alfred Brendel recorded Beethoven's Bagatellen and Piano variations. Here the eminent pianist already showed his idiosyncratic self. Some people consider his playing dull; others find it refreshingly... |
HANDEL
Belshazzar (complete oratorio) Allan Clayton, Rosemary Joshua, Iestyn Davies / Les Arts Florissants, William Christie [ Les Arts Florissants Editions / 3 CD Box Set - released 20/Jun/2014 ] "The choir of Les Arts Florissants acquit themselves with full honours in Handel's imaginative dramatic narrative choruses" (Gramophone Magazine, December 2013) |
J. S. BACH
Bach: Well-Tempered Clavier Books 1 & 2 Andras Schiff (piano) [ ECM New Series / 4 CD Box Set - released 20/Sep/2012 ] GRAMOPHONE AWARD FINALIST 2013: Instrumental |