Two recordings make their international CD premieres here. Solti recorded both these popular Mendelssohn symphonies twice for Decca and these are the earlier versions. The ‘Scottish’ dates from November 1952 and is in mono. The ‘Italian’ in stereo, recorded 1958, also with producer John Culshaw, is an absolute legend and has had many requests over […]

One of the world’s most benevolent conductors, Eduard van Beinum cajoled out of his orchestras some of the most luminous sounds ever to be heard in concert and on record. He recorded extensively with the Concertgebouw for Philips and earlier, for Decca. Three Haydn symphonies were recorded for Decca in 1951, 1952 and 1953 and they […]

Bringing together four of Mendelssohn’s earliest works, this collection also showcases Marriner and the Academy in one of their earliest recordings – that of three of the composer’s String Symphonies. Warmly recorded and virtuosically despatched, they are coupled with a scintillating (unnumbered) Piano Concerto by Mendelssohn, with John Ogdon as a fleet-fingered soloist.

Regarded by the Fitzwilliam Quartet itself as one of its finest recordings, this performance of the Franck String Quartet has long been out of circulation and now returns to the catalogue with an ultra-sensitive reading of the Violin Sonata with Amoyal and Rogé.

The names of Benjamin Britten and Peter Pears are forever linked by their personal and creative partnership. Composer and interpreter have rarely enjoyed so long-standing or fruitful relationship. They met and became friends in 1937 while going through the papers of a mutual friend who had accidentally died. Within a couple of years, they had […]

The three orchestral song cycles collected here are central to the Britten canon of recorded repertoire and whereas Pears’ other recordings of the ‘Serenade’ and ‘Les Illuminations’ (with Boyd Neel and Benjamin Britten as conductors) have been in circulation, this mono recording with Goossens receives its first and much-anticipated release on CD. All three recordings […]

Tippett never hesitated to go his own way. He was expelled from grammar school for attempting to convert his friends to atheism, espoused Trotskyism and, in 1943, was jailed for three months as a conscientious objector. Tippett’s time would come, by the 1960s and 70s, thanks to younger interpreters such as Colin Davis who were unfazed […]

Peter Maag’s celebrated recording of the Mozart ‘Prague’ Symphony (widely requested for reissue, internationally), now presented in a stunning remaster from the original tapes, leads into a program of Mozart rarities – the Overture to ‘Lucio Silla’ (itself in the shape of a miniature symphony), the imposing ‘Thamos’ interludes and then a charming selection of […]

A unique collection, bringing together Schumann’s Concertos and concertante works, including the first international release of Ingrid Haebler’s recording of the Piano Concerto and Barenboim’s of the Konzertstück for Four Horns. The unjustly neglected Concert Pieces, Opp. 92 & 134 are given glorious readings by Ashkenazy and both the Cello and Violin Concertos receive admirable […]

A thrilling collection of Overtures and Preludes (with some popular orchestral pieces thrown in for good measure) from Zubin Mehta. As a showman of the best variety, his recordings remain one of the Decca catalogue’s richest legacies with more than half of this collection released on CD for the first time.

Dame Gillian Weir’s first and seminal recordings were made for Argo/Decca. They have systematically been issued in Australia and the final instalment brings her recording of the two Couperin Organ Masses, expertly and enchantingly performed on the organ of the Prediger-Kirche, Zurich. The Couperin scholar David Tunley provides the engaging liner notes.

Solti came late in life to the music of Shostakovich and in his introduction to the recording of the Thirteenth Symphony (reprinted in the booklet) explains the music’s effect on him. These rare recordings have long been out of the catalogue and are now issued as a 2CD set at super-budget price. Sergei Aleksashkin is […]