Johannes Brahms

Wilhelm Kempff was one of the truly great German pianists and one of the most remarkable performing artists of the 20th century. Kempff was renowned for his interpretations of Beethoven and this 10-CD compilation features performances of all five of the composer’s Piano Concertos made with the Berlin Philharmonic in 1953, and the Waldstein, Moonlight, Pathétique and Les Adieux Sonatas. The set also includes performances of Mozart, Schumann, Liszt, Chopin, and Brahms recorded between 1953 and 1958.

These recordings were all made in the mid-1950s in Cologne, where the great German conductor Otto Klemperer’s work for the local radio station was a key element in his career. His work with the orchestras of the Cologne radio station produced benchmark performances of Classical and Romantic works, some of which are featured here on recordings of public concerts.

Here is Klemperer in his element, for as he said himself, he needed the concert atmosphere “to be in top form”. This 4-CD set includes outstanding recordings of Mahler’s Fourth Symphony and Kindertotenlieder, Brahms’ Requiem, and Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis and Ninth Symphony.

The death has recently been announced of one of the greatest singers of the 20th century, the German baritone Dieterich Fisher-Dieskau. Over a career spanning almost half a century Fisher-Dieskau performed all over the world with most of the major conductors, orchestras, and opera companies. He was particularly renowned for his interpretations of the lieder repertoire, especially the songs of Schubert. This 10CD set which was originally released in July 2011 covers a wide range of his performances in all areas of the vocal art.

Between 1964 and 1994, Georg Ratzinger, the brother of the present Pope, was the musical director of the world famous boys’ choir known as the Regensburger Domspatzen. Beginning with music by Hans Leo Hassler and Orlando di Lasso, this selection of the choir’s recordings touches on all periods of musical development with baroque (Lully), classical (Mozart), and some of the great 19th century romantics (Schubert, Brahms, Mendelssohn, Rheinberger). The disc concludes with a group of arrangements of well-known German folksongs.

Born in Eger in what is now the Czech Republic to Russian immigrants in 1903, Rudolf Serkin became one of the truly great performers of classical and romantic piano music. This 10-CD set - which features recordings that he made between 1932 and 1959 of works by Beethoven, Mozart, Mendelssohn, Brahms, Strauss and Bach - form an impressive example of his creative art. It also includes recordings of Beethoven’s Cello Sonatas made with Pablo Casals and performances given with his father-in-law, the great violinist Adolf Busch, with whom Rudolf Serkin performed chamber music at the highest level for more than 30 years.

The legendary conductor Otto Klemperer (1885-1973) was known for his strict readings of scores and turned concerts and recordings into monumental documents of his art. In particular his performances of the works of the great symphonists Beethoven, Brahms, and Bruckner during the last two decades of his life are recognised as classics of the period. On this 10CD boxed set he conducts the Cologne Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Philharmonia Orchestra, and the Vienna Symphony Orchestra in recordings of all nine Beethoven symphonies as well as incidental music from “Egmont”, Brahms’ Symphonies 1 and 3 and Piano Concerto No. 2, and Bruckner Symphonies 4, 7, & 8.

Soprano Lucia Popp (1939-1993) was one of the most acclaimed singers of her generation. In this four-CD set she is heard in arias from operas by Weber, Mozart, Lortzing, Puccini, Verdi, Massenet and Monteverdi, songs by Brahms, Mahler, Prokofiev, Dvorak, Kodaly, Janacek, and sacred music by Telemann and Bach.

After making her debut at the Vienna State Opera in the modest role of Barbarina in The Marriage of Figaro, Lucia Popp worked with all the great conductors of her day including Leonard Bernstein, Sir George Solti, Rafael Kubelik, Lorin Maazel, Sir Neville Marriner, Bernard Haitink and Carlos Kleiber. The State Operas of Vienna and Munich honoured Lucia Popp with the title of Kammersängerin and the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra awarded her the “Silver Rose”. In 2007 she was placed 7th on BBC Music Magazine's list ‘20 All-time Best Sopranos’ based on a poll of 21 British critics and BBC presenters.

5CD (+3 bonus DVDs)

This set provides a great opportunity to enjoy the talents of the excellent EuropaChorAcademie performing a wide range of choral works. “A truly breathtaking purity of intonation, rhythmic precision and collective engagement.” BBC Music Magazine

Vladimir Horowitz performs two major concertos in the piano repertoire.

These performances were recorded in 1936 and 1948.