A cherishable Mozart soprano of the 1950s and 60s, celebrated with the complete reissue of a Decca recital album, newly remastered. The quality that defined Graziella Sciutti as a singer was lightness – of voice, of bearing and presence on stage. Her vivacious intelligence was no less suited to the Rossini, Bellini and Donizetti roles […]

First releases on Decca CD for a pair of underrated Nielsen recordings. No less than Sibelius or Shostakovich, Nielsen became the custodian and the renovator of the classical symphonic tradition in the first half of the last century. Both the Third and Fifth symphonies make strenuous demands upon even the world’s great orchestras but at […]

A famous Decca operatic recital, long unavailable, celebrating the thrilling voice and short-lived career of a soprano who set operatic stages alight in the late 1950s. Anita Cerquetti made only two commercial recordings both for Decca under the baton of Gianandrea Gavazzeni. In 1957, she sang the title role in a complete ‘La Gioconda‘ with […]

The first stereo recording of Ponchielli’s most famous opera, with a towering performance of the title role captured in classic Decca sound. There is more to ‘La Gioconda’ than the ‘Dance of the Hours’, more even than the hit ‘Suicidio’ aria of the ill-fated and ironically-titled Venetian ballad-singer who holds the stage. There are scenes […]

Raymond Leppard’s second and more renowned contribution to the modern revival of Cavalli: a classic among Baroque opera recordings which won the coveted Rosette award from the Penguin Record Guide. In 1651, seven years after ‘Ormindo’ (also reissued by Eloquence in Leppard’s recording, 482 9382), Cavalli and his librettist Faustini scored another hit with the […]

The first commercial recording of Rameau’s first opera. Thanks to several Eloquence releases, the pioneering work of Anthony Lewis in the field of Baroque opera is now readily available: ‘The Fairy Queen’ (482 7449) of Purcell, Handel’s ‘Semele’ (482 5055) and a compilation albums of Handel arias (482 4759) were all critically acclaimed at the […]

While playing organs worldwide and concentrating his work in his native England, Peter Hurford nonetheless gave recitals on organs across Australia throughout his long career. However, he hardly played an instrument more dazzling in its impact and variety than the organ which was installed at the Sydney Opera House. Completed in May 1979 at a […]

A landmark in Baroque opera recordings, newly remastered. This ‘royal entertainment in music’ was fashioned by Cavalli to a libretto by Giovanni Faustini for performance in Venice in 1644, two years after ‘L’incoronazione di Poppaea’ saw the light of day. Through the course of ‘Ormindo’ we follow the adventures of two pairs of lovers as […]

A trumpet and organ spectacular: three original Argo and DG albums on a generous, newly compiled 2-CD set. In Baroque works generally, the trumpet is always accompanied by drums both of these instruments having strong associations with military music. The organ, on the other hand, is primarily associated with the church and it is within […]

Favourite arias and romantic concertos by a pioneer of American operetta. Born in Dublin, Victor Herbert began his career as a cellist in Germany, playing for Eduard Strauss, for Brahms and Liszt and emigrated to the US as principal cellist of the Metropolitan Opera. It was in that capacity that he composed the second of […]

Two rare L’Oiseau-Lyre recordings of French Baroque masterpieces, newly remastered and making their first appearance on CD. From the time of its foundation in 1932 by the Australian-born, Paris-adopted philanthropist Louise Hanson-Dyer, Editions de L’Oiseau-Lyre specialised in French early music as the name of the imprint implied. The company’s first complete scholarly edition a year […]

The complete Philips and L’Oiseau-Lyre recordings of Bach cantatas made by Sir Neville Marriner, reissued together for the first time. Bach’s cantatas vary enormously in scale and style, ranging from festal works featuring elaborate choral movements and large instrumental ensembles including trumpets and drums, to more meditative cantatas for a single voice and only a […]