SCRIABIN : The Complete Works (2015) 18CD Box-Set / APE (image+.cue), lossless

ALEXANDER SCRIABIN 1872-1915

The Complete Works

The First Complete Edtition                                         

Including 64 Newly-Recorded Tracks

 

Works for piano solo                             

CD1 Opp. 1-5

 

CD2 Opp. 6-8

CD3 Opp. 9-14

CD4 Opp. 15-23

CD5 Opp. 25, 27, 28, 30-35

CD6 Opp. 36-53

CD7 Opp. 56-59, 61-65

CD8 Opp. 66-74

CD9 Works without opus number

Chamber & Orchestral Works

CD10  

Variation on a Russian Theme

Andante and Scherzo for strings

Symphonic poem, Wo0 24

Piano Concerto • Rêverie

CD 11

Symphony No. 1

CD 12

Symphony No. 2

CD 13

Symphony No. 3 "Le Divin Poème"

 

CD 14

Le Poème de l'extase

Prométhée : Le Poème du feu

 

CD 15-17

Nuances, orch. Nemtin

Preparation for the Final Mystery, realised Nemtin

BONUS CD

(CD 18)

Scriabin across the generations - 

Performances by legenday pianists

and artists of the younger generation

 

Soloists and Conductors include:

Pierre-Laurent Aimard · Vladimir Ashkenazy

Gordon Fergus-Thompson · Valery Gergiev

Benjamin Grosvenor · Vladimir Horowitz

Yevgeny Kissin · Valentina Lisitsa

Lorin Maazel · Ivo Pogorelich

Sviatoslav Richter · Roberto Szidon

Daniil Trifonov

 

ANTON WEBERN : Complete Webern (Pierre Boulez) 6xCD Box-Set (2000) APE (tracks+.cue), lossless

Those who are familiar with Pierre Boulez's earlier "Complete Webern" on Sony will notice that his new Deutsche Grammophon edition contains six discs to Sony's three. That's because Sony only included works for which Webern assigned opus numbers, plus the composer's Schubert and Bach arrangements. DG fleshes out the picture with all of Webern's posthumously published music, mostly dating from his apprentice years. Virtually all of these recordings already have been available. Discs one through three are given over to orchestral, choral, and chamber works with Boulez leading the Berlin Philharmonic, BBC Singers, and the Ensemble Intercontemporain. Soprano Christiane Oelze's survey of Webern's lieder with voice and piano occupies disc four, with the addition of three unreleased songs set to poems by Ferdinand Avenarius. On disc five, the Emerson Quartet plays all the string trio and quartet works. The final disc brings together the cello and piano music, the four pieces Op. 7 for violin and piano, and the piano works. Gianluca Cascioli's traversals of both 1906 movements for piano were previously released, while Krystian Zimerman recorded two tiny pieces and the Op. 27 Piano Variations especially for this collection.

We first encounter Webern writing music in a style that resembles Brahms with a little Grieg mixed in for good measure. Soon his harmonic palette blossoms with chromatic complexity and takes a refined turn during studies with Arnold Schoenberg. Finally, Webern's singular voice emerges by way of pocket pieces whose ascetic contours sport asymmetrical rhythms, canonic lines that leapfrog from instrument to instrument, and rigorously organized pitches. There's no filler, no fat, and every note counts.
Sometimes it's hard to grasp such fleeting, fragile, and texturally exposed music in a single hearing. When I hear a Webern work in concert, for instance, it's usually over before it begins. Imagine passing a Joan Miró painting while riding a bicycle and you'll understand what I mean. You need to find quiet listening space and know that you can play a movement or even a whole piece more than once.
Performing Webern well demands the utmost in precision and concentration, yet without negating the music's passionate undercurrents. Boulez has lived with this music a long time, and the refinement of his latest interpretations beggar description. The sonic advantages of the DG recordings play no small part, in that fine-tuned dyanmic adjustments at quiet levels can be heard with no compromise. The conductor's tempos have broadened since his 1967-72 recordings in the aforementioned Sony set, and instrumental balances are smoother, more blended than before. Yet the ferocity and edginess of the earlier versions haven't been superceded. Nor is the elemental force and dynamism of Dohnanyi's superb Cleveland Webern readings surpassed here.
No qualms, though, concerning Christiane Oelze, who negotiates Webern's treacherous, leaping lines as if they were nursery rhymes. Similarly, the Emersons leave no little detail unscrutinized, and make a lean contrast to the more opulent, aristocratic Quartetto Italiano Webern recordings from the 1970s. I'm sorry the not-so-famous Cascioli wasn't brought back to record the piano works assigned to the better-known Zimerman, whose mincing, overwrought Variations lack the grace and eloquence of Peter Serkin's recent Koch version.
An excellent booklet includes an introduction by Boulez, numerous photos of Webern at work and play, an informative essay by Paul Griffiths, a comprehensive Webern timeline, and complete texts and translations. Whatever reservations one might harbor about this or that individual performance, it is unlikely that this set as a whole will be surpassed in the near future. It belongs in every serious music library, private or public. by Jed Distler

CD1
Passacaglia . 5 Movements op. 5
6 pieces op. 6 fuga
german dances Inm smmerwind

CD2
5 pieces for orchestra
3 orchestral songs . symphony op. 21
cantatas . variations op. 30

CD3
piano quintet . lieder
5 pieces op.10 + quartet op. 22
concerto op. 24

CD4
lieder

CD5
works for string quartet & string trio

CD6
works for solo piano, violin & piano, cello & piano
All Tracks & Credits

BARTÓK : Boulez Conducts Bartók (2009) 8xCD BOX-SET / FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

 CD1
Four Orchestral Pieces • Concerto for Orchestra
Chicago Symphony Orchestra

CD2
Dance Suite • Two Pictures
Hungarian Sketches • Divertimento
Chicago Symphony Orchestra

CD3
Piano Concerto Nrs 1-3
Zimmerman • Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Andsnes • Berliner Philharmonikér
Grimaud • London Symphony Orchestra

CD4
Concerto for Two Pianos, Percussion and Orchestra
Stefanovich • Aimard • Thomas • Percy
London Symphony Orchestra

Violin Concerto Nr. 1
Kremer • Berliner Philharmonikér

Violin Concerto Nr. 2
Bashmet • Berliner Philharmonikér

CD5
Violin Concerto Nr. 2
Rhapsodies for Violin and Orchestra Nr. 1 & 2
Shaham • Chicago Symphony Orchestra

CD6
Bluebeard's Castle
Norman + Polgár • Chicago Symphony Orchestra

CD7
Cantata Profana • The Wooden Prince
Aler • Tomlinson
Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Chorus

CD8
The Miraculus Mandarin
Music for Strings, Percussion and celesta
Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Chorus

IVES : Concord Sonata • Songs (Pierre-Laurent Aimard, Susan Graham) (2002) FLAC (tracks), lossless

Charles Ives (1874-1954)

Songs
Mezzo-soprano Vocals – Susan Graham
Piano – Pierre-Laurent Aimard

Piano Sonata No.2, "Concord, Mass., 1840-60"*
Piano – Pierre-Laurent Aimard
Mezzo-soprano Vocals – Susan Graham
Viola – Tabea Zimmermann*
Flute – Emmanuel Pahud*

ELLIOTT CARTER - Late Works (Aimard-Knussen) (2017) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless