VARIOUS COMPOSERS
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Pieces Julian Lloyd Webber (cello) / Royal Philharmonic Orchestra / Barry Wordsworth [ Philips / CD - released 10/Aug/2007 ] Julian Lloyd Webber made his professional debut as a cellist at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, London, in September 1972 when he gave the first London performance of the cello concerto by Sir Arthur Bliss. |
J. S. BACH
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Bach: Mass in B minor Julianne Baird, Judith Nelson, Jeffrey Dooley, Jan Opalach / The Bach Ensemble (original instruments), Joshua Rifkin [ Nonesuch Ultima / 2 CD - released 11/Sep/1982 ] Composed in spurts of productivity over the last 20 years of Bach's life, the Mass in B Minor was not completed until just before the composer's death, making it one of his last great works. It is performed here on original period instruments by the... |
ERICH KORNGOLD
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Korngold: Orchestral Works, Vol. 3 [Incls 'Cello Concerto'] Julius Berger (cello) / North West German Philharmonic Orchestra, Werner Andreas Albert [ CPO / CD - released 4/Dec/1991 ] "If sweet tunes and sumptuous orchestration constituted all the necessary for a great composer, Korngold would count as one of the greatest. Furthermore, a vein of genuine, individual poetry runs through just about everything he wrote." ClassicalNet |
LUDWIG van BEETHOVEN / W. A. MOZART
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Beethoven: Piano Sonatas 23 "Appassionata" & 32 / Diabelli Variations, etc / Mozart: Piano Sonatas Nos. 13 & 16 Julius Katchen (piano) [ Decca The Art of Julius Katchen / 2 CD - released 12/Mar/2000 ] "His Beethoven Sonatas are commanding edifices but the towering achievement here is his 46-minute Diabelli Variations." MusicWebute... |
JOHANNES BRAHMS
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Brahms: Piano Concerto No. 2 in B flat / Paganini Variations Op. 35 Julius Katchen (piano) / London Symphony Orchestra, Janos Ferencsik [ Decca Eloquence / CD - released 10/Feb/2006 ] 'Julius Katchen relishes their challenges like a meat-deprived lion jawboning a stack of raw, juicy steaks' ClassicsToday.com |
LUDWIG van BEETHOVEN
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Beethoven: Piano Concertos 1, 2, 3, 5 & Rondo in B flat Julius Katchen (piano) / London Symphony Orchestra, Piero Gamba [ Decca The Art of Julius Katchen / 2 CD - released 12/Mar/2004 ] "The performances are fresh and commanding … Tempi are often on the fast side, but Katchen keeps a classical firmness and provides the necessary contrast in relaxed, poetic accounts of slow movements and sparkling readings of finales." Penguin Guide... |
LUDWIG van BEETHOVEN / W. A. MOZART
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Beethoven: Piano Concerto No.4 / Choral Fantasy in C minor / Mozart-Piano Concertos, K415, 466 & 503, Piano Sonata K331) Julius Katchen (piano) / Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra, Karl Munchinger [ Decca The Art of Julius Katchen / 2 CD - released 12/Mar/2004 ] "The pared-down sonority of Karl Münchinger's Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra, together with Decca's close miking points up Mozart's ceaselessly inventive woodwind scoring." International Record Review |
MEYERBEER / VERDI / BIZET / MOZART / PUCCINI / MASCAGNO / GIORDANO
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Jussi Bjoerling - 'O Paradiso' - Great Opera Arias Jussi Bjoerling (tenor), with Robert Merrill, Zinka Milanov, Anna Maria Rota, Roberta Peters & Margaret Roggero [ RCA Victor Gold Seal / CD - released 27/Sep/1996 ] Original recordings 1951-58. |
PUCCINI / VERDI / BIZET
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Jussi Bjoerling - The Pearl Fishers Duet Jussi Bjoerling (tenor), with Robert Merrill, Zinka Milanov, Licia Albanese & Renata Tebaldi [ RCA Victor Vocal Series / CD - released 27/Sep/1988 ] Original recordings 1950-59. |
JUSSI BJORLING / ENRICO CARUSO / BENIAMINO GIGLI
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Great Voices of the Century - Three Tenors Jussi Bjorling, Enrico Caruso & Beniamino Gigli (tenors) [ Memoir Classics / CD - released 1/May/2011 ] Three of the great Tenor voices from the early 20th Century |
VERDI / BIZET / OFFENBACH / MASSENET / MASCAGNI / etc
