DUPRÉ / FRANCK / COUPERIN / BRUHNS / BACH / MESSIAEN
Gillian Weir: A Celebration Gillian Weir (organ) [ Decca Australian Eloquence / 22 CD Box Set - released 12/Feb/2021 ] 'Dame Gillian is one of the greatest of living artists; her playing shows a perfect mixture of hand and heart, a true musician with the technique to tackle anything.' - JOHN AMIS, WRITER AND CRITIC |
JOSEPH HAYDN
Haydn 2032, Vol. 1-10: The Symphonies Il Giardino Armonico, Kammerorchester Basel, Giovanni Antonini [ Alpha Classics / 10 CD Box Set - released 28/Jan/2022 ] This ten-CD set celebrates the release of the first ten volumes of the HAYDN2032 series, which aims to record all 107 Haydn symphonies by the 300th anniversary of his birth in 2032. |
GEORG FRIDERIC HANDEL
Handel Box Set: Rinaldo / Saul / Giulio Cesare (Recorded live at Glyndebourne Opera House, 2005-2015) Glyndebourne Opera / Sonia Prina, Anett Fritsch, Sarah Connolly, Danielle de Niese, Christopher Purves, Iestyn Davies / Orchestra of the Age of Enligh [ Opus Arte DVD / 5 DVD Box Set - released 20/Mar/2017 ] "Dantone conducts a strongly characterised performance founded on the alert playing of the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment." (BBC Music on Rinaldo) |
LUDWIG van BEETHOVEN
Beethoven: Symphonies 1 - 9 [Complete 1963 recordings on CD & Blu-ray audio] Gundula Janowitz, Hilde Rassel Majdan, Waldemar Kmentt, Walter Berry / Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra / Herbert von Karajan [ Deutsche Gramophone / 6 CD/Blu-ray Disc - released 9/Jul/2022 ] The classic recording of the complete Beethoven symphonies conducted by master Karajan with the addition of a Blu-ray audio of all the symphonies plus rehearsals. |
RICHARD STRAUSS
Strauss, (R.): Ariadne auf Naxos (Complete Opera recorded in 1969) Gundula Janowitz, James King, Peter Schrier, Hermann Prey / Straatskapelle Dresden, Rudolf Kempe [ EMI Classics / 2 CD Box Set - released 20/Sep/1992 ] "Gundula Janowitz sings the role of Ariadne with incomparable line and style. Her knowledge of Strauss singing has never been bettered." (review) |
JEAN SIBELIUS
Sibelius: The Complete Symphonies / Orchestral Works Hallé Orchestra, Sir John Barbirolli [ Warner Classics / 6 CD Box Set - released 19/Mar/2021 ] Sir John Barbirolli's electrifying interpretations of the works of Jean Sibelius have inspired audiences all over the world. In a letter to Barbirolli, Sibelius declared himself to be a 'devoted admirer' of the conductor, adding that he was always... |
MAURO GIULIANI
Giuliani: Complete Original Works for Flute and Guitar Mikael Helasvuo (flute) & Jukka Savijoki (guitar) [ BIS / 3 CD Box Set - released 2/Feb/2013 ] In the beginning of the nineteenth century the guitar enjoyed a wide popularity...The most celebrated of the several composer-guitarists active at this time was Mauro Giuliani, born in 1781 in southern Italy. |
FRANZ SCHUBERT
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Schubert: The Great Masses (D678 & D 950) Helen Donath, Peter Schreier, Ingeborg Springer, Theo Adam, Staatskapelle Dresden, Wolfgagng Sawallisch [ Philips / 2 CD Box Set - released 16/Jun/2003 ] Schubert's six masses cover the period 1814-28 and deserve to be much better known than they are at present. |
WALTER BRAUNFELS
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Braunfels: Die Vogel [The Birds] (complete opera ) Hellen Kwon, Endrik Wottrich, Michael Kraus, Marita Posselt, Wolfgang Holzmair, Matthias Görne / Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Lothar Zagrosek [ Decca / 2 CD Box Set - released 16/Feb/2011 ] "Zagrosek's reading and the performances by his cast and orchestra are gripping and more than do justice to this wonderful score. Wottrich and Kraus are impressive in the male leads." ClassicalNet |
AARON COPLAND
Copland Conducts Copland Henry Fonda (narrator) Benny Goodman, Isaac Stern / London Symphony Orchestra, Columbia Symphony Orchestra, New Philharmonia Orchestra [ Sony Classical / 20 CD Box Set - released 12/Apr/2024 ] This boxset includes Aaron Copland's complete own recordings for Columbia Masterworks from 1935 to 1976 on 19 CDs plus recordings of two of his works by Leonard Bernstein on one additional CD. |
HEINRICH SCHUTZ
