August brings a new batch of (six) titles in the Virtuoso series. Building the range of recordings with big symphonies, key concertos, influential choral works and appealing chamber music. All of the titles in the series offer excellent recordings, famous artists, strong visuals, innovative booklet notes and best-selling composers. They tick every box to make serious classical music as easy and approachable as can be, with integrity and without compromise.
Tchaikovsky wrote four works for piano and orchestra: the three concertos, and the Concert Fantasy in G Op.56 (1884). The First Concerto ranks today as possibly the most famous piano concerto ever composed. Its entry into the world was, however, far from easy. Dismissed by critics as a flop, and by its dedicatee Nikolai Rubinstein as unplayable – which caused a rift between Rubinstein and Tchaikovsky, the concerto was premiered in Boston in the USA in 1875, and the dedicatee was Hans von Bülow, who conducted the performance with Benjamin Johnson Lang as soloist. Its success was never in doubt from then on. Rubinstein relented and undertook to champion the concerto. It is a large, dramatic work with its roots firmly in the Chopin/Mendelssohn school.
Yundi Li goes from strength to strength. Deeply thoughtful and formidably virtuosic, he makes light work of Prokofiev’s nightmarish technical demands. This is a really superb disc. As for Seiji Ozawa, he comes in for some bad press these days but here he is a quite wonderful accompanist, coaxing haunting, unforgettable sounds from the Berlin Phil.
2009 Marks The 111th Anniversary Of Deutsche Grammophon. Over 11 Decades, The Label's Philosophy Has Always Been 'The Greatest Recordings By The Greatest Artists In The World' And Now They Showcase This With This Incredible 55 Cd Box Set. This Unique Collection Forms Dg's Major Release In Its 111th Anniversary Celebrations. The Limited Edition Box Set Gathers Together Many Landmark Recordings, From The Past To The Present. Most Of Them Appear Complete, As Originally Programmed, In Their Original Cover Art And Several Include Additional Material.
2009 Marks The 111th Anniversary Of Deutsche Grammophon. Over 11 Decades, The Label's Philosophy Has Always Been 'The Greatest Recordings By The Greatest Artists In The World' And Now They Showcase This With This Incredible 55 Cd Box Set. This Unique Collection Forms Dg's Major Release In Its 111th Anniversary Celebrations. The Limited Edition Box Set Gathers Together Many Landmark Recordings, From The Past To The Present. Most Of Them Appear Complete, As Originally Programmed, In Their Original Cover Art And Several Include Additional Material. It Is A True Library Of Music, Artists And Recordings Extending From Abbado To Zimerman, Monteverdi To Prt, Furtwngler To Dudamel– There's Never Been Anything Quite Like It Before. The Opulent Deluxe Box With Hinged Lid Opens Up To Reveal The Neatly Stacked Contents Of 51 'Original Jacket' Albums And 150-Page Booklet.
Arnold Schoenberg (1874-1951) was arguably THE pivotal composer who launched the 20th century avant-garde in classical music. Along with his students Alban Berg, Anton Webern, and Hanns Eisler - the Second Vienna School - Schoenberg exploded the late Romantic soundworld and opened up new worlds of possibilities, first with atonal expressionism, and later with the innovative serialist system of composition.