The Superconductor 2012 Gift Guide

Lock the Door and Hit the Floor! 
(And by that I mean, Merry X-MAS!)
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Robot Santa trapped in ice. 'Cos it's been that kind of year.
Image from Futurama © Matt Groening/30th Century Fox Television.

'Twas less than a week before Christmas,
And all 'cross the Net,
Shoppers were realizing,
that their lists were not set.

In other words (and with apologies to Clement Clark Moore, we proudly present our annual guide to the best in new recordings and boxed sets for that hard-to-please classical music lover on your lis(z)t this year.

New Complete Operas:

Don Giovanni (Deutsche Grammophon, 2012)

This live recording from Baden-Baden offers the opportunity to hear an all-star cast of young singers, drawn from the current generation of stars. Diana Damrau, Joyce Di Donato, Ildebrando d'Arcangelo and Rolando Villazon spangle this energetic set, the first of a planned cycle of major Mozart operas on Deutsche Grammophon.

Tristan und Isolde (PentaTone, 2012)
The newest and best of Marek Janowski's half-completed survey of the ten mature Wagner operas, made in a live setting with the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra. The reason to hear this set is soprano Nina Stemme, whose powerhouse Isolde veers from seething rage to passionate ecstasy. Mr. Janowski has the pulse of this unique score in a crystal-clear recording that benefits from the presence of a live audience.

The Bartered Bride (harmonia mundi, 2012)
The BBC Symphony Orchestra offers this energetic recording of Smetana's comedy, a work which none other than Gustav Mahler elevated to a repertory standard. The use of the original language preserves much of the opera's humor and rhythm, helped by an authentic Czech cast.

Superconductor 2011 Gift Guide Part V: Piano Music

12 days of Christmas, and 88 keys.

A piano just makes the holidays better. Scene from The Simpsons
episode Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire © 1989 FOX/Gracie Films/Matt Groening.

The last page of the 2011 Gift Guide features piano music: selections of the best piano recitals of the year, and a survey of major reissues and boxed sets. For the piano lover, this is your shopping Liszt. Hey, he turned 200 this year.


SINGLE DISCS

Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No. 3, Symphonic Dances Op. 45

Atlanta Symphony Orchestra cond. Robert Spano 

This exciting disc of Rachmaninoff's most challenging concerto features Garrick Ohlsson meeting the work head-on. Mr. Ohlsson interlocks smoothly with Mr. Spano. They craft a thrilling ride through the work's three movements. With an energetic set of Symphonic Dances that demonstrates the quality of this Southern orchestra.

Hélène Grimaud: Mozart Piano Concertos Nos. 19 and 23 (Deutsche Grammophon)

The French pianist delves into Mozart with her first recordings of these lyric piano concertos. As a bonus, soprano Mojca Erdmann sings the concert aria "Chi'io mi scordi di te?" a welcome rarity.

Alice Sara Ott: Beethoven (Deutsche Grammophon)

The talented Ms. Ott goes Ludwig with this disc, featuring her feather-light chording and high-speed run through the Waldstein Sonata. The last movement is eloquently played and almost impressionistic in its soft first statement of the main theme. 

Marc-Andre Hamelin: Etudes (Hyperion)
The most significant virtuoso working today gets in on Lisztomania, taking on the formidable Piano Sonata, which manages to fuse four movements into one contiguous whole. Mr. Hamelin also applies his stunning technique to playful works: the Fantasia on B-A-C-H and three aural postcards from Venice and Naples.

Lang Lang: My Piano Hero. (Sony Classical)

Mr. Lang celebrates Liszt's 200th birthday with this exuberant disc of favorites and virtuoso workouts, anchored by a rock-solid performance of the First Piano Concerto. 

BOXED SETS:

Schubert: Piano Sonatas and Impromptus,  Andras Schiff, Piano (Decca, 9 CDs)

András Schiff is one of the most eloquent pianists on the concert circuit. Schubert is one of his particular strengths, and this cycle captures some of his best playing at an early peak. Crisp keyboard diction, crystal-clear digital sound and a sense of intimacy, especially in the beautifully played Impromptus.

Martha Argerich: Solos and Duos (EMI, 6 CDs)

After DG and Decca re-ignited the Cult of Argerich with their re-issues of her classic solo recitals, chamber works and piano concertos, it was time for her seocnd label, EMI to follow suit. This set find the Chilean pianist applying her skills to solo recitals and works for piano and violin 

Maurizio Pollini: 20th Century (Deutsche Grammophon, 6 CDs)

The fearless Mr. Pollini makes "difficult" modern piano music easy to understand with these deceptively simple performances. Featuring his account of the knotty works by Stravinsky, Bartók, Schoenberg, Webern, and other so-called modernists who threw out the rule books a century ago and created a brave new sonic world.

Alfred Brendel: Complete Beethoven Sonatas and Concertos (Decca, 12 CDs)
A long-awaited reissue of the Alfred Brendel "big box", all of his celebrated recordings of the piano sonatas and his first cycle of the five concertos, played with Bernard Haitink and the London Philharmonic Orchestra. Top-notch Beethoven at a bargain-basement price. And if you like Mr. Brendel's playing, his equally celebrated Schubert cycle was also reissued this year.

Leslie Howard: The Complete Liszt Piano Music (Hyperion, 99 CDs)
This exceptional cycle contains all the Liszt piano music. The sonatas, poems, concertos. The Années de la Pelerinage. The Hungarian Rhapsodies. Even the opera transcriptions and piano versions of orchestral works by Beethoven, Berlioz and Wagner. All captured in superb performances, in glittering sound. This bread-box sized box is the deep end for the piano addict, and the most important reissue of 2011.


Check out the rest of the 2011 Superconductor Gift Guide:

Part I: Gigantic Boxed Sets

Part II: Slightly Smaller Boxed Sets

Part III: Beethoven for Christmas
Part IV: Opera Recordings

Superconductor 2011 Gift Guide Part IV: Operas

Our guide to the best opera releases (and re-releases) of 2011.

