The first of four 2-CD ‘Flagstad Recitals’ features Kirsten Flagstad in Brahms and Schubert on CD1 as well as CD premieres of songs by Schumann (including her previously unpublished ‘Zum Schluss’), Strauss, Wolf and Sinding on CD2. Her great power and control placed her among those with the natural capacity for success in the ‘big’ […]

In her autobiography (The Flagstad Manuscript, 1952), Kirsten Flagstad tells of the joy she experienced on finding when she began to give concerts in the United States that the Americans so took to the songs of her native country and particularly of Grieg. She herself had been brought up with them and even included some […]

‘I’m a classical girl, you know,’ wrote the legendary soprano Kirsten Flagstad in her memoirs, ‘The Flagstad Manuscript’, co-authored with Louis Biancolli. ‘Whatever Wagner may be, other music gives a different satisfaction: the music of Gluck, for example, or Handel. It’s the precise and orderly mind of these composers that I think appeals to me. […]

Jorge Bolet was an avowed Romantic, happy to relax once the serious business of his recital was over. Like Moiseiwitsch, he could be mischievously enterprising, challenging his audience to guess the composer of this or that rare poetic jewel or confection or, like Rubinstein, he could affectionately confirm and recreate their favourites. With delightful old […]

In the latest instalment of the Decca Ansermet Legacy, Decca Eloquence introduces the Swiss conductor’s recordings of Beethoven – his symphony cycle, overtures and the rare Weingartner arrangement of the Grosse Fuge. They are issued as three 2CD sets. François Hudry, the supreme commentator on the art of Ernest Ansermet writes, “the new vision he […]

In the latest instalment of the Decca Ansermet Legacy, Decca Eloquence introduces the Swiss conductor’s recordings of Beethoven – his symphony cycle, overtures and the rare Weingartner arrangement of the Grosse Fuge. They are issued as three 2CD sets. François Hudry, the supreme commentator on the art of Ernest Ansermet writes, “the new vision he […]

In the latest instalment of the Decca Ansermet Legacy, Decca Eloquence introduces the Swiss conductor’s recordings of Beethoven – his symphony cycle, overtures and the rare Weingartner arrangement of the Grosse Fuge. They are issued as three 2CD sets. François Hudry, the supreme commentator on the art of Ernest Ansermet writes, “the new vision he […]

Together with Sir Charles Mackerras, Rafael Kubelik’s name is synonymous with the music of Janacek. Here, reissued at budget price, are his superb readings of a trio of Janacek masterpieces recorded for Deutsche Grammophon, recordings that have plenty of weight, get to the heart of the emotion of the music as well as giving it […]

There is always a special pleasure in the blending of two fine voices, and composers have usually been happy to provide it during the course of their operas. Characters may join their voices in a unity of feeling, or in extreme disagreement, or in any one of the thousand shades in between. On this CD, […]

Since the beginning of opera, the convention of the duet, in which two characters simultaneously express their feelings, has been one of the staple ploys of musical dramatists. Characters may join their voices in a unity of feeling, or in extreme disagreement, or in any one of the thousand shades in between; though in the […]

William Steinberg made only three recordings for Deutsche Grammophon and his Hindemith recordings, authoritative, sumptuously recorded and pulsating with energy, are among the most invaluable in the Hindemith discography. Barenboim’s coupling of ‘Der Schwanendreher’ is no less welcome, offering what is substantially an important 20th-century viola concerto and being a viola player himself, Hindemith’s writing […]

Debussy’s twenty-four Préludes, like Chopin’s, are surprisingly self-sufficient. Divided into two books, published in 1910 and 1913, the Préludes are an intimate record of Debussy’s inner and imaginative life. Their titles were after-thoughts rather than direct inspirations, largely because Debussy’s delicate and complex response to natural phenomena or human idiosyncrasy could hardly be contained or […]