Besides purely symphonic repertoire, including Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony, Dvořák’s Eighth and Brahms’s Third Symphonies, a fiery account of the incidental music for the composer’s Egmont, and luminous versions of Rosamunde (Schubert) and A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Mendelssohn) the set also includes concerto recordings with Clifford Curzon (Mozart, Brahms and Tchaikovsky) and his sole recording for Deutsche Grammophon, Dvořák’s Cello Concerto with Pierre Fournier. Included by way of bonus is a 30-minute rehearsal extract for the recording of Handel’s Water Music – never before published.

Even while involved with the Cleveland Orchestra (from 1947 until his death in 1970) Szell continued to work with the great European ensembles in London, Amsterdam and Vienna even after taking up the post in Cleveland. Their mutual respect and affinity is evident throughout this set. Szell may have earned his reputation as a podium autocrat, but he knew how to get the best out of orchestras, who valued the fact that he never wasted a word or a gesture.

The 1962 account of Brahms’s First Concerto with Clifford Curzon was acclaimed as a definitive recording on its first release, and has hardly been toppled from that peak since. Also made with the LSO, the Handel collection is more of a period piece, featuring Hamilton Harty’s reorchestrations of the Water Music and Fireworks Music, but Szell’s Romantic-era phrasing holds its own charm.

A fascinating new essay by Tully Potter surveys the life and career of a conductor who never settled for anything less than perfection. The booklet includes rare session photographs.

“Szell’s Sibelius Second has stood as a reference edition of the score since the day the recording was made … Frankly, no other even approaches Szell’s knockout combination of discipline and excitement.” – Classics Today (Sibelius - Symphony no.2)

“The Decca set has a great advantage in the superior Beethoven style of the conductor George Szell, and Curzon, too, is in splendid form.” – The Record Guide, 1955 (Beethoven - Piano Concerto no.5)

“Szell gives what is far and away the best reading of the music on records. The Vienna Philharmonic has rarely sounded so fine … a splendid memento of the kind of craftsmanship and enthusiasm that marked Szell’s music-making at its best.” – High Fidelity, February 1971 (Beethoven - Egmont)

“A leonine power to Szell’s orchestral contribution… Curzon has the full measure of Brahms’s keyboard style.” – Penguin Guide (Brahms - Piano Concerto no.1)

“Szell … has here produced a superb memorial record to his own genius.” – Gramophone, October 1970 (Beethoven - Egmont)

“Szell’s Philips Concertgebouw legacy includes some distinguished recordings, with the scintillating Midsummer Night’s Dream suite taking pride of place.” – Gramophone, November 1995

“A performance … with Szell at his peak, which makes one hear the work as though for the first time, fresh and invigorating, completely free of cloying overtones.” – Gramophone, March 1972 (Tchaikovsky - Symphony no.4)

“I found great pleasure in these performances under Szell. The playing is highly stylish, the recording excellent.” – Gramophone, February 1963 (Handel)