Royal Concertgebouw Orchestr - Anthology of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra: 4 Live the Radio Recordings 1970-1980 (14 cd) (2006)

Naturally, this 14-disc set of live recordings of the Concertgebouw Orchestra from 1970 through 1980 is only for the hardest of hardcore collectors. Who else would be interested in a collection that mixes Beethoven with Boulez, Baird and Berio, Tchaikovsky with Lutoslawski, Ginastera and Caplet, Rachmaninov with Reger, and Martin and Walton? But for the hardest of the hardcore, this set will be filled with delights. Where else could one find Karel Ancerl's suave account of Haydn's "Oxford" Symphony, Eugen Jochum's sweet account of Reger's Serenade in G major, Kiril Kondrashin's thrilling account of Sibelius' En Saga, Elly Ameling's seductive account of Berg's Der Wein, or Paul Badura-Skoda's evocative account of Martin's Second Piano Concerto? Although the sound is at best variable -- sometimes as clean as the best Philips' recordings, sometimes as noisy as the worst pirated recording -- the orchestra is never less than magnificent no matter what's on the music stand or who's on the podium. With its burnished tone, intuitive ensemble, and effortless virtuosity, the Concertgebouw is clearly one of the finest European orchestras, and this set shows them to their best advantage. So while not perhaps for everyone, anyone who loves the Concertgebouw will have to hear these recordings.

Tracklist:

cd 01
01. jean sibelius - symphony no. 7 in c major, op. 105 [eugene ormandy]
02 - 04. dmitri shostakovich - symphony no. 4 in c minor, op. 43 [kirill kondrashin]
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cd 02
01 - 04. franz joseph haydn - symphony no. 92 in g major ("oxford"/"letter q"), h. 1/92 [karel ancerl]
05. edward elgar - falstaff, symphonic study for orchestra in c minor, op. 68 [sir colin davis]
06. ton de leeuw - symphony of winds [bernard haitink]
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cd 03
01. jean sibelius - en saga, tone poem for orchestra, op. 9 [kirill kondrashin]
02. sergei rachmaninov - rhapsody on a theme of paganini (introduction and 24 variations) for piano & orchestra in a minor, op. 43 [daniel wayenberg (piano) / karel ancerl]
03 - 05. césar franck - symphony in d minor, op. 48 [karel ancerl]
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cd 04
01 - 03. william walton - improvisations on an impromptu of benjamin britten for orchestra [josef krips]
04 - 06. frank martin - piano concerto no.2 [paul badura-skoda (piano) / josef krips]
07 - 10. igor stravinsky - les noces iii (the wedding), ballet in 4 tableaux for vocal soloists, chorus, 4 pianos & percussion [dorothy dorow (soprano) / sophia van sante (mezzo soprano) / eric tappy (tenor) / jules bastin (bass) / felix de nobel]
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cd 05
01 - 04. hector berlioz - roméo et juliette for alto, tenor, bass, chorus & orchestra ("symphonie dramatique"), h.79 (op. 17) [carlo maria giulini]
05. tadeusz baird - variazioni senza tema for orchestra [hans vonk]
06 - 09. witold lutosławski - paroles tissées (woven words) for tenor & 20 solo instruments [peter pears (tenor) / witold lutosławski]
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cd 06
01 - 03. johannes brahms - concerto for violin, cello & orchestra in a minor ("double"), op. 102 [herman krebbers (violin) / tibor de machula (cello) / hans von]
04 - 05. gustav mahler - das klagende lied, cantata for soloists, chorus & orchestra [norma procter (alto) / hanneke van bork (soprano) / ernst haefliger (tenor) / bernard haitink]
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cd 07
01 - 04. ludwig van beethoven - symphony no. 4 in b flat major, op. 60 [willem van otterloo]
05 - 07. johannes brahms - violin concerto in d major, op. 77 [itzhak perlman (violin) / willem van otterloo]
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cd 08
01 - 09. johann sebastian bach - cantata no. 202 "weichet nur, betrübte schatten" ("wedding cantata"), bwv 202 (bc g41) [elly ameling (soprano) / eugen jochum]
10 - 12. wolfgang amadeus mozart - horn concerto no. 4 in e flat major, k. 495 [barry tuckwell (french horn) / ferdinand leitner]
13 - 17. robert schumann - symphony no. 3 in e flat major ("rhenish"), op. 97 [ferdinand leitner]
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cd 09
01. alban berg - der wein, concert aria for soprano & orchestra [elly ameling (soprano) / ernest bour]
02. bruno maderna - concerto for violin & orchestra [theo olof (violin) / diego masson]
03. pierre boulez - cummings ist der dichter for 16 solo voices, mixed chorus & chamber orchestra [gilbert amy]
04. luciano berio - calmo for soprano and chamber ensemble [dorothy dorow (soprano) / diego masson]
05. jan van vlijmen - sonata for piano & 3 instrumental groups [theo bruins (piano) / ernest bour]
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cd 10
01. peter ilyich tchaikovsky - variations on a rococo theme for cello & orchestra (or cello & piano) in a major, op. 33 [mstislav rostropovich (cello) / kirill kondrashin]
02 - 04. igor stravinsky - concerto in d for string orchestra in d major ("basel concerto") [sir colin davis]
05 - 07. alexander scriabin - symphony no. 3 in c minor ("divine poem"), op. 43 [kirill kondrashin]
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cd 11
01 - 03. robert schumann - piano concerto in a minor, op. 54 [kirill kondrashin]
04. luciano berio - chemins iv on sequenza vii for oboe & strings [werner herbers (oboe) / luciano berio]
05 - 08. rudolf escher - sinfonia for wind quintet, string quartet and double bass [reinbert de leeuw]
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cd 12
01 - 04. max reger - serenade for orchestra in g major, op. 95 [eugen jochum]
05 - 07. alberto ginastera - harp concerto, op. 25 [vera badings (harp) / jesús lópez-cobos]
08 - 10. andré jolivet - trumpet concerto no. 2 [maurice andré (trumpet) / jean fournet]
11. claude gervaise - danse [jean fournet]
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cd 13
01. igor stravinsky - concertino for 12 instruments [ed spanjaard]
02. willem frederik bon - les saisons de verlaine for voice & orchestra: 1. le printemps [bernard haitink]
03 - 05. anton bruckner - symphony no. 9 in d minor, wab 109 [carlo maria giulini]
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cd 14
01 - 04. wolfgang amadeus mozart - symphony no. 35 in d major ("haffner"), k. 385 [nikolaus harnoncourt]
05 - 07. andré caplet - épiphanie, for cello & orchestra [jean decroos (cello) / jean fournet]
08 - 11. felix mendelssohn - symphony no. 4 in a major ("italian"), op. 90 [kirill kondrashin]