欧陆百年天团：维也纳爱乐名曲百分百 　　维也纳爱乐被视为举世乐团中的翘楚，他们以维也纳音乐之友协会为家，其团员则以维也纳国家歌剧院的成员组成。 　　  　　该团创于一八四二年，由作曲家尼可莱创办，该团完全不靠外界资助，所有决定均由团员投票表决。该团首演了布拉姆斯第二和第三号交响曲，以及布鲁克纳第八号交响曲，作曲家马勒曾指挥该团三年，之后温加纳、福特万格勒等人也都担任过其首席指挥。之后托斯卡尼尼、理查德史特劳斯、克莱巴父子等人也都担任过客座指挥。但以卡拉扬、贝姆和伯恩斯坦与他们的关系最密切。尤其是卡拉扬建立了该团与萨尔兹堡音乐节紧密的关系，更让该团成为举世乐团中最难以取代的古典乐象征。 　　  　　维也纳爱乐从一九四一年开始举行新年音乐会，以演奏史特劳斯家族的圆舞曲贯穿全场，成为世上其他乐团模仿的对象，也成为他们最为人津津乐道的传统。 　　  　　这六张CD，收录了维也纳爱乐和维也纳这座城市交会所产生的音乐结晶，其中有维也纳人最引以为傲的史特劳斯，也有曾经在维也纳渡过一生的贝多芬、莫扎特、舒伯特、布鲁克纳和布拉姆斯交付维也纳爱乐首演的乐曲。这六张CD，见证了所谓音乐之都的美好和过往，全部由维也纳爱乐演出，并由福特万格勒、卡拉扬等曾经指挥过维也纳爱乐的指挥带领他们录音。 　　  　　This 6CD set contains 100 tracks from the finest EMI recordings of the famous Wiener Philharmoniker, know in English as the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, under some of the world’s greatest conductors including Wilhelm Furtwängler, Herbert von Karajan, Rudolf Kempe, André Cluytens, Riccardo Muti and many others. 　　  　　THE STRAUSS FAMILY contains some of the best-known waltzes and polkas by the inimitable Viennese composer Johann Strauss II and other members of his family. Among the waltzes are Wiener Blut (‘Vienna Blood’), Wein, Weib und Gesang (‘Wine, Women and Song’), G’schichten aus dem Wienerwald (‘Tales from the Vienna Woods’) and An der schönen, blauen Donau (‘The Blue Danube’) that was used so effectively in the film 2001: A Space Odyssey. All the works included here have been heard at the famous New Year’s Day concerts given by the Wiener Philharmoniker, which traditionally concludes with the Radetzky March, performed here live at the New Year’s Day Concert of 2000 conducted by Riccardo Muti. 　　  　　The Wiener Philharmoniker is drawn from the permanent orchestra of the Vienna State Opera and this programme called AT THE THEATRE covers orchestral pieces from the operatic repertoire. It begins with Mozart’s lively overture to Le nozze di Figaro and includes among others the overtures to Il barbiere di Siviglia by Rossini, The Bartered Bride by Smetana and Hänsel und Gretel by Humperdinck. Also heard are the Waltz from Act II of Gounod’s Faust, the spirited ‘Dance of the Hours’ from Ponchielli’s La Gioconda, immortalised in Walt Disney’s original Fantasia film, and the stirring Triumphal Scene from Verdi’s Aida. 　　  　　As its name implies, IN RUSSIA is a programme of memorable works by Russian composers. Tchaikovsky, the doyen of Russian composers, is represented by the famous ‘pizzicato’ movement from his Fourth Symphony and the Theme and Variations from his orchestral Suite No.3 in G. Borodin provides a section of his Polovtsian Dances and the Andante movement from his Second Symphony. More recent compositions include the Suite from Prokofiev’s Love for Three Oranges and extracts from Shostakovich’s Chamber Symphony and his Symphony No. 5 in D minor. The disc ends with three items from Khachaturian’s colourful ballet Gayaneh, finishing with the spectacular ‘Sabre Dance’. 　　  　　ON HOLIDAY takes its name from a famous LP on which most of these pieces were originally released. The composers come from all over the world – Smetana and Dvorák from Czechoslovakia, Kodály and Lehár from Hungary, Sibelius from Finland, Ravel from France and Vivaldi from Italy – and one can imagine the Wiener Philharmoniker holidaying in all those different countries and performing some of the music by the local composers while they are there. 　　  　　CLASSICAL MASTERS brings together a programme by the greatest Austrian and German composers from the Classical period, beginning with a movement from Haydn’s ‘Surprise’ Symphony, followed by extracts from Mozart’s ‘Haffner’ and ‘Linz’ Symphonies and his much-loved Eine kleine Nachtmusik. Popular works by Schubert and Mendelssohn follow, and the disc ends with a group of items by perhaps the greatest Classical master of all – Ludwig van Beethoven. 　　  　　The last CD, called VIENNESE HERITAGE, covers a group of composers who had special associations with Vienna, most notably Brahms, Bruckner and Mahler. It opens with Wagner’s stirring overture to Tannhäuser before moving to the three main composers mentioned above. It also includes part of Richard Srauss’s colourful tone poem Don Juan and concludes with the jubilant Academic Festival Overture by Johannes Brahms.