DG The Original

30 years after his death, DG commemorates the quintessential “Kapellmeister” with a 42-CD set of Complete Deutsche Grammophon Orchestral Recordings by Eugen Jochum (1902-1987), presented in original jackets.
In addition to the complete symphonic cycles of Bruckner (the first ever complete recorded cycle), Beethoven and Brahms, this set offers the entire Jochum orchestral recordings for DG for the first time. Several recordings appear on CD for the first time, including recordings of Weber, Mozart and Beethoven.

The Grosses Festpielhaus in Salzburg has been the scene of countless memorable musical events - operas, concerts and recitals - for 50 years. Here is a unique chance to celebrate the glories of this distinguished era. In an exceptional collaboration with the Salzburg Festival, we have prepared a 25-CD box set - 5 complete operas, 10 concerts and 2 recitals - featuring many of the world's greatest artists, in recordings with classical status and others that are appearing on CD for the first time. Concerts (five out of ten are first-time releases): with Abbado, Bernstein, B hm, Boulez, Karajan, Levine, Mehta, Muti, Solti.

Rafael Kubelik truly remains a conductor for the here and now, with his classic recordings of Beethoven, Dvorak, Mahler, Janáček, Orff and Smetana cycles setting the gold standard. His approach to phrasing and keen attention to orchestral inner frameworks left no musical stone unturned. Kubelík is the last of the great conductors from Deutsche Grammophon's early stereo age to receive the "Complete Edition" treatment. This 64CD + 2DVD box set gathers the entirety of Kubelík's recordings for the Yellow label which are united for the first time in one package. All of the albums are presented with their original cover.

This disc substantially duplicates the repertoire on an all-Copland program produced by DG with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra. However, where DG included the Short Symphony, Naxos offers the Clarinet Concerto. While the Nashville Chamber Orchestra doesn’t offer quite the tonal refinement and polish of Orpheus, it basically plays just as well, and its slightly weightier, gutsier, more rustic sonority arguably suits the music even better. In the famous rehearsal disc that accompanied Copland’s own recording of the original chamber version of Appalachian Spring, he can be heard exhorting his players not to sentimentalize the music: “…it’s a little too much on the Massenet-side,” he tells them. Obviously Paul Gambill understands this point, for he offers interpretations ideally poised between warmth and simplicity, full of those clean and clear sonorities that Copland made his own.

In 1926 Eugene Jochum made his successful concert debut as a conductor. He acquired a repertory of over 50 operas and conducted concerts all over Germany. The acknowledgment of his excellence led to his appointment as musical director for Berlin radio. His reputation grew particularly in the field of the German Romantic Symphonies of Beethoven, Brahms and Bruckner and was presented with the Brahms medal by the city of Hamburg. This series is a compilation of his complete EMI recordings delivered with exceptional audio quality and artistic integrity.