Box Set Selections,
Boxed Set Selections - January 2024
This month's heavyweights include the Wiener Oktett's collected Decca recordings, a complete Allan Pettersson edition on BIS, French pianist Yvonne Loriod's recordings for Véga, a centenary tribute to German band-leader and composer Bert Kaempfert, a journey through Europe with E. Power Biggs, and a celebration of the Couperin dynasty on Brilliant Classics.
Allan Pettersson: Complete Edition
Nordic Chamber Orchestra, Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Norrköping Symphony Orchestra, Eric Ericson Chamber Choir, Swedish Radio Choir, Christian Lindberg, Leif Segerstam, Stig Westerberg
This is the first anthology which brings together the complete works of the Swedish composer (1911-80), including a number of previously unpublished pieces; the seventeen symphonies are shared between Christian Lindberg and Leif Segerstam, with violinist Ulf Wallin as soloist in the two concertos and chamber works. Released individually between 1990 and 2023, the recordings are supplemented by four DVDs exploring Pettersson's life & works and a separate booklet with the complete index to the set.
Available Formats: CD + DVD Video, MP3, FLAC
The Paavo Berglund Edition
Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Paavo Berglund
This collection of the Finnish conductor and violinist's recordings on EMI Classics and Finlandia includes Sibelius tone-poems and incidental music plus three cycles of the complete symphonies, the Shostakovich Piano Concertos, the Brahms & Walton Violin Concertos, Vaughan Williams's Symphonies Nos. 4 & 6, and works by composers including Dvořák, Bliss, Glinka, Glazunov, Yardumian and Rimsky-Korsakov.
Available Format: 42 CDs
This celebration of the Swiss conductor's legacy on Decca opens with Handel’s Concerti Grossi Op. 6, recorded with the Decca String Orchestra in 1929 (the year the label was founded). Other highlights include substantial selections of works by Ansermet's friends Stravinsky, Debussy and Ravel, and a stereo recording of the Gopak from Mussorgsky's Sorochintsy Fair from 1955 (previously only available as a test-pressing).
Available Format: 26 CDs
Recorded between 1956 and 1963, this set includes the French pianist's accounts of early Mozart concertos with Pierre Boulez, a selection of Chopin Études, Albéniz's Iberia and Falla's Noches en los jardines de España, sonatas by Barraqué, Boulez and Berg, and a number of major works by her husband Olivier Messiaen: Cantéyodjayâ, Visions de l'Amen, Vingt Regards sur l'enfant Jésus, Oiseaux exotiques, Catalogue d'Oiseaux, and the Turangalîla-Symphonie (recorded in 1961 and remastered for this edition).
Available Format: 13 CDs
Featuring music by Bach, Buxtehude, Couperin, Dunstable, Frescobaldi, Andrea and Giovanni Gabrieli, Purcell, Soler, Sweelinck and Tallis, these recordings were made between 1961 and 1970 and have been remastered from the original analog tapes using 24 bit / 192 kHz technology. Power Biggs's survey takes in eight countries and seven centuries of music, showcasing instruments in cities including Toledo, Eisenstadt, Lüneburg, Haarlem and Bologna.
Available Formats: 6 CDs, MP3, FLAC
Couperin Dynasty: Harpsichord Music
Michael Borgstede, Yago Mahugo, Massimo Berghella, Simone Pierini (harpsichord)
This celebration of the French family of musicians includes suites by Louis (as authenticated and compiled by Thurston Dart), François's complete Pièces de clavecin, Armand-Louis's Les Quatre Nations and La chasse, and Gervais-François's Les merveilleuses, Les incroyables and Variations on the 'Complainte Béarnoise'. The recordings were originally issued between 2004 and 2023.
Available Format: 19 CDs
The Wiener Oktett was just over a year old when it was signed by Decca in 1948: chronicling twenty-five years of recording history, this set ranges from the shellac account of the Schubert Octet which was made that July to a 1972 Mendelssohn Octet which would prove to be the ensemble's final recording. Other highlights include Beethoven's Quintet for Piano and Winds, Spohr's Nonet, the Brahms Clarinet Quintet, Schubert's Trout Quintet and Britten's Sinfonietta.
Available Format: 27 CDs
