Product Microsite: www.deutschegrammophon.com/fischer-dieskau-2005

ARTISTS
Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, baritone
Gerald Moore, piano

One of the true monuments of recording history.

Name the greatest recording projects ever undertaken by Deutsche Grammophon, and this would certainly be one of them, comparable with Karajan's 1963 Beethoven cycle and Bernstein's Mahler. Indeed it's one of the greatest single recording projects of all time: the complete Schubert lieder for male voice (over 500 lieder), including the three great song-cycles. It's so great, of course, because it involves great artists: Fischer-Dieskau at the height of his interpretative powers; Gerald Moore, doyen of accompanists, specially recruited for this one last mammoth project, bringing all the fruits of his experience to bear on this priceless music.

It's great because Schubert's lieder include some of the world's finest music, numerous individual titles and above all Winterreise - a work with which Fischer-Dieskau, more than any other singer, is identified.

The previously available edition needed a revamp so now DG has completely repackaged these recordings in a very handy single 21 CD capbox format.

Given the prestige of this project it is appropriate to have the inclusion of complete sung texts in German with English translations and mixture of translations and paraphrases in French. The accompanying booklet numbers nearly 500 pages of text and also inludes an Alphabetical Index of all the songs. There is also a new introduction by veteran French writer André Tubeuf and selections of photos from the original studio sessions.

With this collection we round off our celebration of Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau in the year of his 80th birthday, a fitting tribute to the greatest baritone of the 20th century.

ARTISTS
Pamela Frank, violin
English Chamber Orchestra (Vorísek; Dvorák, Op.39)
Czech Philharmonic Orchestra (Dvorák, Op.11; Suk)
Wiener Philharmoniker (Janácek)
Orchestra of Welsh National Opera (Delius)
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (Elgar)
Sir Charles Mackerras

TRACKLISTING
VORÍSEK : Sinfonia in D major
DVORÁK : Czech Suite, Op.39 · Romance for Violin & Orchestra, Op.11
JANÁCEK : Overture - Zarlivost
SUK : Fantasy for Violin & Orchestra, Op.24 · Summer Tale, Op.29
DELIUS : On Hearing the First Cuckoo in Spring · Brigg Fair · A Song of the High Hills
ELGAR : Enigma Variations, Op.36

This wonderful birthday tribute pays homage to one of the greatest of all Australian musicians.

17 November 2005 marks the 80th birthday of Sir Charles Mackerras. He was born in the USA of Australian parents and studied in Sydney & Prague. He is a musician of wide sympathies and is equally at home in opera as well as the symphonic repertory.

Mackerras' advocacy of Czech music and especially the operas of Janácek is well-known and during the late 1970s and early 1980s he recorded most of the Janácek operas for Decca with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra. These recordings won countless awards and brought Janácek to a truly international audience. (They remain available as individual operas with full libretti but are also reissued as a Collector Edition with the Sinfonietta and Taras Bulba as a further acknowledgement of Sir Charles Mackerras' 80th birthday and his championship of Janácek.)

Sir Charles has also been at the forefront of musical scholarship and this has been reflected in his performances of Handel, Gluck and Mozart as well as other composers. He has also been recognised as one of the finest interpreters of English music and this is evinced in the recordings he has made for Decca of important works by Delius, Elgar and Britten's Gloriana. In addition to the Janácek operas Mackerras has recorded Dvorák's Rusalka for Decca with Renée Fleming - another recording that has won international critical acclaim. The recording of Enigma Variations included on this set is probably the work's most glorious exposition, complete with organ inclusion in the finale.

ARTISTS
Radu Lupu, piano
Hans de Vries, oboe
George Pieterson, clarinet
Vicente Zarzo, horn
Brian Pollard, bassoon
Israel Philharmonic Orchestra
Zubin Mehta

TRACKLISTING
CD 1: BEETHOVEN : Piano Concerto No.1 in C major, Op.15 · Piano Concerto No.2 in B flat major, Op.19 · Rondo in C major, Op.51 No.1 · Rondo in G major, Op.51 No.2
CD 2: Piano Concerto No.3 in C minor, Op.37 · Piano Concerto No.4 in G major, Op. 58
CD 3: Piano Concerto No.5 in E flat major, Op.73 'Emperor' · Piano Sonata No.14 in C sharp minor, Op.27 No.2 'Moonlight' · Piano Sonata No.8 in C minor, Op.13 'Pathétique'
CD 4: Piano Sonata No.21 in C major, Op.53 'Waldstein' · 32 Variations in C minor on an Original Theme, WoO 80 · Quintet for Piano & Wind in E flat major, Op.16

This month sees Decca issuing three new products to celebrate the 60th birthday of the greatly loved Romanian pianist.

