Viennese Barbirolli

“If this isn't great interpretation, I don't know what is,” wrote Gramophone’s reviewer in 1968, when this recording was first released, “I have no hesitation in saying that I think it the greatest performance I have yet heard on record.” John Barbirolli, an intense and inspired interpreter of Beethoven’s music, had been conducting the Eroica for many years, but the symphony acquired a special significance for him in the final years of his life. “Strange how the Eroica exhausts me these days,” he wrote in 1966. “It may well be because I am really beginning to plumb its depths.”

This double CD makes an excellent introduction to two great works even if other individual recordings might be preferable. This is particularly true of the Mozart in that although the ladies are peerless vocally, Barenboim's conducting is quite heavy and neither Gedda - typically somewhat pinched and throaty at times - nor Fischer-Dieskau - too light and woolly of tone for the bass-baritone required - is ideal.

Ludwig van Beethoven - Cello Sonatas 3 & 5
Jaqueline Du Pre / Stephen Bishop-Kovacevich
EAC+LOG+CUE | FLAC: 196 MB | Full Artwork: 37 MB | 5% Recovery Info
Label/Cat#: EMI # CDM 7 69179 2 | Country/Year: Europe 1988, 1967
Genre: Classical | Style: Viennese School

Jacqueline Mary du Pré, OBE (26 January 1945 – 19 October 1987) was a British cellist. She is particularly famous for performing the Elgar's Cello Concerto in E Minor, her interpretation of which has been described as "definitive" and "legendary". Her career was cut short by multiple sclerosis, which forced her to stop performing at the age of 28, and led to her premature death…

Widely regarded as the definitive interpretation of the Elgar Cello Concerto, Jacqueline Du Pré's landmark 1965 recording of it is included in this unique compilation. Extending the musical range of the cello repertoire, from fine, exquisite cello suites by Bach to grand orchestral visions of Dvorák and Saint-Saëns, this CD set is not to be missed by fans of Du Pré's warm, brilliant interpretations. This collection, composed of the great works for the cello, is a must have in any serious classical music fan's library. It is an even better collection for the "newbie" to the genre. Jacqueline du Pre was undoubtedly one of the greatest artist of the century and her passion is well documented in this collection.

W. A. Mozart - Eine kleine Nachtmusik / Divertimento F-Dur KV 247 / Cassation G-Dur KV 63
Wurttemberg Chamber Orchestra Heilbronn / Joerg Faerber
EAC+LOG+CUE | FLAC: 337 MB | Full Artwork: 86 MB | 5% Recovery Info
Label/Cat#: His Master's Voice # CDZ 25 2365 2 | Country/Year: Germany 1990
Genre: Classical | Style: Viennese School

The Serenade No. 13 for strings in G major, K. 525 was written by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in 1787. The work is more commonly known by the title Eine kleine Nachtmusik. The German title means "a little serenade", though it is often rendered more literally but less accurately as "a little night music". The work is written for a chamber ensemble of two violins, viola, and cello with optional double bass, but is often performed by string orchestras…

Beethoven - Complete Piano Concertos & Triple Concerto - Roll/RPO/Shelley
Classical | 3 CD | EAC | FLAC, CUE, LOG | Scans | 1,2 GB | RS
Recorded: March/Apr./Oct. 1995, C.T.S Studios Wembley/London & Watford Colosseum
Released: 2003 | Label: Membran 221883-371 | TT: 62:13, 68:14, 70:11
Michael Roll - piano | Jean-Jacques Kantorow - violin | Raphael Wallfisch - cello
The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra · Howard Shelley

[…] this is a special release by any standards. In no way inferior to the splendid accounts of such renowned Beethovenians as Brendel, Pollini, Barenboim and Perahia, these profoundly musicianly and unobtrusively virtuosic readings have all the spontaneity and daring of the best live concerts. […] Roll - woefully under-represented in the catalogue - is masterly from first note to last. (Jeremy Siepmann, BBC Music Magazine)

Daniel Barenboim continues his acclaimed Elgar series with the landmark First Symphony. These new issues mark the first time that indefatigable maestro Barenboim has returned to recording Elgar’s symphonic works since the 1970s.
This recording is the latest step in maestro Barenboim’s Elgarian journey with the Berlin Staatskapelle, following on from well-received performances of Elgar’s Dream of Gerontius, the Cello Concerto (recorded live with Alisa Weilerstein for Decca), and Elgar’s Second Symphony – about which the Guardian wrote: “The surging, unquenchable energy of this account is obvious from the opening bars, which are borne on an irresistible flood of sound from the Berlin Staatskapelle

After her last two albums of completely new compositions, “Silfra” and “In 27 Pieces – The Hilary Hahn Encores”, Hilary returns with classic-romantic repertoire. Two-times Grammy Award-winning violinist Hilary Hahn now combines Mozart’s beloved Concerto in A, K 219 – with its fiery “Turkish” episode – with the rich, virtuosic romanticism of Vieuxtemps’ Violin Concerto No. 4.