Staatskapelle Dresden

Originally planned as an 85th birthday tribute, this set documents over 3 decades of exceptional artistry by the Sir Colin Davis, one of the musical pillars of the Philips label (now part of Decca Classics), who died Sunday 14th April 2013. He was a musician of incomparable integrity and class.

After signing to Philips exclusively in the mid-1960s, over more than three decades he then produced work for the label of the highest quality and range:-

• the first (and still greatest) Berlioz cycle

• pioneering Tippett,

• superb Haydn and Mozart,

• plus top-ranking Sibelius, Beethoven, Stravinsky, Dvorak and Britten, and much else.

His many recording orchestras included the English Chamber Orchestra, London Symphony, BBC Symphony, Royal Opera House, Royal Concertgebouw, Boston Symphony, Bavarian Radio and Dresden Staatskapelle, as well as the Berlin and Vienna Philharmonics.

His great Philips collaborators on disc include Stephen Kovacevich, Kiri Te Kanawa, Jon Vickers, José Carreras, Jessye Norman, Arthur Grumiaux and Claudio Arrau.

An extraordinary number of his recordings have achieved legendary status and are enduring staples of the catalogue. This set balances all his most important musical spheres as well as many of his most important artistic relationships with soloists, orchestras and opera houses around the world.

The booklet notes are in English, French and German with an excellent appreciation of his work for Philips by Jeremy Hayes.

To the present-day listener one of the most notable aspects of European concert music in the 19th century is the degree to which it became far less the preserve of the Church and the ruling classes. Many composers working in the early years of the century, Beethoven among them, were, to a lesser or greater extent, still working as employees of the Church or the wealthy aristocratic classes. This system of patronage was soon to break down and the role of the composer took on a more professional and academic character. The new-found freedom, and the advent of Romanticism in the arts as a whole, revitalised music throughout Europe; composers began to experiment with new forms, making their music more personal and innovative. This change of musical climate is clearly illustrated in this 17-CD set made up of works from most of the great composers of the time.

30 CD + 1 CD ROM - CD-ROM contains notes on artists and concertos.

For anyone who loves the piano concerto, this 30CD set is a must-have. Containing the complete Beethoven cycle recorded by Brendel in the 1960s for Vox, the set also includes Tacchino’s pioneering set for the same label of the five Saint-Saëns concertos, and the complete Rachmaninoff concertos performed by Lugansky and Lill.

‘This performance gave me real pleasure. Brendel plays with a mixture of heart and head that is most satisfying, to which he adds countless touches of pianism that delight. He constantly throws light on the music by an interpretation that is clearly born of much thought about it and a deep understanding. The firstmovement is virile, the slow movement is most beautiful (I cannot imagine the solo opening better judged or more sympathetically played) and the finale goes at just the right speed, jaunty and pointed.’ Gramophone review, Brendel, Beethoven Concerto No.3

The 18th century is the starting point for this fabulous journey through the development of the piano concerto – Haydn’s delectable concertos and all Mozart’s 27, including the first four concertos. Kissin’s Tchaikovsky No.1 and Prokofiev No.3 can also be found here as well as his recording at the age of 12 of the two Chopin concertos, alongside rarities such as Field’s Concertos 5 & 6, and Weber’s three underrated concertos. Mendelssohn’s two brilliant concertos, the two huge masterworks by Brahms, Dvorák’s elusive G major Concerto with its beautiful slow movement, and the evergreen Schumann and Grieg ensure that this set will provide endless pleasure for the enthusiast.

The cornerstone of our Liszt 200 celebration is a 34-CD limited edition superbudget box in the style of our Brahms and Schumann boxes of previous years: a bold cube with flip lid adorned with three striking images of the composer.

Divided into six musical-genre sections, the box covers the range of Liszt’s vast oeuvre like no other box on the market.

The pianists range from Krystian Zimerman, Daniel Barenboim, Claudio Arrau, Nikita Magaloff, Wilhelm Kempff , Robert Szidon, Lazar Berman, Jorge Bolet (“compelling” Concert Studies, Schubert transcriptions), to Alice Sara Ott (with her acclaimed 12 Transcendental Studies).

In the Orchestral Works, Giuseppe Sinopoli, Bernard Haitink, Sir Georg Solti and Iván Fischer maintain the highest standards.

The singers include Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, in his classic recordings with Daniel Barenboim, as well as Hildegard Behrens and Brigitte Fassbaender.

35 CD + CD-ROM (including Stephen Jay Taylor's 'Richard Strauss: The Man and his Music')

A superb collection of some of the greatest performances of Richard Strauss’s orchestral, operatic, chamber and vocal works, brought together in a stunning 35-CD edition of fantastic value.

