Classical Music

"Klemperer’s debut with the KRSO took place on 8 February 1954 with Mozart’s Symphony No.29, a conductor favourite. Following the successful debut, he was invited back later that month to conduct Beethoven’s First Symphony. The broadcast of the Bach Suite No. 3, another conductor favourite, followed in October 1955, almost a year after he recorded Bach’s four Orchestral Suites with the Philharmonia. These WDR broadcasts, of very high technical quality, have never been issued before."

Rozhdestvensky is considered to be one of the greatest Tchaikovsky conductors today. Given his Russian background and his outstanding leadership of the Bolshoi in the past, it is not surprising that his performances of the composer's works are entirely idiomatic. This live performance of Tchaikovsky's popular Symphony No.5 comes from the 1978 Flanders Festival in Belgium and has been recorded in excellent stereo. It is both exciting and poetic, and it confirmed Rozhdestvensky's new appointment as music director of the BBC Symphony the same year. The fill-up consists of Jan+�cek's rhapsody Taras Bulba recorded at the 1981 Proms. This work is a new addition to Rozhdestvensky's discography. Taras Bulba is arguably Janacek's most powerful and dramatic work. Here, it is given a searing performance in superb stereo, which fully captures the large orchestra used, complete with organ, brass and percussion.

Classical Music

Michael Tilson Thomas conducts the London Symphony Orchestra in this 2 DVD set of performances of Strauss works. Also included is extensive rehearsal footage and educational insight from a master communicator.

Captured at the BBC's Glasgow Studios in 1987 for their Music in Camera series, Ashkenazy demonstrates his versatility and musical skill through the extreme contrasts of the Impromptus, the lyrical, song-like grace and virtuosic flair of the Wanderer Fantasy, and the elegant yet exciting rendition of Schumann's innovative Piano Sonata No.1.

The performance of Tchaikovsky's Symphony No.1 in April 2002 with the BBCSO was the last concert he gave before his death two months later. Svetlanov's studio made Tchaikovsky recordings with the USSR Symphony Orchestra for Melodiya in the 1960's were the cornerstones of the catalogue at the time and he brings an unqualified authority to the Barbican concert recorded here. Svetlanov's account of Stravinsky's Firebird is superbly detailed and imaginative with the Philharmonia in tremendous form. The digital sound recorded in the Barbican for both performances is totally natural and warm. These live recordings are issued for the first time on CD.

William Steinberg conducts the Boston Symphony Orchestra. This rare material, filmed in color, represents some of the earliest televised concerts with of Steinberg with the BSO, restored using the greatest care and state-of-the-art techniques.

This is the first recording of Antonio Pappano conducting two of Schumann’s most popular symphonies, No. 2 in C major and No. 4 in D minor. Pappano brings his customary energy to the ensemble, while drawing out the magnificent beauty of the string section and the delicacies of the woodwind. His careful approach to detail makes this a commanding interpretation. Antonio Pappano began his conducting career as assistant at the Bayreuth Festival. He became music director of the Den Norske Opera in Oslo in 1990. Since 2005 he has been music director of this ensemble, the Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia. He was knighted in 2012, and was made a Knight Grand Cross of Italy’s Order of Merit.

The Quartetto Italiano is regarded as one of the finest string quartets of the twentieth century. They were formed officially in 1945. By the early 1950s, they had achieved a measure of international celebrity, and by the 1960s the ensemble had developed a world-class reputation. Here we have some rare BBC live performances from 1965 given in the Royal Festival Hall. They are recorded in excellent stereo and issued for the very first time.

As winner of the inaugural Tchaikovsky Competition in 1958, Van Cliburn was lauded by the greats, including Shostakovich, Gilels and Sviatoslav Richter, who is said to have proclaimed 'he is a pianist, the others are not'. The three Chopin performances on this DVD were filmed by the BBC just one year later, when Cliburn was still very much in his prime. His performances of these three popular Chopin works exude controlled brilliance - grandeur and virtuosity without ostentation. Claudio Arrau, recognizable for his rich, sonorous tone and often described as 'Prince', 'Emperor', and 'King' of the keyboard, is an excellent companion to Cliburn on this DVD. Widely considered one of the greatest pianists of the 20th century, he was renowned for his definitive interpretations of almost every composer he engaged with, although he remains most celebrated for his Beethoven.

"Pianist Ingrid Jacoby's new recording of two Mozart concertos, accompanied by the ASMF under Sir Neville Marriner follows on from her critically acclaimed Beethoven Concerto cycle. The booklet contains notes by Richard Wigmore and personal insights by Ingrid Jacoby on Mozart. Since moving to England, she has performed with many major British orchestras and eminent conductors. A second volume of Mozart Concertos is planned for release in autumn 2014."

Rozhdestvensky was the first Russian conductor to perform and record all Mahler's symphonies in his country. Das klagende Lied is performed here live. The ICA version has been remastered, restoring the wide dynamics of Rozhdestvensky's magnificent performance. Janacek's the Fiddler's Child, from the 1979 Prague Festival, has never been issued before and is Rozdestvensky's only taping of the work.

The 46 songs that make up Wolf's Italienisches Liederbuch show the composer at his most captivatingly individual; and history has proven that only singers of the utmost artistry can do them justice. Dame Janet Baker and John Shirley-Quirk are such singers, taking the listener from the depths of pathos through frissons of ecstasy with searching perception. Together with pianist Stuart Bedford, who also devised a new sequence for the songs, the singers performed the set at the 1977 Aldeburgh Festival, where the warmth and ambience of the performance was captured in this BBC stereo recording.

Classical Music