12 Cellists of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra (8 CDs)

A new dimension of cello playing: the 12 Cellists of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, who gave their debut in Tokyo, not Berlin, and who have enjoyed the adoration of a global fan club ever since. In brilliant arrangements, the 1978–2010 albums document all the facets of the instrument’s technical range in breathtaking and sensuous cello works from Bach to the Beatles, from film hits to chansons and jazz, and from South American music to the avant-garde style of the likes of Iannis Xenakis, who wrote original compositions that are tailor-made for the ensemble’s virtuoso fingers. This box contains eight bestseller albums brought together in this format for the first time. An ensemble of string players drawn from one of the top orchestras goes independent. Nothing unusual in that really, yet in the case of the 12 Cellists of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra it was a sensation: one year after its foundation the group gave its first full-length concert in 1973 featuring a sizzling spect