A young hopeful auditions for the role of Fiesco in Simon Boccanegra.
Image framegrabbed from The Year Without a Santa Claus © 1974 Rankin-Bass CBS.

OK. This has been by and large a poor year for opera on CD. But there have been some interesting new reissues, and a few new recordings for your perusal. The Claudio Abbado Fidelio is  worthy of this list--a review can be found on the Beethoven page of the Gift Guide.

Metropolitan Opera Classic Broadcasts (Sony Classical, 2 or 3 CDs each.)

(Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, Die Walküre, Tosca, La bohéme, Fidelio, Il barbiere di Siviglia, Les Contes d'Hoffmann, Don Carlo, Rigoletto, Carmen, Le Nozze di Figaro, Un Ballo in Maschera, Il trovatore, etc.)
Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus, various conductors. 

This budget-priced series from Sony collects classic Metropolitan Opera broadcasts from the 20th century. It includes:

• a 1952 Rise Stevens Carmen conducted by Fritz Reiner
• a 1955 Tales of Hoffmann with Richard Tucker, 
• a 1964 Don Carlo with Franco Corelli sounding like the world's most macho neurotic.
• the 1968 Die Walküre: an unbeatable cast, with Birgit Nilsson, Christa Ludwig, Leonie Rysanek, Jon Vickers, and Thomas Stewart.

There is stage noise and audience applause. But who cares? These are great performances if you want some alternate versions of classic operas. Also essential for  understanding why opera lovers get all misty-eyed when they reminisce about "what singing used to be."

William Tell (EMI Classics, 3 CDs)

Orchestra e coro dell'Accademia Santa Cecilia cond. Antonio Pappano (EMI Classics, 3 Cds)

Everyone knows the overture, but the remaining four hours or so that make up Rossini's last opera are mostly unknown to listeners.

This live set, made in Italy and sung in French makes a persuasive case for the opera itself, and for singing Tell in its original language. Since Tell is under-performed and under-served on record (this is just the fourth recording in a century) this set is a welcome addition.

Gerald Finley makes a compelling case for the title character. This is the dude who shot the apple from his son's head. Tell is a mythical Swiss revolutionary whose legendary battles against Austrian oppressors inspired the people of Switzerland to become independent and go into the banking business. Mr. Finley, the fine Canadian baritone, is an ideal choice with excellent good French.

Tenor John Osborn copes with Arnold's murderously high tessitura, hitting the difficult notes in the hero's Act IV aria. Soprano Malin Bÿstrom is an interesting choice for Mathilde--she has the high head voice and chest notes, but the voice seems to shrink in the passagio. 

Rimsky-Korsakov: 5 Operas (Decca, 11 CDs)
(The Legend of the Invisible City of Kitezh and the Maiden Fevronaya, Sadko, The Tsar's Bride, Kaschei the Immortal, The Maid of Pskov).
Kirov Opera Orchestra and Chorus cond. Valery Gergiev.
Valery Gergiev has done a lot for Russian music. The fiery Ossetian maestro made his name with the Kirov (now Mariinsky) Orchestra, exposing Western listeners to operas that, for a century, remained largely unknown outside Russia.

With the collapse of Philips Classics, and its folding into the Decca label, many of these recordings, released originally in the 1990s have been out of print. This utilitarian set exploring the major operas of Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov is the first major reissue. Although it's done on the cheap, the music inside is priceless.

Rimsky has a bad rep with Western listeners, because he was the most responsibe musician of the so-called "Mighty Handful" and the one with the longest career. He's also suffered because of well-meaning efforts to "clean up" the jagged music of his friend Mussorgsky and make Boris Godounov palatable to the un-trained ear. But his own operas have a swirl of orchestral color and a fairy-tale atmosphere. Best of all is Kitezh, the "Russian Parsifal" that Mr. Gergiev rescued from oblivion with this recording. Sadko, an aquatic fairytale, is also interesting.

If 11 discs is just too much Rimsky, the Invisible City of Kitezh is also coming out as an individual set. But at the low price for this ugly little box, you're better off with all 5 Operas.

Mozart Operas (DG Archiv, 18 Discs)
(Idomeneo, Die Entführung aus dem Serail, Le Nozze di Figaro, Don Giovanni, Cosí fan tutti, La Clemenza di Tito, Die Zauberflöte.)

English Baroque Soloists cond. John Eliot Gardiner

Like Mr. Gergiev, Sir John Eliot Gardiner was another Universal Classics artist who lost his contract when DG, Decca and Philips purged their rosters. As a result, his brilliant cycle of Mozart operas, made for DG Archiv in the 1990s and considered at the time to be flagship recordings of these works, have fallen by the wayside. But they're back.

This massive box collects all of JEG's Mozart opera recordings. Actually, it's not that massive, as the first boxed set issued back then could have held three loaves of bread. These are mostly live, played on period instruments at very fast tempos, with fresh-faced young singers who went on to bigger things. Cast members here include Rodney Gilfrey, Alison Hagley, Gerald Finley and, in Figaro, a young hopeful named Bryn Terfel. The recordings are all note-complete, with alternate passages and deleted scenes included for the curious listener. Essential.

Complete Wagner Operas (Warner Brothers Classics, 34 Discs)

(Die fliegende Holländer, Tannhäuser, Lohengrin, Der Ring des Nibelungen, Tristan und Isolde, Die Meistersinger, Parsifal)
Staatskapelle Berlin, Bayreuth Festival Orchestra, Berlin Philharmonic cond. Daniel Barenboim

Barenboim's Wagner cycle comes back on Warner Brothers Classics, formerly Teldec. This isnt so much a case of an artist losing his place at the table, but the label itself being partitioned off from Time Warner and sent over to the orphanage/clearing house Naxos. They're distributing the catalogue now.

This cycle splits pretty evenly between Berlin recordings and live sets made without an audience at the Bayreuth Festspielhaus. Throughout, Daniel Barenboim leads carefully considered performances with Wagnerian rubato--his style is that of a slightly more restrained Wilhelm Furtwängler. It includes one of my favorite recordings of the Ring, earthy, raw, and with the unconventional but interesting casting of John Tomlinson and Anne Evans as Wotan and Brunnhilde.

