Filmed in Vienna's Grosser Musikvereinssaal in the early 1980s, this fabled rendering of Mozart's complete violin concertos appears on DVD for the first time. Premier violinist Gidon Kremer unites with Nikolaus Harnoncourt and the Wiener Philharmoniker in a tribute to the musical genius Harnoncourt deems "the most Romantic composer of all".
Peter Hammill is one of the formative characters of the progressive rock scene to date. In the beginning of the 1970's he recorded four cumbersome mysterious albums with his band Van der Graaf Generator which never could reach the commercial heights of cognate bands like Genesis or Yes due to their musical intransigence. After several visionary but difficult to access albums, Hammill reformed the quartet for another four albums which introduced a more earthy but not less complex sound. After the band's second end in 1978, on solo albums like "The Future Now", "ph7" or "A Black Box" Hammill experimented extensively in the studio and acquired the latest techniques like i.e. early forms of sampling; one of the most breath-taking results being the 20 minute long soundscape 'Flight'…
If the Piano Concertos nos. 19 and 23 are among the most famous in the corpus, it is of course because of their sublime middle movements, but also because they reach the very heights of Mozartian subtlety in terms of orchestration, thematic development and dramatic instinct. The historically informed performances presented here take the same interpretative approach as earlier volumes in the series, underpinned by an utterly luminous musical discourse!
In these thrilling concert films, Anne-Sophie Mutter plays and directs all five of Mozart's Violin Concertos. "Mutter's approach is full of expressive detail, her tempos bringing warmth to the slow movements … urgent speeds in outer movements … technically immaculate" (The Strad).
It was an awakening experience when Christoph Koncz, principal violinist of the Vienna Philharmonic and conductor, first held Mozarts original concert violin in his hands. This was the violin on which Mozart had played as concertmaster in the Salzburg Hofkapelle: a Baroque violin that was carefully preserved after Mozarts death and treated almost as a holy relic. The idea of recording Mozarts five violin concertos for the first time on the composers own concert violin was one that Christoph Koncz found irresistibly fascinating. Theres a close connection between these concertos and this instrument, and Mozarts own experience of this violin undoubtedly inspired him greatly.
When she was a fresh 15-year-old violinist in 1978, Anne-Sophie Mutter made her recording debut with a coupling of Mozart's Third and Fifth Violin Concertos with Herbert von Karajan conducting the Berlin Philharmonic. Now as an accomplished 42-year-old virtuoso in 2003, Mutter has recorded all five of Mozart's violin concertos plus his Sinfonia Concertante with herself conducting the London Philharmonic.
"The greatest number of audio discs in a boxed set of classical recordings by a single instrumentalist is 103, achieved by Jascha Heifetz - The Complete Album Collection (Sony Music)" GUINNESS WOLRD RECORDS LTD – Guinness World Records, December 14, 2010
Befitting his legendary status, Jascha Heifetz-The Complete Album Collection, is the biggest box set ever created for a solo artist. With 103 CDs and 1 DVD, this limited edition collection features all of the violinist's recordings made by RCA Victor between 1917 and 1972,those made in England for His Master's Voice and distributed in the U.S. by RCA Red Seal, three LPs issued on Columbia Masterworks and one on Vox Cum Laude. Of special note is the inclusion of three bonus CDs containing over two-and-a-half hours of previously unreleased music and a DVD documentary, "Heifetz in Performance", with footage of the artist playing his favorite repertoire. Rounding out this impressive collection are CDs packaged in reproductions of the original LP sleeves and labels, plus a 260-page hardcover book, making this THE must-have box set of the year.
"The greatest number of audio discs in a boxed set of classical recordings by a single instrumentalist is 103, achieved by Jascha Heifetz - The Complete Album Collection (Sony Music)" GUINNESS WOLRD RECORDS LTD – Guinness World Records, December 14, 2010
Befitting his legendary status, Jascha Heifetz-The Complete Album Collection, is the biggest box set ever created for a solo artist. With 103 CDs and 1 DVD, this limited edition collection features all of the violinist's recordings made by RCA Victor between 1917 and 1972,those made in England for His Master's Voice and distributed in the U.S. by RCA Red Seal, three LPs issued on Columbia Masterworks and one on Vox Cum Laude.