Leonore

Wilhelm Furtwangler - Great Live Performances 1939-1954 [80CDs Box Set] (2023)
MP3 320 Kbps | Run Time: 03:14:03:02 | 11.5 Gb
Genre: Classical | Label: Tower Records

The memorial project commemorating the 70th anniversary of Furtwängler's death is an unprecedented 80-disc collection of the first and last live recordings.
It has been 70 years since Wilhelm Furtwängler (January 25, 1886 - November 30, 1954) passed away, but his influence extends even to modern conductors, and even now, no one can surpass him. This 80CD collection includes valuable masterpieces from the following six labels that have been passionate about reproducing masterpieces by great masters.
Tahra was founded in 1993 by Myriam, the daughter of great conductor Herman Scherchen, who was also close friends with Furtwängler, and Rene Tremine, a leading figure in the French Furtwängler Association, and has now ceased operations..

This is a collection of chips from the great man’s workbench, some of them thin shavings but none of them without some interest. Perhaps the weirdest assemblage is the incidental music for a drama called Leonore Prohaska, a play about a girl who dresses up as a man and sets off heroically – but do not be misled by comparisons with any other Beethoven Leonores: this one appears to have been a Sweet Polly Oliver who fought and died as a soldier in the Wars of Liberation. Censorship silenced the play, but not before Beethoven had composed four numbers for it.

Rafael Kubelik truly remains a conductor for the here and now, with his classic recordings of Beethoven, Dvorak, Mahler, Janáček, Orff and Smetana cycles setting the gold standard. His approach to phrasing and keen attention to orchestral inner frameworks left no musical stone unturned. Kubelík is the last of the great conductors from Deutsche Grammophon's early stereo age to receive the "Complete Edition" treatment. This 64CD + 2DVD box set gathers the entirety of Kubelík's recordings for the Yellow label which are united for the first time in one package. All of the albums are presented with their original cover.

The close-ups and intimate settings that are part of the staging make visual sense and support the music well. Based on the staging used at the Hamburg Opera, this recording from 1968 is of more than historic interest. Rather, the unique perspective from this television production conveys the appropriate immediacy to the work that sometimes escapes live performances on stage. The ensemble "Mir ist so wunderbar" becomes here an aside for the principals who are able to step out of the action momentarily to reflect on the situation, and their carefully placement on stage anticipates their roles in the drama as it resumes, notably with Leonore/Fidelio in the forefront, and Rocco in the center… James L. Zychowicz

Ludwig van Beethoven - Symphonies Nos. 1-9 / Leonore Overture No. 2 / Triple Concerto
Gordan Nikolitch / Lars Vogt / London Symphony Orchestra & Chorus / Bernard Haitink
SACD ISO: 24,81 GB (Stereo & MCH) | FLAC @ 24bit/88.2kHz: 6,73 GB | Artwork | 5% Rec. Info
Label/Cat#: LSO Live # LSO0598 | Country/Year: UK 2006
Genre: Classical | Style: Viennese School, Orchestral

"…I will treasure this set until the end of my days, and hope others will attain the same joy from it after I am gone." ~SA-CD.net

60 CD box set. Selection of Ludwig Van Beethoven works recorded by David Zinman & Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich (Symphonies), Yefim Bronfman, David Zinman & tonhalle Orchestra Zurich (Piano concertos), Pinchas Zuckerman & Marc Neikrug (Violin Sonatas), Anner Bylsma & Jon Van Immerseel (Cello Sonatas), Seraphin Trio (Piano Trios), Alexander String Quartet (String Quartets), Yukio Yokoyama, Robert Casadesus, Justus Frantz, Vladimir Horowitz, Gerhard Oppitz & Charles Rosen (Piano Sonatas), Eugene Ormandy & Philadelphia Orchestra (Christ On The Mount Of Olives), Wolfdieter Maurer & Tokyo Oratorio Society (Mass in C Major), David Zinman & Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich (Missa Solemnis) and many other great artists.

Collection of all five Beethoven piano concertos, played by a young Vladimir Ashkenazy at the height of his piano-playing career. Accompanied by the London Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by the great conductor Bernard Haitink, this was a first for television.