Elisabeth Schwarzkopf was one of the most linguistically as well as musically versatile sopranos of the post-war years. Her soprano accompanied by various other participants including the Pianisten, Orchestras & famous Conductors cover the classical great composers.

It was with the repertoire of French masters that the German pianist Walter Gieseking became most famous. The impressionistic piano writing of Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel required the most sensitive touch and attention to color and nuance, and Gieseking's finger acuity, imaginative pedaling, and above all, preternaturally alert ear made him an ideal interpreter of this music. Nevertheless, his own repertoire ranged widely across eras and national boundaries. Largely self-taught as a pianist, Gieseking was born in Lyon, France, on November 5, 1895; with his family (his father was a distinguished doctor and entomologist), he traveled in France and Italy until he enrolled at the Hannover Conservatory, where he came under the tutelage of Karl Leimer, making his debut in 1915. Gieseking was drafted into the German army a year after his first public performance but escaped combat by performing in his regimental band.

Complete Piano Works offer listeners more clarity and detail than ever before. The expert engineers at Abbey Road Studios who remastered the original EMI recordings on Hybrid Super Audio CDs have breathed new life into these iconic catalog recordings. Each title in the Signature Collection is beautifully presented in a full-color illustrated hardback book. The liner notes explore mot only the rich music but also the story behind original LP covers. Also included are never before seen photographs of the original master tapes.

Penultimate volume of Beethoven’s piano sonatas by Walter Gieseking, notably including a fiery Tempest making its digital debut.

Here is the first volume of Walter Gieseking’s legendary complete Debussy recordings from 1953-1954. They were the first complete cycle ever put on record and display an incredible variety and delicacy.

Walter Gieseking was truly an aesthete of the piano and a perfectionist passionate about developments in recording technique. This collection – Poet of the Piano – focuses on his intense recording sessions of the 1950s, into which he put his full energy and soul before his untimely death. Including several tracks made available digitally for the first time, such as Chopin’s Berceuse and Schubert’s Impromptus, it highlights the pianist’s unsurpassable talent from baroque music to the French impressionists.

An expert in the delicate art of miniature, Walter Gieseking excelled in short evocative pieces in which his technical mastery and unique sensitivity worked wonders. The numerous albums of Lyric Pieces by Edvard Grieg were a constant source of inspiration for him: he recorded some selections on many occasions, and added excerpts to his concert programs with the same enthusiasm. This album includes the complete set recorded at the very end of his life, coupled with some earlier renditions from the 1948 sessions.

The affinity of Walter Gieseking for the music of Debussy is nothing less than legendary. As Gramophone magazine wrote: 'Debussy and Gieseking form an inseparable union where creator and recreator become one and the same person. Had Debussy lived to hear Gieseking he would surely have marvelled at such an uncanny identification with his very spirit.' These miraculous recordings, dating from the early 1950s, continue to set a standard in the interpretation of the French master’s music. Remastered in 24bit/96kHz.

Walter Wilhelm Gieseking (5 November 1895 – 26 October 1956) was a German pianist and composer.