Gifted with great beauty and a natural stage presence, Hilde Gueden was unfailingly easy on the ear as well as the eye. With her creamy tone and ability to spin the silvery upper-register sonority needed for her Strauss roles, she was a natural successor to Elisabeth Schumann, Lotte Schöne and Adele Kern. Fortunately for posterity, […]

A delightful collection of concertos by the man almost exclusively known by his ‘Adagio’. These pieces are very much in the style of Vivaldi and Corelli.

The Hungarian-born conductor Georg Solti (1912–1997) was one of Decca’s most prolific recording artists. Eloquence’s survey of his recordings features, in the main, some of his earliest recordings for the company. Although recorded as far back as 1960, during his tenure with the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Solti’s recording of ‘Gaîté parisienne’ remains one […]

Hans Hotter (1909–2003) was 64 when he recorded two recital LPs for Decca, here coupled as a 2CD set. One of the rare singers to achieve equal eminence in Wagner and in Lieder, the singer’s voluminous bass-baritone, at once majestic and profoundly human, was in its autumn. Yet, the sense of detail, of characterisation, he […]

Pianist John Lill, born in London in 1944, has long been associated with the music of Beethoven and Brahms. He catapulted to international fame, however, when he was the co-winner of the International Tchaikovsky Competition in 1970. The Concerto No. 2 presented here is a live recording from that competition, dating from 25th June. The […]

When Arthur Rubinstein first heard the fifteen-year-old Gilels perform in Odessa, he exclaimed ‘By God, I can’t describe it. If he comes to America, I might as well pack my bags and leave!’ ‘Serious without solemnity, profound without pomp, he was a citizen of the world,’ wrote Jeremy Siepmann of Gilels. ‘Like music itself, his […]

This, Hamish Milne’s first commercial recording, was made for Decca’s L’Oiseau-Lyre imprint. Reubke became a pupil of Liszt, upon the recommendation of Hans von Bülow, and the older composer developed a special regard for him. The Piano Sonata and Organ Sonata are the two substantial works Reubke (who died tragically early) left us, and the […]

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. […]

This, Ansermet’s only Wagner recording for Decca, was made in November 1963. He paces the ‘Meistersinger’ Prelude implacably and his Wagner interpretations have plenty of fire as well as richness and gravitas. Much requested for reissue, this recording finally makes its appearance on CD in the international arena.

Opera has entrenched itself in popular consciousness thanks to the much publicised concerts of The Three Tenors, outdoor stagings of such operatic blockbusters as ‘Aida’ and ‘Turandot’, opera concerts in the park, not to mention their ready incorporation into television advertisements – be it a British Airways aircraft floating in the clouds to the ‘Lakme’ Flower […]

One of the great troubadors of his time, Mario del Monaco has power, masculinity and virility to burn in his portrayal of Manrico on this recording of Trovatore. Tebaldi is a sweet and moving Leonora, excelling in such moments as ‘Tacea la notte placida’ and ‘D’amor sull’ali rosee’. Giulietta Simionato as Azucena leaves the most […]

Highlights from Solti’s thrilling reading of Aida, recorded in July 1961. With four of the leading Verdi singers of the 1960s and plenty of Soltian fire in the belly, this disc of highlights includes more than 71 minutes of music, featuring all the great arias and scenes – ‘Celeste Aida’, the ‘Triumphal March’ and the final […]