Itzhak Perlman celebrates 75th Birthday with Sony and Warner Releases
The Sony Classical Box Set: 18 CDs spanning the years 1965 to 2012 (Sony Classical)
ITZHAK PERLMAN CELEBRATES 75TH BIRTHDAY WITH SONY AND WARNER RELEASES
NEW YORK — On August 7, 2020, Sony Classical releases the first-ever collection of Itzhak Perlman’s complete recordings for RCA and CBS/Sony in a single box set: 18 CDs spanning the years 1965 to 2012.
Itzhak Perlman has dominated the world of violin virtuosos for half a century. His TV appearances had already made him a household name in the US by the time he was 13. A few years later came his Carnegie Hall debut, then the prestigious Leventritt Award, followed by triumphant tours of Israel, North America and Europe between 1965 and 1968. By then he was an international celebrity and recognized “not just as the finest violinist of his generation but as one of the greatest musical talents to emerge since World War II” (leading string authority Tully Potter writing in the NEW GROVE).
New to Perlman CD editions are two complete soundtrack albums: John Williams’ “elegant and thoughtful score” for ‘Memoirs of a Geisha’ in which the violinist is joined by Yo-Yo Ma and to which Perlman “brings a magical and peculiarly oriental sound to his violin-playing” (Gramophone), and the music for Yimou Zhang’s Hero by Tan Dun: “Few composers today write more effective melodies for bowed strings” (Gramophone). And to round off this uniquely wide-ranging survey of the violinist’s musical passions and triumphs, in its first appearance in a Perlman collection, the artist is joined by golden-voiced cantor Yitzchak Meir Helfgot in Eternal Echoes, a highly praised album of liturgical and traditional selections which the violinist has affectionately described as “Jewish comfort music – everything that I recognize from my childhood is in this program.”
The Sony Classical Box Set is available on CD and for download and streaming. Listen and order here.
On September 18, 2020, Warner Classics releases a 6 DVD box-set of important landmarks in Itzhak Perlman’s career with both the Berliner Philharmoniker and the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra.
“I can actually see the sound in my head. I can actually see it... But each sound is different so this one has that sparkle, there is a sparkle to the sound.” (Itzhak Perlman)
With 16 Grammy Awards, a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, and four Emmy Awards, Itzhak Perlman is one of the most important violinists of the second half of the 20th century. In celebration of his 75th birthday on 31 August, this 6 DVD box set highlights important landmarks in his career with both the Berliner Philharmoniker and the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra. Apart from six outstanding concerts, the box set also includes the moving portrait “Virtuoso Violinist – I know I played every note” – a closely-observed account of Perlman’s early life and career.
The Itzhak Perlman Anniversary Box is available here.
The Itzhak Perlman Anniversary Box Set: 6 DVDs of important landmarks in Itzhak Perlman’s career (Warner Classics)