These vocal works are mostly late Haydn and the performances are based on texts derived from recent scholarship. ‘Arianna a Naxos’ was written with keyboard accompaniment; Haydn intended to orchestrate it but never got around to it. This version is a collation of two anonymous orchestrations, plus ‘vocal embellishments and cadenzas’ presumably by H. C. Robbins […]
Quintessential mezzo-soprano, Marilyn Horne, treats us to a program of great songs from ‘The American Songbook’ – a veritable quilt of many-coloured delights. The arrangements range from the delicate to the lush and the mood ranges from racy fun to religiously uplifting. This CD, one of Decca’s first releases on compact disc, has been excerpted […]
A treasury of some of the greatest Lehar recordings from the Decca catalogue, this CD encompasses the entire LP with Holm, Krenn and Paulik plus Pilar Lorengar singing arias from ‘Eva’ and ‘Gypsy Love’. It’s a model of sugar-encrusted elegance of a bygone era.
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 […]
In 1977, Decca released an LP entitled ‘Concertos from Spain’ which coupled two contemporary piano concertos – one by Montsalvatge (‘Concerto Breve’, written for Alicia de Larrocha) and the other, Surinach’s Piano Concerto. The Surinach recording – he was a kind of Spanish Khachaturian – has never before been released on CD. Taking advantage of the […]
The ‘Stabat Mater’ was one of those works which served to promote Haydn’s reputation in the rest of Europe, for a successful performance in Paris in April 1781 was followed by a lengthy and highly complimentary article in ‘Le Mercure de France’, publication of the full score in London (1783) and Paris (1785) and a […]
For a variety of reasons, the Romantic piano concerto remains one of the most engaging ambassadors for classical music. In the collective mind of the world audience, the names of Tchaikovsky, Liszt and Rachmaninov are synonymous with large and spectacular musical works during which a symphony orchestra and a dazzling pianist are set to engage […]
The glorious performances on this CD have never before been available on CD (outside Japan). Taking full advantage of the Gewandhaus’ characteristic aural glow, these readings will soon work themselves to the top of the list of the complete Brahms symphony cycles. ‘Symphony No. 1’ receives a monumental performance with some delicious violin and oboe […]
The critically-acclaimed 5CD set ‘King of Instruments’ is now reissued as five individual CDs retaining the original liner notes and the recollections of Dame Gillian on the making of these seminal recordings
The critically-acclaimed 5CD set ‘King of Instruments’ is now reissued as five individual CDs retaining the original liner notes and the recollections of Dame Gillian on the making of these seminal recordings
The critically-acclaimed 5CD set ‘King of Instruments’ is now reissued as five individual CDs retaining the original liner notes and the recollections of Dame Gillian on the making of these seminal recordings
Karel Ancerl’s recording of Dvorak’s scintillating ‘Slavonic Dances’, here receive their first release on CD. Recorded in 1958, they were some of the most popular LP recordings in their day and now receive their first exhumation on CD. The coupling is a rarity but no less beautiful – Dvorak’s three ‘Slavonic Rhapsodies’, in wonderfully glowing […]
