January: Featured Classical Music

A–Z of Pianists
P0555. incl. Eugen d’Albert, Claudio Arrau, Wilhelm Backhaus, Simon Barère, Monique de la Bruchollerie, Una Bourne, Ferruccio Busoni, Robert Casadesus, Cecile Chaminade, Shura Cherkassky, Alfred Cortot, Solomon Cutner, Alan Feinberg, Jacques Fevrier, Edwin Fischer, Samson François, Ignaz Friedman, Ossip Gabrilovich, Walter Gieseking, Emil Gilels, Jakob Gimpel, Grigory Ginzburg, Leopold Godowsky, Percy Grainger, Alfred Grünfeld, Mark Hambourg, Clara Haskil, Josef Hofmann, Vladimir Horowitz, Wilhelm Kempff, Raoul Koczalski, Frederic Lamond, Yvonne Lefebure, Myra Hess, Mischa Levitzki, Josef Lhévinne, Robert Lortat, Nicolas Medtner, Marcelle Meyer, Aleksander
Michalowski, Dinu Lipatti, Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli, Benno Moiséiwitsch, William Murdoch, Tatiana Nikolayeva, Guiomar Novaës, Lev Oborin, Robinson Orozco, Vladimir de Pachmann, Ignacy Jan Paderewski, Vlado Perlemuter, Egon Petri, Francis Planté, Sergei Prokofiev, Raoul Pugno, Sergei Rachmaninov, Walter Rehberg, Sviatoslav Richter, Édouard Risler, Moriz Rosenthal, Arthur Rubinstein, Walter Rummel, Camille Saint-Saëns, Jesús Mariá Sanromá, Vassily Sapellnikov, Emil von Sauer, Pietro Scarpini, Xavier Scharwenka, Artur Schnabel, Leo Sirota, Vladimir Sofronitsky, Magda Tagliaferro, Ricardo Viñes, Michael von Zadora & Carlo Zecchi. Accompanied by elaborate 861pp. book containing numerous photos
& 300 biographies, by Jonathan Summers. (Hong Kong) 4-Naxos 8.558107/110. Transfers by Ward Marston. $39.90, the Set.

The A-Z of Pianists surveys the lives, careers and recordings of 300 pianists. Illustrious names from past and present, forgotten titans of the keyboard, unsung geniuses: all the great pianists who have made recordings are included, from Argerich to Zadora. Amazingly, the text spans three centuries, from the birth of Francis Planté in 1839 to the established artists of today;
from the earliest, most primitive recording processes to contemporary, cutting-edge technology. The format is clear and simple to follow. The subjects are listed alphabetically, each one beginning with a summary of that pianist’s career and most important recordings before going on to an extended biography and critical appraisal of his or her recorded legacy. In addition, four compact discs present the author’s selection of seventy-five artists in new transfers by Ward Marston. This is a book which will appeal to enthusiast and scholar alike as a readable, informed and fascinating work of reference.

“This is no ordinary CD annotation, but a CD-size 861-page book boxed alongside a four-disc set of important and mostly rare piano recordings. Summers’ brief extends to an amazing 300 biographies [containing] a thumbnail review of each career and a short list of selected recordings, particularly valuable with those many artists whose records are nowadays almost forgotten….The transfers by Ward Marston are first-rate; as historical anthologies go, this has to be among the best-planned and the best-annotated. No piano buff…can possibly afford to be without it.”

- Rob Cowan, GRAMOPHONE, Sept., 2007

A–Z of Conductors
C0633. incl. Ansermet, Barbirolli, Beecham, van Beinum, Bernstein, Böhm, Boult, Busch, Cantelli, Celibidache, Cluytens, Coates, Désormière, Dorati, Fricsay, Furtwangler, Horenstein, Jochum, von Karajan, Kempe, Erich Kleiber, Klemperer, Knappertsbusch, Koussevitzky, Krauss, Krips,
Mengelberg, Mitropoulos, Monteux, Mravinsky, Münch, Nikisch, Ormandy, Reiner, Rodzinski, de Sabata, Scherchen, Schmidt-Isserstedt, Schuricht, Solti, William Steinberg, Stokowski, Strauss, Szell, Talich, Toscanini, Walter & Weingartner. Accompanied by elaborate 976pp. book containing numerous photos & 300 plus biographies, by David Patmore. (Hong Kong) 4-Naxos 8.558087/90. Transfers by Ward Marston, Mark Obert-Thorn & David Lennick. $39.90, the Set.

The A–Z of Conductors surveys the history of recording during the twentieth century, from the earliest days of capturing orchestral music on disc to the present era of the iPod, through the biographies of 310 of the most significant conductors whose art is preserved on record. In addition, the entry for each conductor contains a list of selected recordings and a career outline. Four accompanying CDs present excerpts from recordings by forty-eight of the conductors featured. The A–Z of Conductors will be of interest and value both to those new to orchestral music on record who wish to explore the huge resources of repertoire and performance available, as well as to seasoned collectors.

The Record Collector - 2006 Special Issue
V1300. incl. Beno Blachut: (Dalibor, Hubicka & Fidelio); Mary Losseff & Richard Tauber: (two Tauber songs from Der Singende Traum); Richard Bonelli: (Coates, Pinsuti & Taylor-Martin); José Mardones: (Simon Boccanegra & La Gioconda; Bein Batean loyolalan; La del pañuelo rogo); Cato Engelen-Sewing: (Mignon, Faust & I Pagliacci); Franz Steiner: (Grieg & Strauss); Zara Dolukhanova: (Tchaikowsky & Rachmaninoff; Don Carlos – O don fatale); . (England) The Record Collector TRC 25. Transfers by Ward Marston. $19.90

The Edison Legacy, Vol. 1, Unpublished Treasures of the Edison Archive
V1282. incl. Emmi Leisner, Carmen Melis, Lucrezia Bori, Lucette Korsoff, Rosa Olitzka, Emmy Destinn, Marcella Craft, Dinh Gilly, Edoardo Faticanti, Luisa Garibaldi, Italo Cristali, Melitta Heim, Frieda Hempel, Heinrich Hensel, Valentin Jaume, Paola Koralek, Oreste Benedetti, Maria Labia, Umberto Macnez, Margarete Matzenauer, Marie Rappold, Edyth Walker, Carolina White, Fritz Vogelstrom & Domenico Viglione-Borghese. 2-Marston 52042. Transfers by Ward Marston. $35.90, the Set.

Historical Reissue Classical CDs Classical Music CDs
Malibran CDs 78rpm Auctions