There's no doubting Gioachino Rossini's sincerity in his Stabat Mater – he himself was so moved by the piece that he couldn't bear to attend the work's dress rehearsal or any of its first performances – but still, his setting of the Latin text is, strictly speaking, only a sacred work. With its heightened drama, its passionate lyricism and its histrionic virtuosity, it is actually an emotional work, a work in which the composer takes the Latin text as an opportunity to demonstrate its feelings on the subjects of grief and death.

In this edition Deutsche Grammophon brings together for the first time all the performances by pianist Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli that have appeared on the "Yellow Label" as well as the legendary early recordings of Beethoven and Scarlatti made for DECCA. Excellent documentation includes numerous rare photographs and a new appreciation of the enigmatic pianist by DG producer, conductor and longtime Michelangeli collaborator Cord Garben.

From the moment they were performed, Gioachino Rossini’s overtures have enjoyed the status of colourful, elegant orchestral showpieces. With their sweet cantilene, their rich harmonies, their brilliant orchestration, and their powerful and exciting rhythmic drive, these overtures encapsulate all that was modern, exhilarating and electrifying in Rossini’s music, yet maintain their freshness and attraction to modern audiences.

Lilting melodies and exhilarating dance rhythms; gentle pathos, brooding drama and robust high spirits; the spirit of rural Bohemia and the sophistication of Prague, Vienna, New York and London in the late 19th century: Antonin Dvořák’s music is unfailingly distinctive and captivating. In all his works – from the epic ‘New World’ Symphony and Cello Concerto to the irresistible Slavonic Dances, haunting ‘American’ String Quartet, quirky violin Humoresque and yearning Song to the Moon – he is a composer whose heart is open and generous, and whose love for his homeland always shines through. This box provides an illuminating and enriching survey of his works, including his complete symphonies. A number of the celebrated performers have Slavonic roots themselves; all their interpretations draw on a deep affinity with Dvořák’s inspiration and humanity.

Renata Scotto (born 24 February 1934) is an Italian soprano and opera director.
Recognized for her sense of style, musicality and as a remarkable singer-actress, Scotto is considered one of the preeminent singers of her generation, specializing in the bel canto repertoire with excursions into the verismo and Verdi repertoires.
Since retiring from the stage as a singer in 2002, she has turned successfully to directing opera as well as teaching in Italy and America, along with academic posts at the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome and the Juilliard School in New York.

Don Giovanni’s special amalgam of dark drama and sparkling comedy is captured with startling immediacy by Carlo Maria Giulini. The Viennese baritone Eberhard Wächter faces a particularly formidable pair of noble ladies: Donna Anna in the form of Joan Sutherland (in one of her rare recordings for a label other than Decca) and the Donna Elvira of Elisabeth Schwarzkopf.

The complete set of Vladimir Horowitz’s DG recordings in a single box, including Horowitz in Hamburg from 2008 and three bonus tracks only previously available on the compilation The Magic of Horowitz.

This performance is a revelation. Philip Reed, in his authoritative note, points out that, unbeknown to many, Britten and Giulini had a mutual respect for and an admiration of each other’s work. Here they combine to give a performance that is a true Legend, as this BBC series has it. Giulini’s reading is as dramatic and viscerally exciting as any I have heard. The music leaps from the page new-minted in his thoroughgoing, histrionically taut hands, the rhythmic tension at times quite astonishing. For instance, the sixth movement, ‘Libera me’, is simply earth-shattering in its effect, every bar, every word, every instrument sung and played to the hilt – and so it is throughout, with the live occasion added to the peculiar, and in this case peculiarly right, acoustics of the Albert Hall adding its own measure of verite to the inspired occasion.

Recorded in London’s Henry Wood Hall in November 1977, these two performances offer a special reminder of the magic of Mstislav Rostropovich. If ever one needs to relive the pure magic of music, that elusive quality that operates above and beyond all words, it is to Rostropovich that one can confidently turn; especially when he is in partnership with another “great”—here, Giulini.

Tout le monde connaît Les Noces de Figaro selon Giulini ? Le studio de 1959 chez Emi peut-être, mais sûrement pas ce rare concert du 6 février 1961, joyau de poésie et de vivacité où se surpasse une distribution de rêve.

When Carlo Maria Giulini returned to conducting public performances of opera after an absence of fourteen years, he chose for the occasion one of the enduring comic masterpieces - Verdi's Falstaff. The composer was almost eighty when he broke the six-year silence following the premiere of Otello, and startled the musical world by revealing his complete mastery of comic invention. Renato Bruson, the renowned interpreter of Verdi and one of the leading lyric baritones of the day, sings the title role.

Decca proudly presents the Complete Works by Giuseppe Verdi in a single 75 CD box set. From the ever-popular “Aida” to the obscure “Alzira,” all 28 of Giuseppe Verdi's operas are here as well as his Sacred Works, Arias, Songs, Ballet Music, the String quartet and other rarities.

One old-school Mozart maestro who would have nothing to do with modern notions of Classical ''authenticity'' is Carlo Maria Giulini, a great conductor who has made a specialty of Mozart`s music throughout his long career, which spanned some 23 seasons in Chicago. Giulini`s second recording of the unfinished Requiem Mass-his second with the Philharmonia Orchestra and Chorus, even more attentive to his musical desires this time around-must be the slowest ever recorded. As such it is characteristic of the late Giulini manner: The reading is suffused by an ultra-serene religiosity that obeys no rules of performance style other than its own.