Berlin Classics Collection

The intent of this set is pretty clear from the titles of each of the six discs: Meditations; Orchestral Fireworks; Invitation to the Dance; Nocturne; Pomp & Circumstance; Grand Opera. This is mood or 'theme' music designed to provide either a background or a sequence of 'tasters' initiating the person who comes fresh to classical music with a sampling from the 'great and the good'. True the 'great and the good' are all from the core repertoire; not even a scintilla of Janacek, Nielsen, Adams, Reich which is a shame.

This album is full of surprises, not all of them associated with its musical contents. Advance PR materials stated that its contents were recorded originally for televised broadcast in 2004, then forgotten, and only just rediscovered. A final recording by the celebrated Musica Antiqua Köln, forgotten by its The music is a bit of a surprise as well, if not the result of an “original genius” that Goebel likens to C. P. E. Bach. Johann Friedrich Meister (1638–97) seems by all accounts to have been something of a rebel, getting himself imprisoned the year after his appointment as music director of the Hofkapelle of Duke Ferdinand Albrecht I of Brunswick-Lüneburg.

This 50-CD collection of analogue albums aims to represent the heyday of Philips’ passion for great natural sound – the Stereo Years. There was a firm belief within the label’s team that recording technique was there to serve the music - the Musicians had their own views about how any given piece should be interpreted and how it should sound; the recording team’s job was to grasp that vision and make it a reality. This recording philosophy, combined with great artistry and visionary repertoire policy, created a special chapter in the history of classical music recordings that still inspires artists, sound engineers and collectors alike.