A lot of "regulars" appear across this set, most notably Falk Struckmann and Waltraud Meier. Included is Ms. Meier's second recorded Kundry and her first Isolde. Also featured: tenor Siegfried Jerusalem. The talented bassoon player turned heldentenor takes on the title part in the opera that bears his first name, reprises the role for Götterdämmerung, and also sings Tristan and Parsifal.


Check out the rest of the 2011 Gift Guide:

Part I: Gigantic Boxed Sets

Part II: Slightly Smaller Boxed Sets

Part III: Beethoven for Christmas

Part V: Piano Mania

Superconductor 2011 Gift Guide Part III: Beethoven for the Holidays

Despite the image, there are no dogs in this page of all-Beethoven recommendations.
Let's call this an unsolicited ad for this direct-to-video sequel starring Curtis "Booger" Armstrong.
Image © 2011 Universal Studios.

Beethoven: Complete Symphonies (Decca, 5 CDs)
Gewandhausorchester Leipzig cond. Riccardo Chailly

It's an amazing thing--no matter how many recordings of the Beethoven symphonies you hear, there is always a conductor who manages to bring out something new and unheard in the works. Here, it's Riccardo Chailly, whose five-disc account of the symphonies (with some overtures) is a welcome addition to an already vast catalogue.

These are all live recordings: brisk, invigorating accounts of these familiar symphonies. The Fifth (taken at a very fast tempo) is a highlight. The Sixth is played with great purpose and clarity. In the later symphonies (7, 8) Mr. Chailly draws out the textures of Beethoven's string writing, showing the composer pushing the musical envelope. The Ninth wails and stomps through the first two movements. The third is played very slowly--Chailly's experience with Bruckner pays off here. There is an inspired set of soloists in the final choral movement. Recommended.

Fidelio (Decca, 2 CDs)
Lucerne Festival Orchestra cond. Claudio Abbado
Leonore/Fidelio: Nina Stemme
Florestan:  Jonas Kaufmann

Now this was a good idea. Jonas Kaufmann's first major studio opera recording has him taking on the challenging role of Florestan, wrongfully imprisoned by a vengeful government official. To save him, his wife Leonore (Nina Stemme) cross-dresses and becomes "Fidelio", a suspiciously helpful turnkey in the prison. This is the first new recording of Fidelio in a while, which is mostly due to a lack of Leonores. 

Happily, Nina Stemme is admirably qualified for the part, a full-on Wagner soprano who can summon tenderness in the big Act I quartet. The strong cast features Falk Struckmann as the baddie, and bass Christoph Fistesscher as Rocco. In a welcome return to opera recordings, the great Claudio Abbado shows his way with Beethoven, leading this Swiss orchestra.

Beethoven (Deutsche Grammophon, 13 CDs)
Berlin Philharmonic cond. Herbert von Karajan
It's coming out next month: the reissue of Herbert von Karajan's umpteenth (and final) cycle of Beethoven symphonies made with the Berlin Philharmonic. Experience the pristine DG Karajan Gold sound without having to shell out too many gold pieces.

Over the course of a five-decade recording career, Karajan repeatedly recorded the Beethoven symphonies, seeking greater refinement of sound from his Berlin Philharmonic forces. The "standard" is his 1963 cycle with the Berlin Philharmonic. But even if it's in the interests of completism, there's something to be said for these digital readings, made in the early 1980s when the conductor's power was at its height.

But wait, shoppers, there's more! This small but mighty box includes the Anne Sophie Mutter recording of the Beethoven Violin Concerto, a rare orchestral arrangement of the Grosse Fugue, and a cycle of the piano concertos. Christoph Eschenbach plays the first, and Alexis Weissenberg (appearing under a special licensing deal with EMI Classics) plays Nos. 2-5.


Beethoven: Symphonies 1, 2, 3 (3 DVDs or 1 Blu-Ray)
Symphonies 4, 5, 6 (3 DVDs or 1 Blu-Ray)
Symphonies 7, 8, 9 (3 DVDs or 1 Blu-Ray)
Hi-def high-quality Beethoven from Christian Thielemann, the German conductor whose whole career has been a determined throwback to the great kapellmeisters of the past: Hans Richter and Arthur Nikisch. These are visual records of the Vienna Philharmonic playing these great works in the legendary Musikverein. If you want the audio record, the CD box set (released by Sony) comes out on Dec. 27.

From my review:
"Mr. Thielemann leads a straightforward, über-Romantic interpretation, opting for a limpid clarity of texture that allows the listener to hear these sturdy works afresh. He is aided by the sterling acoustics of the hall, the quiet-as-mice audience, and of course the unique sound of the Vienna Philharmonic, whose well-documented use of "Viennese" horns, period oboes and goat-skin drums make them, in effect, an historic ensemble that chooses tradition over technology."

The concert films and recordings are top-notch, even though the camera has a music video tendency to cut too quickly. And if you have a post-Christmas gift certificate, these concerts will be released on CD on Dec. 27.

Beethoven: The Complete Symphony Collection 
(MP3 Download Only, Everest Classics)
London Symphony Orchestra cond. Joseph Krips
This 53-year old set is from the stereo boom, when many record labels were putting together orchestras and conductors in an effort to get into the market. Joseph Krips is chiefly remembered for his opera recordings, most notably a Vienne Don Giovanni that remains an industry standard. The LSO sounds great, captured in their prime. And hey, it's SIX BUCKS for a high-quality MP3 download from Amazon. At that price, it's bound to make somebody happy if they find it in their mailbox this holiday season.

Check out the rest of the 2011 Superconductor Gift Guide:

Part I: Gigantic Boxed Sets

Part II: Slightly Smaller Boxed Sets

Part IV: Opera Recordings
Part V: Piano Mania

Superconductor 2011 Gift Guide Part II: Orchestral Boxed Sets

One of these boxes has music in it.

