Box Set Selections,
Boxed Set Selections - November 2017
This month brings one of the most lavish collections devoted to a single artist which any of us in the Presto office can remember (Herbert von Karajan’s complete legacy on Decca and Deutsche Grammophon, comprising a whopping 330 CDs and 24 DVDs!), plus an early celebration of next year’s Leonard Bernstein centenary from Sony – do watch the video-trailer for this one if you’ve five minutes to spare, as it offers some fascinating insights into the remastering process. It’s also a great month for French rarities, with a long-overdue survey of Alkan’s keyboard works on Brilliant Classics and a collection of late nineteenth-century repertoire from Jacques Mercier and the Orchestre national d'Île-de-France.
Issued in anticipation of the centenary of Bernstein’s birth in 2018, this 100-disc collection brings together the complete American Columbia recordings, with repertoire ranging from the original cast recording of his On The Town, Candide and West Side Story to landmark accounts of Mahler, Beethoven and Shostakovich symphonies.
Available Format: 100 CDs
The John Adams Edition
Berliner Philharmoniker, Simon Rattle, Gustavo Dudamel, Alan Gilbert, Kirill Petrenko
These live recordings were made during Adams’s residency at the Berlin Philharmonic last season: outgoing chief conductor Simon Rattle conducts The Gospel According To The Other Mary, and his successor Kirill Petrenko takes up the baton for The Wound-Dresser. Also includes City Noir, Lollapalooza, Short Ride in a Fast Machine, Scheherazade.2 and Harmonielehre.
Available Formats: 4 CDs + 2 Blu-ray Videos, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
A 12-CD tribute to the great French conductor, who died in January of this year aged 92; includes complete recordings of Lucia di Lammermoor and La Traviata, orchestral works by Sibelius, Berlioz and Strauss, and a glorious recital of French opera arias with Shirley Verrett.
Available Format: 12 CDs
Charles‐Valentin Alkan Edition
Vincenzo Maltempo, Mark Viner, Laurent Martin, Costantino Mastroprimiano, Giovanni Bellucci, Kevin Bowyer, Alkan Trio
A comprehensive survey of the idiosyncratic pianist-composer’s keyboard output and chamber music, including the mammoth Grande Sonata (also known as ‘Les quatre âges’) and the complete studies Opp. 35 and 39 plus the operatic variations and a selection of organ works.
Available Formats: 13 CDs, MP3, FLAC
In the wake of Barenboim’s 75th birthday last week, Euroarts combine the contents of two previously-issued DVD sets celebrating his achievements as both pianist and conductor; includes the complete Beethoven Piano Concertos and Mozart Piano Sonatas, several Europakonzerts, and performances with Martha Argerich, Sergiu Celibidache, and the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra.
Available Format: 27 DVD Videos
Victor de Sabata: The Deutsche Grammophon & Decca Recordings
Berliner Philharmoniker, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestra Sinfonica della Radio Italiana, Victor de Sabata
Marking the fiftieth anniversary of the conductor’s death, this 4-CD collection brings together the recordings which he made between 1939 and 1946 – repertoire includes Brahms’s Fourth Symphony, Strauss’s Tod und Verklärung, Beethoven’s Eroica Symphony and (appearing for the first time on CD for Deutsche Grammophon) Mozart’s Requiem.
Available Formats: MP3, FLAC
A treasure-trove of French Romantic rarities, including complete performances of Bizet’s one-act opera Djamileh and Debussy’s Le Martyre de Saint Sébastien, sacred works by Gounod, Massenet, Alfred Bruneau and Saint-Saëns, and a generous selection of orchestral music by Albert Roussel.
Available Format: 10 CDs
A 30-CD box marking the 70th birthday of the American conductor, documenting his transformative relationship with the Seattle Symphony Orchestra and commitment to contemporary American music – repertoire includes works by Elliott Carter, David Diamond, Howard Hanson and Walter Piston as well as a generous helping of Strauss, Brahms and Dvořák.
Available Format: 30 CDs
Chris O'Reilly - Chief Executive
