Search - Claudio Abbado/Berliner Philharmoniker :: The Complete Recordings on Deutsche Grammophon and Philips [60 CD]

The Berliner Philharmoniker elect their own conductor: after von Karajan?s death they chose Claudio Abbado. He rejuvenated the orchestra, expanded its repertoire, and created a less autocratic atmosphere, inspiring levels of commitment and communication from his musicians that resulted in performances and recordings that stand the test of time. Abbado?s tenure with the Berliner Philharmonic can be considered as one of the highlights in the orchestra?s history and many of their recording together still remain unsurpassed on record. DG celebrates this partnership with a 60-CD limited edition collection of their complete recordings ? many classics right from the start.

That the musicians of the Berliner Philharmoniker themselves who had elected him as chief conductor was of the utmost importance to Abbado. After decades of an unbending rostrum authority like Karajan, it was Abbado?s ideal to make ?chamber music with the orchestra? ? in other words, to listen closely to each other and to respond flexibly. Abbado also opened up programming in a spectacular way. Among Abbado?s beliefs was that the secrets of music should be constantly explored anew, which he did by always shedding light on the lesser known works in a composer?s oeuvre and extant fragments of unknown works.

After his severe illness in 2000, Abbado led the orchestra for another two seasons before stepping down as Artistic Director of the Berlin Philharmonic in 2002. Abbado?s tenure with the Berliner Philharmonic can be considered as one of the highlights in the orchestra?s history and many of their recordings together remain unsurpassed on record. He inspired levels of commitment and communication from his musicians that resulted in performances and recordings that stand the test of time.


? 60-CD limited edition original jacket collection
? Includes the complete Brahms and Beethoven Symphony Cycles
? Includes celebrated collaborations with Martha Argerich, Bryn Terfel, Maurizio Pollini, Evegny Kissin, Roberto Alagna, Christine Schäfer, Alfred Brendel, Viktoria Mullova, Gil Shaham, and Renée Flemming
? 130pp booklet
? The Beethoven Symphonies recorded in Rome 2001, representing Abbado´s final interpretative wishes ?There are many reasons for releasing this new edition; above all musical ones. After many performances of the cycle, our interpretative vision had matured, becoming more natural and shared. The concerts in Rome marked significant advances in terms of style, spirit and technique.?
? The Beethoven Piano Concertos with Pollini which stand as a lasting testament to the long-standing musical dialogue and friendship between the two maestros, both from Milan, who began their collaboration in the 1960s
? Abbado?s and the Berliner Philharmoniker?s recordings of Brahms? Symphonies, Serenades and Overtures are widely recognized as containing the best modern recordings of his symphonic oeuvre. ?Brahms would be the top of my Abbado picks,? critic Martin Kettle has written, ?partly but not only because all those years ago he drove into the tragic grandeur of the first movement of the first symphony with a human warmth which very few other conductors have ever achieved.?
? Abbado?s Mahler Berlin recordings are regarded as one of the crowning achievements of his final years. ?In performance, he became a conduit between the forces assembled on stage and the emotional narrative that resides in the music, completely transparent and without an interfering ego? ? Stanley Dodds (BP violinist)
? Martha Argerich and Claudio Abbado 45-year collaboration in the studio began in 1967 with Argerich?s brilliant concerto-debut release of the Prokofiev Third and Ravel G major with the Berliner Philharmoniker and would include among many celebrated performances, Tchaikovsky?s Piano Concerto No.1: ?You?ll never witness anything more stupendous than the first movement?s championship double octaves ? Not that she?s interested in stunts ? with Argerich you hear the music, not the note-making. At that moment of blistering chemistry, Abbado simply upped the stakes and she replied.? ? Ates Orga
? The 1998 Berlin Gala featuring Mirella Freni and Marcelo Álvarez
? Stockhausen's tour de force for three orchestras, "Gruppen"