Sol Gabetta’s first recording of the Elgar Cello Concerto, with the Danish National Symphony, was much admired when it appeared six years ago. This one, taken from a concert in the Baden-Baden Festspielhaus in 2014, is a far glossier affair orchestrally. Simon Rattle’s tendency to overmould the phrasing is sometimes too obvious, but Gabetta’s playing is intense and searching, less introspective than some performances in the Adagio, perhaps, but epic in scale in the outer movements, and always keenly responsive. Those who possess her earlier disc might not think they need to invest in this one, but would then miss Gabetta’s vivid, pulsating account of the Martinů concerto, which went through a quarter of a century of revisions before the definitive 1955 version she plays here, with Krysztof Urbański conducting. She finds real depth and intensity in it, both in the slow movement and in the introspective episode that interrupts the finale’s headlong rush.

This compilation draws Christmas music from several recordings conducted by the late Herbert von Karajan, but emphasizes two of them, both from the 1960s: a collection of Baroque Christmas pieces in a mostly pastoral vein, and an LP on which he and the Vienna Philharmonic backed the great African American soprano Leontyne Price. Neither of these recordings is easy to obtain these days, and Karajan aficionados may well be pleased to have them in a single package. Beyond that, the Price pieces, from her heyday, are gorgeous.

As part of DG’s celebrations of its incredible pianistic heritage both past and present, the Yellow Label presents within its PIANO MASTERS campaign 8 albums of outstanding performances from its unrivalled roster of pianists accompanied by the two pillars of German musical life: the Berlin Philharmonic and the Staatskapelle Berlin. The witty and eye-catching artwork collects celebrated performances by Pollini, Gilels, Argerich, Barenboim, Géza Anda, Foldes, the Labèque sisters and Yundi.

The Berlin Philharmonic is consistently ranked as one of the greatest orchestras in the world. As is fitting such an eminent orchestra, they consistently work with the world's most renowned conductors and soloists, and this collection shows these great musicians coming together in eight classic recordings.

Deutsche Grammophon has created a landmark new edition that offers a cross-section of the great German conductor’s career in all its remarkable creative phases. Wilhelm Furtwängler – Complete Recordings on Deutsche Grammophon and Decca, which commemorates the 65th anniversary of his death on November 30, 1954, comprises 34 CDs and a DVD of his irresistible 1954 Salzburg Festival Don Giovanni performance, as well as in-depth essays and analysis from critic and blogger Norman Lebrecht and broadcaster Rob Cowan. The release is also backed by contextual information and video interviews contributed by critic and blogger Norman Lebrecht.

Berliner Philharmoniker One of the elite orchestras on the world stage, the Berliner Philharmoniker – also widely known as the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra – was founded in Imperial Germany in 1882. Hans von Bülow took over as conductor in 1887, raising the prestige of the organization, as did subsequent guest conductors, including Johannes Brahms, Edvard Grieg, Gustav Mahler, and Richard Strauss. In the 20th century, they survived the loss of their venue and their conductor during World War II and went on to thrive under conductor Herbert von Karajan, who led the group from 1956 to 1989. During his tenure, the orchestra won Grammy Awards for both opera and orchestral recordings. Claudio Abbado took over for Karajan from 1989 to 2002, during which time they collected five more Grammys, including one for Best Orchestral Recording for a 1979 performance of Mahler's Symphony No. 9 with Leonard Bernstein that was issued in 1992. In 2008, under the leadership of Simon Rattle, the Berlin Philharmonic established a Digital Concert Hall, which allowed audiences around the world to stream concerts either live or on demand. Kirill Petrenko became the Philharmoniker's tenth principal conductor in 2019. The Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra's 50 founding members came together in 1882 after leaving a Benjamin Bilse-led group due to low pay and poor travel conditions.

Celebrating the 100th Birthday of the “troubadour of the keyboard”, Géza Anda on November 19th, we present a limited edition 17-CD set including memorable recordings of Bartók, Brahms and Schumann, a pioneering Mozart concerto cycle conducted from the piano, and the Beethoven ‘Triple’ Concerto with Wolfgang Schneiderhan and Pierre Fournier.