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Arias, Duets & Songs, Vol. II Jussi Bjorling (Tenor) [ EMI Classics / 10in - released 1/Jan/1993 ] Johan Jonatan "Jussi" Björling was a Swedish tenor. One of the leading operatic singers of the 20th century, Björling appeared for many years at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City and less frequently at the major European opera houses, including |
DONIZETTI / VERDI / CILEA / MASSENET / PUCCINI / etc
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Jussi Bjorling: Opera Arias Jussi Bjorling (Tenor) / Stockholm Royal Opera Orchestra, Stockholm Symphony Orchestra, Nils Grevillius [ EMI Classics / CD - released 2/Feb/1988 ] Björling made his first stage appearance in the small part as the Lamplighter in Manon Lescaut at the Royal Swedish Opera on 21 July 1930. This was soon followed by his official debut role as Don Ottavio in Mozart's Don Giovanni on 20 August 1930. |
ALBINONI / PACHELBEL / CORELLI / MANFREDINI / VIVALDI
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Albinoni: Adagio In Gm / Pachelbel: Canon & Gigue / etc Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Herbert von Karajan [ Deutsche Grammophon / CD - released 2/Feb/1980 ] A nice introduction to Baroque music |
GUSTAV MAHLER
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Mahler: Das Lied von der Erde [Song Of The Earth] Christa Ludwig, Rene Kollo / Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Herbert von Karajan [ Deutsche Grammophon / CD - released 30/Nov/2001 ] "perfectly drilled execution, refined instrumental balancing and superb solo work distinguish virtually every measurer." New York Times on the original release |
NICOLA PORPORA
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Karina Gauvin - Porpora Arias Karina Gauvin (soprano) / Il Complesso Barocco / Alan Curtis (conductor) [ Atma / CD - released 10/Sep/2009 ] "Historians and musicians have assumed than Porpora was an also-ran...There is no reason why we cannot appreciate and enjoy Porpora's music on its own terms - not least when the singer is the marvellous Karina Gauvin." Gramophone |
SCHUMANN / BRAHMS / SIBELIUS / SCHUBERT / J. STRAUSS / etc
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Excellence: The Artistry of Karita Mattila Karita Mattila (soprano) with Ilmo Ranta (piano) / Turku Philharmonic Orchestra / Finnish Radio Symphony [ Ondine / CD - released 29/Jan/2005 ] "Mattila's singing is spectacular" - Robert Levine, ClassicsToday.com |
W. A. MOZART
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Mozart: Wind Concertos Karl Leister (clarinet) Lothar Koch (oboe) Gunter Piesk (bassoon) / Berliner Philharmoniker, Herbert von Karajan [ EMI Studio / CD - released 20/Jan/1987 ] Recorded At - Französische Kirche, St. Moritz, Switzerland, August 1971 |
RICHARD WAGNER
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Wagner: Lohengrin (Complete opera with libretto ) Karl Ridderbusch, James King, Gundula Janowitz, Thomas Stewart / Bavarian Radio Chorus,Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra. Rafael Kubelik [ Deutsche Grammophon / 3 CD Box Set - released 6/Sep/2003 ] "Gundula Janowitz is an ideally innocent, vulnerable Elsa - far more so than Sharon Sweet for Davis, while Thomas Stewart and Gwyneth Jones as Telramund and Ortrud make a formidable pair of villains." (BBC Music) |
DEBUSSY / DELIBES / CANTELOUBE / ORFF / R. STRAUSS / RODRIGO / etc
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Kate Royal Kate Royal (soprano) / The Academy Of St. Martin-in-the-Fields, Edward Gardner [ EMI Classical / CD - released 3/Sep/2007 ] Kate Royal was born in London and attended Talbot Heath School in Bournemouth, Dorset. Her teachers as a youth included Jon Andrew.[citation needed] She later studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and then the National Opera Studio. |
GIOACHINO ROSSINI
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Rossini: Il barbiere di Siviglia [The Barber of Seville] (complete opera recorded in 1988) Metropolitan Opera / Kathleen Battle, Rockwell Blake, Leo Nucci / Ralf Weikert (cond) [ Deutsche Grammophon DVD / 2 DVD - released 17/May/2010 ] ""one of the most mechanically ingenious stagings that the company has offered in recent years. Robin Wagner's multifaceted set, rotating on the stage turntable, lets the action flow smoothly from place to place." (N.Y. Times) |