Montante

Volume 11 completes Alessandro Marangoni’s monumental project to record all 200 or so individual works comprising the Péchés de vieillesse or ‘Sins of Old Age’ (including some preliminary sketches). Highlights include all four duets from the collection, from the highly operatic Le gittane to Un sou, in which two beggars try to sell the collar of their dead dog. Rossini’s sacred or pious songs, such as the surprisingly intense Ave Maria (su due note) prompted Richard Wagner’s response, ‘the Parisian salons have turned into prayer cells… extraordinary!’ The closing piece of this edition is appropriately a setting by Rossini of his own name.

Herbert von Karajan was an Austrian conductor. He was principal conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic for 34 years. During the Nazi era, he debuted at the Salzburg Festival, with the Vienna Philharmonic, the Berlin Philharmonic, and during World War II he conducted at the Berlin State Opera. Generally regarded as one of the greatest conductors of the 20th century, he was a controversial but dominant figure in European classical music from the mid-1950s until his death. Part of the reason for this was the large number of recordings he made and their prominence during his lifetime. By one estimate, he was the top-selling classical music recording artist of all time, having sold an estimated 200 million records.

Given the depth, range and quality of the Deutsche Grammophon catalogue, it’s hardly been difficult to put together another anthology of great recordings and great artists. The structure is as before – here are 53 original albums (including three double-sets), featuring the great names of Deutsche Grammophon’s recording history, presented, once more, in alphabetical order of artist. Claudio Abbado leads off with a complete Carmen and Krystian Zimerman rounds off with his memorable account of the Chopin Ballades.

Founded in 1906, Les Petits Chanteurs à la Croix des Bois (Little Singers of the Wooden Cross) are renowned as one of the world's most established children's choirs. Founded by Paul Berthier and Pierre Martin, two students on vacation at l'Abbeye de Tamie, the Paris-based traveling choir broke tradition with its lack of affiliation to a particular parish or cathedral. Directed by Father Fernand Maillet, they soon developed an international presence thanks to performances at the Vatican and an appearance in the 1945 film La Cage aux Rossignols, and continued to remain active throughout the 20th century, with singer/songwriter Matthieu Chédid, Les Prêtres' Charles Troesch, and Olympic rowing champion Adrien Hardy among some of their famous former members. By its centenary year, which was celebrated by a France2 show featuring duets with the likes of Tina Arena, Lara Fabian, and Nolwenn Leroy, the choir school had developed into a full-time educational institution, combining regular studies with a global touring schedule.

The “Péchés de vieillesse” composed by Gioacchino Rossini exclusively for private use during the final years of his life in Paris (1857-68) bring together thirteen volumes of vocal, choral, and chamber music as well as more than a hundred piano pieces that he termed “semi-comic” and dedicated to “fourth-class pianists.” The wit and humor of Rossini’s piano music make it unique in the history of music. Of great virtuosity, pervaded by the ideal of Italian song, playing with influences from the opera, the salon, and the cabaret, and taking boundless delight in brilliantly wild ideas and waggish parodies, it remains a very personal bequeathal full of profound seriousness and playful irony, movingly intimate, and merciless toward the composer’s own weaknesses.