Boxed

The Rediscovered RCA Victor Recordings / José Iturbi [16 CD]

Once upon a time in the 1940s and 1950s in America, classical music and its stars were a natural part of many big Hollywood movies. This edition is a tribute to an era when classical music from films made its journey around the world. It contains all the recordings made by José Iturbi for RCA Victor from 1933 to 1955, remastered from the original records and tapes, including previously unreleased recordings.

(Sony)

Ivry Gitlis – The Legend [4 CDs]

16CD# 19439836502 $125.98

The concert programs of Ivry Gitlis were often challenging for the audience. Nevertheless, when Gitlis plays the great concertos whose timeless worth still dominates today’s concert programs, his own, sometimes idiosyncratic interpretation is audible, challenging the listener to more intensive engagement with that which is already well-known. (Profil)

4CD# PH19056 $22.99

Legendary Pianists – Famous Piano Concertos [10 CDs]

For many decades the orchestras of the German broadcasting service SWR have worked together with many famous musicians from all over the world, including the outstanding pianists selected for this collection, among them Clara Haskil, Jörg Demus, Paul Badura-Skoda, Alicia de Larrocha, Wilhelm Backhaus, and Géza Anda. (SWR Classic)

10CD# SWR19433CD $51.99

Bruckner: The 9 Symphonies / Herbert Blomstedt; Gewandhausorchester Leipzig [10 CDs]

Bruckner’s symphonies are strenuous alpine hikes, and Blomstedt is a mountain guide who not only has the next fork in the road in mind but knows every stone on the path before the group has even started. The nine symphonies released in this box were recorded at the Gewandhaus Leipzig between 2005 and 2012. (Accentus)

10CD# ACC80575 $89.99

Mozart: Die verstellte Gärtnerin [3 CDs]

Rarity – German version of Mozart’s “Finta gardiniera.” 5 years ago, the Munich Radio Orchestra under Andrew Parrott performed Mozart’s singspiel “Die verstellte Gärtnerin” – the rarely performed German version of “Finta gardiniera,” which can now finally appear on CPO. When this opera was first performed, Mozart was 19 years old – an age at which most composers had not even begun. (CPO)

3CD# 555386-2 $33.99

Beethoven:

The Late Quartets / Calidore String Quartet [3 CDs]

The Calidore Quartet begin their new cycle of Beethoven’s complete String Quartets with the Late Quartets, a 3–volume set of Opp. 127, 130, 131, 132, 133 & 135. Performances of the Calidore String Quartet are renowned for their “deep reserves of virtuosity and irrepressible dramatic instinct” – New York Times. (Signum Classics)

3CD# SIGCD733 $20.79

Handel: Organ Concertos Op. 4 & Op. 7 / Ivan Ronda [3 CD]

The Organ Concertos Op. 4 and Op. 7 by George Frideric Handel (1685–1759) were originally composed as musical interludes to be performed during the intervals of the Oratorios. Handel chose to write for the organ, an instrument hitherto relegated to the liturgical service, to emancipate it and have it take on a new character, more brilliant and appealing to the public.

(Brilliant Classics)

3CD# BRI96547 $16.99

Wilhelm Backhaus Edition – Early Recordings 1927–1939 [5 CDs]

Essentially, in the incredible ease and naturalness of his pianism, in the unassuming simplicity and absorption of the man, Backhaus was much the same artist and personality then. And he was far from unknown. Even before he won the Rubinstein Prize in 1905, Backhaus was internationally celebrated as a prodigious virtuoso.

(Profil)

5CD# PH23001 $22.99

Stenhammar: The String Quartets [3 CDs]

Composed between 1894 and 1916 Wilhelm Stenhammar’s body of six numbered string quartets is considered unique among Scandinavian music of its time, both in its consistency and in its musical aspirations. Together, the quartets reflect the composer’s development, from full-blown Romanticism to a more sparse and formally concentrated idiom that distances itself from late-Romantic conventions. (BIS)

3SACD# BIS-2709 $39.99

Offenbach: Complete Duos for 2 Cellos [7 CDs]

Years before he took Paris by storm as a brilliantly witty composer of operettas, Offenbach was celebrated across Europe as a virtuoso cellist. It is this lesser-known aspect of his creative personality that is explored by Giovanni Sollima and Andrea Noferini, who have spent years immersing themselves in the technically intricate but always lyrical and extrovert pieces which Offenbach wrote for his instrument. (Brilliant Classics)

7CD# BRI96251 $34.99