This fabulous five disc set is replete with some of those old Stokowski warhorses all recorded in absolutely mind boggling Phase 4 sound, overblown perhaps but astounding for its time. Decca's remastering is absolutely magnificent and the discs are jam packed with almost six hours of music. This is another fine memorial to a great conductor who remained astonishingly vital until the very end of his life.
Leonard Bernstein was a musical titan of the 20th Century as a composer, a conductor and a communicator. This Limited Numbered Edition boxed set is the largest of DG’s suite of beautifully-conceived albums and sets marking the 2018 centenary of a remarkable human being and musical legends.
“The greatest pianist among the conductors, the greatest conductor among composers, the greatest composer among pianists … He is a universal genius” - Arthur Rubenstein.
Kyung Wha Chung's dazzling and probing artistry has made her one of classical music's most acclaimed performers. Lauded for her passion, her musicality and the intense excitement that she brings to her performances, Chung's uniquely expressive interpretations of the violin literature have established her as an artist of the very highest stature.
This 12CD collection brings together Emma Kirkby’s complete L'Oiseau-Lyre recitals in a single set. The world’s most popular period-instrument soprano, Kirkby’s pure, crystalline sound defined how vocal music of the baroque and earlier eras should sound for a whole generation or more. Accompanied in the main by Anthony Rooley, the set features works by Purcell, Handel, Bach and Mozart as well as rarely recorded works by Edwards, Campion, Dowland, Morley, Ferrabosco and many more.
Monteux’s Beethoven has been described as visionary. Respect for the spirit of the score, directness of expression, exceptionally well-drilled playing and a sense of untainted idealism that lay at the very heart of the composer’s vision – these are the qualities that typify Monteux’s interpretation of Beethoven. Eight of the symphonies were recorded for Decca; the Ninth for Westminster; and the third (Eroica) again, for Philips. Together with the rehearsal for the Ninth and an impromptu in-studio performance of ‘La Marseillaise’, they form the most complete collection of Monteux’s Beethoven recordings. Other conductors may have offered a more personalised take on the music but none made it more universal or more human. The fascinating accompanying notes to the set are by Rob Cowan and the recordings have been remastered for this release.
Pierre Monteux was remembered by Sir Georg Solti in his memoirs as "one of most brilliant conductors of the first half of the twentieth century"
• Assembled together, for the first time, Pierre Monteux’s complete recordings for Decca,Philips, Westminster and Decca/RCA.
• Including bonus disc of rehearsal material never before released, from producer Christopher Raeburn’s archives (courtesy of the British Library) – including
Daphnis et Chlo? and Beethoven Symphonies Nos. 3& 9.
• Includes the first international CD release of a Ravel disc conducted by Claude Monteux – Pierre’s son.
Pierre Monteux was remembered by Sir Georg Solti in his memoirs as "one of most brilliant conductors of the first half of the twentieth century"
• Assembled together, for the first time, Pierre Monteux’s complete recordings for Decca,Philips, Westminster and Decca/RCA.
• Including bonus disc of rehearsal material never before released, from producer Christopher Raeburn’s archives (courtesy of the British Library) – including
Daphnis et Chlo? and Beethoven Symphonies Nos. 3& 9.
• Includes the first international CD release of a Ravel disc conducted by Claude Monteux – Pierre’s son.
The Italian conductor Claudio Abbado is one of the most outstanding conductors of the 20th century. It was his unique ability to make sound and music shine (Deutschlandfunk Kultur), for which he was celebrated internationally by both the press and the audience. In addition to his long-standing relationship with the Berliner Philharmoniker and the Vienna Philharmonic, he has also been chief conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra for many years (1979 to 1986), with which he has recorded a rich discography over the years.