Radu Lupu will be 60 on 30 November 2005 and this is one of a series of three collector editions being released to mark the occasion. These three sets focus on his Decca recordings of the three composers with which he is so closely identified: Beethoven, Brahms & Schubert.

Lupu first came to prominence in the late 1960s when he won several important competitions: Van Cliburn in 1966 and Enescu in 1967, and with his appearance in the Leeds Piano Competition in 1969 his reputation was firmly established when he took First Prize. Shortly after this he made his first record for Decca - Beethoven's Third Piano Concerto and the 32 Variations on an Original Theme.

Between this date and the early 1980s Lupu recorded quite regularly and many of his records quickly became highly-acclaimed recordings which are regularly recommended as first choices. Lupu came to dislike recording more and more, and his appearances in the recording studio diminished rapidly; over the past twenty-three years he has made just four records for Decca. Lupu is one of those rare performers who has achieved something approaching cult status and the release of these sets of discs is a timely reminder of the artistry of this very fine pianist.

ARTISTS
Radu Lupu, piano
London Philharmonic Orchestra
Edo de Waart

TRACKLISTING
CD 1: BRAHMS : Piano Sonata No.3 in F minor, Op.5 · Theme and Variations in D minor (arr. from String Sextet, Op.18)
CD 2: 2 Rhapsodies, Op.79 · 3 Intermezzi, Op.117 · 6 Piano Pieces, Op.118 · 4 Piano Pieces, Op.119
CD 3: Piano Concerto No.1 in D minor, Op.15

ARTISTS
Radu Lupu, piano

TRACKLISTING
CD 1: SCHUBERT : Piano Sonata No.16 in A minor, D845 · Piano Sonaya No.18 in G major, D894
CD 2: Piano Sonata No.5 in A flat major, D557 · 2 Scherzi, D593 · 6 Moments musicaux, D780 · Piano Sonata No.19 in C minor, D958
CD 3: Piano Sonata No.20 in A major, D959 · Piano Sonata No.14 in A minor, D784 · Piano Sonata No.1 in E major, D157
CD 4: Piano Sonata No.13 in A major, D664 · Piano Sonata No.21 in B flat major, D960

ARTISTS
Christophe Rousset, harpsichord

TRACKLISTING
CD 1: BACH : Goldberg Variations
CD 2: Italian Concerto, BWV 971 · French Overture, BWV 831 · 4 Duetti, BWV 802-5 · Chromatic Fantasy & Fugue, BWV 903
CD 3: Partita 1, BWV 825 · Partita 2, BWV 826 · Partita 6, BWV 830
CD 4: Partita 3, BWV 827 · Partita 4, BWV 828 · Partita 5, BWV 829

ARTISTS
Pascal Rogé, piano
Jean-Philippe Collard, piano (CD 4 tracks 1-10)
Chantal Juillet, violin (CD 4 tracks 11-13)
André Cazalet, horn (CD 4 track 14; CD 5 tracks 1-3)
Michel Portal, clarinet (CD 5 tracks 1-6)
Patrick Gallois, flute (CD 5 tracks 1-3, 7-9)
Maurice Bourgue, oboe (CD 5 tracks 1-3, 10-15)
Amaury Wallez, bassoon (CD 5 tracks 1-3, 13-15)

