Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 20 in D minor, K466

Celebrated as an outstanding conductor in an era of great conducting, Walter favored the Austro-German repertory all well-represented in this collection. While he championed the works of Mahler and actively sought new music for much of his life his fame lay in his exquisite recordings of Mozart, Beethoven and Haydn.

This collection includes 8CDs of his finest recordings and a new 60 minute audio documentary recounting the great conductor and aspects of his life.

Treating his players as colleagues, he drew a sensuous tone from the orchestra, employing rubato with consummate skill, juxtaposing fierce drama and warm lyricism. He sought to penetrate ‘to the core’ of a composition and, detesting ‘routine’ performances, continually endeavored to present a piece ‘as if it were receiving its world première’.

BRUNO WALTER – THE MASTERY BEHIND THE MAGIC

(60 minute audio documentary)

Bruno Walter stands in history as one of the few conductors who is almost unfailingly described as inspirational by those who performed with him. Often it has been said that he cast a magic spell over musicians, in a different way but to a similar extent as Wilhelm Furtwangler, Sir Thomas Beecham and, nearer our own time, Carlos Kleiber. But there was far more than just magic behind the acclaimed results he achieved, as is borne out by the contributors to this feature who from their personal experiences recall the mastery as well as the inspiration behind Bruno Walter’s music making. There are memories from former members of the London Symphony Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra and New York Philharmonic Orchestra, with recollections stretching as far back as 1929, and there is music by Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Schumann, Wagner, Richard Strauss, and Mahler.

Sviatoslav Richter represents the summit of pianistic achievement: his incredible virtuosity and strength, his vision of structure and form, the range of emotion he was able to express on his instrument in concert and on disc have never been surpassed.

Now, for the first time, all nine of the solo and concerto LP-recordings he made for Deutsche Grammophon have been gathered into a single box-set at budget price. All of these recordings have been in the DG catalogue since they were made; if they’re not still at top price, they’re in The Originals series.

It started in 1956 with a Schumann recital and ended in 1962 with a recital recorded live on tour in Italy. In between there were five concerto LPs (including Rachmaninov’s Second, Tchaikovsy’s First with Karajan, the Schumann and Prokofiev’s Fifth) and two more mixed recitals. Here they are, faithfully reproduced in their original couplings (newly mastered) and with original artwork in mini-LP format. The CD booklet (in the style of the The Martha Argerich Collection) has masterly new liner notes by piano expert Jeremy Siepmann, who manages to capture the essence of Richter the man and musician, as well as furnishing precise annotations on each of the albums in turn.

An essential box-set for all serious lovers of piano music.