Ashkenazy Complete Solo

Chopin is best loved for his solo piano music however there have always been question marks over the orchestration in his concertos. In the first concerto, which was in fact the second to be composed, both soloist and orchestra deliver a first rate performance. Chopin’s second concerto is lighter and more piano dominated. Here the soloist Kun-Woo Paik sounds happier and more involved than in the first concerto.

This 35 disc set is jam packed with thrilling, beautiful - and superbly recorded - music.
Tchaikovsky's "Big Three" are very well represented here. Dutoit's lushly lyrical and dramatic "Swan Lake", Bonynge's affectionate and inspired "Sleeping Beauty" (listen out for grumpy Carabosse's distant thunder rumbling in the Act II Symphonic Entr'acte!) and a version of "The Nutcracker" - Bychkov and the Berlin Philharmonic, which is brilliant, full of character and sparkle.

Limited Edition. Renowned for his soaring melodies and dramatic style, Tchaikovsky was a master of many genres. This wide-ranging edition comprises his complete symphonies, orchestral suites and ballets, two celebrated operas, his great concertos, with significant excursions into his chamber and solo piano works, songs and sacred music - all interpreted by leading artists on Deutsche Grammophon and Decca.

A luxurious and authoritative 64CD orchestral and concerto set, celebrating one of the world’s great orchestras and their 64-year relationship with Decca Classics. Few labels can claim to be so associated with a city as inextricably as Decca is with Vienna. No history of classical recordings would be complete without a chapter documenting how both Decca and the WP worked to perfect the art of recording in the city’s great concert halls, most notably in the famous Sofiensaal.