The collection begins with a survey of Strauss’s orchestral music, including the supremely popular symphonic poems - Don Juan, Don Quixote, Also sprach Zarathustra, Till Eulenspiegel, Tod und Verklärung, Eine Alpensinfonie and Ein Heldenleben are included, together with comparatively rare orchestral works such as the wonderful Burlesque for piano and orchestra. These recordings, performed by the Staatskapelle Dresden and conducted by Rudolf Kempe, are a particular highlight of this box set, some of the greatest recordings of the classical catalogue.

Of Kempe’s Aus Italien, Gramophone stated:‘The Dresden orchestra play superbly and this version undoubtedly sweeps the board’. Of another release in the series, Gramophone commented: ‘the splendour of the Dresden orchestra is most impressive: at that period and under this conductor they may have had equals in this music but surely no superiors’.

An extensive survey of Strauss’s chamber music, performed by major international instrumentalists including Wolfgang Sawallisch (piano), Erno Sebestyen (violin), Wenn-Sinn Yang (cello) and the Sinnoffer Quartet.

Includes definitive performances of Strauss’s best-loved operas – Der Rosenkavelier, Elektra, Salome, Die Frau ohne Schatten, Ariadne auf Naxos plus the rarely heard Friedenstag.

In particular, Herbert von Karajan’s Der Rosenkavalier remains unsurpassed.‘It really does triumph over them all - even the outstanding 1969 Solti/Decca - and the triumph is, almost entirely, Schwarzkopf's own’, wrote Gramophone.

This comprehensive box set concludes with 3 CDs of Lieder, including the enduringly popular Four Last Songs sung by Charlotte Margiono and a disc of historical recordings accompanied by Richard Strauss on piano.

A truly unique set (the only one on the market!):The Richard Strauss Edition.

Contains a wealth of repertoire: the complete Orchestral Works, the complete Chamber Music, a generous selection of songs, the most famous operas and a disc of rare choral works.

A fitting tribute to one of the most important Late-Romantic composers, who for such a long period reflected his “Zeitgeist” in his fascinating and highly personal music.

A star studded line-up of famous Strauss interpreters: Rudolf Kempe and his Staatskapelle Dresden (a Strauss orchestra par excellence!), Herbert von Karajan, Joseph Keilberth, Wolfgang Sawallisch, Giuseppe Sinopoli, Karl Böhm, and vocalists Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Alessandra Marc, Deborah Voigt, Anne Sofie von Otter, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau and Charlotte Margiono.

Containing a historical recording of songs accompanied by Richard Strauss himself on the piano.

Liner notes included on CD-ROM.

36 CD box presenting 11 of Wagner's operas - including a complete Ring Cycle Release

60page booklet

Wagner's operas broke new ground in terms of both the harmonic language and on approach to the genre in which narrative and drama took precedence over the restrictions of musical Form. Encompassing the profoundly human themes of love, death, redemption, power and revenge, the operas made ​​unprecedented demands on singers' stamina and virtuosity. This 36-CD box presents a comprehensive survey of Wagner's great operas and features a wealth of legendary artists, many of whom are renowned for their Particularly interpretations of Wagner's music.

Richard Wagner, the most controversial figure the arts have ever seen, whose music can move and overwhelm like no other, continues to divide even today. The year 2013, when we celebrate the 200th anniversary of his birth, is inevitably going to be devoted to the man and his work.

In recognition of this anniversary, DG are releasing the classiest box on the market. Every opera that Wagner wrote - The best of DG, two operas each from Decca and the BBC, and EMI’s Rienzi. This is the first time a Universal label has been able to pull off such a feat.

ARTISTS & PERFORMANCES

• Seasoned conductors, among them some of the Wagner greats: Kleiber, Solti and Jochum

• Acclaimed modern recordings by James Levine (Ring cycle) and Giuseppe Sinopoli in Dutchman and Tannhäuser

• Excellent accounts of the two earliest operas in 1976 BBC recordings specially produced for the Bayreuth centenary – well worth checking out

• Plácido Domingo in two starring Wagner roles, Lohengrin (with Jessye Norman as Elsa) and Tannhäuser

• Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau as Hans Sachs in Meistersinger

• Cheryl Studer at her peak as Senta and Elisabeth

• Margaret Price and René Kollo as a matchless pair in Tristan

PACKAGING

• Rigid cube with hinged lid, featuring four handsome portraits of the composer

• Inner sleeves with newly commissioned sketches for each opera by Fred Münzmaier – he of Baroque Box fame

• 140-page booklet with new liner notes by Christian Wildhagen and a Wagner opera timeline, plus artist photos and more sketches

• Complete libretti in German with English translations available as digital download