From the outer fringes of the repertoire

Since its foundation in 2014, most of the releases on the Berlin Philharmonic’s in-house record label have focussed on well-defined bodies of work, often symphony cycles. The few releases that have deviated from this approach have been devoted either to special occasions – Claudio Abbado’s final appearance with the orchestra, or Sir Simon Rattle’s last concert as chief conductor – or, in the case of the monumental Furtwängler wartime radio broadcasts box, are invaluable labours of historic preservation. Their newest release is thus something of a departure, focussing not on a particular composer or event, but on their new chief conductor Kirill Petrenko.

The box, which features five CDs of audio as well as video performances of the same works on two Blu-Ray discs, is described in the liner notes by Mr Petrenko himself as a ‘musical…