With the major labels constantly merging and trying to re-sell old recordings, there are excellent opportunities for the collector. The recordings here are all orchestral music, with great conductors tackling familiar works. Buy one of these for someone you know, and they'll be happy you did.

Nielsen: The Masterworks Vol. 1: Symphonies 1-6, Orchestral works (Da Capo, 4 CDs, 2 DVDs)
Danish National Orchestra cond. Michael Schønwandt. 
Those of us who stayed in New York this summer can tell you that Mr. Schønwandt's performance of Nielsen was a concert highlight of those hot months. The Danish conductor brings his razor-sharp ensemble to a complete cycle of the six symphonies. Recommended here: the bold Inextinguishable Symphony (No. 4) and the brisk Four Temperaments (No. 2). The set also includes overtures and rarely heard excerpts from Nielsen's stage works, not often played outside of Denmark.

Bruckner Symphonies No. 3-9, Sacred Works (EMI, 12 CDs)

Munich Philharmonic cond. Sergiu Celibidache

The Romanian conductor Sergiu Celibidache worked at the height of the recording boom. Yet, the maverick maestro famously refused to join the frenzy of record-making, preferring to let his live performances speak for themselves. When he died, his family did not hesitate to make his performances available on CD. These EMI reissues are at a budget price, featuring his mystic approach to Bruckner with the Munich Philharmonic.

Stravinsky: The Complete Ballets and Symphonies (Decca, 7CDs)

Orchestre symphonique de Montreal cond. Charles Dutoit

Cleveland Orchestra cond. Vladimir Ashkenazy

Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra cond. Riccardo Chailly

This is pretty good Stravinsky. Not absolute top-rank: that's Pierre Boulez' DG recordings or the composer's own readings on Sony. There are some great performances here though: Charles Dutoit's Montreal account of The Firebird and Vladimir Ashkenazy's Cleveland Rite of Spring. The set also includes more modern ballet scores like Agon and the composer's neo-classical symphonies and works for piano and orchestra.

Charles Munch: Late Romantic Masterpieces  (RCA 7 CDs)

Boston Symphony Orchestra cond. Charles Munch 
Charles Munch's Boston recordings have enjoyed something of a renaissance this year, with two boxed sets celebrating his musical legacy. Here is your chance to hear his approach to Wagner, with soprano Eileen Farrell joining the orchestra for scenes from the operas. In addition to solid symphony performances (the Tchaikovsky 4, 6, and Dvořák 8) this set also includes classic concertos.  Violinist Henryk Szerying plays the Tchaikovsky, and cellist Gregor Piatagorsky tackles the Dvořák concerto.

The Mahler Symphonies (RCA, 16 CDs, 1 DVD)
Tonhalle Orchester Zurich cond. David Zinman
I'm just going to quote my own review here:
"The Swiss forces are not as showy a "name" as the Vienna or Berlin Philharmonics or the American "big five." But on these recordings, they play Mahler with freshness, enthusiasm and love for this composer's particular genius. They are led by Mr. Zinman, who chooses brisk, but not rushed tempos, with some exceptions."

"It also includes a fascinating documentary, Going Against Fate, that chronicles the sessions for the Sixth Symphony. The film delves into the complexities of playing in a modern state-sponsored orchestra, from the tuba player's need for brass oil to a bassoonist demonstrating the proper way to wrap and blow a double reed."

Check out the rest of the 2011 Superconductor Gift Guide:

Part I: Gigantic Boxed Sets

Part III: Beethoven for Christmas
Part IV: Opera Recordings
Part V: Piano Mania

Superconductor 2011 Gift Guide Part I: Giant Boxed Sets

The Doorstop Division: 20 discs and up.

These boxed sets might not fit under your tree--or down your chimney.
Image by Matt Groening © Gracie Films/20th Century Fox.

In the last decade, as Americans have gotten more obese (see photo) classical music has too. Companies have put out huge, bloated "complete collections":

• All the operas of Richard Wagner including the Ring. (34 discs, on average.)
• All the piano music of Franz Liszt (99 discs) 
• Complete editions of Bach, Beethoven, Brahms and Mozart (157, 60, 85 and 170 discs, respectively.) 
• The Great Pianists of the 20th Century (Now out of print, but it was 200 discs and came in two suitcases.)

You get the idea. It might have had something to do with the millennium, as record labels scrambled to push their music out into the world (again) before the Y2K clock fried their databases. Or it might have been the simple greed that has nearly driven those labels out of business. Only Norman Lebrecht knows for sure.

Despite the bloat (and subsequent devaluing of music to something that you buy the same way you buy cheese)these make  great gifts for the hard-core music lover in your life. They can also make a handy doorstop after spending the holidays ripping the CDs into your hard drive. Which is why Amazon.com is now making it possible to download entire boxed sets with a minimum of effort.

Anyway, here's five picks. They're big, but they're really good. I promise.

Bach: Complete Cantatas cond. Helmuth Rilling (Hänssler Classics, 71 CDs) 

There are several comprehensive sets of Bach cantatas on the market, from Nikolaus Harnoncourt and John Eliot Gardiner. This entry from Helmuth Rilling, the founder of the International Bach Academy in Stuttgart may not be on a flashy major label, but it is more than competitive.

Vivaldi Masterworks Various Artists (Decca, 28 CDs)

When the Philips label was unceremoniously folded into Decca under the banner of Universal Music Group, the catalogue lost the great Vivaldi recordings made by the ensemble I Musici under the direction of Vittorio Negri.

They're all present and accounted for here, along with great performances from period performance  specialists Philip Pickett and Christopher Hogwood. All the Vivaldi you could possibly want, except for the operas. Those will probably be along on another boxed set, as soon as somebody gets around to recording them.

Wilhelm Furtwängler: The Legacy (Membran, 107 CDs) 

Wilhelm Furtwängler was one of the most important conductors of the 20th century, with a unique, flexible approach to Romantic music. This gigantic set preserves his memory with accounts of Wagner, Brahms, Beethoven, Bruckner, and possibly the kitchen sink. Lovingly packaged with small mini-boxes inside the big case for easier management, the whole set is the size of a small Dachsund. This is the gift for the lover of German music.

