Box Set Selections,
Boxed Set Selections - January 2021
January heavyweights include a Chandos collection marking the sixtieth anniversary of Percy Grainger's death, an anthology of repertoire which features in many aspiring pianists' lessons from Christoph Eschenbach, celebrations of Dame Gillian Weir and Hephzibah Menuhin, and Kristian Bezuidenhout's superb survey of Mozart's keyboard works on Harmonia Mundi.
A 12-CD collection bringing together Sir Colin’s London Beethoven recordings, including the complete piano concertos with Stephen Kovacevich, the violin concerto with Arthur Grumiaux, a newly remastered set of the symphonies, and the Missa solemnis and Mass in C with the London Symphony Orchestra. Documentation includes a new essay by Peter Quantrill and a tribute by Costa Pilavachi, who worked closely with the conductor during his time with Philips.
Available Format: 12 CDs
Imants Kalnins: Complete Symphonies & Concertos
Liepaja Symphony Orchestra, Atvars Lakstigala, Maris Sirmais
This 5-CD box features world premiere recordings of the Latvian composer’s Concerto for Orchestra and Symphonies Nos. 1, 2 3 and 6; the accounts of the Oboe Concerto and Symphonies Nos. 5 and 7 were released individually in 2018, and described by MusicWeb International as ‘tonally pleasing music that would appeal to anyone keen to explore new horizons’.
Available Format: 5 CDs
Telemann: The Complete Grand Concertos for Mixed Instruments
La Stagione Frankfurt, Michael Schneider
Reviewing the early volumes of this Telemann series back in 2017, Early Music Today declared that the composer ‘could hardly have wished for more ideal advocates’, whilst Diapason described the Frankfurt ensemble as ‘a battalion of virtuosos who know how to phrase, whisper, and embroider’.
Available Format: 6 CDs
Scimone and his Venetian ensemble embarked on their landmark Albinoni series shortly after joining Erato, at a time when the Italian composer was known almost exclusively for his Adagio; this collection of his complete Albinoni recordings for the label includes Pimpinone and Il nascimento dell’ aurora as well as the Concerti a cinque Opp. 2, 5, 7 9 and 10 and the Trattenimenti da camera Op. 6.
Available Format: 16 CDs
On this lovely (and useful!) 15-CD collection, the German pianist and conductor presents repertoire which many pianists study in the early stages of their training but is seldom commercially recorded or performed by professionals, including miniatures and studies by Czerny, Clementi, Kuhlau, Burgmüller, Diabelli, Dussek and Beyer.
Available Format: 16 CDs
Curated by the veteran French filmmaker Bruno Monsaingeon (a close associate both of Menuhin and her brother Yehudi), this 9-CD set includes the siblings’ recordings of violin sonatas by Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms, Debussy, Enescu and others, plus concertos by Mozart, Brahms and Castro, and Schubert’s Trout with the Amadeus Quartet. Two bonus DVDs feature excerpts from live performances and TV interviews.
Available Format: 9 CDs + 2 DVD Videos
Released to mark the grande dame of the organ’s eightieth birthday on Sunday, this 22-CD collection includes ten discs of previously unpublished BBC broadcasts, a Messiaen recording which was made shortly after her victory at the St Albans International Organ Competition in 1966, and a recital given on the organ of Hexham Abbey (which was built by Weir’s late husband).
Available Format: 22 CDs
This anthology celebrates the Russian Orthodox choral tradition from the baroque period to the present day, including large-scale repertoire staples such as the Rachmaninov Vespers and Tchaikovsky’s Liturgy of St John Chrysostom as well as rarities by composers such as Vasily Titov, Artemy Vedel, Nikolai Karetnikov, and Yan Burakovsky.
Available Formats: 6 CDs, MP3, FLAC
This 7-DVD box comprises the documentaries Satiesfictions - Promenades with Erik Satie, The Unanswered Ives, John Cage - Journeys in Sound, Isang Yun - In Between North and South Korea and The Lost Paradise - Arvo Pärt/Robert Wilson, plus Krzysztof Penderecki’s 80th birthday gala concert from Warsaw and a stage production of Charles Ives’s Universe Incomplete from the Ruhrtriennale 2018.
Available Format: 7 DVD Videos
Chris O'Reilly - Chief Executive
