Claude Achille Debussy

This series of recordings brings together great works from the repertory played by renowned performers. From Bach to Debussy, Vivaldi to Rachmaninoff, as well as more specific areas such as the Medieval mysticism of the Songs of Ecstasy by Hildegard von Bingen (12th century) and the heady rhythms of the waltzes and polkas from the New Year’s Concert, each work is paired with an exceptional artist who left a lasting musical mark on the interpretation of each masterpiece.

Glenn Gould unveils the astonishing cantabile emerging out of the stolid contrapuntal lines of Bach’s Goldberg Variations, in a personal and enthusiastic interpretation, Arthur Rubinstein, peerless in the elegant and unadorned fluidity of Chopin’s Waltzes, renews interpretation of Chopin’s music without sentimentality and mannerism that were previously Chopin’s bedfellows. Charles Munch shows his passion for 20th-century French music through his readings imbued with classical transparency and Pierre Boulez brings a painstakingly refined interpretation of Ravel’s unfalteringly rigorous works to the fore.

The German symphonic repertory features prominently in this record collection, as in all classical collections, represented by several of the most important works in this area. Beethoven’s Fifth and Seventh Symphonies conducted by the energetic Leonard Bernstein. Schubert is also included with his Ninth Symphony “the Great,” conducted with lyricism and sensitivity by Günter Wand, as is Brahms whose First and Third Symphonies are enlivened by Bruno Walter’s very human touch. George Szell breathes life into three of the most significant Mozart symphonies (nos. 35, 39 and 40), bringing out marvellous internal balance with precise phrasing

Among the other benchmark recordings may be cited the eminently dramatic version of the Mozart Requiem by Nikolaus Harnoncourt, the tragic and restrained power of Bach’s Saint Matthew Passion by Gustav Leonhardt, the dynamic thrust of Carmina Burana under Seiji Ozawa or, in a different register, the flamboyant virtuosity of Horowitz in Rachmaninoff, the violin lyricism of Isaac Stern, the fiery temperament of Laurent Korcia or the integrity of Yo-Yo Ma in the Suites for cello by Bach. All these recordings enable the listener to enter on sure footing into the highly personal world of each of the composers, guided by musicians of great integrity and unparalleled artistry.

The first release from ‘The SODRE Collection’ features legendary violinist Jascha Heifetz with pianist Brooks Smith. Although Jascha Heifetz’s vast discography contains a recording of Vitali’s Chaconne in G Minor with orchestra and organ, this duo recital represents the only occasion he recorded it with piano accompaniment. The live recording was made in Montevideo, Uruguay on 12 May, 1955.

5 CDs + 1 DVD

2 posters A3 of Marielle + Katia Labeque

+ an artwork by Roberto Calbucci

+ booklet with English texts ( the translations will be on line)

+ a cartolina with all the CD already released by KML recordings

At his first Salzburg recital on 18th August 1959, the legendary Swedish tenor Nicolai Gedda, accompanied by Erik Werba, triumphed in front of an enthusiastic audience. He endeared himself with his fluent command of four languages and with singing that was radiant in every register. The varied programme brought together compositions from Falconieri to Respighi and from Glinka to Shostakovich.

Jorge Bolet made this superbly languid and delicate recording of 16 Préludes by Debussy less than two years before his untimely death in 1990 at the age of 75. The Cuban-born pianist's reputation was largely founded on his mercurial, blockbusting performances and recordings of Rachmaninov and Liszt, but this disc shows a true pianist’s lightness of touch, as well as some superbly sensitive engineering and technical preparation of his beloved Baldwin SD-10 instrument, chosen by Bolet in preference to the far more popular Steinways.

Bolet's own personal fastidiousness – he always recorded in a jacket and tie – is reflected, and in perhaps unexpected and certainly fascinating ways, in this personal selection from the two books of twelve Préludes, and the ordering of them. He may have been a reluctant, and and indeed until the last couple of decades of his life, infrequent visitor to the studio – he once remarked that he would rather give hundreds of concerts than make one recording – but this wariness does not translate itself into metronomical stiffness but rather reflect a refined version of the spontaneity that manifested itself more naturally in his concert playing.

‘Bolet’s performances, with their inimitable beauty of line and shimmering sonority (very much the product of an unobtrusive but subtle virtuoso pedal technique), their poetic freedom within a basic pulse, were like some serene and final distillation of all he had learnt and known, the massive and legendary virtuosity of earlier days directed into an everincreasing concern with more durable musical truths.’ Gramophone, 1991