Tchaikovsky Edition (Brilliant Classics, 60 CDs)

This shelf-bending set of Tchaikovsky is from Brilliant, the same label that brought you the back-breaking editions of Bach, Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven mentioned at the top of the column. It includes the piano concertos, ballet scores, and even the rarely performed early operas. Another weighty entry in a comprehensive series of composer surveys from Brilliant Classics. Includes the major operas alongside lesser-known works like Oprichnik and Mazeppa. 

The Liszt Collection (Deutsche Grammophon, 34 CDs)

If you read this blog regularly, you might remember an article that I wrote comparing (in some detail) the huge boxed sets that were coming out this year to celebrate the 200th birthday of composer, pianist and cigar fancier Franz Liszt. For more detail about the Complete Liszt Piano Music (performed by pianist Leslie Howard) and the other competing sets, please consult this article.

From the out of print Giuseppe Sinopoli recordings of the Dante and Faust Symphonies to the piano music and songs sung by Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, this is a sweeping collection that celebrates Liszt the composer, and not just of piano music. That is certainly the core here, but orchestral works get equal time, and there's even some rarely heard choral music.

But wait, there's more!
Check out the rest of the 2011 Superconductor Gift Guide: 

Part II: Slightly Smaller Boxed Sets

Part III: Beethoven for Christmas
Part IV: Opera Recordings

Part V: Piano Mania

Outside the Box: The 2011 Superconductor Gift Guide

A guide to shopping for the music nut in your life--even if it's you.

You could do worse.

Well, here it is folks, your guide to the very best of classical music and opera. The focus is on releases and reissues within the last year, with some stone classics thrown to make things a little more interesting.

But first, a few words from your editor. That's me.

The arts are struggling in this country. Corporate underwriting has faded with the fluctuations in the market and collapse of big financial institutions. Musicians need to be paid, trips have to be booked, and concert halls have to be heated. Many orchestras are facing program cuts, labor troubles and other signs that have cast a pallor over their seasons. 

If you're an American concert-goer who loves classical music and reads Superconductor, consider donating to your local orchestra or opera company. You get a neat membership card, and in some cases a magazine, newsletter or discounts at local restaurants.

So donate! And then get yourself something nice. After all, it's the holiday season. 

OK. That's the sermon. Now on with the music. The guide this year is in four parts. Well, five if you count this splash page. All products are sold through Amazon.com in my online store.

Part I: Gigantic Boxed Sets

Everything on this page is 30 discs and up. Sounds like a lot of music? It is but these are for bargain-hunters, catalogue completists, or the serious collector who just can't get enough. 

Part II: Slightly Smaller Boxed Sets

A personal favorite: these are cool stocking stuffers. All the discs are in envelopes to minimize shelf space and clutter. Of course if you have a lot of them....

Part III: Beethoven for Christmas
All you want for Christmas is an irascible deaf guy who can't hear very well. That's either your Uncle Al or Beethoven. Beethoven wrote better music.


Part IV: Opera Recordings

The best full-length opera recordings to come out in the past year, on CD and DVD. The weird part is, most of them are from the Metropolitan Opera.

Part V: Piano Mania

For the piano student or the aficionado, classic recordings and new releases. This is going to be a long Liszt, especially since this is the year that all the labels are celebrating the Hungarian pianist's 200th birthday.

Superconductor Holiday Gift Guide Part V: Ten Piano Essentials

I promise. This is the last installment of the gift guide. Hanukkah's already started and Christmas lists are getting filled out. But here's ten great recordings from the archives, and they're not going to break your budget.

Johannes Brahms, determining who's been naughty and who's been nice.
Photo © Bettman/Corbis

I decided for this last installment to focus on piano recordings. These are all single discs or double-disc sets. and these are all outstanding individual performances.

Piano 101: Basic Repertoire

Bach: The Goldberg Variations
Glenn Gould, Piano
The first recording from the legendary, eccentric Canadian pianist is a lightning-fast tour through Bach's set of keyboard variations, that changed the way people listen to the piano.

Chopin: Preludes
Martha Argerich, Piano
The Chopin piano preludes echo the work of Bach, and are written in all the major and minor keys. This is a fine 1975 Argerich performance, and includes a superb reading of the Second Piano Sonata.

Liszt: Opera Transcriptions
Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Piano
Transcriptions of Mozart, Verdi and Wagner, played with flash and style by the great French pianist

Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition
Sviatoslav Richter, Piano
A legendary recital recorded in Sofia, Bulgaria. The legendary Richter plays 'Pictures' along with music by Schubert, Chopin and Liszt.

Mozart: Four Piano Sonatas
Mitsuko Uchida, Piano
Mozart's piano literature set the standard for everything that followed. Here's four from Mitsuko Uchida's complete cycle, which is also recommended.

Piano 201:
Some "deeper end" stuff, for the advanced listener or for the collector.

Bach: The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I
Sviatoslav Richter, Piano
Bach's basic workbook for the keyboard, played with expression and Romantic understanding.

Beethoven: Late Piano Sonatas
Maurizio Pollini, Piano
The late sonatas, written during the composer's deafness, break down musical barriers in a way that had never happened before. Pollini's intellectual approach to this music is ideally suited, passionate and yet also considered.

Brahms: Handel Variations
Murray Perahia, Piano
Johannes Brahms took Beethoven's ideas even further. His most entertaining piano works are these epic sets of variations, which require disciplined playing as well as bold technique. Murray Perahia has both to spare in this new recording, which includes the rhapsodies and two sets of piano pieces.

Alkan: Symphony For Solo Piano: "The Four Ages"

Marc-Andre Hamelin, Piano

And you thought Liszt was hard to play. Hamelin gives a fearless reading of this fiendish Symphony, which gives the puano all the expressive power of an orchestra in full flight.

Debussy: 12 Etudes for Solo Piano
Mitsuko Uchida, Piano
These brilliant, cerebral pieces are at the pinnacle of the repertory. Mitsuko Uchida plays with fleet lyricism and attention to detail.

