VA - Beethoven: Complete Edition (2013) {86CD Box Set}

It would not be an overstatement to declare that Ludwig van Beethoven stands as one of the most significant figures in Western civilisation: a composer who shaped the course of music history through his mastery of rhythm, melody and harmonic exploration, pushing the boundaries of form and effectively bridging the gap between Classicism and Romanticism – and yet all the while continuously professing how difficult he found composition. Detailing his complete output – from his earliest years to his last, by which time he had almost completely lost his hearing – this 86CD box reveals an extensive palette of styles and mediums, rendered all the more obvious by the box's division into different genres (starting with the symphonies and ending with the large corpus of different national folk songs). A stellar cast of performers completes the tribute: Alfred Brendel, Sir Colin Davis, David Zinman, Herbert Blomstedt, Staatskapelle Dresden and the London Symphony Orchestra are just of the first-class names and ensembles gracing this must-buy, bargain-priced compilation.