Complete RCA Album Collection

The quality of recording is great. We’re difficult to find out the exact works that you want .No box contents list by composer is seen the booklet.

The recordings are a delight. The box containing them is difficult to open. It is almost impossible to extract the discs contained in the double sleeves. The product deserved better.

The package arrived promptly and as described, thanks.

This 35CD boxed set, which includes all of Peter Serkin’s previously issued RCA and Columbia recordings, was in production at the time of the pianist’s passing earlier this year. I only saw Serkin live once, playing Bach double concertos with Andras Schiff in Boston around 1990, and Serkin’s nervous energy was in marked contrast to Schiff’s nonchalance. Given Serkin’s musical heritage, son of Rudolf Serkin and grandson of Adolf Busch, it’s remarkable how divergent his musical journey was. For him, the apple didn’t merely fall far from the tree - the younger Serkin planted his own tree. He explored repertoire that his ancestors would never have touched, including Webern, Messiaen, and Takemitsu. When their repertoire did correspond - as with Bach, Mozart, and Beethoven - the younger Serkin had his own approach, textually faithful like his father, but with his own sense of tempo, phrasing, and somewhat more finished pianism.Like Glenn Gould, Serkin’s solo debut recording was devoted to Bach’s Goldberg Variations. Also like Gould, he revisited the work decades later. The similarities end there. Serkin makes no attempt to de-pianofy the work, using the instrument’s full resources including pedals and dynamics, with the best of taste. I find Serkin’s approach and craft so convincing that his two sets are near the top of my list of Goldberg recordings. There are also fine Brandenburg Concertos, conducted by Casals, in which Serkin appears as harpsichord or piano continuo (which have been clarified in a note by Serkin).Serkin never attempted a complete Mozart concerto cycle (I get the impression complete cycles weren’t his “thing”) but recorded six of them with Alexander Schneider and the English Chamber Orchestra. The performances sparkle with verve and wit.Serkin’s knowledge of the instruments of Beethoven’s time (he recorded six sonatas on a Graf fortepiano) no doubt informed his 1990s renditions of the Opp. 27 and 57 Sonatas. He adheres closer than most to Beethoven’s pedal markings, and some will find parts of the Appassionata’s opening movement blurry. But as overall conceptions the performances are clear, directional, and convincing. His Diabelli Variations is ripe with humor and eloquence, with Beethoven’s magnificent structure emerging intact. Serkin is accompanied by the New Philharmonia Orchestra under Seiji Ozawa in Beethoven’s own arrangement of his Violin Concerto for piano and orchestra – adapted by the composer on a dare from Clementi.Schubert is represented in this collection by the Sonatas in E-flat major D. 568, and G major D. 894, along with the Trout Quintet. The G major Sonata impresses with a sense of stillness that’s remarkable even for this relatively static work – at times I felt I was experiencing suspended animation. The Trout Quintet is one of the more Gemütlichkeit interpretations of this music among the five or so recordings in my collection – a relaxed delight from beginning to end. But I must confess I’ve never found the E-flat major Sonata to be a convincing work, and Serkin’s performance does little to change my mind. The Schumann Forest Scenes that accompany the Sonata are lovingly meditative, however.Serkin recorded three discs dedicated to Chopin’s solo works, including the Variations Brilliantes on an aria from the opera Ludovic. Serkin’s Nocturnes are highly coloristic - almost impressionistic, while his Mazurkas beautifully mix the dance rhythms with subtle tonal painting.There are several discs to this work devoted to 20th Century composers including Schoenberg, Webern, and Messiaen. I don’t know these works well enough to comment on performance specifics, except to mention that of the several recordings of Messiaen’s Vingt Regards sur L’Enfant-Jesus I’ve heard, I find Serkin’s rendition particularly convincing.The sound is variable, which is hardly surprising as the original recordings date from 1964-1996. The set replicates the front and back covers of the original LP, and later CD issues. The booklet contains a perceptive essay by Jed Distler, a note by Serkin about the correct playing roster for the Bach Brandenburgs, and the text of two emails that Serkin sent to the producers of the set about two months before his death. I can’t help the thought that Peter Serkin would be pleased with the issue of this well-produced set.

Great value for money. This is one of the best boxed sets around at the moment. Very sturdy box. Titles on the spine if each CD. Book is full colour and informative. Lots of lovely favourites such as the Brandenburg Concertos and The Trout but also Berg, Messian and Schonberg.

リサイタルのあった次の朝、演奏家はホテルのレストランでマネージャーも伴わずにひとりで食事をしていました。食事からコーヒーになったとき、昨晩の感激を伝えたくて私は意を決して声を掛けました。「昨晩のモーツァルトとバッハはすてきでした」　演奏家は立ち上がり、私の目をまっすぐに見据え、握手をしながら「Thank you,Thank you…」と礼を言ってくれたのです。ピーター・ゼルキン。最後の来日の2017年7月29日、八ヶ岳高原音楽堂のリサイタルの翌朝のことでした。　プログラムは、モーツァルトのアダージョ ロ短調K.540,ソナタ 変ロ長調 K.570とバッハのゴールドベルク変奏曲でした。八ヶ岳高原音楽堂は森の中にポツンと建つコンサートホールで、壁がガラス張りになっています。17:30にリサイタルが始まったときはガラスの向こうに森が広がり、時折風に揺れる木々のさざめきや鳥の姿も見えましたが、ゴールドベルクの後半の頃には日はとっぷりと暮れ、漆黒の闇の中ただひとりピーターがバッハを奏でているようでした。　若い頃は、偉大な父の軛から逃れようとしたのでしょうか、音楽から離れたり、父が絶対しないようなベートーヴェンのヴァイオリン協奏曲のピアノ版を弾いたりしていました。やがて自分の内なる声に耳を傾けるようになったのでしょう。父も得意としたモーツァルトやベートーヴェンも手がけるようになりました。　Pro Arte レーベルにはディアベリやハンマークラヴィーア(のちのフォルテピアノを使った－あの録音はピアノが悲鳴を上げているようで聞くのがつらかった－のとは別の録音)、ブラームスの協奏曲もありました。日本ではなかなか手に入れづらいこれらの録音がまた、日の目を見ますように。　Vivace レーベルには晩年のゴールドベルクをはじめとするバッハもありますが、やはりこのボックスに収められたRCAへの録音が、ピーターの音楽の変遷や深まりを俯瞰できておすすめです。　ホテルの部屋に戻れば、ゴールドベルクの楽譜を私は持っていました。その楽譜にピーターのサインを貰おうと思わないではなかったのですが、昨晩私は確かにピーターのモーツァルトとバッハを聴いた。その感激にピーターは「ありがとう、ありがとう…」と２度も礼を言ってくれた。その事実の他に何がいるでしょう。私にはその思い出とこのボックスがかけがえのない宝物です。