Tchaikovsky Complete

This 7 CD box set features the first complete cycle of Tchaikovsky’s symphonies recorded by Vladimir Jurowski and the London Philharmonic Orchestra, including symphonies previously released on the LPO’s label and new recordings of Tchaikovsky’s Symphonies Nos. 2 and 3, Francesca da Rimini and Serenade for Strings.

The collection of Lang Lang’s Complete Recordings brings together the treasure-trove of recordings that present all the many facets of the pianist’s first decade as a recording artist from 2000–2009. The set also includes his solo and concerto debut albums on the Telarc label.

Swan Lake was the first of Tchaikovsky's three great ballets– works which added a new level of depth and sophistication to what had been a purely superficial art form. Today the music is so well-known and popular that it's impossible to comprehend the difficulties the composer experienced at early performances. Audiences found the music "too symphonic," and the dancers were put off by the prominence given to the orchestra which, they felt, distracted ballet fans from the action on stage. Of course, all of these supposed "defects" are precisely what we admire about the music today, and this elegant but exciting performance reveals the music in all of its glory.

The collection of Lang Lang’s Complete Recordings brings together the treasure-trove of recordings that present all the many facets of the pianist’s first decade as a recording artist from 2000–2009. The set also includes his solo and concerto debut albums on the Telarc label.

There are only so many ways you can say it, but it's worth repeating: the combination of Valery Gergiev and the Kirov Orchestra is one of the all-time best when it comes to performing Russian music for the stage. The recording of the complete Nutcracker is just one example of their particular skills. There is a clarity and precision to the orchestra's playing that gives Tchaikovsky's music sparkle, while Gergiev breathes life into the dances and few moments of drama that are in the story. Even if you are only half-paying attention to it, you can still make out every distinct line, as melodies and countermelodies seamlessly pass from one instrument to another, and every nuance of dynamics and timing.

Let's say your tastes usually run to the Austro-Germanic, but you already have all of Beethoven's and Brahms' symphonies, most of Bruckner's and Mahler's symphonies, and many of Mozart's and Haydn's symphonies, so now you're thinking about trying out Tchaikovsky's symphonies. The question is: how many should you get? Should you get just the famous last three symphonies? Should you get all six numbered symphonies? Should you get all six symphonies plus the Manfred Symphony. Or should you get all symphonies six plus Manfred plus the orchestral suites? The answer, of course, depends on how much of Tchaikovsky's richly melodic, fabulously colorful, and extravagantly emotional orchestral music you're up for.

A quick glance at the cover of this recording of Pyotr Il'yich Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker might cause some to mistake it for the original orchestral music, because the words "arranged for solo piano" are in the smallest print. Stewart Goodyear's piano arrangement of the complete ballet is a fascinating example of the art of transcription, and the pianist deserves credit not only for his ingenious handling of Tchaikovsky's orchestration in terms of the keyboard's sonorities, but also for playing with close attention to details and tone colors that give the music its fantastic character.

Wilhelm Furtwängler is a musical titan, one of the greatest conductors of the 20th century. Some would say he is the greatest of all. A supreme, inimitable interpreter of the Austro-German symphonic repertoire, and of Wagner's music dramas, he remains a towering point of reference for performers and audiences.The unparalleled scope of this 55CD set makes it an essential for the music-lover. Not only is it the first collection to unite Furtwängler's entire catalogue of studio recordings, it also encompasses every live recording he made with a view to commercial release. Painstaking research has even unearthed a treasury of previously unpublished material, recorded in Vienna and Copenhagen.