Late spring heavyweights include the London Haydn Quartet's complete set of music by their namesake, a survey of Colin Davis's time in Boston, a collection celebrating the legacy of early music pioneer David Munrow, and an anthology marking the bicentenary of Weber's death.
Released as a complete set to mark the London Haydn Quartet's twenty-fifth birthday, these period-instrument recordings were made between 2007 and 2023, and were warmly received across the board: Gramophone applauded 'their fantasy, their disciplined spontaneity and their cumulative insights', whilst Classic FM deemed an early instalment as 'without a doubt one of the all-time great Haydn quartet recordings' thanks to the 'deep feeling, dynamic subtlety and phrasal sensitivity' on display.
Available Format: 20 CDs
Davis made his debut with the Boston Symphony Orchestra in 1967, in concerts of music by Berlioz, Stravinsky and Dvořák; although he turned down the position of Principal Conductor in order to focus on his work at Covent Garden, he eventually became Principal Guest Conductor in 1974. Their discography together includes a superb survey of Sibelius's complete symphonies and tone poems, Grieg, Schumann and Tchaikovsky piano concertos with Claudio Arrau, Mendelssohn's ‘Italian’ Symphony and excerpts from A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Debussy's Nocturnes and La mer.
Available Format: 13 CDs
A major figure in the early music revival of the 1960s and early 70s, British multi-instrumentalist, singer and music historian David Munrow co-founded The Early Music Consort of London with Christopher Hogwood in 1967, and recorded prolifically for Warner Classics and Nonesuch in the decade before his death at just 33. This collection includes his music for the 1972 film Henry VIII and his Six Wives, the albums The Art of Courtly Love, Music for Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain, The Pleasures of the Royal Courts and The Art of the Recorder, and recordings of Monteverdi's Vespro della Beata Vergine and Dufay's Missa ‘Se la face ay pale’.
Available Format: 21 CDs
To commemorate the bicentenary of Weber's death (which fell on 5th June), Warner Classics presents an 18-CD collection of his major works, including Nikolaus Harnoncourt's recording of Der Freischütz, Abu Hassan (with Nicolai Gedda in the title-role and Wolfgang Sawallisch conducting) and Oberon (conducted by James Conlon), the clarinet works from Sabine Meyer and Sharon Kam, the symphonies from the London Classical Players and Roger Norrington, and solo piano music from Paul Crossley.
Available Format: 18 CDs
Born in 1913 and 1911 respectively, Ataúlfo Argenta and Enrique Jordá were the first Spanish conductors to build international reputations, and recorded extensively for Decca in the post-War years; many of the recordings here receive their first official digital remasterings. The repertoire includes music by their compatriots Manuel de Falla, Manuel Ponce, Joaquín Rodrigo and Enrique Granados, plus Rimsky-Korsakov's Capriccio espagnol, Ravel's Rapsodie espagnole and Alborada del gracioso, Maurice Ohana's Llanto por Ignacio Sanchez Mejias, and Berlioz's Symphonie fantastique.
Available Format: 20 CDs
Harnoncourt first conducted the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in 1975 and maintained a close relationship with them for the rest of his career, being named as Honorary Guest Conductor in 2000; hitherto grounded in Romantic performance-traditions, the orchestra responded enthusiastically to his commitment to historically-informed performance, and their recordings of symphonies by Mozart, Haydn and Schubert (included here) were especially acclaimed. The set also includes the three Mozart/Da Ponte operas (all starring Thomas Hampson), Dvořák's major symphonies, the Brahms piano concertos with Rudolf Buchbinder, and Bruckner's Symphonies Nos. 3 and 4.
Available Format: 42 CDs
A protege of Isaac Stern, Wang was the first Chinese musician to sign an exclusive contract with Deutsche Grammophon; released in 1996, his debut recording on the label was an album of the Brahms Piano Trios with Maria João Pires and Augustin Dumay, and the three went on to collaborate on an equally successful disc of trios by Mozart. This collection also includes his two accounts of the Bach Cello Suites (the first of which was praised by Gramophone for its 'exquisite musicianship'), concertos by Haydn and Elgar, Messiaen's Quatuor pour la fin du temps, and a Baroque album featuring music by Couperin, Frescobaldi, Boccherini and Monn.
Available Format: 11 CDs
Daniel Barenboim succeeded Sir Georg Solti as Music Director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in 1991 and held the position for twenty-five years, championing new works by Elliott Carter, John Corigliano, Pierre Boulez and Luciano Berio as well as core Austro-German repertoire; when Riccardo Muti subsequently took the helm, Barenboim was named Honorary Conductor for Life. This set of their complete recordings includes all the major Strauss tone poems, excerpts from Wagner's Ring Cycle, a wide selection of Ravel, Schoenberg's Verklärte Nacht, and Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring.
Available Format: 37 CDs
The centrepiece of this collection of Tennstedt's EMI studio recordings is his landmark Mahler cycle with the London Philharmonic from the 1970s and 80s, which was praised by Classics Today for its 'tremendous power and deep feeling'. The set also includes a selection of orchestral excerpts from Wagner's operas, the Brahms German Requiem (with Jessye Norman and Jörma Hynninen), Beethoven overtures and Symphonies Nos. 3, 6 and 8, Kodály's Háry János Suite, and Strauss's Also sprach Zarathustra, Don Juan, and Tod und Verklärung.
Available Format: 41 CDs
