Franck Symphonic

This 60 disc box set contains 60 original 'Living Stereo' recordings. This is the first time a comprehensive collection of these iconic recordings has been created. Each album comes complete with its original LP artwork. An extensive booklet is included with the liner notes from each original album. Includes recordings by such great artists as Jascha Heifetz, Charles Munch, Fritz Reiner, Julian Bream, Leontyne Price and Arthur Rubinstein.

Initially envisioned as a theme for a TV series, Yves Levêque metamorphoses Ariana, Concerto in C minor into a three-movement magnum opus, amalgamating potent piano artistry with symphonic orchestration in a tapestry of emotion and virtuosity. In parallel, César Franck’s Prelude, Choral, and Fugue, FWV21, offers a pianistic fresco of classical rigor, imbued with influences ranging from Bach to Liszt, where lyrical resonance marries intricate polyphony. Two compositions, one ambition: to touch the soul through musical grandeur.

Many Romantic composers owe their fame to one of their symphonic poems. Alongside acknowledged French masterpieces in the genre, the fifteen tracks presented here include four previously unrecorded works and several rarities by women composers. The Orchestre National de Lyon, a great champion of French Romantic music, offers a palette of shimmering colours under the baton of Nikolaj Szeps-Znaider as it relates in music the legend of Merlin the Magician, the fairytale of Sleeping Beauty and the misadventures of the Sorcerer’s Apprentice.

Sir John Barbirolli was always considered a strong proponent of Grieg. The first disc in this two disc set feaures a marvelous 1969 performance from the Halle Orchestra of music from Grieg's incidental music to the Ibsen play "Peer Gynt", and not just the eight pieces which make up the two popular suites but also some essential additional selections. First and foremost "Solveig's Song" and "Lullaby" both beautifully sung by soprano Sheila Armstrong. Also the addition of the chorus to "In the Hall of the Mountain King" adds even more power to this already exciting moment from the music.

He was closely associated with EMI for the majority of his recording career (specifically from 1946 to 1960 and then again from 1969 to 1984). At the heart of this 7-CD box are symphonies by Tchaikovsky and Dvořák – essential Karajan repertoire. They are complemented by an array of orchestral works from around Europe, showcasing both the Berlin Philharmonic and the Orchestre de Paris, which Karajan shaped in the first years of its existence.