Maurice Ravel

‘This Ravel recital is quite outstanding in every way’. Penguin Guide Rosette

Since his death in 2005, there has been growing recognition of Carlo Maria Giulini’s status in the world of conductors. Now we are bringing together his American recordings – made with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra – in two separate capboxes, starting with a 6-CD Los Angeles set.

Giulini (1914–2005) was famous for his combination of rigorous classical discipline with thrilling excitement and colour in performance. Musicians loved him: although an extremely demanding perfectionist, he was, unusually for a conductor, one of the gentlest and most patient of men. As Victor Aitay, the Chicago Symphony's concertmaster recalled: 'In five minutes he had an orchestra that loved him. His approach to music was so honest and sincere, he was so clear and so knowledgeable of the music that the whole orchestra fell for him.' He was acclaimed for the incandescent spirituality and electrifying dynamism of his music-making, and for the remarkable level of ensemble perfection and balance – producing exceptional results both in concert and in the studio.

Fairly late in his career, Giulini became Musical Director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, from 1978 to 1984, and made an inspiring series of recordings with them – a “revelatory association” was Gramophone’s phrase. "The orchestra is full of young people who are hungry to make music,” he said, “They do not say, here is Beethoven once more; they really want to play and the esprit de corps is unbelievable." It was especially in this later phase that Giulini's music-making developed a warm, burnished glow that made such a deep impression on Los Angeles Philharmonic audiences.

Here, then, are the complete orchestral recordings from Los Angeles, which include many classics of the repertoire, released for the first time in a single box set.

Bernard Haitink revisited the music of Ravel on recordings several times in his career, both with ‘his’ Concertgebouw Orchestra as well as with the Boston Symphony. While many of these recordings have been reissued, his earliest, and in a way, most exciting accounts of the music of Ravel, made in 1961, have never appeared internationally on CD. They include a blazing account of the second Daphnis et Chloé suite, the Pavane, Alborado and Rapsodie espagnole. In 1971 he re-recorded the two Daphnis suites and it is from these sessions that the First Suite is taken to complete this very valuable reissue.

On the heels of her impressive Deutsche Grammophon debut recital album, pianist Yuja Wang’s return recording for the label – Transformation – categorically demonstrates that she is a young master of the Steinway.

Her new album excites with a demanding recital that includes some of the most electrifying pieces of piano literature – Stravinsky’s Pétrouchka, Brahms’s Variations on a Theme by Paganini, Scarlatti’s Sonatas in E and B minor, and Ravel’s La Valse.

Yuja Wang’s ability to take her music by storm is tempered by a sophisticated musicality that never distorts the line.

Transformation highlights Yuja Wang’s penchant for piecing together high concept programs the public adores. As The New York Times observes, “She seems to have everything: speed, flexibility, pianistic thunder, and interpretive nuance.”

An iconic record, this collection of two well-known (Debussy, Ravel) and two rarities (Roussel, Ropartz) of the chamber music repertoire was issued in both its LP and CD incarnations to great acclaim. It was recorded in the unusually spacious acoustic of Walthamstow Assembly Hall and its late producer, Ray Minshull, provides an amusing recollection of the genesis of this now legendary recording.

"The Melos Ensemble is extremely sensitive to the nuances and rubatos of the music, produces some lovely tone, and succeeds in making the work hold together..." Gramophone.

An intriguing, evocative and exotic recital in which Janet Baker joined The Melos Ensemble for a journey through some of the twentieth century's most alluring French compositions for voice and chamber ensemble.

"A most beautiful recital... in (Chausson's Chanson perpetuelle) Baker expands and exultingly finds herself most at home. It's a strong, highly effective performance and marks a measure of the extraordinary way in which she has mastered the always rather special art of singing in French... The contributions by members of the Melos Ensemble - the Hurwitz Quartet, the flutes of Richard Adeney and William Bennett, Gervase de Peyer and Stephen Trier playing clarinet, Lamar Crowson (piano) and, very important, the harp playing of Osian Ellis - are of superlative quality." Gramophone.

Recorded live at The Granary, Beccles U.K., this recital captures Pascal Rogé in the repertoire that has earned him the reputation as one of the world’s greatest interpreters of Chopin and the French repertoire.

Pascal Rogé is today’s greatest ambassador and stylist in French piano music. Winner of two Gramophone Awards, his name is synonymous over many years with the finest in French piano playing, both in concert and on disc for Decca, and now in Debussy for ONYX

This is the second installment of Géza Anda’s recordings from the archives of the SWR. His early reputation was built upon his unrivaled mastery of the great Romantic repertoire. His infallible sense of form, and understanding of the inner workings of the music and his brilliant, unsentimental performing style have influenced subsequent generations of pianists. These are recordings from 1950, 1951 & 1955.