Géza Anda set down his cycle of Mozart piano concertos, in which he also directed the Camerata Academica of the Salzburg Mozarteum, in the years 1961 and 1969. That his survey seldom has been out of the catalog in the intervening years attests eloquently enough to its qualities, and DG's decision to reissue the performances as part of its mid-priced Collectors Edition series will be warmly welcomed.
Celebrating the 100th Birthday of the “troubadour of the keyboard”, Géza Anda on November 19th, we present a limited edition 17-CD set including memorable recordings of Bartók, Brahms and Schumann, a pioneering Mozart concerto cycle conducted from the piano, and the Beethoven ‘Triple’ Concerto with Wolfgang Schneiderhan and Pierre Fournier.
"Bravo Mozart!" exclaimed Emperor Joseph II as he stood up and tipped his hat at the end of the first performance of Piano Concerto No. 18 KV 456 , played by Mozart himself on 30 September 1784.
For many decades the orchestras of the German broadcasting service SWR have worked together with many famous musicians from all over the world, including the outstanding pianists selected for this collection, among them Clara Haskil, Jörg Demus, Paul Badura-Skoda, Alicia de Larrocha, Wilhelm Backhaus, and Géza Anda. Furthermore, Chilean pianist Claudio Arrau (1903-1991) is regarded as one of the supreme keyboard masters of the 20th century and must feature in any comparative survey of performances of the central repertoire from Beethoven to Brahms.
As part of DG’s celebrations of its incredible pianistic heritage both past and present, the Yellow Label presents within its PIANO MASTERS campaign 8 albums of outstanding performances from its unrivalled roster of pianists accompanied by the two pillars of German musical life: the Berlin Philharmonic and the Staatskapelle Berlin. The witty and eye-catching artwork collects celebrated performances by Pollini, Gilels, Argerich, Barenboim, Géza Anda, Foldes, the Labèque sisters and Yundi.
This 10 CD set offers 11 live recitals given by 10 famous pianists in Switzerland from 1953 to 1993. Each pianist is credited by a single CD. Only Backhaus CD contains fragments from two different programs (1953 and 1960), all the other pianists are represented by a single program.