Kurt Masur’s invigorating and warm-hearted accounts of the Brahms Hungarian Dances are welcomed back to the catalogue.

Purists might squirm but purists should think again. As Raymond Tuttle says in his background notes to this unique release, ‘When purists complain about Bach played on the piano, they also need to be reminded that, as these five concertos were not written for the keyboard in the first place, one might argue that any […]

These peerless recordings of Oboe Concertos are despatched with beautiful clarity by Ernest Rombout both playing the oboe and directing the Concertgebouw Chamber Orchestra.

Colin Davis’ Sibelius is well-known and regarded but surprisingly some key Sibelius recordings of his with the Boston Symphony have never made it to CD. These include ‘Pohjola’s Daughter’ and ‘En saga’. His ‘Karelia Suite’ is rare at best. Together with Valse Triste’ and ‘Tapiola’, these make up an excellent disc of Sibelius Tone Poems.

Few more radiant expressions of choral singing exist than the opening of Poulenc’s Stabat Mater with Dutoit’s fine recording here restored to circulation and coupled with Lopez-Cobos conducting the energetic Gloria, also famous for its soprano solo. The coupling appears for the first time on CD: Bizet’s Te Deum, the original LP coupling for the […]

Together with associate performers from the Musiktage Mondsee, András Schiff recorded chamber music by Haydn, Bartók and Janácek for Decca. This is the first of a critically-acclaimed two-volume set of selected Haydn Piano Trios recorded by Schiff together with cellist Boris Pergamenschikow and violinist Yuuko Shiokawa.

A thrilling performance of Bruckner’s Sixth in a recording that has long languished in the archives. It is coupled with Stein’s legendary Weber performances.

Initially released in 1979, this album built on the success of the legendary ‘Carols for Choirs’ volumes thereby establishing John Rutter’s name with the wider public. The accomplished Clare College Choir features male and female voices and the recording was made in the glorious acoustics of Ely Cathedral’s Lady Chapel.

One of Kiri Te Kanawa’s rare recorded excursions into song repertoire, this consummate recital is once more restored to the Decca catalogue. Including such popular favourites as Rachmaninov’s ‘Vocalise’ and Granados’ ‘La maja y el ruiseñor’, Obradors’ wonderful ‘Cinco canciones clasicas espanolas’ and a quartet of beautiful songs by Liszt.

For their 1989 festival, the committee of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir invited Dame Kiri Te Kanawa to join the Choir and the Utah Symphony Orchestra under maestro Julius Rudel. The choice of repertoire remained open and Dame Kiri selected a highly appropriate program of inspirational works that she could share with the choir and its […]

A real rarity of the ballet world, this marvellous score, ‘rediscovered’ by Sir Frederick Ashton, was one of Decca’s most glorious recordings of ballet music by that pioneer of this genre, Richard Bonynge.

Barry Tuckwell provides his own, insightful liner notes for this, his second recording of the Strauss Horn Concertos (the first being with Istvan Kertesz). What makes this a particularly sought-after release is the inclusion of the rarities and the fact that Tuckwell has gone back to the original manuscripts. The Final Scene from ‘Capriccio’ is […]