Barry Tuckwell has recorded the Mozart Horn Concertos several times as soloist and soloist/conductor. The first and third of the Horn Concertos marked his recording debut and in notes he has written for this CD – a stunning new remaster from original tapes, catching the spatial depth of Kingsway Hall and the mellowness yet clarity […]

Some of Mozart’s lesser known symphonies are integrated for this Mozart/Maag release with mono recordings of Nos. 28, 29, 34 (among the earliest of Maag’s Decca recordings) coupled with stereo recordings of Symphony No. 32 and the delectable ‘Serenata Notturna’. Everywhere, style, finesse and charm are evident in these performances.

This coupling presents Heinrich Schiff and Colin Davis’s mellow reading of Dvorák’s Cello Concerto, recorded in 1980, with Dorati’s earlier 1959 Concertgebouw traversal of the ‘New World’ Symphony – a veritable fire and brimstone reading of this popular work. Both works were recorded in the fabled Concertgebouw’s main hall.

Appearing on CD for the first time, Lamberto Gardelli’s Pizzetti recording has been one of the most venerated in the Decca catalogue, not only because the music is comparatively rare but because the recording is true state-of-the-art. The music has Gallic charm and a Stravinskian sense of razor-sharp wit, not to mention a fascinating storyline […]

Following many requests for a reissue of Ashkenazy’s Philharmonia recording of Tchaikovsky’s programmatic ‘Manfred Symphony’, many listeners will be delighted to have his searing portrayal available again. It is coupled with the little-known ‘Élégie’ which was incorporated into Tchaikovsky’s incidental music for ‘Hamlet’.

Rich and ripe readings of Mozart’s two piano quartets from Georg Solti and the Melos Quartett, in which the conductor takes time off from his podium duties to return to the keyboard – where, in fact, his whole career began. Recorded a year apart, these readings have both thrust and warmth and are made available […]

Returning to the catalogue, at budget price for the first time, is the delicious recording by Marriner and the Academy of Scandinavian works. The ‘Holberg Suite’ was recorded in 1970 whereas the rest of the program was taped seven years later. All of the recordings were made in the stunning Kingsway Hall acoustic.

Perhaps no recording of the two gorgeous Serenades has been suffused with such warmth and glow as Masur’s little-known recordings with the Gewandhausorchester. The First has never been issued on CD and, it appears, the Second has not even had an LP release! This release now makes available through Australian Eloquence, all of Kurt Masur’s […]

Mozart’s sublime masterpiece for violin and viola, the Sinfonia Concertante, was recorded on a few occasions by Marriner, but strangely enough, this version with two of the Academy’s foremost musicians – Alan Loveday and Stephen Shingles – has lain buried in the archives. Now, it receives its first release on CD and likewise its coupling, […]

Colin Davis and the English Chamber Orchestra made several Mozart recordings for L’Oiseau-Lyre. All five symphonies and both Divertimenti that he recorded are collected here on a 2CD set (the Concertone has also been re-issued). Crisp and tender, they are classic performances from the 1960s and will be warmly welcomed in these CD transfers by […]

The young Abbado made a handful of recordings with the Vienna Philharmonic of which this taught, sprightly reading of Beethoven’s Eighth (just listen to the orchestra’s reflexes in the finale) and the grand yet detailed vision of Bruckner’s First made just one short-lived appearance on CD. Now they return, remastered and at super-budget price.

Marilyn Horne’s plum-tinged mezzo and the music of Mahler are inseparable. So far, only the ‘Fahrenden Gesellen’ songs and the ‘Kindertotenlieder’ have made their way to CD (now deleted), so it is appropriate to collect on a single CD, the three masterpieces all performed by the same artist. The ‘Rückert-Lieder’ make their first appearance on […]