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Schutz: Opus ultimate (Der Schwanengesang) The Hilliard Ensemble, Knabenchor Hannover, London Baroque, Heinz Hennig [ Virgin Veritas / 2 CD Box Set - released 24/Mar/1996 ] The male-voice Hilliard Ensemble was founded in 1974 and was disbanded after 40 years in 2014. Its singers were praised by Gramophone: "the superlative purity of their vibrato-free tone, perfect blend and balance of voices and immaculate intonation" |
W. A. MOZART
Mozart: Violin Concertos, Salzburg Divertimenti and Haffner Serenade Hungarian Chamber Orchestra, Kristóf Baráti / Amati Chamber Orchestra, Gil Sharon / Kammerorchestra 'C.P.E. Bach', Hartmut Haenchen [ Brilliant Classics Quintessence / 5 CD Box Set - released 25/Sep/2020 ] "..Baráti is out of the top drawer. With intensity of sound, unbridled athleticism and searing leaps into the stratosphere which send a tingle down the spine" (Gramophone) |
MICHAEL FINNISSY
The History of Photography in Sound Ian Pace (piano) [ Metier / 5 CD Box Set - released 1/Mar/2016 ] "You might think a piano cycle lasting more than five hours is asking too much. But when the music is as endlessly fascinating, engaging, challenging, puzzling, beautiful, thought-provoking and charming as Finnissy's, it is not a hardship" BBC Music |
VARIOUS COMPOSERS
Paderewski: The American Recordings [Complete Victor Recordings, 1914-31] Ignacy Jan Paderewski (piano) [ Appian APR / 5 CD Box Set - released 21/Nov/2016 ] IGNACY JAN PADEREWSKI (1860-1941) must be counted as one of the most famous pianists who ever lived, and he was certainly the most financially successful, yet his recorded legacy has always been something of a puzzle. Paderewski was from a generation... |
PIETRO ANTONIO LOCATELLI
Locatelli: Complete Edition Igor Ruhadze (violin), Jed Wentz (flute) / Ensemble Violini Capricciosi, Musica ad Rhenum [ Brilliant Classics / 21 CD Box Set - released 18/Sep/2015 ] Pietro Antonio Locatelli was one of the most important composers of the Baroque period, being a particularly celebrated composer of violin repertoire. |
GUSTAV MAHLER
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Mahler: Symphonies 1 - 9 Ileana Cotrubas, Heather Harper, Hermann Prey, Hans Sotin & others / Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. Bernard Haitink [ Philips / 10 CD Box Set ] "Some have even said that the Concertgebouw Orchestra at the time managed to deliver a spectacular performance not with Haitink, but despite Haitink, and though I think that statement's much too extreme, I understand that sometimes the credit of a... |
ANTONIN DVORAK
Dvorák: Complete Piano Music Inna Poroshina (piano) [ Brilliant Classics Quintessence / 5 CD Box Set - released 22/Jan/2021 ] Gramophone Magazine Re-issue of the Month - March 2011 |
EDWARD ELGAR
Elgar: Orchestral Works, Cello Concerto, Sea Pictures, Dream of Gerontius Jacqueline du Pre (cello) Dame Janet Baker (mezzo) Richard Lewis (tenor) / Halle Orchestra / Philharmonia Orchestra, Sir John Barbirolli [ EMI British Composers / 7 CD Box Set - released 25/Mar/2022 ] Born in London of Italian-French parents, Sir John Barbirolli (1899-1970) trained as a cellist and played in theatre and café orchestras before joining the Queen's Hall Orchestra under Sir Henry Wood in 1916. |
BACH / SATIE / VIVALDI / CHOPIN
Classic Jacques Loussier Jacques Loussier Trio [ Concord / Telarc / 5 CD Box Set - released 16/Mar/2019 ] Ever since his landmark recordings (over six million albums were sold) made with the Play Bach Trio in the '60s, the name of classically-trained pianist/composer Jacques Loussier has been linked with that of the great master of Western... |
GUSTAV MAHLER
MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Mahler: Kindertotenlieder / Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen / Das Lied von der Erde / Das Hnaben Wunderhorn / etc Janet Baker, Lucia Popp, Murray Dickie, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau / Halle & New Philharmonia Orchestras, Sir John Barbirolli, and more [ EMI / 2 CD Box Set - released 27/Aug/1999 ] 1001 Classical recordings you must hear before you die (1901-1950) [Kindertotenlieder/Ruckert Lieder] "The spontaneous feeling of soloist and conductor of this music comes over as in a live performance and brings out the tenderness to a unique... |