Featured Musician: A Maazel Celebration

The discs under consideration here.

Jeremy Lee writes

A Box Of Karl Böhm’s Late Recordings

Jeremy Lee writes

The circumstances for the reissue of these “late recordings” in a box set is rather curious.  Usually when a box set documenting the artistry of a legendary artist (in whole or in part) surfaces, its release date coincides with the anniversary year of that artist’s birth or death or other meaningful anniversaries.  Released in 2015, the present set seems

DG’s Big Bernstein Box, Vol. 1

Jeremy Lee writes

I will start this review with a bold statement:  of all the oft-recorded conductors that have ever lived, no-one has had such a high proportion of great musicianship, great playing and great sonics in their discography than Leonard Bernstein on Deutsche Grammophon.  This is particularly remarkable given

Mustonen Serves Beethoven’s Variations Well

Jeremy Lee writes

Except for the Diabelli Variations, and perhaps the Eroica Variations, Beethoven’s other piano variations have not been particularly easy to find on disc:  collectors may be familiar with Brendel and Gould’s recordings, but otherwise they have been largely

Giulini in Vienna

Jeremy Lee writes

This 15CD box contains all of Giulini’s DG recordings with the Vienna Philharmonic and Vienna Symphony, including his concerto recordings.  A substantial proportion of the recordings featuring the Vienna Philharmonic would be considered “Late Giulini” (around mid-1980s), a style that was

Top Ear’s 2nd Anniversary Special: The Ultimate 3B Symphony Quiz

And here it is:  Top Ear’s 2nd Anniversary Special, a quiz on the three great Bs of the symphonic repertoire:  Brahms, Bruckner, Beethoven.  Enjoy as you laugh your heads off over our sense of humor and general incompetence…

Look no further: This is THE Hammerklavier

Leonard Ip writes  [translated from the Chinese by Jeremy Lee]

Before I start, I would like to advise those who have not yet acquired this album to run, not stroll, to your nearest record shop and get it IMMEDIATELY.

Reason 1:  This is one of the greatest interpretations of

John Ogdon’s Fascinating RCA Legacy

Jeremy Lee writes

To mark the 25th anniversary of the passing of British virtuoso pianist John Ogdon in 1989, RCA has wisely exhumed his complete recordings for the label, and since Ogdon did not record prolifically for RCA (most of his recordings are for EMI) this original jacket collection fits snugly on 6 discs at

Bernard Haitink: The Symphony Edition

Jeremy Lee writes

Hard to believe, but Bernard Haitink has already been conducting for almost 60 years, and his time as the chief conductor of the Concertgebouw Orchestra (possibly the orchestra that he is most associated with) spanned a good 25 years.  To commemorate the Dutch maestro’s 85th birthday, Decca has

Andsnes’ First-rate Beethoven Debut

Leonard Ip writes

Top Ear has previously covered the announcement of Andsnes’ plan to record all the five Beethoven concertos. This here reviewed is Andsnes’ very first Beethoven album. It is also, most importantly, a first-rate Beethoven album.

The two concertos on this disc are live recordings made in March this year, in the