As he explains in his liner notes for this CD, Lynn Harrell uses the voice as his point of departure for this collection of encores. They are largely reflective pieces with a bit of fun such as the unfairly forgotten Glazunov ‘Spanish Serenade’ thrown in for good measure. And this once popular disc now makes […]

Sonatas and concert pieces by Fauré, Franck, Ravel, Debussy, Vieuxtemps, Ysäye and Lekeu. The stereo recording with Varsi, which receives its first international release on CD.

Verdi’s mighty operatic Requiem and Fauré’s more demure offering are stablemates in this collection of rare recordings of these masterpieces. Reissues of Paul van Kempen’s recordings on Eloquence have been garnering great critical plaudits and this is the first international release on CD of his recording of the Verdi, made for Philips in 1955 and […]

Contrary to the imaginative view offered by many commentators, Fauré’s Requiem had nothing to do with the death of Fauré’s parents. ‘My Requiem was written for nothing,’ the composer confided to Maurice Emmanuel, ‘it was written, if I may say so, for fun.’ Ernest Ansermet recorded the piece with two stellar artists – Suzanne Danco […]

The Pro Arte Piano Quartet was made up of leading London-based instrumentalists, many of whom also played in the Melos Ensemble of London. Pianist Lamar Crowson was, and remains, one of the great chamber music pianists of all time (and a soloist in his own right). Kenneth Sillito led, for several years, the Academy of […]

Jean Martinon’s career in the recording studio got under way after World War II when, in 1947–48, he and the London Philharmonic Orchestra recorded music by Mozart, Ravel, Tchaikovsky and Chabrier. Between then and April 1960 he recorded extensively for Decca. Brilliant as many of these recordings are, they have completely overshadowed the parallel legacy […]