Bizet L’arlésienne

New Year’s Eve Concert 1996 – Dances and Gypsy Tunes The fascinating Russian virtuoso violinist, Maxim Vengerov (winner of the Echo Klassik) lends radiance to the gala performance under the baton of Claudio Abbado. Johannes Brahms’Hungarian Dances and Gipsy Songs; Maurice Ravel’s Tzigane and La Valse and Hector Berlioz’s Hungarian March make this New Year’s Eve with the Berliner Philharmoniker unforgettable. New Year’s Eve Concert 1997 – A Tribute to Carmen The program of the Berlin Philharmonic bore the title «Dances of Life, Love, and Death», and it was hardly coincidental that it was meant as an homage to Carmen. The recording of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra’s traditional New Year’s Eve Concert, conducted by Claudio Abbado, offers not only a cross section of worldfamous melodies from George Bizet’s opera, but also famous dance music that was intensely or subtly influenced by it.

Granting a long-held wish of many record collectors, Sony Classical is issuing the complete monaural American Columbia discography of Eugene Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra in a vast box set of 120 CDs, all in new remasterings. Almost all of this material will be appearing for the first time on CD on Sony Classical. Indeed, 152 of these recordings have never been released at all on CD before now.

Romantic Adagios II is an interesting introduction to instrumental art music, though. Decca's stable of truly great performing artists are well represented. Among them are the Academy of Ancient Music, the London Symphony, the Concertgebouw Orchesta; performers Vladimir Ashkenazy, Lynn Harrell, and Joshua Bell; and conductors Georg Solti, Bernard Haitink, and Herbert von Karajan. Compositions range widely through music history, including works by Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Wagner, and Debussy. Especially lovely are the adagios from Rachmaninov's Second Symphony and Grieg's Piano Concerto.

Without a doubt, most of Herbert von Karajan records (usually with Berliner Philharmoniker) stand out as finest among the rest. Not that he turned everything he touched into pure gold, but his recordings of orchestral works are very often peerless. And in slow compositions his abilities are even more applaudable, as he was able to feel the Adagio pieces to the smallest detail.

Over 40 years of collaboration between Eugene Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra is among the most dazzling and longest connections in the history of classical music. In this unique edition, all mono recordings from the period from 1944 to 1958 appear on 120 CDs for the Columbia label. They also reflect an important section of record history in the changing cover design. Ormandy, a master of orchestral brilliance and timbres and also appreciated as an excellent companion, created the famous "Philadelphia Sound" with his orchestra.

The 50 Greatest Pieces of Classical Music consists of famous selections performed by the London Philharmonic Orchestra, under the direction of David Parry, with additional appearances by violinist Pieter Schoeman, pianist Finghin Collins, and guitarist Craig Ogden. While the term "greatest" may be debatable in the instance of some of the pieces, "popular" is a description that's easier to support, for there's no denying the staying power of these pieces. Indeed, some are so well-loved, they have become obligatory on such collections and are likely found in most listeners' collections.

London Philharmonic Orchestra & David Parry - The 50 Greatest Pieces of Classical Music (2011)
MP3 320 CBR kbps | Tracks: 50 | 04:22:52 | 619 Mb + 3% Recovery
Genre: Classical | Label: X5 Music Group

The 50 Greatest Pieces of Classical Music is a selection of classical works recorded by the London Philharmonic Orchestra, with conductor David Parry. The result was solely for the digital market. This is the very first time a classical collection is recorded for digital release only and was 13th place on the Billboard classical music chart with more than 135,000 units sold (and counting).