Choral and keyboard legends at large
This month’s round-up celebrates Gustav Leonhardt and Olivier Latry
Even with its 35 discs, The New Gustav Leonhardt Edition (Warner Classics 9029646771) barely scratches the surface of the late keyboardist’s massive recorded legacy. A true pioneer of Early Music, Leonhardt made some 200 recordings between the early 1950s and the mid2000s. This set takes in some classic 1960s/’70s sessions for Telefunken, plus late ’80s renderings for EMI and Virgin Veritas. Sixteen discs of JS Bach crown the collection, which features music by everyone from Byrd to Scarlatti.
Released to mark his 60th birthday, Olivier Latry – Complete Recordings on Deutsche Grammophon (DG 486 1466) brings together recordings made by the organist from 200003. It’s a fabulous document of the great Cavaillé-coll organ at Notre-dame Cathedral, which thankfully survived the 2019 blaze that otherwise devastated the Paris landmark.
The compete organ works of Messiaen fill half of the ten-disc set, which features works by JS Bach, Franck, Mozart, Berlioz, Rachmaninov, Prokofiev, Liszt, Wagner and Alkan.
Another precious document takes in 14 years of recordings by Stephen Cleobury and the Choir of King’s College, Cambridge. The Complete
Argo Recordings (Decca 485 2060) is a 20-disc collection of recordings made by the choir from 1983-97. Suffice to say it’s a real feast for King’s fans with so much more than the obligatory Christmas music. The set takes in masses by Mozart, Handel oratorios and works by the likes of Tallis, Lassus, Vivaldi, Howells and Maxwell Davies – to name a few.
Though he was never affiliated with a symphony orchestra, conductor Hans Knappertsbusch certainly recorded more than his fair share of orchestral repertoire. In Hans Knappertsbusch – The Orchestral Edition (Eloquence 4841824), listeners are treated to 18 discs of recordings made largely from 1949-63. Highlights include Beethoven and Brahms piano concertos with Clifford Curzon, and 1927-28 recordings of Wagner with the Berlin Philharmonic. Fans of his opera recordings can seek out Eloquence’s The Opera Edition, too.
It’s a fabulous document of Notre-dame’s great Cavaillé-coll organ