Berliner Philharmoniker - 100 Best Berliner Philharmoniker [6CD Box Set] (2011)

The first CD of this 6-CD set is devoted to the current Music Director of the Berlin Philharmonic, Sir Simon Rattle, and includes extracts from popular works like Orff's Carmina Burana and The Planets by Holst as well as more substantial works like Mahler's Fifth Symphony and Shostakovich's First Symphony. It also showcases extracts from Rattle's highly acclaimed superb new recording of Tchaikovsky's famous ballet The Nutcracker. CD 2 opens with examples of former Music Director Claudio Abbado's recordings with this great orchestra, including Mozart's Flute Concert No.2 with brilliant soloist Emmanuel Pahud. Following is a group of items conducted by Herbert von Karajan, including Mozart's Concerto for Flute & Harp and Dvorˇák's `New World' Symphony. Continuing with Karajan, the third CD presents a concert of popular works ranging from Mozart's `Eine kleine Nachtmusik' to the spectacular Prelude to Act III of Wagner's Lohengrin. CD 4 begins with several well-known works such as the first movement of Mendelssohn's lively `Italian' Symphony and `Morning' from Grieg's Peer Gynt Suite, all under the batons of guest conductors like Klaus Tennstedt, Jeffrey Tate and Lorin Maazel. These are followed by some spectacular extracts from operas and choral works including the powerful opening scene of Verdi's Otello. CD 5 presents some of the world's greatest instrumental soloists in a range of famous concertos. Violinists Nigel Kennedy and David Oistrakh are heard in Bach and Mozart respectively. Anne-Sophie Mutter plays the beautiful `Méditation' from Massenet's Thaïs and Yehudi Menuhin is heard in Brahms. The great cellist Mstislav Rostropovich gives us a taste of Richard Strauss's Don Quixote and the outstanding Norwegian pianist Leif Ove Andsnes performs works by Grieg and Rachmaninov.

The set ends with a collection of recordings by some of the legendary conductors of an earlier time, starting with the first movement of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony made in 1913 by Arthur Nikisch. There are several items by the much-loved Rudolf Kempe, a rarity by the enigmatic Sergiu Celibidache, who made only a handful of commercial recordings, and several of the acclaimed recordings by Wilhelm Furtwängler, who held the post of Music Director twice and was the predecessor of Herbert von Karajan.