"The Italian conductor and cellist Antonio Janigro (1918-1989) lives on in the memory. As an outstanding cello virtuoso he set benchmarks with his recordings. The 4 CD's of this box set provide a representative cross section of his rare cello recordings.

In 1954 he founded the Zagreb Soloists, which developed over time into one of the

world's best string orchestras. Its reputation grew at such a mercurial pace that the ensemble was given permission, even at the height of the Cold War, to perform on international stages. Janigro was also conductor of the Radio Zagreb Symphony Orchestra (1954-64) and of the Orchestra Dell'Angelicum di Milano. A s successor to Karl Ristenpart he headed the Chamber Orchestra of Saarland Radio.

Antonio Janigro compiled a wide repertoire both as a soloist and with the Zagreb Soloists, encompassing works by Vivaldi, Corelli and Boccherini as well as the great works of the Viennese Classical School by Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven through to Brahms. He simultaneously ensured that works by contemporary composers were welI represented in his concert programmes and as a result premiered some very interesting works by the likes of Krzysztof Penderecki, Gyorgy Ligeti and Milko Kelemen, who was involved in this very collection, both as composer and arranger."

Artists

Antonio Janigro (cello), Gunhild Stappenbec, Paul Badura-Skoda (piano), Jean Fournier (violin), Jan Natermann (piano), Stefano Passaggio (viola), Jörg Demus (piano), Milton Preves (viola), John Weicher (violin), Orchestra Sinfonica di Roma della RAI, Zagreb Soloists, Orchestra Alessandro Scarlatti di Napoli della RAI, Kölner Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Rudolf Kempe, Franco Caracciolo, Erich Kleiber, Fritz Reiner