The chemistry between tradition and innovation powered Sir Simon Rattle’s relationship with the Berliner Philharmoniker, above all during his time as the orchestra’s Chief Conductor and Artistic Director (2002-2018). As the successor to Wilhelm Furtwängler, Herbert von Karajan and Claudio Abbado, his mission was to take this pre-eminent musical institution into the 21st century. “What Rattle has brought … is a new spirit of adventure,” declared The Times in 2006, and later looked back on the “exhilarating, epoch-hopping eclecticism of Simon Rattle’s era in Berlin”. Through all this Rattle preserved the orchestra’s distinctive sonority, notable, in the words of the New York Times, for its “sheer grandeur … and rich, red-blooded warmth”. He first conducted the Berliner Philharmoniker in 1987, and the recordings in this 45CD box span the years from 1994 to 2012. Very much reflecting Rattle’s vision for the orchestra, the symphonic, choral and operatic works range from pillars of Austro-German Classicism, Romanticism and Modernism through French, Russian and Czech repertoire to showcases for contemporary contemporary composers from around the world – and even a film soundtrack. As Rattle said at the end of his tenure in Berlin: “Music is for everybody, and we’ve all believed this.”

Karajan was a great Tchaikovsky conductor. Although he recorded the last three symphonies many times he did not turn to the first three until the end of the 1970s. There’s no doubt that the reason these early symphonies sound so fresh is because the Berlin orchestra was not over-familiar with them. The Tchaikovsky symphonies were recorded at the Philharmonie between October 1975 and February 1979 and are presented with their Slavonic March and the Capriccio Italien, both recorded in Jesus-Christus-Kirche in October 1966. The six symphonies span the whole of Tchaikovsky’s career as a composer, from 1866 until 1893, the year of his death.

Austrian clarinettist Andreas Ottensamer has joined forces with Chinese pianist Yuja Wang to record an album of works by composers of the Romantic era. Blue Hour features some of the jewels of the repertoire, including Brahms’s Intermezzo in A major, Mendelssohn’s Songs without Words – arranged for clarinet and piano by Ottensamer – and Weber’s virtuosic Grand Duo concertant. The album reveals Ottensamer to be not just a sensitive and responsive chamber partner, but also a brilliant soloist, as he gives a dazzling performance of Weber’s First Clarinet Concerto, recorded with the Berliner Philharmoniker and Mariss Jansons.

Here is a compilation of the best Mozart recordings at our catalogue by renowned artists such as Riccardo Muti, Emmanuel Pahud, Sabine Meyer, Daniel Barenboim and David Oistrakh… All are performed along with the Berliner Philharmoniker, probably the most celebrated orchestra in the world!

Karajan could be so expressive, with the big sound of the Berlin Philharmonic, in Vivaldi's very famous Magnum Opus. Solo violinist Michel Schwalbe is also terrific, quiet and bold alternately, as needed.

Nigel Kennedy created a sensation with his pumped-up Vivaldi on The Four Seasons, and this second volume of concertos with the strings of the Berlin Philharmonic offers more of the same: slapdash tempi, outrageously loud dynamics, over-the-top techniques, a pugnacious basso continuo, hammered exchanges between soloist and orchestra, and an aggressive pop/rock sensibility that speaks more of this star violinist than of the composer.

A veritable who's who of pieces & composers, the CDs Karajan Forever will hopefully live forever. Herbert VonKarajan was the conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic from 1955 until his demise in 1989. His vision & helmsmanship of this magnificent orchestra have literally changed the way a whole generation heard music.

Just in time for his 80th birthday, Daniel Barenboim was honoured with the Gramophone Award 2022 for his life's work. The career of the famous Argentinian-Israeli pianist and conductor began early, Wilhelm Furtwängler already said about him: "The eleven-year-old Daniel Barenboim is a phenomenon". Later, as chief conductor, Barenboim led world-class orchestras such as the Orchestre de Paris, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and, since 1992, the Staatskapelle Berlin. With the founding of the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, the UN peace ambassador united musicians from Israel, Palestine and the Arab states. As a soloist, the pianist has worked with renowned conductors; with Sir John Barbirolli, for example, he recorded Brahms’ piano concertos. Barenboim's discography is impressive; with his first wife, the cellist Jacqueline Du Pré, he formed a musical dream team. Other legendary recordings of works by Mozart, Beethoven, Bruckner and Wagner were made with the Staatskapelle Berlin and the Berlin Philharmonic, among others.