Brahms Streichsextett Nr. 1 B Dur Op. 18

One of the most fascinating recording projects of this period was Sir Roger Norrington's pioneering set of Beethoven symphonies with The London Classical Players. Here at long last–after a century and a half of neglect–was a conductor bravely determined to conduct these symphonies according to Beethoven's difficult metronome markings, and as played on the original instruments that Beethoven had composed for–that is, the very sounds that he must have had in his mind when he wrote this music down. Norrington astutely saw that Beethoven's original brass and percussion instruments play a crucially prominent role in these symphonies, and most importantly, that they cannot be tempered without diminishing the passionate intensity of the music itself.

The two discs of Handel organ concertos offer nine of the 16 published concertos: all six from op. 4, two from op.7 and the concerto in F, HWV 308. Daniel Chorzempa’s readings with Schröder and the period instrument Concerto Amsterdam were highly regarded when they were new and hold up 28 years down the road.

With his very own “mysterious seductive power and legendary elegance” (Le Monde), Claudio Abbado opened for the last time the LUCERNE FESTIVAL in the summer of 2013. Only a few months later, the world had to bid farewell to a monumental artist, humanist, great conductor and orchestra founder. Even in the concert itself, documented here, lived a moment of farewell, as the three great works performed tell of the transience of life. The centerpiece of the Eroica is the funeral march revealing “abysses of shattering dimension” - an “intense experience” (Neue Zürcher Zeitung). This record, the last audio-visual documentation of his work, captures once again the extraordinary atmosphere of “vibrant emotionality” that always emerged when Abbado created music with his “orchestra of friends”.

Rudulf Serkin, in the company of Szell and the Cleveland Orchestra shine a wonderful light on Brahm's First Piano Concerto. Serkin brings the same radiance he delivers to Beethoven's "Emperor". Self-effacing, Serkin noted, "We are nothing next to the immense pieces we play… nothing, we are mere dwarfs". A challenging piece by any measure, Serkin's performance is well balanced with that of the orchestra, which play in harmony to produce elegant sound on this well-recorded Sony edition. The Handel Variations are a delightful change of pace as a makeweight.

The Bamberger Symphoniker and Jakub Hrůša’s cycle of the four Brahms symphonies and Dvořák’s last four symphonies is the first recording to give an overview of their extraordinary universe and cast light on their musical affinity, in a vivid soundscape with a contemporary pulse.

Schumann at Pier2 is not a usual concert film; it shows the four Symphonies of Robert Schumann from a new perspective, filmed at Pier2, a former dockyard in the harbour of Bremen where pop and rock concerts usually take place. Stars of the film are the conductor Paavo Järvi and the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen and they aim to present these works to a young audience.

Beethoven's second set of quartets, Opus 59, inhabit a very different universe from that of his first set, Opus 18. Although only six years had passed since the publication of the Opus 18 quartets, Beethoven's style changed immensely. The Opus 59 quartets were composed in the wake of the "Eroica" Symphony, and the vastness of the individual movements; the symphonic, orchestral character of the string writing; and the stretched formal boundaries led some critics to dub the first of the set an "Eroica" for string quartet.

This recording of the complete chamber music works for clarinet by Johannes Brahms is presented with first-rate interpreters: Laura Ruiz Ferreres, one of the most gifted clarinettists of her generation, and pianist Christoph Berner. Internationally renowned cellist Danjulo Ishizaka and the Mandelring Quartet complete the superb line-up of instrumentalists for this recording.

These London Symphony Orchestra recordings were made at the Barbican in London in 2003 and 2004. The set includes not only the four Brahms symphonies but also the Tragic Overture, Op. 81, the Double Concerto in A minor, Op. 102, and the Serenade No. 2 in A major, Op. 16. It adds up to more than four hours of music, but one can make a strong case for this as the Brahms set to own for those who want just one, especially for those who aren't concerned with audio quality. There is much to sink one's teeth into here – over a lifetime.