SAMUEL ADLER
Adler: One Lives But Once, A 90th Birthday Celebration Eastman School of Music, Brandenburgisches Staatsorchester Frankfurt, Emily Freeman Brown [ Linn / 3 CD Box Set - released 23/Feb/2018 ] March 4th 2018 marks the 90th birthday of one of the twenty-first century's most influential and prolific composers: Samuel Adler. This three-disc boxed set provides a cohesive overview of his output and includes many premiere recordings. |
W. A. MOZART
Mozart: Don Giovanni (complete opera recorded in 1959) Eberhard Waechter, Elizabeth Schwarzkopf, Joan Sutherland, Giuseppe Taddei / Philharmonia Orchestra / Carlo Maria Giulini [ ALTO / 3 CD Box Set - released 10/May/2011 ] Eberhard Wächter (Don Giovanni), Giuseppe Taddei (Leporello), Joan Sutherland (Donna Anna), Elisabeth Schwarzkopf (Donna Elvira), Graziella Sciutti (Zerlina), Luigi Alva (Don Ottavio), Piero Capuccilli (Masetto) & Gottlob Frick (Commendatore) |
BACH / HANDEL / MOZART / STRAUSS / MAHLER / BERLIOZ / etc
The Art of Edith Mathis Edith Mathis (soprano) with Otto Wiener (bass), Christa Ludwig (mezzo-soprano), Tatiana Troyanos (mezzo-soprano) etc [ Deutsche Grammophon Originals / 7 CD Box Set - released 10/Jul/2019 ] 7 CDs celebrating Edith Mathis's 80th birthday (11 February 2018), through a selection of her most treasured recordings from 1960 to 1984, of opera, oratorio and Lied. |
MOZART / SCHUBERT / GLUCK / R. STRAUSS / WOLF / SCHUMANN / etc
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Elisabeth Schwarzkopf - Recital Carnegie Hall 25th November, 1956 Elisabeth Schwarzkopf (soprano), George Reeves (piano) [ EMI References / 2 CD Box Set - released 2/Jun/1988 ] Recorded at Carnegie Hall, New York |
GABRIEL FAURE
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Faure: Melodies / Lieder Elly Ameling (soprano), Gerard Souzay (baritone) & Dalton Baldwin (piano) [ EMI Classics / 4 CD Box Set - released 20/Oct/2008 ] Originally recorded in 1974 |
BRAHMS / BLOCH / SCHUBERT / BEETHOVEN / MOZART / DOHNANYI / R. STRAUSS / etc
Emanuel Feuermann - The RCA Album Collection Emanuel Feuermann (cello), Arthur Rubinstein (piano), Jascha Heifetz (violin), William Primrose (violin), Franz Rupp (piano), Rudolf Serkin (piano) [ Sony Classical / 7 CD Box Set - released 4/Oct/2024 ] For the first time ever, Sony Classical is issuing a complete collection of the recordings made for RCA Victor by the fabled Austrian cellist Emanuel Feuermann with 11 works for the first time on CD transferred from the original master discs. |
CARL MARIA von WEBER
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Weber: Symphonies, Overtures & Concertos Emma Johnson (clarinet) Peter Rösel (piano) / Academy of St Martin in the Fields, English Chamber Orchestra, Staatskapelle Dresden, Neville Marriner [ Brilliant Classics / 4 CD Box Set - released 26/Aug/2013 ] Carl Maria von Weber is a name that is often cited with regard to the bridge between Classicism and Romanticism, and yet how many works of his is it possible to name? |
W. A. MOZART
Mozart: Complete Symphonies English Chamber Orchestra, Jeffrey Tate [ Warner Classics / 12 CD Box Set - released 1/Jun/2006 ] "Tate performs with style and excellence, and always gives the music a sense of life and elegant freshness." (MusicWeb) |
GAETANO DONIZETTI
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Donizetti: Olivo e Pasquale (complete opera recorded in 1980 with complete libretto) Eva Czapò, Benedetta Pecchioli, Gastone Sarti, Gino Orlandini, Mario Chiappi / Coro Della Radio Televisione Della Svizzera Italiana, Bruno Rigacci [ Nuova Era / 2 CD Box Set - released 21/Jun/1997 ] Recording Date: October 26, 1980 Recording Location: Lugano, Svizzera, Auditorio RSI |
CHARLES GOUNOD
The Songs of Charles Gounod Felicity Lott (soprano) Ann Murray (mezzo) Anthony Rolfe Johnson (tenor) Graham Johnson (piano) [ Hyperion / 2 CD Box Set - released 10/Nov/2009 ] 'Superb ... perfection ... Best of the year' (The Sunday Times) |
JACQUES OFFENBACH