TRACKLISTING
CD 1: POULENC : Les Soirées de Nazelles · 3 Novelettes · Pastourelle · 3 Mouvements perpétuels · Valse · Improvisations 1-3, 6-8, 12, 13 & 15 · 3 Pièces
CD 2: Humoresque · 8 Nocturnes · Suite pour piano · Thème varié · Improvisations 4, 5, 9-11 & 14 · 2 Intermezzi · Intermezzo in A flat major · Villageoises · Presto in B flat major
CD 3: Mélancolie · 3 Pastorales · Valse-improvisation sur le nom de Bach · 5 Impromptus · Badinage · Napoli · Promenades · Pièce brève sur le nom d'Albert Roussel · Bourrée, au Pavillon d'Auvergne · Feuillets d'album · Française d'après Claude Gervaise · Suite française d'après Claude Gervaise
CD 4: Capriccio for 2 pianos · Sonata for 2 pianos · Elégie for 2 pianos · Sonata for piano, 4 hands · L'Embarquement pour Cythère, for 2 pianos · Sonata for violin and piano · Elégie for horn and piano
CD 5: Sextet for piano, flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon and horn · Sonata for clarinet and piano · Sonata for flute and piano · Sonata for oboe and piano · Trio for piano, oboe and bassoon

ARTISTS
Jessye Norman, soprano (c)
Faye Robinson, soprano (h)
Janet Baker, mezzo-soprano (c)
Yvonne Minton, Thea (i)
Jill Gomez, Flora (i)
Josephine Barstow, Denise (i)
Philip Langridge, tenor (a)
Richard Cassilly, tenor (c)
Robert Tear, tenor (g), Dov (i)
Raimund Herincx, Faber (i)
Thomas Carey, Mel (i)
Thomas Hemsley, Mel (i)
John Shirley-Quirk, bass (c)
John Constable, piano (f)
Timothy Walker, guitar (e)
Schola Cantorum of Oxford (b)
BBC Singers (c)
BBC Symphony Orchestra (c)
London Sinfonietta (g)
Chicago Symphony Orchestra (h)
Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden (i)
Nicholas Cleobury (b)
Sir Colin Davis (c)
David Atherton (g)
Sir Georg Solti (h)

TRACKLISTING
CD 1: TIPPETT : Boyhood's End (a, f) · The Heart's Assurance (a, f) · Dance, Clarion Air (b) · The Source (b) · The Windhover (b) · Lullaby (b) · Bonny at morn (b) · Four Songs from the British Isles (b) · Magnificat and Nunc dimittis (b) · Plebs Angelica (b) · The Weeping Babe (b) · Music
CD 2: A Child of Our Time (c) · Five Spirituals (b)
CD 3: Songs for Achilles (a, e) · Songs for Ariel (a, f) · Songs for Dov (g) ·   Byzantium (h)
CD 4: The Knot Garden (c, i)

January 2005 marked the 100th anniversary of the birth of Sir Michael Tippett who died in 1998. During a long and distinguished career as teacher, conductor and composer Tippett produced works in all the important forms: sonata, symphony, concerto, song cycles and choral pieces as well as opera. This set brings together those vocal works and his third opera, The Knot Garden , recorded for Decca and Philips.

The names of Sir Colin Davis and Tippett are inextricably linked and Davis has conducted a number of first performances of major orchestral and operatic works by Tippett around the world, and included here is the recording of The Knot Garden made in 1973 - two and a half years after the first performances - and with the same artists. Also included is Tippett's largest-scale early masterpiece, the oratorio A Child of Our Time - first performed in London in March 1944 - and conducted in this recording by Sir Colin Davis.

This set also includes a disc of Tippett's small-scale choral works with the Schola Cantorum of Oxford under the direction of Nicholas Cleobury. Tippett's song cycles with piano/guitar accompaniment are included with Philip Langridge as soloist and the song cycle that derives from The Knot Garden, Songs for Dov, is also included with Robert Tear as soloist. This is the first international CD release of the recording.

ARTISTS
Stephen Kovacevich, piano
London Symphony Orchestra
Sir Colin Davis

TRACKLISTING
CD 1: BRAHMS : Piano Concerto No.1 in D minor, Op.15 · Scherzo in E flat minor, Op.4 · Ballades, Op.10
CD 2: Piano Concerto No.2 in B flat major, Op.83 · Piano Pieces, Op.76
CD 3: Fantasias, Op.116 · Intermezzi, Op.117 · Piano Pieces, Op.118 · Piano Pieces, Op.119
CD 4: Rhapsodies, Op.79 · Waltzes, Op.39 · Variations and Fugue on a Theme by Handel, Op.24