Dutilleux, Lutoslawski

This album features cello concertos by Witold LutosIawski and Henri Dutilleux performed by the multiple prize-winning German-Canadian cellist Johannes Moser and the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin, conducted by Thomas Sondergard. These works, premiered in 1970, are two of the biggest gems of the twentieth century, the golden age of the cello. While equally virtuosic and engaging, both pieces showcase different aspects of the musical landscape of the late twentieth century.

While this collection brings together all the standard tunes Mstislav Rostropovich recorded for EMI Classics, the "Russian" recordings are deservedly the headline grabbers. World premieres abound, from a searing account of Prokofiev's Cello Sonata with Sviatoslav Richter to an especially probing Shostakovich Second Cello Concerto, both given in the presence of the composers.

The Radio Legacy is a compilation of the seven part Anthology of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the four box sets devoted to the orchestra s chief conductors Willem Mengelberg, Eduard van Beinum, Bernard Haitink and Riccardo Chailly, and also featuring more recent recordings with Mariss Jansons.

The latter half of the twentieth century was a period of turbulence – both artistically and culturally – and produced a wealth of provocative and often divisive music; much of which we are still coming to terms with, and much which has hugely influenced today’s pop culture and its music. 20C: Shaping the Century Volume II surveys a musical landscape of what are sometimes disparate compositional styles, and makes the repertoire accessible to everyone with an interest in this rich musical heritage. Decca’s and DG’s exceptionally-balanced survey of the music of twentieth century features one masterpiece from each featured composer, five composers per decade.Together this presents iconic works by 25 of the most iconic composers of the years 1950-2000.

RCO - Anthology of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Vol 3, 1960-1970 (2005) {14CD Box Set RCO 05001, Limited Edition}
XLD rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 4.67 Gb | MP3 @320 -> 2.40 Gb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (jpg) -> 230 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1960-70, 2005 Radio Netherlands Music / RCO LIve | RCO 05001
Classical / Orchestral

Despite rumors some months ago that the RCOA series might be discontinued (fortunately unfounded), here we have Volume III, a 14-CD set that contains much of interest, but surely—for this collector—doesn't live up to its potential. For me, ideally that would concist of some of the outstanding performances of great symphonic music played by this magnificent orchestra, recorded in the extraordinary acoustics of the Concertgebouw with the usual Radio Nederland sonic expertise. During the decade represented in this set (1960-1970) the Concertgebouw Orchestra's programming often emphasized contemporary music and that surely is reflected in this album. We have well over five hours of music by Martin, Varèse, Berg, Webern, Henze, Lutoslawski, Nono and Dallapiccola as well as Dutch composers Ketting, Escher, and Vermeulen, and Polish composer Grazyna Bacewicz's Music for Strings, Trumpets and Percussion, an 18-minute three-movement work of imagination and vivid scoring.

We're celebrating with a unique deluxe package that has everything. It's a box unlike anything you have seen before. A stunning, blow-you-away, multi-coloured object made of high-quality, transparent, frosted injection-moulded acrylic. "The complete musician" Box comprises three separate elements: * A solid, heavyweight base in translucent red, including a white CD "bin" to hold the 40 albums * A detachable green "book-shelf" that holds the BOOK (see info below) – with an embossed metal DG cartouche on its side * Bright yellow cover that envelops the whole package, with etched ASM35 logo * In addition, a wrap-around info-sheet will be set under the shrink-wrap on the side of the box – it will fall away when the shrink-wrap is opened.

RCO - Anthology of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Volume 6, 1990-2000 (2011) {14CD Box Set, RCO 11004} (Complete Artwork)
XLD rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 4.36 Gb | MP3 @320 -> 2.40 Gb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 141 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1990-2000, 2011 Radio Netherlands Music / RCO LIve | RCO 11004
Classical / Orchestral

I bought this shortly after my first visit to the Concertgebouw itself, when I was bowled over by the hall's superb acoustics and atmosphere. So these live broadcast recordings were pungent evocations of the experience. But even without that, this is a box worth having, if you can afford it. The first two discs alone are dynamite: a marvellously dramatic, idiomatic account of Bartok's Bluebeard's Castle with Ivan Fischer and Hungarian soloists, followed by one of the best Mahler Fifths I've heard, from Tennstedt in 1990.