Among the legion of Decca recordings boasting the company’s fabled ‘Decca Sound’, one that has been overlooked is the late Sir Charles Mackerras’s recording of his own arrangements of ‘moments’ from the G&S canon under the title Pineapple Poll. Like Gaîte Parisienne and Le Beau Danube it is a ‘jukebox’ ballet, built on cleverly assembled medleys, […]
Two gargantuan late-Romantic Austrian works are coupled on this very rare recording by Vladimir Ashkenazy and the Deutsches Sinfonie-Orchester Berlin. The recording had limited release in Germany and this is its first international release. Mahler’s Third Symphony is the longest symphony by any composer to be part of the basic repertoire and, at first, had […]
A 2CD set of Overtures from the D’Oyly Carte recordings made over several years by Decca, together with some of Sullivan’s ‘concert overtures’ – Macbeth, Marmion and Di Ballo. Also included is an extremely rare 1969 Decca recording of Sullivan Choruses conducted by James Walker, better known in musical circles as one of Decca’s key recording […]
This recording forms part of a series of reissues celebrating the glorious Decca recordings from the 1950s-1970s of the Wiener Oktett (Vienna Octet), made up of key principals from the Wiener Philharmoniker and the Vienna Symphony Orchestra. Five titles were released in September and the remaining five are released this month. This release forms a […]
This recording forms part of a series of 10 reissues celebrating the glorious Decca recordings from the 1950s-1970s of the Wiener Oktett (Vienna Octet), made up of key principals from the Wiener Philharmoniker and the Vienna Symphony Orchestra. Five titles were released in September and the remaining five are released this month. In addition to […]
This recording forms part of a series of reissues celebrating the glorious Decca recordings from the 1950s-1970s of the Wiener Oktett (Vienna Octet), made up of key principals from the Wiener Philharmoniker and the Vienna Symphony Orchestra. Five titles were released in September and the remaining five are released this month. Receiving their first international […]
The music on this pair of CDs falls into one of two categories: ballet music from an opera, or ballet music that was not originally intended for dancing at all, but that was subsequently adapted for that purpose. (The exception is Don Quixote, a full-length ballet with an original score.) Many famous conductors had unusual […]
The recorded legacy of Albert Wolff is one of the most sought-after by collectors. Of Dutch parentage, but born in Paris, Wolff was something of a polymath: pianist, organist, conductor, composer, and had a long career in recording studios beginning in 1920. His first recordings for Decca, starting in the summer of 1951, were a […]
The recorded legacy of Albert Wolff is one of the most sought-after by collectors. Of Dutch parentage, but born in Paris, Wolff was something of a polymath: pianist, organist, conductor, composer, and had a long career in recording studios beginning in 1920. His first recordings for Decca, starting in the summer of 1951, were a […]
Many famous conductors had unusual lives, but the life of Anatole Fistoulari (1907-1995) was more unusual than most. When he was just seven, he conducted a performance of Tchaikovsky’s Sixth Symphony in his native city of Kiev. At thirteen, he conducted Saint-Saëns’s Samson and Delilah in Bucharest. While a young man, he travelled throughout Europe […]
The recorded legacy of Albert Wolff is one of the most sought-after by collectors. Of Dutch parentage, but born in Paris, Wolff was something of a polymath: pianist, organist, conductor, composer, and had a long career in recording studios beginning in 1920. His first recordings for Decca, starting in the summer of 1951, were a […]
A rare, beautiful and unusual Christmas compilation: three 1960s Argo recordings of contemporary settings and arrangements of carols – Sir Cristemas, Sing Nowell and Carols Of Today – released collectively on Decca CD for the first time. The settings include composers such as Nicholas Maw, Peter Maxwell Davies, Malcolm Williamson, Louis Halsey, Bernard Naylor, William […]
