Ludwig van Beethoven

Beethoven's most significant Mass, conducted by maestro Kurt Masur and performed by famous musicians: this recording convincingly reflects the great composer's humanist ideals in a way rarely heard. Here, belief and enlightenment blend together in the most moving manner through the music.

With the latter Beethoven broke new ground in exploring the potential of the symphony, both in terms of its subject matter and its qualities as descriptive music. The title of each movement outlines what is being portrayed, and in the case of the bird-calls at the end of the second movement, Beethoven made a point of instructing his copyist to include the names of the birds (nightingale, quail, cuckoo) in the score!Many, many recordings have been made of Beethoven’s popular ‘Pastoral’ symphony but one sometimes overlooked is Ashkenazy’s ideally-paced, picturesque and oh-so-lyrical account of this great work. It is coupled with two of the composer’s most popular overtures – Egmont and Leonore No.3.

Third release on the new VIVAT label features the world-renowned Allegri String Quartet in the first of their new Beethoven Quartets series.

Beethoven’s remarkable Opus 18 quartets are full of energy and variety, optimistic yet passionate, brimming with invention and enthusiasm. Early Beethoven they may be, but the composer was already a complete master of the quartet, revolutionising the form.

The Allegri String Quartet celebrate their 60th anniversary in 2013, making them one of Britain’s longest-established chamber ensembles. Their acclaimed Beethoven series in concert and on CD is a central pillar of their celebrations.

Recorded at very high resolution (192kHz, 24-bit) in the well-nigh perfect acoustics of The Menuhin Hall, the recording brings unparalleled clarity and richness to the quartet’s sound.

Full-length disc (78’41”) with high quality documentation in three languages.

Until his retirement in 2009, Alfred Brendel was renowned the world over for his mastery of the Classical repertoire that pushed forwards the boundaries of the piano at the turn of the 18th century. Here are his early recordings of these subtle and dramatic concertos and sonatas, all stereo and all as fresh and dynamic in impact as when they were recorded over 50 years ago.

Alfred Brendel’s early recordings for Vanguard may long have been scorned by the pianist himself as he sought ever to refine in particular his mastery of the Classical repertoire, but they have stood the test of time.

Brendel’s way with Beethoven back then was perhaps more eruptive, his Mozart less suave, and in the concertos he was accompanied by stalwarts of the music scene in postwar Vienna. This set includes Beethoven’s complete sonatas and concertos as well as the Choral Fantasy, various bagatelles and many of the more obscure variation sets as well as a splendid early traversal of the Diabelli variations. Eight Mozart concerto recordings include his favourite ‘Jeunehomme’ K271, which he returned to many times during the course of his career, including his very last concert and recording; smaller Mozart works in size rather than expressive content include the masterly quintet for piano and winds, the C minor Fantasy and endlessly consoling A minor Rondo.

Lang Lang’s complete DG concerto recordings in an elegant slipcase, with original-jacket covers and booklet.