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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: Piano Concerto No. 5 in E flat major, Op. 73 'Emperor' (LP) Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli (piano) / Wiener Symphoniker, Carlo Maria Giulini [ Deutsche Grammophon / LP - released 25/Feb/2022 ] Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli's Beethoven 5th Piano Concerto, recorded with Wiener Philharmoniker and Carlo Maria Giulini in 1982. |
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TRADITIONAL
Classical Christmas [3 CD set] Roberto Alagna, Maurice Andre, Natalie Desssay, Thomas Hampson, Kiri te Kanawa, King's College Choir, etc [ Warner Classics / 3 CD Box Set - released 28/Nov/2014 ] A collection of carols and heartwarming Christmas favourites for the whole family to cherish. Yuletide classics performed by the leading lights of opera and choral music: Kiri Te Kanawa, Chanticleer, Libera, Natalie Dessay, Barbara Hendricks, Rolando... |
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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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Barbra Streisand
Classical Barbra [ Columbia Records / CD ] American import. |
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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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J. S. BACH
Bach: Goldberg Variations Beatrice Rana (piano) [ Warner Classics / CD - released 1/Mar/2017 ] "Her detailing is one of the aspects that makes this performance so compelling, be it the bringing out of a new line in the repeat, subtle changes in phrasing, a touch of pedal - examples are to be found in every single variation." Gramophone |
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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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PYOTR ILYICH TCHAIKOSVKY
Tchaikovsky: The Nutcracker (complete ballet) (LP) Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Sir Simon Rattle [ Warner Classics LP / 2 LP - released 6/Dec/2024 ] "Some of the tunes are so famous that you even forget that someone had to write them: what could be more perfect than the pas de deux after the Waltz of the Flowers, which is just a G major scale? We fell in love with this music, rehearsing and... |
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EDVARD GRIEG
Grieg: Peer Gynt Suite Nos.1 & No.2 / Sigurd Jorsalfar (LP) Berliner Philharmoniker, Herbert von Karajan [ Deutsche Grammophon / LP - released 25/Feb/2022 ] "Very impressive indeed. Somehow one feels that one could stretch out and touch the players, so vivid is the sound here." Gramophone |
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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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PYOTR ILYICH TCHAIKOVSKY
Tchaikovsky: Ballet Suites - Sleeping Beauty & Swan Lake (LP) Berliner Philharmoniker, Mstislav Rostropovich [ Deutsche Grammophon Vinyl / LP - released 25/Feb/2022 ] Rostropovich's accounts of the gorgeous Sleeping Beauty and Swan Lake Ballet Suites. |
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GUSTAV MAHLER
Mahler: Symphony No. 9 [LP] Berliner Philharmoniker, Sir John Barbiroll [ Warner Classics LP / 2 LP - released 4/Apr/2019 ] A magnificent and best-selling version of Mahler's ultimate masterpiece by one of the greatest Mahlerians of the 20th Century. |
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MAURICE RAVEL
Ravel: Complete works for solo piano [LP] Bertrand Chamayou (piano) [ Erato / Warner Classics / 3 LP - released 1/Jan/2025 ] "Chamayou's technical wizardry was never in doubt for a second… Chamayou is a remarkable musician, no question - someone to watch out for." (Tim Ashley, The Guardian) |
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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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DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH
Shostakovich: Symphony No 10 / Passacaglia from 'Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk' Boston Symphony Orchestra, Andris Nelsons [ Deutsche Grammophon Shostakovich Under Stalin's Shadow / CD - released 12/Sep/2015 ] "Powerful and beautifully crafted, this recording - the first from the relationship between DG and the Boston Symphony under Nelsons - is a hugely impressive sign of just what this ensemble/maestro partnership may go on to achieve." Gramophone WINNER |
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JOHANNES BRAHMS
Brahms: Symphonies Nos 4 & 2 Boston Symphony Orchestra, Charles Munch [ Sony Classical Originals / CD - released 10/Apr/2011 ] "Brisk tempos, wicked string and woodwind attacks keep this affectionate version on its toes. Without preliminaries, the Finale erupts out of the opening motifs, a series of punctuated lightning bolts interrupted by woodwinds' pipings and strings'... |
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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) |