Carlo Maria Giulini – The London Years: Box Set 17cds (2013)

This wide-ranging collection provides an overview of Carlo Maria Giulini's collaborations with London s most distinguished orchestras, including his beloved Philharmonia Orchestra. Released in anticipation of the 100th anniversary of the conductor's birth in 2014, this 17-disc set showcases the sheer quality and breadth of Giulini's recorded legacy, and includes reverential and deeply-felt readings of Beethoven, Brahms and Schumann; thrilling performances of overtures by Verdi and Rossini; and vivid and colorful Debussy, Ravel, Falla and Stravinsky, all led with the utmost flair and commitment. Also featured is a fascinating bonus documentary on Giulini's life and career, with contributions by the conductor himself and some of the musicians who worked closely with him.

One old-school Mozart maestro who would have nothing to do with modern notions of Classical ''authenticity'' is Carlo Maria Giulini, a great conductor who has made a specialty of Mozart`s music throughout his long career, which spanned some 23 seasons in Chicago. Giulini`s second recording of the unfinished Requiem Mass-his second with the Philharmonia Orchestra and Chorus, even more attentive to his musical desires this time around-must be the slowest ever recorded. As such it is characteristic of the late Giulini manner: The reading is suffused by an ultra-serene religiosity that obeys no rules of performance style other than its own.

Don Giovanni’s special amalgam of dark drama and sparkling comedy is captured with startling immediacy by Carlo Maria Giulini. The Viennese baritone Eberhard Wächter faces a particularly formidable pair of noble ladies: Donna Anna in the form of Joan Sutherland (in one of her rare recordings for a label other than Decca) and the Donna Elvira of Elisabeth Schwarzkopf.

Giulinis Mahler recordings are few but notable. The earliest is of the First Symphony, made in 1971 with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra a performance that seems to radiate from within, full of delicate colours and telling details as well as a strong sense of architecture. Giulini conducted the Ninth Symphony for the first time at Florence in November 1971 before performing it on a number of occasions in Chicago, where he made his famous Deutsche Grammophon recording of the work in 1976.

MARIA CALLAS is regarded as one of the greatest divas of all time, whose recordings are standards by which all subsequent performances are judged. The 10-CDs of Live Recordings capture her on some of the greatest nights of her career and contain an interview by American Opera commentator Edward Downes. This recital performance are an invaluable addition to Callas s recorded legacy and show yet another side of this unique diva, whose vocal achievements stand unrivalled today and probably for all time. The eye-catching clamshell box are a collectors delight.

Recorded in London’s Henry Wood Hall in November 1977, these two performances offer a special reminder of the magic of Mstislav Rostropovich. If ever one needs to relive the pure magic of music, that elusive quality that operates above and beyond all words, it is to Rostropovich that one can confidently turn; especially when he is in partnership with another “great”—here, Giulini.

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.

When Carlo Maria Giulini returned to conducting public performances of opera after an absence of fourteen years, he chose for the occasion one of the enduring comic masterpieces - Verdi's Falstaff. The composer was almost eighty when he broke the six-year silence following the premiere of Otello, and startled the musical world by revealing his complete mastery of comic invention. Renato Bruson, the renowned interpreter of Verdi and one of the leading lyric baritones of the day, sings the title role.