First launched by EMI UK in 1988, The Classic Experience took the Britain by storm, riding high in the UK charts alongside the top rock and pop albums of the day. The recently launched CD format was just beginning to take-off and there was a new hunger for discovery of great classical music amongst the mass market. Three more volumes appeared over the following years making it one of the most successful classical compilation series of all time.

The album covers were a particular point of interest, featuring specially commissioned artworks which includes visual references from the music featured on the discs. Listeners would spend hours searching the cover artwork looking to recognise the smallest of details!

To mark the 25th anniversary of the launch of this series, all four volumes are brought together into one attractive 8CD clamshell box set, and featuring all the original album artworks.

Artists

André Previn (piano), Nigel Kennedy (violin), Cécile Ousset (piano), David Bell (organ), Orchestre du Théâtre National de I'Opéra-Comique, Danielle Millet (mezzo-soprano), Mady Mesplé (soprano), Choeurs et Orchestre de l'Opéra National de Paris, Maria Callas (soprano), Tito Gobbi (baritone), Barry Tuckwell (french horn), Dame Moura Lympany (piano), Jacqueline du Pré (cello), José Carreras (tenor), Montserrat Caballé (soprano), Elly Ameling (soprano), Hans Sotin (bass), Theo Altmeyer (tenor), William Bennett (flute), Carlo Bergonzi, Orchestra del Teatro dell’Opera di Roma & Sir John Barbirolli, Nicolai Gedda (vocals, tenor), Alfredo Kraus (tenor), Henry Newman (baritone), Renata Scotto (soprano), Richard van Allan (bass), Roderick Kennedy (bass), Sarah Walker (mezzo-soprano), Dmitri Alexeev (piano), Angel Romero (guitar), Barbara Hendricks (soprano), Ernest Blanc (baritone), Daniel Adni (piano), Ian Watson (organ), Emil Gilels (piano), James Morris (bass), Franco Corelli (vocals), Peter Katin (piano), Philip Fowke (piano), Luben Yordanoff (violin), Chorus of the Royal Opera House, Royal Opera House Covent Garden (opera company), Bruno Rigutto (piano), Jean-Philippe Collard (piano), Philharmonia Orchestra (musician), Paul Tortelier (cello), Shuku Iwasaki (piano), Jill Gomez (soprano), Plácido Domingo (tenor), Christopher Parkening (guitar, musician), Chilingirian Quartet (string quartet), London Philharmonic Orchestra/Sir Adrian Boult/Geoffrey Mitchell Choir, Christian Ferras (violin), Ghena Dimitrova (soprano), Maurice Ravel (orchestra leader), Academy of St Martin in the Fields, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, Franck Pourcel Orchestra, Hallé Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, English Chamber Orchestra, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, New Philharmonia Orchestra, Sinfonia of London, Orquesta Filarmónica de la Ciudad de México, Philadelphia Orchestra, Wiener Johann Strauss Orchester, Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, Studio 2 Symphony Orchestra, Philharmonia Chorus, Orchestre du Théâtre national de l'Opéra-Comique, Ambrosian Singers, Orchestre De L'Opera De Paris, Philharmonica Orchestra, Orchestre National de la Radiodiffusion Française, Choeurs de l'Opéra du Rhin, Strasbourg Philharmonic Orchestra, Consortium Musicum, Suddeutscher Madrigalchor, Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo, Teatro dell'Opera, Roma, London Symphony Chorus, Staatskapelle Dresden, Munich Radio Orchestra, Berliner Philharmoniker, Cleveland Orchestra, Westminster Choir, Bayerisches Staatsorchester, Orchestra, Scottish National Orchestra, Orchestre de Paris, Royal Opera House Covent Garden Chorus, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Minnesota Orchestra, Sir Neville Marriner, Paavo Berglund, Franck Pourcel, Owain Arwel Hughes, Yuri Temirkanov, Sir Simon Rattle, Zdenek Macal, Sir Adrian Boult, Lorin Maazel, Sir John Barbirolli, Enrique Bátiz, Riccardo Muti, Georges Prêtre, Willi Boskovsky, Mariss Jansons, Vilem Tausky, Vernon Handley, George Weldon, Alain Lombard, Alceo Galliera, Sir Thomas Beecham, Sir Charles Mackerras, Louis Frémaux, Eugene Ormandy, Wolfgang Gönnenwein, Francesco Molinari-Pradelli, Guido Cantelli, Klaus Tennstedt, Carlo Maria Giulini, Pierre Dervaux, George Szell, Sian Edwards, Herbert von Karajan, Anatole Fistoulari, Robert Irving, Aram Khachaturian, Paul Kletzki, Wolfgang Sawallisch, Franco Ferraris, Sir Alexander Gibson, Sir Andrew Davis, James Levine, Thomas Schippers, Constantin Silvestri, Lamberto Gardelli, Efrem Kurtz, Rudolf Kempe