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Offenbach: La Belle Helene, Orphee Aux Enfers, La Grande-Duchesse de Gerolstein (Complete Operettas in French) Felicity Lott, Yann Beuron, Natalie Dessay, Ewa Podles, Sandrine Piau, Laurent Naouri, Patricia Petibon, etc / Les Musiciens du Louvre-Grenoble, Marc [ Erato Classics / 6 CD Box Set - released 15/Nov/2018 ] "These are enormously spirited performances, no undue lingering, rhythmically riveting and generally uplifting. There is punch in the concerted numbers and the dances are whirlwinds." MusicWeb |
EDWARD ELGAR
Elgar: The Dream of Gerontius,Op. 38 [with Parry - Blest Pair of Sirens; I was glad] Felicity Palmer (sop) Arthur Davies (ten) Gwynne Howell (bass) / London Symphony Chorus, London Symphony Orchestra, Richard Hickox [ Chandos / 2 CD Box Set - released 19/Jul/1988 ] "...Howell is an imposing vocal presence...The choral singing is as good as any I've heard on disc...The playing of the LSO is superb throughout" MusicWeb International, 25th September 2013 |
JEAN SIBELIUS
Sibelius: Symphonies Nos 1 - 7 / Karelia Overture & Suite / Violin Concerto / etc Finnish Radio Symphony, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, with Joseph Swensen (violin) [ Sony / RCA / Finlandia / 8 CD Box Set - released 13/Mar/2020 ] "His tempos grab and hold the listener, and the orchestra plays with a sure sense of style. The brasses are incisive, the woodwinds reedy and a bit nasal, the strings strident or cushioning, all as appropriate." New York Times |
ANTONIO VIVALDI
Vivaldi: Cello Concertos (complete) Francesco Galligioni (cello) / L'Arte dell'Arco, Federico Guglielmo [ Brilliant Classics / 4 CD Box Set - released 25/Feb/2015 ] Antonio Vivaldi was one of the first composers to feature the cello, then a relatively "new" instrument (after the viola da gamba), as a mature solo instrument. He wrote no less than 27 concertos for the cello. |
W. A. MOZART
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Mozart: Concert Arias Francine van der Heyden, Miranda van Kralingen, Annemarie Kremer, Marcel Reijans, Ezio Maria Tisi, and others / various orchestras [ Brilliant Classics / 6 CD Box Set - released 10/Aug/2007 ] This set contains all concert arias on 6 CD's recorded by several singers including the famous Dutch soprano Miranda van Kralingen. |
JACQUES OFFENBACH
Offenbach: Robinson Crusoe / Vert-Vert / Entre Nous John Brecknock, Yvonne Kenny, Roderick Kennedy, Marilyn Hill Smith, Toby Spence, Thora Einarsdottir, Jennifer Lamore / Alun Francis, David Parry (cond [ Opera Rara / 7 CD Box Set - released 17/Feb/2023 ] 'All but dedicated misanthropes will find this set entrancing. Highly recommended' Gramophone |
ARNOLD SCHOENBERG
Schoenberg: Moses und Aron (complete opera recorded in 1984) Franz Mazura, Philip Langridge, Barbara Bonney / Chicago Symphony Orchestra & Chorus, Sir Georg Solti [ Decca / 2 CD Box Set - released 1/Oct/2007 ] 'Solti gives Schoenberg's masterly score a dynamism and warmth which set it firmly - if perhaps surprisingly - in the grand romantic tradition...As Aaron, Philip Langridge is lighter and more lyrical." Penguin Guide |
GIUSEPPE VERDI
Verdi: Un Ballo in Maschera (complete opera) Freddie de Tommaso, Saioa Hernández, Lester Lynch, Elisabeth Kulman / [ Pentatone SACD / 2 Hybrid SACD - released 23/Jun/2023 ] "De Tommaso turns out to be the real deal, singing with a confidence and ease that seem astonishing for a singer who was only 28 at the time of the recording, His is a real *spinto* tenor: bright yet intensely masculine." BBC Music Opera Choice |
GIUSEPPE VERDI
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Verdi: Simon Boccanegra (complete opera with libretto) Piero Cappuccilli, Mirella Freni, José van Dam, Nicolai Ghiaurov / La Scala Chorus & Orchestra, Claudio Abbado [ Deutsche Grammophon Originals / 2 CD Box Set - released 20/Jul/2016 ] "one of the most beautiful Verdi sets ever made. The playing of the orchestra is brilliantly incisive as well as refined, so that the drama is underlined by extra sharpness of focus..with electrifying choral singing as well." (Penguin Guide) |
FRITZ BRUN
Brun: Complete Orchestral Works Moscow Symphony Orchestra, Bratislava Symphony Orchestra, Adriano [ Brilliant Classics / 11 CD Box Set - released 1/May/2019 ] "...if you have yet to explore the music of this Swiss master, this release affords a very reasonably priced way of immersing yourself into the gorgeous musical world of Fritz Brun." Fanfare |