Superconductor Gift Guide Part IV: Opera on DVD

Johannes Brahms on a day off
from the North Pole.

Hah! Thought we were done, did you? No, gentle reader, we're going on with the Gift Guide, presenting you with the some more things that we think should be under your tree this year.

Next up, our look at excellent opera DVDs to enhance your viewing pleasure. Some of these are available on Blu-Ray.

Der Ring des Nibelungen
There are a lot of versions of the Ring on DVD, enough to write a whole series of columns about. There's the Ring as family psychodrama. Future shock. Cyberpunk. And the famous Chereau staging where Wotan is played as Wagner himself.

But being that I've written about most of those in the past, I'm going to recommend a classic. This is the famous Metropolitan Opera production of the Ring: realistic costumes, magic fire, and an honest-to-goodness dragon in Siegfried that is some strange blend of mechanics, hydraulics, and stagehands hiding in a cave. James Morris, Siegfried Jerusalem, and Hildegard Behrens lead a stellar cast. This is old-fashioned Wagnerian entertainment, right down to the winged helmets.

The Fairy Queen:
I raved about this production when Les Arts Florissants brought Purcell's drama to BAM last spring, and I'm so pleased to see this wonderful staging finally available on DVD. William Christie leads a note-perfect production of this massive work, which has its roots in Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream.

Henry Purcell's "semi-opera" is an unusual creation: a hybrid of drama and opera dating from 1692. Shakespeare's story of nobles and mechanicals caught in the snares of woodland fairy folk is preserved, but the dialogue is completely different. Under William Christie's sure leadership, Les Arts Florissants deliver an utterly satisfying musical and dramatic experience.

The real reason to see Fairy Queen is the entertaining series of masques at the end of each act, which feature spectacular singing and staging that will make you think twice about haystacks. (Baron Ochs would have loved this.)

Ariadne Auf Naxos:
Speaking of Richard Strauss, I'd like to recommend two different versions of one of my favorite operas: Ariadne auf Naxos. The first comes from Vienna, and is a 1978 Deutsche Grammophon film, starring Gundula Janowitz in the title role. The stellar supporting cast includes Rene Kollo (in half-decent voice for once) as Bacchus and Edita Gruberova, who sparkles in the role of Zerbinetta.

The second is a long-buried chestnut from the Metropolitan Opera vault, released this year as the only individual disc from the company's massive set of DVDs celebrating James Levine's 40th anniversary on the podium at the big house on W. 64th Street. I was in the house for at least one of these 2003 performances, which feature the all-star cast of Deborah Voigt, (Ariadne) Natalie Dessay, (Zerbinetta) and Suzanne Mentzer as the Composer.

The Complete Mozart Operas
Contrary to the beliefs held by most record company executives, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart composed 22 operas. Most of them are represented in this exhaustive series of DVDs. In addition to the hits (Don Giovanni, Le Nozze di Figaro, Die Zauberflöte) the viewer can trace the development of Mozart as a composer from boy genius to fully mature musician while seeing some really obscure operas that almost never get staged anywhere.

The set even includes the very early cantata Die Schuldigkeit der Ersten Gebots along with L'Oca del Cairo, a strange comedy that Mozart rejected because its libretto involved a large mechanical goose. This is a reissue of a 2006 set (at a much lower price) preserving the "Mozart 22", an ambitious program to stage all 22 Mozart operas in the 2006 season at the Salzburg Festival. But conservatives be warned: these Salzburg productions may not be for the faint of heart or those who think Mozart stage design stops with Amadeus.
Which brings us to....

Amadeus (Director's Cut)
OK. I know it's not an opera. But I wanted to take this space to mention how much I like the director's cut of Milos Forman's Oscar-winning film. It's about 20 minutes longer, with more sex, more sub-plots, and of course, more music.

For those of you who've never seen it, Amadeus is an adaptation of Peter Shaffer's Tony-winning play, exploring fictional aspects of the tumultous relationship between Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and his rival, composer Antonio Salieri. The film features a stellar cast, gorgeous period costumes, and the snow-swept streets of Prague doubling for Vienna.

Amadeus was finally released on Blu-Ray last year. It's a pity that with all that extra room for data storage, and even a second bonus disc, that this release doesn't include Neville Marriner's splendid adaptations of Mozart's music that form the work's award-winning score.

The Superconductor Gift Guide III: Some Stocking Stuffers

Johannes Brahms, looking less than jolly.
Drawing by Andrey Volkov

OK. Before you all start writing me letters about how all five box sets in this article are Deutsche Grammophon reissues, I want you to know that I'm aware of that. It just happens that these are five of the best CD box sets released in 2010. It's a coincidence that they're all on the same label.

Really. I swear on my little brass bust of Beethoven.

Anyway, here's the list:

Boulez Conducts Stravinsky
This set collects the Stravinsky recordings made by Pierre Boulez at the start of his fertile second summer as a recording conductor. They feature three great orchestras (Chicago, Cleveland and the Berlin Staatskapelle) and clarity of texture These performances were made in the 1990s, with great international orchestras: the Cleveland Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the Berlin Staatskapelle.

These recordings range from the major Stravinsky ballet scores to dramatic poems and the lesser-known works from his neo-classical period. Everything here is played with exceptional clarity of texture, driven, yet not rushed tempos, and a keen understanding of Stravinsky's fearless experimentation from a composer known for his own avant-garde ideas.


Emerson String Quartet: The Complete Beethoven String Quartets.
This set leapt to the very top of the heap of Beethoven string quartet recordings when it was released in the late '90s. Here, it returns to the catalogue as part of DG's 'Collector's Edition' series, which helps music lovers save considerable amounts of shelf space.

The Emersons offer driving, muscular interpretations of the sixteen Beethoven quartets in glittering digital sound. Highlights of the cycle include a lyric trio of 'Razumovsky' Quartets, and a beautiful run-through of the famous 'Harp' Quartet.

