Deutsche Grammophon: Centenary Collection, 1968-1977 (Box Set)

1. Bedächtig. Nicht eilen
2. In gemächlicher Bewegung. Ohne Hast
3. Ruhevoll
4. Sehr behaglich Wir genießen die himmlischen Freuden
The Moldau
From Bohemia s Woods and Fields

Lots of the great artists here aren t at their best. Emil Gilels gives a perplexingly starchy performance of Mozart s Piano Concerto No. 27, Mahler s Symphony No. 4 arrives in a remarkably conservative reading by Rafael Kubelik, and Maurizio Pollini s collaborations with Karl Böhm in Mozart s Piano Concerto No. 23 and Beethoven s Piano Concerto No. 4 are both chilly, you-either-love-them-or-hate-them experiences (I favor the latter). Though it s easy to think it s your fault that Hans Werner Henze s Fifth and Sixth Symphonies seem noisy and impenetrable, the booklet quotes the composer as admitting defeat in the latter work. Of course, there s some good stuff here, such as the Carlos Kleiber-conducted La Traviata with Placido Domingo s voice in the voluptuous bloom of youth, Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli s meticulously sculpted Debussy Images and some Preludes, two discs of Ring cycle chunks from Herbert von Karajan, Martha Argerich playing Chopin s Preludes and Piano Concerto No. 2, and some full-throated Bach Christmas cantatas conducted by Karl Richter, though many collectors will already have those. --David Patrick Stearns

About Karajan s Ring - Amongst the works on this set is a series of excerpts from Karajan s masterful Ring from the late sixties. Much has been said about Karajan s approach to the Ring, but I d like to especially recommend the first of the music-dramas (Das Rheingold): it is, in short and in my opinion, the most remarkable reading of this work available on disc - forget Solti, Levine and Barenboim, you ll be stunned to hear the life-like, soft-spoken (soft-sung), delicately played musical scherzo by Wagner. A scherzo it is, compared to the tragedy to come! I notice that unfortunately the prelude to Das Rheingold, an ethereal masterpiece, is NOT included in the extensive excerpts - why, I wonder?