Strauss

Fournier's Don Quixote with Karajan and the BPO in top form has long held its rank as one of the finest interpretations of this Strauss masterwork…

Järvi’s version of Zarathustra strikes me as one of the finest ever, a recording to stand alongside those of Reiner, Karajan and Previn. The performance of the opening ‘Sunrise’ makes such an impact that I initially wondered whether the rest of the piece might sound anticlimactic in comparison, but Järvi sustains the intensity through to the end…. The eloquence of the orchestra’s strings also makes a strong impression in Metamorphosen…

Re-creating the romance of a bygone era, violinist and conductor André Rieu emerged in the late 1980s as a latter-day Waltz King, specializing in light classics and Viennese salon music. Rieu came from a suitably musical family: his father was the conductor of the Limburg Symphony Orchestra and a conductor at the Leipzig Opera, and most of André's brothers and sisters are professional musicians…

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.

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.

Containing six discs and 111 tracks, Deutsche Grammophon's 111 Years of Deutsche Grammophon is a sprawling collection of single items drawn largely from its enormous 55 CD 111 Years of Deutsche Grammophon The Collector's Edition…

A fun disc and nearly – but not quite – a terrific one. The Philharmonics are an instrumental ensemble (not the African American vocal quintet of the 1950s and ’60s) – a string quintet with clarinet and piano. Four members are from the Vienna Philharmonic, one from the Berlin Philharmonic…

A fun disc and nearly – but not quite – a terrific one. The Philharmonics are an instrumental ensemble (not the African American vocal quintet of the 1950s and ’60s) – a string quintet with clarinet and piano. Four members are from the Vienna Philharmonic, one from the Berlin Philharmonic…