The best part of the set is the Emersons' fearless exploration of the difficult final quartets. They offer both the 'Grosse Fugue' (originally written as the finale for Quartet No. 15) and the tamer 'alternate' movement, played with the same sence of precision and skill. By the time the last quartet is reached, the listener may finally understand why Beethoven scrawled "Muss es sein?...Es muss sein!" on the manuscript. If you figure it out, write in and tell us. We love mail.


Martha Argerich: The Collection 3: Chamber Music
This is the third installment in a series of box sets reissuing Martha Argerich's DG recordings. The first two focused on her solo recitals and recordings of the major piano concertos, and are also highly recommended.  The discs are repackagings of the original album releases, with the CDs coming in miniature replica LP jackets.

For those of you not familiar with Ms. Argerich's work, she is a brilliant, refreshing pianist whose fearless technique shot her to the top of the classical music world by the age of 21. In her maturity, she moved away from solo recitals, preferring to perform with other pianists or in small groups.

Here, the label says "chamber music" but a better title might be "Chamber works and music for two pianos." Of the six discs, the highlight is definitely a series of two-piano arrangements of works by Ravel, Prokofiev and Tchaikovsky. Most of these are performed in collaboration with Russian pianist Mikhail Pletnev, and they offer an interesting angle on Ms. Argerich's piano skills. That they're gorgeous performances which kick major ass is also part of their appeal.


Vladimir Horowitz: The Complete Recordings on Deutsche Grammophon
Vladimir Horowitz is one of the most important pianists of the 20th century, a master of the instrument who specialized in Chopin and the knotty, cerebral music of Alexander Scriabin. These recordings were made in a fertile period of two years at the end of the great pianists' life, and preserves his final recital in Hamburg, as well as works by Schubert, Schumann and Mozart.

The major performance here is the Moscow Concert, which is also available separately. Vladimir Horowitz returned to his homeland in 1986 as part of a cultural exchange with the then Soviet Union. He performed a scintillating program ranging from the early keyboard compositions of Domenico Scarlatti to his standard Romantic repertoire of Schumann, Liszt and Rachmaninoff.

This set was originally issued on just four discs, but this new version consists of seven seperate discs, each packaged in a replica of the original LP sleeve. (The content, however, is the same.) On the bright side, the label didn't jack the price of the music, which is priceless no matter how it's packaged.


Vladimir Horowitz playing Mozart in Moscow

Hugo Wolf: Lieder
If you're not conversant with German art-songs, the name Hugo Wolf may be entirely new to you. Wolf's music follows in the expression of Romantic ideals set forth by Wagner and Liszt, but with the musical ideas compressed into tight, powerful songs that say in five minutes what it takes Wagner six hours to express.

This brilliant collection is a welcome reissue from the vault, featuring the consumnate, intelligent interpretations by baritone Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau. The young Daniel Barenboim is an ideal accompanist--and would go on to become a great Wagner conductor in his own right.

Wolf's music isn't exactly Christmas-time listening. His songs are settings of dark, Romantic poetry, and the harmonic brilliance and chromaticism can take getting used to. But this is an essential set, folks, with the finest baritone for this music: a dramatic, intelligent singer who finds the soul in each one of these five-minute gems. 

The Superconductor Holiday Gift Guide II: Complete Operas

I didn't know Santa played the piano? 
Oh wait, that's Brahms again.

This has been a pretty good year for opera reissues. Two series of note are the Glyndebourne reissues (presenting classic live recordings from the British summer opera festival) and the Sony Opera House series, which are mostly classic studio sets from Sony and EMI put out with minimal packaging at a bargain-basement price.


Here's five picks for the opera lover on your list. And just for fun, they're all live recordings.

Bellini: I Puritani: Glyndebourne Festival Orchestra cond. Vittorio Gui
The loss of Joan Sutherland earlier this year is tempered by the latest historic release from the Glyndebourne Festival. This high-quality performance of Puritani preserves the Australian soprano's 1960 debut in the role of Elvira, a part which became a cornerstone of her long career.

It also gives the listener a chance to hear Sutherland without her usual recording partner: conductor (and husband) Richard Bonynge. The performance is conducted by festival director Vittorio Gui, who lends rhythmic snap to the big moments in the score but allows the singers plenty of room to float sweet legato lines above the stave. The cast is filled out by unknown singers, but Sutherland's presence and incandescent performance makes this set a must-own for fans of bel canto.


Beethoven: Fidelio
Vienna Philharmonic cond. Herbert von Karajan
Recorded in 1962 from an Austrian Radio broadcast from the Vienna State Opera, this performance stayed in the vault until 2008. Herbert von Karajan was a perfectioninst who preferred his studio readings of operas to the excitement of a live recording. The Austrian maestro was picky about what recordings he allowed to be released, but the high quality of this performance belies his judgment.

This is Christa Ludwig's debut in the title role. She is surrounded by a dream cast including John Vickers (whom she recorded the opera with for Otto Klemperer), Walter Berry, Gundula Janowitz and Waldemar Kmennt. Also, this recording follows the old-fashioned practice of inserting the Leonore No. 3 overture in between the scenes of Act II. Under Karajan's direction, what was often a crummy theatrical trick becomes a highlight of the performance. This is the Vienna State Opera at its best, and the whole set sounds terrific--even the applause at the end of each act.


Rigoletto and La Traviata
Chorus and Orchestra of La Scala cond. Riccardo Muti
These live recordings from La Scala were released at the end of the "complete opera" boom in the ear;y '90s. Here, they're back as super-budget sets, reissued as part of the Sony Opera House series. Rigoletto features Renato Bruson as the title character--his second recording of the title role. He is supported by Andrea Rost as Gilda and Roberto Alagna in good, early form as the philandering Duke.

Alagna is at center stage in this excellent Traviata, recorded in '92 at the big house in Milan. This is Alagna as the young, budding artist, before he married Angela Gheorgiu and started getting marketed as a successor to Luciano Pavarotti. In other words, he's in his prime. He has good chemistry with Tiziana Fabbricini in the title role. Riccardo Muti's no-nonsense approach to the score and the live setting lend wings to the whole recording. Not a first choice, but a very fine one.

