Blomdstedt Conducts Beethoven

These recordings were made between 1937 and 1942, and they represent the sum of Mengelberg's commercially released Beethoven for the Telefunken label.

More than 200 years after its premiere at the Gewandhaus in Leipzig, Isabelle Faust, Jean-Guihen Queyras and Martin Helmchen have congenially mastered the artistic challenge of Beethoven’s gemstone. Under Herbert Blomstedt’s sensitive direction, the soloists unite chamber musical intimacy together with virtuoso sophistication – and prove once again that the Triple Concerto is an unduly underestimated, much too rarely programmed masterpiece.

Erich Leinsdorf was an Austrian-born American conductor. He performed and recorded with leading orchestras and opera companies throughout the United States and Europe, earning a reputation for exacting standards as well as an acerbic personality. He also published books and essays on musical matters.

Hailed as one of the most important musicians in America in the 20th-Century, legendary conductor Leonard Bernstein conducts the momentous collection of Beethoven’s nine symphonies in this impressive 6 CD boxset for Sony Classics. Recorded whilst Bernstein was at the peak of his musical capabilities during his famous spell as director of Music at the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, the Beethoven symphonies provide the listener with an array of emotions, from the serious nature of the Fifth Symphony to the Third ‘Eroica’ Symphony, to the Fourth Symphony ‘Pastorale’ and to the passionate ninth, the ‘Chorale’. This collection of works by the most well-known classical music composer of the most famous and important works in classical music makes this boxset a ‘must-have’ for the classical music lover.

Bernstein delivered a powerful and now legendary live performance of Beethovens String Quartet Op. 135 transcribed for String Orchestra and performed by the Vienna Philharmonic. For the first time ever this performance is now being released on DVD and Blu-ray. Another definitive Bernstein performance debuting now on both mediums is the enigmatic maestros reading of Haydns Missa in tempore belli, filmed live in concert at Ottobeuren in 1984, using to maximum effect the deeply impressive setting of the monasterys magnificent Baroque basilica.

This compilation covers 20 years of live recordings made by conductor Yevgeny Mravinsky and the then-named Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra for Erato. Mravinsky led that orchestra for nearly 50 years, from 1938 until his death. His last recording was that of Shostakovich's Symphony No. 12, made in 1984, found on Disc 3 here. His interpretations of Shostakovich and Tchaikovsky were highly regarded, so it's not surprising that several of their symphonies are here. There are also symphonies by Mozart and Beethoven in this set; tone poems by Tchaikovsky and Mussorgsky; and orchestral excerpts from operas by Wagner, Glinka, and Glazunov. The final disc contains a rare recording of a rehearsal led by Mravinsky, something few outsiders were ever allowed to witness. Even though he was an elder statesman of Russian music at the time of these recordings, there is still precision and energy in his interpretations.

Spanish maestro Rafael Fruhbeck de Burgos (1933-2014) concluded his acclaimed international conducting career of almost six decades with two memorable years as the venerated Principal Conductor of the Danish National Symphony Orchestra. Recorded live in concert at the new DR Koncerthuset in Copenhagen, this exclusive release combines Fruhbeck de Burgos’ powerful interpretation of the complete symphonies by Ludwig van Beethoven with his spectacular renderings of Symphonie fantastique by Hector Berlioz and Richard Strauss’ Eine Alpensinfonie as well as Joaquin Rodrigo’s popular concierto de Aranjuez, featuring the world-renowned Spanish guitarist Pepe Romero.

The Israel Philharmonic Orchestra is a cultural ambassador for Israel, and is regarded as one of the best orchestras in the world. Recorded in the Mann Auditorium, Tel Aviv in March 2010, this concert sees the Israel Philharmonic conducted in this all-Beethoven programme by the eminent conductor and violinist Itzhak Perlman. After the Egmont Overture, Perlman and the orchestra are joined by the Perlman/Schmidt/Bailey Trio for the beautiful ‘Triple’ Concerto. The programme concludes with the rousing and evocative ‘Pastoral’ Symphony.