Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra Anthology Vol.5

The Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra conducted by Bernard Haitink, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Sir Colin Davis, Kyrill Kondrashin, Ferdinand Leitner, Leonard Bernstein and many more

Wholenote Discoveries - May 2009
Last December’s Gramophone magazine featured an evaluation of The World’s 20 Greatest Orchestras according to the World’s Leading Critics. Third was The Vienna Philharmonic, second was The Berlin Philharmonic and at the top of the list, The Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. Their chief conductor is Mariss Jansons who succeeded Ricardo Chailly. That orchestra has issued Volume 5, 1980-1990, of Anthology of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the penultimate set in their collection of a six decade’s worth of live performances (14CDs and 84 page booklet). Conductors include Giulini, Kondrashin, Jochum, Haitink, Järvi, Sanderling, Chailly, Harnoncourt, Leinsdorf, de Waart, Colin Davis, Bernstein, Ivan Fischer, Dohnanyi, Dutoit, Albrecht, and others. One of the many highlights is Kirill Kondrashin with the most persuasive performance of Rachmaninov’s Second Symphony ever. I have umpteen versions from Vladimir Sokoloff’s 1928 Cleveland to the new Ashkenazy from the Sydney Symphony’s 2007 Rachmaninov Festival, but Kondrashin surpasses them all in overall shaping and balance, with a luxuriously self-indulgent first movement. While there are several popular works included; Tchaikovsky's Sixth and The Poem of Ecstasy (Dorati), Mozart 24th (Brendel/Haitink), Song of the Nightingale (Chailly), Sibelius Sixth (Colin Davis),and Schubert Fifth (Bernstein), there is also repertoire that is rarely, if ever, heard live. Certain works by Schreker, Escher, Webern, Schoenberg, Varèse, Keuris, and others may be new to one’s ears but well worth getting to know. There are 41 works in all and choosing from the wealth of repertoire and matching conductors available could not have been easy. What is included is, presumably, the best of the best. Other choices may have been different but not better. I am enjoying this set immensely. No complaints about the sound. Bruce Surtees

RCO was voted the No.1 ORCHESTRA IN THE WORLD by a jury of ten of the most influential music journalists in the December 2008 issue of Gramophone Magazine.
The Anthology of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra is a transcription in sound of the concert-giving history of the Concertgebouw Orchestra, based upon radio recordings from the archives of Dutch Radio and Radio Netherlands World Service. Six decades of the 20th century are put under the spotlight in six boxes, each containing 14 CDs. We have chosen not only legendary performances under chief conductors of the KCO but also concerts led by countless guest conductors of both greater and lesser renown. Famous soloists make their debuts with the orchestra alongside world premieres of works that have since become classics of the repertoire.
This fifth volume of the Anthology features the radio recordings made by the orchestra in the 1980s, presenting an overview on 14 CDs of the orchestra’s artistic development under various conductors during that period.

Price: $245.98