The Hungarian conductor Antal Doráti had already made several recordings in the US with various orchestras for the Mercury label when Philips engaged him to begin working in the studio with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra of Amsterdam. There had been thrilling accounts of Tchaikovsky from both Minneapolis and Chicago and so it was to be […]

Issued in the US under the title ‘Witches’ Brew’, Alexander Gibson and the New Symphony Orchestra of London recorded this album in 1959 and the performances remain today as characterful and incisive as they were then. While pieces from this recording have previously appeared on Decca, this is its first complete release on the label. […]

At the time of its release – 1960 – Ansermet’s stereo recording of the Mussorgsky-Ravel ‘Pictures at an Exhibition’ was demonstration worthy, and it still, today, retains its sense of space and impact. Much of the remainder of the program makes its first international appearance on CD, and the ‘Dance of the Persian Slaves’ (from […]

As one of the releases in our ‘Primavera Series’, featuring illustrations by the gifted artists whose work has been displayed at the annual Primavera Exhibition in Sydney, it is appropriate that this CD should be adorned by a series of illustrations that make up Victoria Lobregat’s ‘Cloud of Flowers’. The music itself could hardly have […]

Solti’s 1956 recordings of the Tchaikovsky Second and Fifth symphonies included on this collection are his only recordings of them. He never recorded a complete cycle, although, in the 1970s he recorded the Fifth and Sixth with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Both symphonies were recorded with the Paris Conservatoire Orchestra. The story behind his recording […]

One of Riccardo Chailly’s first recordings with the Concertgebouw, reissued at super-budget price and marking the conductor’s glorious tenure with this magnificent orchestra, this disc provides a fascinating picture of Ravel the Orchestrator. For those after thrilling recordings of ‘Bolero’ and ‘Pictures at an Exhibition’ this is a self-recommending recording but the rare gems by […]

Solti came late in life to the music of Shostakovich and in his introduction to the recording of the Thirteenth Symphony (reprinted in the booklet) explains the music’s effect on him. These rare recordings have long been out of the catalogue and are now issued as a 2CD set at super-budget price. Sergei Aleksashkin is […]

The stunning ‘Covent Garden Anniversary Album’ released complete for the first time on CD, coupled with Solti’s firecracker accounts of Overtures and Preludes. Soloists include a range of 1960s Covent Garden stalwarts, – Carlyle, Sutherland, Veasey, Minton, Shuard, Collier, Gobbi, Evans, Pears and Ward; and conductors – Downes, Bonynge, Walton and Goodall. Nearly 160 minutes […]

The music on this pair of CDs falls into one of two categories: ballet music from an opera, or ballet music that was not originally intended for dancing at all, but that was subsequently adapted for that purpose. (The exception is Don Quixote, a full-length ballet with an original score.) Many famous conductors had unusual […]

Elisabeth Söderström was a born storyteller. She told stories not just in music, but also peppered her recitals on stage with tales and anecdotes. It made her a perfect interpreter for the collection of children’s songs by Mussorgsky, Prokofiev and Gretchaninov that she recorded with Vladimir Ashkenazy in 1977–78 and which appear on CD2 of […]

As one of the leading interpreters of Russian music, and Benjamin Britten’s soprano for some of his works, including the mighty War Requiem, it may come as a surprise to some that Galina Vishnevskaya began her professional career in 1944, singing, of all things, Viennese operettas (in Russian translation!) in the chorus of a travelling […]

For thirty years, from 1960 to 1990, Nicolai Ghiaurov was an indispensable figure on the international operatic scene. His voluminous base, incisive delivery and imposing presence meant that he was in demand in every centre of opera. His range of roles stretched from Mozart and Rossini through to Verdi and Puccini and many parts in […]