Faust Dutoit

Hector Berlioz, France’s greatest Romantic composer, exemplifies the spirit of his age – yet his genius was also ahead of its time. Reflecting his colourful life, his music is astonishing for its originality and ambition, and for orchestration of groundbreaking brilliance. This, the first-ever complete Berlioz edition, comprises carefully selected recordings and even includes works completely new to the catalogue. The accompanying booklet, lavishly illustrated, contains a fascinating commentary from Berlioz biographer David Cairns, whose words bring the composer’s music still more vividly to life.

This limited edition box set includes 35 sonic spectacular albums from the early golden age of digital when Decca’s engineers created a new DECCA SOUND. This set is a celebration of the nearly 25-year partnership between conductor Charles Dutoit and the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal. Highlights include recordings of Ravel, Saint-Saëns, Berlioz, Bizet, Respighi, Stravinsky, Holst, Debussy and much more.

This limited edition box set includes 35 sonic spectacular albums from the early golden age of digital when Decca’s engineers created a new DECCA SOUND. This set is a celebration of the nearly 25-year partnership between conductor Charles Dutoit and the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal. Highlights include recordings of Ravel, Saint-Saëns, Berlioz, Bizet, Respighi, Stravinsky, Holst, Debussy and much more. This box coincides with Dutoit’s much anticipated return to Montréal after nearly 15 years. 2016 also marks the return of Decca recording in Montreal in their brand new Symphony hall with rare repertoire in a new association with Kent Nagano.

Decca's Ultimate Ballet: The Essential Masterpieces is a budget box set of five discs covering the major dance works in the classical repertoire; newcomers to the genre can quickly pick up the basics from this generous collection. One can argue that Tchaikovsky should have been allotted greater space and that at least one of his ballets should have been presented in its entirety, rather than all three represented as suites and squeezed together on disc 1 to make room for Delibes' complete Coppélia. The Nutcracker, for example, could have fit nicely on a single CD, or an extra disc could have been provided to accommodate either a complete Swan Lake or Sleeping Beauty.

This 5-CD collection puts its primary focus on the Russians, with some notable excursions over to France. Ravel's immortal Bolero joins 1812 Overture; Capriccio Italien Tchaikovsky; Pictures at an Exhibition; Night on Bald Mountain Mussorgsky; Scheherazade ; three suites and The Flight of the Bumblebee from The Tale of Tsar Sultan Rimsky-Korsakov; Hungarian March: The Damnation of Faust Berlioz; L'Apprenti Sorcier Dukas; Pavane Pour Une Infante Defunte Ravel; Danse Macabre Saint-Saens; Jota Aragonesa Glinka; Prince Igor: Polovtsian Dances Borodin; Prelude A I'apres-Midi D'un Faune, and more!

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.

This ultimate collection showcases an artist with such diversity and a voice like no other. As she approaches her 70th Birthday, she clearly shows no signs of slowing down. Indeed, she will be appearing on the 3rd Series of TV series Downton Abbey, starring as Dame Nellie Melba.

THE ANALOGUE YEARS presents a 50-Album overview across 54 CDs, in original jackets, of the celebrated international recordings that emerged from the London-based record label in that pre-digital era.

Ultimate Classical Chill Out: The Essential Masterpieces basically delivers what it promises: a large selection of mellow classical music appropriate for unobtrusive background listening. The pieces are from a variety of genres, including orchestral, symphonic, vocal, chamber, and keyboard music. Most are gently lyrical and are from the Romantic and post-Romantic periods, but there are also pieces from the Baroque, Classical, and Modern eras. The performances come from Decca's extensive archive and are consistently top-notch in quality, and the notes identify the performers of each piece. The sound ambience varies somewhat from track to track, but it is never less than very good. This five-disc set with over six hours of music is a good bargain for anyone looking for a broad assortment of quiet classical pieces.