The Grosses Festpielhaus in Salzburg has been the scene of countless memorable musical events - operas, concerts and recitals - for 50 years. Here is a unique chance to celebrate the glories of this distinguished era. In an exceptional collaboration with the Salzburg Festival, we have prepared a 25-CD box set - 5 complete operas, 10 concerts and 2 recitals - featuring many of the world's greatest artists, in recordings with classical status and others that are appearing on CD for the first time. Concerts (five out of ten are first-time releases): with Abbado, Bernstein, B hm, Boulez, Karajan, Levine, Mehta, Muti, Solti.
Limited edition 100 CD box set on the premiere classical label Deutsch Grammophon. Subtitled from Gregorian Chant to Gorecki. For some it will be the ultimate reference tool. For others a big place to start on something they always wanted to know about. Either way, the idea is to present a comprehensive history of Classical Music from its origins to the present day, covering all periods, including all major composers.
A luxurious and authoritative 64CD orchestral and concerto set, celebrating one of the world’s great orchestras and their 64-year relationship with Decca Classics.
Few labels can claim to be so associated with a city as inextricably as Decca is with Vienna. No history of classical recordings would be complete without a chapter documenting how both Decca and the WP worked to perfect the art of recording in the city’s great concert halls, most notably in the famous Sofiensaal.
A luxurious and authoritative 64CD orchestral and concerto set, celebrating one of the world’s great orchestras and their 64-year relationship with Decca Classics. Few labels can claim to be so associated with a city as inextricably as Decca is with Vienna. No history of classical recordings would be complete without a chapter documenting how both Decca and the WP worked to perfect the art of recording in the city’s great concert halls, most notably in the famous Sofiensaal.
We're talking the mid-1950s when Germany was working her fingers to the bone and trying to reconcile herself with a huge collective guilt. Musical standards were uncommonly high and DG's chosen selections attest to the highest levels of care and devotion. Rehearsals were plentiful, stretching to 22 hours spread over six days for Igor Markevitch's Berlin Philharmonic "Symphonie fantastique". Few versions have married temperament and formal argument as successfully, the sudden rushes of adrenalin used to intensify rather than distort Berlioz's endless melodic lines. Some of these recordings have been hugely influential, Furtwängler's passionate yet malleable Schumann No. 4 for example. Jochum's Mozart is supplemented by his deeply devotional and occasionally raging Bruckner Ninth, while in addition to Berlioz, Markevitch offers us perceptive early Schubert (the sorrowful opening of the Fourth is unforgettable) and Bizet's witty suite "Jeux d'entfants". There's a slowbreathing Beethoven Second under Kurt Sanderling, a stolid pairing of Symphonies Nos. 5 and 7 and a beefy Brahms Second from Karl Böhm, and a thoughtful trio of Haydn symphonies (Nos. 44, 94 and 98) under Ferenc Fricsay. But the gem of the collection, where pondered musicianship and painstaking preparation reach the same exalted goal, is Fritz Lehmann's selection from Schubert's "Rosamunde" . . . It's style through and through – as music, performance and presentation, a superb production, hopefully to be followed by a second volume.Record Review / Rob Cowan, Independent (London)
Conductor Wilhelm Furtwangler already enjoyed a worldwide legendary standing during his lifetime - he was considered the German conductor and performances were greeted with rapturous applause. Today, more than 50 years after his death, Wilhelm Furtwangler is still an icon and his work has become an integral part ofthe music scene.