An undisputed masterpiece of the Russian repertoire – Shostakovich’s Piano Quintet – is joined by the little known Prokofiev Quintet which had a vexed gestation together with a rarity from the Hungarian-born Matyas Seiber who lived most of his life in Britain. In it, Peter Pears takes the role of narrator of passages from the […]

The great yearning melodies and the seductiveness of Korngold’s orchestration are hard to resist. The sheer sweep and thrill of his music became what is sometimes called the ‘Hollywood sound’, but in no way makes him a less serious composer as this collection of works, all conducted by André Previn on Deutsche Grammophon, reveals. His […]

Two slimmer works of Austro-German chamber repertoire – Mozart’s popular ‘Kegelstatt’ (Skittles) Trio and Weber’s lesser known but quite virtuoso, Flute Trio, preface Brahms’s magnificent Horn Trio on these rare L’Oiseau-Lyre recordings from The Melos Ensemble. All represent first releases on CD.

Solti’s vigorous interpretation of Bizet’s ‘Carmen’ is represented by a generous selection of highlights and includes some of the finest singers of our generation.

Kempff’s Baroque pedigree stemmed from the influence of his father also named Wilhelm Kempff and his grandfather Cantor Friedrick Kempff. Both  were organists who taught the budding prodigy much of the organ’s core repertoire. In fact, Kempff’s youthful debut as an organist took place before his first recital as a pianist in 1907. With help […]

Ruggiero Ricci is in his element in these virtuoso concertos and showpieces, with both the Tchaikovsky Concerto (with Sargent) and the Scherzo plus the Sibelius Violin Concerto, being released internationally on CD for the first time. The perceptive booklet notes by Tully Potter include a biography of Ricci and (sometimes wry!) comments by the violinist […]

Arthur Grumiaux was a prince among violinists and recorded extensively for Philips/Decca. Many of his recordings – some of them released internationally for the first time on CD – have appeared on an extensive series on the Eloquence label. Here is another – a rare 1956 performance of the Tchaikovsky concerto coupled with his highly-praised […]

A double-CD of Romantic Violin Concertos celebrating the art of Ruggiero Ricci, this set includes the first international release on CD of the Ricci/Boult 1952 recording of the Beethoven. Boult characterised it as ‘perhaps the most thoughtful concerto, the one which needs for the violinist to be a great man as well as a great […]

Ruggiero Ricci has enjoyed a varied and colourful discography on Decca and these recordings, are, apart from Prokofiev’s Second Violin Sonata, all comprised of music for solo violin. The Bach pieces date from the 1957 London sessions and the 20th-century pieces were recorded three years later at Victoria Hall in Geneva. Tully Potter’s perceptive liner […]

This was the first of two recordings by Ernest Ansermet of ‘Pelléas et Mélisande’, a work he conducted several times on stage. It was made in April 1952, to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the premiere. In his liner notes, Juan Pons observes: ‘In this recording we can hear Ansermet’s best qualities: subtlety, clarity, a […]

This volume of Debussy’s orchestral works under Ernest Ansermet,  brings together all of the composer’s acknowledged masterpieces together with some of the shorter pieces. The rare 1951 recording of ‘Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune’ and the 1949 recording of the ‘Images’ make their first appearance on CD. Ansermet’s second recording of ‘La Mer’ – he also […]

One of Bartók’s most popular symphonic works is his Concerto for Orchestra. Rafael Kubelik’s fabulous recording of it has long been out of the catalogue and is now restored to circulation at budget price. What’s more, it’s the first recording of the piece made by the orchestra for which it was written. Koussevitzky and the […]