August heavyweights include the first international release of the Smetana Quartet's Beethoven cycle from the 1970s and 80s, a 75th-birthday tribute to Itzhak Perlman on RCA/Columbia, and a collection of ten operas from the Salzburg Festival on DVD and Blu-ray.
Beethoven: Complete String Quartets
Smetana Quartet
Recorded between 1974 and 1985 and originally released on Nippon Columbia, the Czech string quartet’s complete Beethoven cycle (including the Grosse Fuge) here receives its first release outside Japan; the set is digitally remastered from the original analogue tapes, and includes a voucher for download in Hi-Res 24 bit/192 kHz.
Available formats: 7 CDs, Download & Streaming (up to 192 kHz, 24 bit)
William Masselos: The Complete RCA and Columbia Album Collection
William Masselos (piano)
Released to mark the centenary of the American pianist’s birth earlier this month, this 7-CD set of the recordings which he made for RCA Victor and Columbia Masterworks between 1950 and 1971, including Charles Ives’s Piano Sonata No. 1 (which Masselos premiered in 1949 after Lou Harrison reconstructed it from the original sketches), and music by Paul Bowles, Ben Weber, Justin Dello Joio, Copland, Satie, Brahms and Schumann. Remastered from the original analogue tapes using 24 bit / 192 kHz technology.
Available format: 7 CDs
Legendary Voices: Orfeo 40th Anniversary Edition
Various artists
The eleven legendary voices on this 10-CD boxed set are Agnes Baltsa, Grace Bumbry, Franco Bonisolli, Brigitte Fassbaender, Krassimira Stoyanova, Edita Gruberová, Julia Varady, Adrianne Pieczonka, Piotr Beczała, and Carlo Bergonzi and Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (heard together in scenes from Don Carlo, La forza del destino, I Vespri Siciliani, La bohème and Les Pêcheurs de Perles).
Available formats: 10 CDs, Download & Streaming (up to 44.1 kHz, 16 bit)
Suzanne Danco: The Decca Recitals
Suzanne Danco (soprano)
Released to commemorate the twentieth anniversary of the Belgian-born soprano’s death, this 8-CD collection features lieder by Schumann, Schubert, Brahms, Wolf and Strauss, mélodies by Debussy, Gounod and Fauré, Berlioz’s Les Nuits d’été, cantatas by Bach and Schütz, and opera arias by Mozart, Charpentier, Verdi, Gluck, Massenet, Honegger and more. Much of the material receives its first outing on CD here.
Available format: Download & Streaming (up to 44.1 kHz, 16 bit)
Salzburg Festival: 100 Years Anniversary Edition (DVD)
Various Artists
Following last month’s 58-CD box on Deutsche Grammophon, celebrations of the Festival’s centenary continue with this collection of 10 complete recent productions: Salome, The Makropulos Case, Der Rosenkavalier, Simon Boccanegra, Pique Dame, Fierrabras, Theodora, L’Italiana in Algeri, Die Zauberflöte, and Otello. Artists include Asmik Grigorian, Cecilia Bartoli, Angela Denoke, Matthias Goerne, Christine Schäfer, and Aleksandrs Antonenko.
Available format: 17 DVD Videos
Salzburg Festival - 100 Years Anniversary Edition (Blu-ray)
Various artists
Salome, The Makropulos Case, Der Rosenkavalier, Simon Boccanegra, Pique Dame, Fierrabras, Theodora, L’Italiana in Algeri, Die Zauberflöte, and Otello.
Available format: 10 Blu-rays