Monteverdi: The Coronation of Poppea
Sadler Wells Chorus and Orchestra, cond. Raymond Leppard
This is another radio broadcast, this one from the BBC in 1971. Monteverdi's final opera dates from the 17th century, but its music sounds fresh, especially when conducted by Raymond Leppard, an expert in works from the Renaissance and baroque eras. Poppea is set amidst the decadence of the Roman Empire.

Poppea is a demanding opera. It has a complicated plot, a huge cast, and tremendous opportunities for gifted singers. Mezzo-soprano Dame Janet Baker is incandescent in the title role.  She is surrounded by a fine cast of Sadler's Wells singers, some of whom may be familiar to opera lovers who have checked out that opera company's superb English-language recording of Wagner's Ring Cycle.

This set is an ideal introduction to Monteverdi for the novice listener or the lover of baroque music looking to explore the very roots of opera. For the aficionado, it is the chance to hear Dame Janet in another fine period role, bringing out the depth in a complex work that is almost 500 years old.


Wagner: Der Ring des Nibelungen
Bayreuth Festival Orchestra and Chorus cond. Karl Böhm
If you don't have a Ring or if you have a budding Wagner nut in your immediate circles, snap up this recording made at Bayreuth in 1967. Böhm was a very experienced conductor who was an expert Wagnerian. He recorded this Ring (originally for the Philips label) using quick tempos and a light touch with the orchestra to bring out the excitement and drama built into the pages of the Ring. The Bayreuth orchestra and chorus is in top form. As it's a production by Wieland Wagner, there's a minimum of movement by the actors, and less stage noise than your average live set.

It helps that this cycle has the best reading of Die Walküre in the entire catalogue. Birgit Nilsson shines throughout as an indomitable Brunnhilde.James King and Leonie Rysanek are a superb pair of Walsung twins. (This is the set that includes Rysanek's orgasmic scream when King pulls out the sword--a must-hear moment.) The last two operas are dominated by Wolfgang Windgassen's Siegfried, a brilliantly sung, cogent performance that is even more exciting than his studio reading for Georg Solti. And at $55, this set costs half as much as the legendary Solti Ring.

The Superconductor Holiday Gift Guide: Mega Box Sets

Johannes Brahms after Black Friday.

Instead of battering down the doors of the local emporium this year, Superconductor presents our guide to great bargains, box sets, and musical experiences to lend the glorious sound of good music to the holiday season.

Gosh, that sounded pompous. Let's try that again. Here's some holiday stocking-stuffers for the music fiend on your Christmas list. And if any of them get returned, let me know.

We start with the box sets.

Verdi: Great Operas From La Scala
This set has been mentioned on my page a few times. It makes a great gift for the lover of Italian opera in your life. You get recordings of most of the major Verdi operas.  The "big three" are here (Rigoletto, Trovatore, Traviata) alongside essential recordings of Macbeth, Don Carlo, Aida, and Un Ballo in Maschera and a good Verdi Requiem. Most of these recordings were made in the heyday of vinyl, and about half of them are conducted by Claudio Abbado, a fine Verdi conductor.

The real picks here are the Boccanegra with Mirella Freni, José Carreras and Piero Cappuccili as the Doge. This is one of the best Verdi recordings ever made. The Trovatore features Carlo Bergonzi singing his lungs out in the title role. 21 discs for about $40.

Bach: Sacred Masterpieces and Cantatas


John Eliot Gardiner is one of the most important conductors working in the field of 'period' instruments: playing classics on the original instruments used in the 17th and 18th centuries or facsimiles thereof. Here is a reissue of all of his Bach choral masterworks: both Passions, the Christmas Oratorio, the Mass in B Minor

There's also twelve discs worth of cantatas. These were recorded as part of a projected plan to record the entire cycle of Bach cantatas. That plan was aborted by the label when the conductor and his orchestra were unceremoniously dumped from DG Archiv as part of the great classical music purge around the turn of the century. However, the English Baroque Soloists, the Monteverdi Choir and their conductor  recorded a complete cycle of the cantatas on the Soli Deo Gloria label.

These are fine recordings with strong casts, wonderful ensemble playing and a sense of overall guidance from the podium. If you want to start listening to Bach's vocal music, this is a good place to start. 22 discs for $55.

The Complete Brahms Edition and Schumann: The Masterworks
Two big white cubes of 19th century romanticism from Deutsche Grammophon. The Brahms box is a reissue of a project that originally came out in the '90s. You get songs, symphonies, piano works and more in a vast sweep of the Universal Classics vault. The Schumann is more interesting, even if the works herein are more obscure. Good symphony recordings (John Eliot Gardiner in Romantic mode) piano music, songs, and best of all, the rare vocal works: Scenes from Goethe's Faust and Die Paradies und die Peri. Great stuff for less than $100 apiece.

Bernstein: The Symphony Edition
A whole load of Bernstein recordings made in conjunction with the New York Philharmonic back in the salad days when "Lehnutt" was music director of the Big Apple's biggest orchestra. The Sony Classical set includes complete cycles of symphonies by Beethoven, Brahms, Haydn's "Paris" and "London" symphonies, Mahler Schumann, Sibelius, Tchaikovsky, and of course, Bernstein. But there's also modern music by Schuman, Shostakovich, and others. 60 discs for about $100 and they've all been remastered.

Karajan 100th: The Complete EMI Recordings:
Vol. 1: Symphony and Orchestral. Vol. 2: Opera and Vocal
This was actually released in 2008 to commemorate the 100th birthday of Herbert von Karajan, the Austrian-born conductor who was instrumental in bringing recorded music into the digital age. The EMI recordings are available in two box sets, of about 80 discs each. The trade-off: all the discs packed tightly into cardboard sleeves.

The sets include many classic HVK recordings: his Der Rosenkavalier with Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, the Pelleas et Melisande with Frederica von Stade, and a vast legacy of symphonic recordings from Mozart to the modern age. Best of all, these recordings date up to 1984, before Karajan's late-career decline and the "Karajan Gold" series. Each set is about $130 apiece, which comes out to $2 a disc. Your ears will thank you.