Box Set Selections,
Boxed Set Selections - July 2023
The Hungarian conductor was only 48 when he died in 1963 - his prolific recording career lasted just over a decade, but yielded some incredible riches including benchmark interpretations of works by his compatriots Bartók & Kodály and superb accounts of Stravinsky's Le Sacre du printemps, Oedipus Rex and Pétrouchka. This complete edition also includes recordings of the major Mozart operas and selected symphonies, Tchaikovsky's Symphonies Nos. 4-6, and a bonus DVD of interview- and rehearsal-footage.
Available Format: 86 CDs + DVD Video
Issued to mark the fiftieth anniversary of Ančerl's death on 3rd July, this edition comprises the Czech conductor's complete recordings for Philips and Deutsche Grammophon; the 'Yellow Label' first recorded Ančerl and the Czech Philharmonic whilst they were touring Germany in 1955, in an account of Shostakovich's Symphony No. 10 which featured what Gramophone described as 'the most superlative orchestral playing'. The set also includes a substantial selection of Tchaikovsky, and works by Stravinsky, Dvořák, Brahms and Smetana.
Available Format: 9 CDs
Kathleen Battle Edition
Kathleen Battle (soprano), Jessye Norman (soprano), Plácido Domingo, James Levine
Released in advance of the American soprano's 75th birthday next month, this collection brings together her complete recital recordings for Deutsche Grammophon plus several albums which she made for Angel (the US branch of EMI). Highlights include her celebrated album of spirituals with Jessye Norman, a 1988 Tokyo concert with Plácido Domingo, French opera arias with Myung-Whun Chung, and Honey & Rue with André Previn.
Available Format: 15 CDs
Spanning the years 1938 to 1980, the majority of the recordings here receive their first outings on CD and are conducted by Chávez himself; the earliest recordings are the composer's Sinfonía de Antígona and Sinfonía india (both of which make use of Yaqui percussion instruments and indigenous melodies), with other highlights including a 1940 concert from New York’s Museum of Modern Art, the 'Imagined Aztec Music' Xochipilli, the four remaining symphonies, and the 1925 ballet Los cuatro soles.
Available Format: 7 CDs
Christie was a leading light in the revival of Charpentier's music, and this collection features the landmark recordings of six major works which he made during the 1980s - as well as the two operas named in the title, the set includes the miniature 'tragédie en musique' Actéon, Caecilia: virgo et martyr, Filius prodigus, and Le Reniement de Saint Pierre. Singers include Lorraine Hunt, Mark Padmore (Médée) and Gérard Lesne, Monique Zanetti & Véronique Gens (David & Jonathas).
Available Format: 8 CDs
Recorded between 1994 and 2000, these accounts were originally issued as part of Rilling's 172-disc Complete Bach Project (which in turned followed his series of the complete sacred cantatas to mark the Bach tercentennial in 1985 - the first such undertaking by a single conductor). Soloists include Marlis Petersen, Christine Schäfer, Matthias Goerne, Michael Volle, and Thomas Quasthoff.
Available Format: 8 CDs
Beethoven: Piano Concertos Nos. 0-7 (Vinyl)
Michael Korstick (piano), ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra, Constantin Trinks
As well as the five canonical concertos, this collection includes the composer's own arrangement of his Violin Concerto, the Piano Concerto in E flat major WoO 4, the unfinished Concerto in D Hess 15, and the Rondo in B flat WoO 6. Released on CD last July, the set was nominated for an International Classical Music Award and was 'very strongly recommended' by Fanfare, who noted that 'Korstick is an artist who knows, reveres, and respects Beethoven, and those qualities shine through in every note of every one of these works he plays'.
Available Format: 7 Vinyl Records
Chris O'Reilly - Chief Executive
