Hindemith: Concerto for Clarinet and Orchestra

The Anthology of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra is a transcription in sound of the concert-giving history of the Concertgebouw Orchestra, based upon radio recordings from the archives of Dutch Radio and Radio Netherlands World Service. Six decades of the 20th century are put under the spotlight in six boxes, each containing 14 CDs. We have chosen not only legendary performances under chief conductors of the KCO but also concerts led by countless guest conductors of both greater and lesser renown. Famous soloists make their debuts with the orchestra alongside world premieres of works that have since become classics of the repertoire. This fifth volume of the Anthology features the radio recordings made by the orchestra in the 1980s, presenting an overview on 14 CDs of the orchestra's artistic development under various conductors during that period.

Some composers have left us an extensive catalogue of recorded performances, most notably Edward Elgar, Igor Stravinsky and Benjamin Britten. Others like Olivier Messiaen, Heitor Villa-Lobos and William Walton have left us significant, although limited, editions. All too many, however, have merely left us a mere fraction of their output and it was to bring these recordings to the record-buying public that the EMI Classics series COMPOSERS IN PERSON was planned and researched by Ken Jagger (1945-2007). He did include representative issues for five the above named composers in the series so as to provide a total of 20 releases.

Most composers are found as either conductors or pianists (so sometimes both) although some appear on other instruments – Hindemith as violist as well as conductor and Messiaen, Widor, Vierne and Dupré as organist.