Is nothing sacred? The Cambridge Buskers bring their madcap humour to the greats of classical music – everything from the ‘Hallelujah Chorus’ and the ‘1812 Overture’ to Ravel’s ‘Bolero’ and the ‘Teddy Bears’ Picnic’! And not forgetting Beethoven’s Nine Symphonies in under four minutes… This 4CD set brings together the pair’s most famous albums, released […]
‘Gervase de Peyer is one of the greatest instrumentalist alive’ announced Fanfare magazine. One of the foremost clarinettists of the 20th century, London-born Gervase de Peyer was chosen soloist for a host of conductors and made many award-winning recordings for Decca, L’Oiseau-Lyre and EMI among others. His Concerto recordings have won the Grand Prix du Disque, […]
Nearly 65 years ago, when Swiss pianist, Paul Baumgartner (1903–1976), and German pianist, Erik Then-Bergh (1916–1982), paid separate visits to the Beethovensaal in Hanover, they each recorded a monumental set of variations – very possibly on the same Hamburg Steinway D – and in each case the resulting LP proved to be the only that […]
James McCracken (1926–1988) recorded the arias on the first half of this disc in 1969, four years after the duets he recordeed with his wife, mezzo-soprano Sandra Warfield (1921-2009). Both singers were in their prime leon during those years and in the decade following. These performances of distinction offer some of the sappiest and most […]
With his Scandinavian looks and fine physique, Ticho Parly (1928–1993) seemed predestined to portray Wagner’s heroes. Like his fellow-Dane, Lauritz Melchior, Parly began his career as a baritone. He pursued his vocal studies initially in Paris and then in Denmark, Italy and Switzerland. To finance his studies he worked for several years in a travel […]
Two of the works on this collection were inspired by literary sources. Tchaikovsky was an assiduous reader and it is not surprising that so many of his works had literary origins. In the case of ‘Francesca da Rimini’, a reading of Dante’s ‘Inferno’ was sufficient to convince him that here was worthy material for a […]
To celebrate America’s bicentennial, the National Symphony of Washington DC commissioned Robert Russell Bennett to write a work and he responded with ‘The Fun and Faith of William Billings’. It appeared on the official souvenir LP recording of the JFK Center for Performing Arts. The LP – and this CD, the first appearance on Decca […]
‘It was altogether shocking how absolutely wonderful his voice sounded … so unique, so individual, so clear and authentic – a voice that could be compared to no other.’ Rolando Villazón ‘What he did – there was no one who came close to him. I don’t think he will ever be surpassed.’ Nicolai Gedda ‘The […]
Born Bernette Epstein in Boston in 1920 of Russian heritage, Yara Bernette’s family moved to Brazil when she was six months old. Her first piano teacher was José Kliass, like Claudio Arrau a pupil of Martin Krause, who in turn had been a pupil of Liszt. Both Arrau and Arthur Rubinstein were supportive of her […]
The version of Mozart’s Requiem most frequently performed today – and heard on this recording – is Süssmayr’s completion. Many have labelled his edition as a rushed, student effort (his own opera, ‘Moses’, was postponed due to his working on the Requiem) while others believe that no new edition or reworking, irrespective of how learned […]
This recording of ‘Die Meistersinger’ was one of the first operas released on LP by Decca in January 1952. Act II was recorded in 1950 and released separately; a year later came Acts I and III. It was also the first complete studio recording of the opera to be released on LP and came early […]
Shakespeare’s plays and their incidental lyrics have always been popular with composers from Thomas Morley to Benjamin Britten. There must be many hundreds of Shakespearean settings, ranging from simple songs to full-length operas. One of the most fruitful periods for such settings was the eighteenth century when there were frequent reveals of the plays themselves […]
