Karajan And His Soloists

The Karajan Official Remastered Edition comprises 13 box sets containing official remasterings of the finest recordings the Austrian conductor made for EMI between 1946 and 1984, which are now a jewel of the Warner Classics catalog. Karajan's extraordinary capacity for elevating his soloists on a 'magic carpet' of orchestral sound is demonstrated in this 10 CD collection of concertos; among the instrumentalists are such figures as Sviatoslav Richter, David Oistrakh, Mstislav Rostropovich, Anne-Sophie Mutter, Alexis Weissenberg, Maurice André and James Galway.

The Karajan Official Remastered Edition comprises 13 box sets containing official remasterings of the finest recordings the Austrian conductor made for EMI between 1946 and 1984, and which are now a jewel of the Warner Classics catalogue.

All of the Duke Ellington Orchestra's recordings from 1935 plus their first two sessions from 1936 are on this enjoyable CD. The rise of the swing era may have resulted in many competing big bands being formed, but Ellington occupied his own private musical world and continued to flourish artistically and to an extent commercially. By 1935, his orchestra featured major soloists in Cootie Williams, Rex Stewart, Tricky Sam Nanton, Lawrence Brown, Johnny Hodges, Barney Bigard, and the leader on piano. During the era Ellington experimented by frequently using both Hayes Alvis and Billy Taylor on bass. Among the memorable selections that are on this disc are "In a Sentimental Mood," "Accent on Youth," "Clarinet Lament" (featuring Bigard), "Echoes of Harlem," and the melancholy four-part "Reminiscing in Tempo"…

When one thinks of Stan Kenton's 1951 music, it is of his huge Innovations Orchestra which sported a full string section and played very advanced works. However later in the year Kenton cut back to a conventional 19-piece band, a unit that was only together six months and made few studio recordings. This collector's CD features the all-star orchestra broadcasting from the Hollywood Palladium and it is particularly interesting to hear the unit interpreting some of Kenton's earlier hits. With such distinctive soloists as Maynard Ferguson, Shorty Rogers, Milt Bernhart, Art Pepper and Bob Cooper (plus a couple of vocals by Jay Johnson), the highlights include fresh versions of "Machito," "Eager Beaver," "Collaboration," "Painted Rhythm" and "Intermission Riff."

The 1938-1939 Duke Ellington Orchestra, even before bassist Jimmy Blanton and tenor saxophonist Ben Webster became members, was quite a strong band, having at least eight major soloists. With Ellington providing constant new material plus rearrangements of older tunes, there was a limitless amount of high quality music flowing from this band. On this CD, there are eight numbers from the small group of Cootie Williams, four from Johnny Hodges, and three by Rex Stewart in addition to eight big-band performances. Among the many gems are "Old King Dooji," Rex Stewart's famous feature on "Boy Meets Horn," "Slap Happy," "Dooji Wooji," "Pussy Willow," "Subtle Lament," and a pair of Duke Ellington piano solos.