This is another release in EMI’s highly successful 50 BEST series. This 3CD set contains 50 tracks from the finest EMI recordings of the famous Wiener Philharmoniker, know in English as the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, under some of the world’s greatest conductors including Wilhelm Furtwängler, Herbert von Karajan, Rudolf Kempe, André Cluytens, Riccardo Muti and many others.
Six CD holiday box set. Christmas is a holiday filled with magic and wonder. One of the many things that make it more special are the beautiful Christmas carols that have become a part of the holiday season. So, this year when you gather family and friends together or when you spend time decorating the house, it's time to throw on this marvelous collection containing 100 of the best holiday carols around. Let your heart sing along to glorious musical moments like 'Away In A Manger', 'The First Noel', 'O Little Town Of Bethlehem' and many, many more. EMI.
Sit back, relax and unwind to some of the most relaxing classical music performed by some of the finest artists. There’s over 7 hours of well-chosen music split across six CDs and featuring the world's best loved composers. Another winning collection.
New compilation of some of the best recordings by the Wiener Philharmoniker, focusing on Schubert, with symphonies conducted by Riccardo Muti and Wilhelm Furtwängler.
In May 2002, in a series of live concerts in the Golden Hall of Vienna's Musikverein, a journey unique in the Wiener Philharmoniker's long and distinguished history reached its conclusion. This thrilling set of symphonies is the fruit of that journey. The recordings were made 'live' after numerous performances of individual symphonies and complete cycles in Tokyo, Berlin and Vienna. Rattle believes that a live performance has its own rhythm. The conductor 'channelling his unrelenting energy' was something audiences and the critics noticed at the concerts in the Musikverein.
After more than forty years this remains the best recording of "Tannhäuser" for a number of reasons. Good recordings have never been thick on the ground and while this one is by no means perfect, it pretty much kicks everything else into touch by virtue of the extraordinary vibrancy and erotic ambiance of Solti's direction - I believe this to be his finest achievement in terms of pure conducting.
Má Vlast is undoubtedly one of the best known works of Smetana even when knowledge is restricted to the tone poems, 'The Moldau' and 'Bohemia's Woods and Fields'. The work is not of ideal length for a CD, running to just a few minutes over its capacity and necessitating two CDs if played unabridged or unhurried. Of the many versions available perhaps three of the best are Kubelik, Mackerras and Talich.
The Symphony No. 5 in C minor of Ludwig van Beethoven, Op. 67, was written between 1804 and 1808. It is one of the best-known compositions in classical music and one of the most frequently played symphonies, and it is widely considered one of the cornerstones of western music. First performed in Vienna's Theater an der Wien in 1808, the work achieved its prodigious reputation soon afterward. E. T. A. Hoffmann described the symphony as "one of the most important works of the time". As is typical of symphonies during the transition between the Classical and Romantic eras, Beethoven's Fifth Symphony is in four movements.