Oslo Years

December 1st 2020 marks a year since the death of Mariss Jansons, who in 2013 was described by the Washington Post as "the greatest living conductor".

Born in Latvia and trained in St Petersburg, Jansons came to be closely associated with such orchestras as the Royal Concertgebouw, St Petersburg Philharmonic, Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks and Berliner Philharmoniker. It was, however, as Music Director of the Oslo Philharmonic that he first rose to global eminence.

Over his long tenure in Oslo - from 1979 to 2002 - the Norwegian orchestra cemented its international reputation. Praising its players for their "exceptionally strong work ethic and discipline ... without a trace of arrogance, superficiality or routine thought," Jansons valued the Oslo Philharmonic's "identity and unique sound".

This 21-CD set, comprising all the Warner Classics recordings that Jansons and the Oslo Philharmonic made together, reflects the conductor's special mastery of music of the later Romantic era and the 20th century. Released for the first time are 5 DVDs of concerts originally broadcast on Norwegian television and offering works by such composers as Sibelius, Mahler, Stravinsky, Tchaikovsky, Beethoven, Strauss and Franck.

Content:

CD1 Tchaikovsky

CD2 Shostakovich

CD3 Svendsen

CD4 Prokofiev

CD5 Mussorgsky

CD6 Dvorak/Smetana

CD7 Respighi/Ravel/Dukas

CD8 Bartok

CD9 Dvorak

CD10 Sibelius

CD11 Shostakovich

CD12 Wagner

CD13 Dvorak

CD14 Dvorak/Tchaikovsky

CD15 Sibelius

CD16 Stravinsky

CD17 Honegger

CD18 Saint-Saens

CD19 Sibelius

CD20 Respighi

CD21 World Encores

DVD1- Sibelius: Symphonies Nos. 1 and 2

DVD2- Mahler: Symphony No. 1 "Titan" /// Stravinsky: The Firebird

DVD3- Tchaikovsky: Manfred /// Tchaikovsky: Capriccio Italien

DVD4- Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 3 and 7

DVD5- R. Strauss: Also sprach Zarathustra /// Franck: D Minor Symphony