Notable Classical Music Box Sets, June 2024

Josef Krips Edition (Volume 1 & 2)

This pair of limited-edition boxed sets explores conductor Josef Krips’ recordings in 43 CDs. The first volume focuses on his acclaimed mono recordings for Decca (1947-1955), featuring Viennese repertoire like Mozart’s symphonies and operas alongside works by Haydn, Beethoven, Brahms, and Schubert.

The second volume highlights his stereo recordings from the mid-1950s to mid-1970s. Here, Krips ventures to works by Mahler and Tchaikovsky, while still including a complete survey of Mozart’s mature symphonies. Both sets include previously unreleased recordings and boast distinguished soloists and informative liner notes.

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Haydn Symphonies – L’Estro Armonico, Derek Solomons

Joining the wave of historically informed performance in the 1980s, violinist-conductor Derek Solomons embarked on an ambitious Haydn symphony project with his period-instrument ensemble L’Estro Armonico. While the full 106 symphonies remained unconquered, their recordings of 49 symphonies, made between 1980 and 1986, garnered critical acclaim for their freshness, precision, and focus on wind instruments. This new 18-CD collection features all these pioneering performances, including previously unreleased recordings, remastered from both analog and digital sources.

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Beethoven – Sir Neville Marriner

Marking the centenary of Sir Neville Marriner’s birth, Decca Classics presents a comprehensive collection of his Beethoven recordings with the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields. Though recordings began with just the first two symphonies and the Fourth in the early 1970s, a full cycle materialized throughout the 1980s, culminating in a recording of the Ninth in 1989. This new box set gathers these recordings, alongside two interpretations of the Violin Concerto – one with longtime Academy leader Iona Brown and another with Gidon Kremer – and a disc of delightful minuets, dances, and contredanses.

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Copland Conducts Copland

This comprehensive 20-disc box set offers the definitive collection of Aaron Copland conducting his own compositions. Spanning his career from 1935 to 1976, it gathers all Copland’s recordings for Columbia Masterworks, including six early works appearing for the first time on a Sony Classical CD. Previously released recordings by Leonard Bernstein of two Copland pieces are included on a bonus disc. The set offers a unique resource for those interested in hearing Copland’s interpretations of his own works alongside those of another esteemed conductor. This collection includes collaborations with renowned artists such as Benny Goodman, Isaac Stern, and the Juilliard String Quartet.

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