Herbert von Karajan

The best of Ravel, Ravel's greatest hits - they're all here on 2 CDs packed to the brim, containing all of Ravel's most memorable tunes.

Inevitably, the focus is on the immortal Bolero, beloved of the film industry. Ravel famously considered it to be his masterpiece, but claimed it had no music in it - an opinion with which many would take leave to disagree.

La Valse extends the theme of dance, the Rhapsodie espagnole the theme of Spanishry and exoticism, while the compilation ends with a flavour of jazz as exemplified in the Blues movement from the Violin Sonata and the Concerto for piano, left hand (which in the 1930s the famous pianist Alfred Cortot dared to play using both hands, incurring the composer's wrath).

Studio recording, 1980

Mozart loved the way the woodwind instruments can almost 'sing', and his Clarinet Concerto is one of his best-loved works. The concertos for oboe and for bassoon tend to be unfairly overshadowed by the clarinet work, as this recording with legendary conductor Herbert von Karajan shows.

A truly record-breaking recording: Anne Sophie Mutter's reading of Vivaldi's "The Four Seasons", conducted by the man who discovered her, Herbert von Karajan, was the first classical CD to go platinum. And to this day, its legendary status remains untarnished.

Great romantic emotion coupled with vigorous temperament was the trademark of conducting legend Herbert von Karajan. His readings of Tchaikovsky's dramatic last symphony and the thrilling "Swan Lake" suite are perfect examples of his approach.

It is often said that Richard Strauss had a lifelong love affair with the soprano voice, and it is certainly true that many of his finest operatic roles were written with that voice in mind. In addition, the quality of his writing for sopranos regularly shows their instruments off to maximum advantage. Sopranos have genuine cause to the grateful to him.

Collected here are some of Strauss’s greatest heroines – whether regal (the Marschallin in Rosenkavalier), demented (Salome and Elektra), or crafty (the Empress in Frau ohne Schatten). These highlights feature not only great solo scenes (the final scene of Salome, Elektra’s monologue) but also some sublime ensembles (Arabella, Ariadne auf Naxos, the closing scene of Rosenkavalier). The singers represent some of the leading Strauss sopranos of their day – Della Casa, Guede, Crespin, Söderström, Silja and, of course, Nilsson – as well as some of the great Strauss conductors: Solti, Böhm, Dohnányi. Many of the recordings were made by the Wiener Philharmoniker in one of Decca’s iconic recording venues, the Sofiensaal, over a period of some twenty years