‘From Melba to Sutherland: Australian Singers on Record’ is the first-ever comprehensive survey of the recordings of Australia’s greatest singers – in a unique, new, 4CD set from Decca, complete with biographies of each of the 80 artists, rare photographs, all contained within a 68-page booklet. Why has there been such an extraordinary procession of […]

As a young man, Sibelius dreamed – not just figuratively but literally – of becoming an internationally acclaimed violin virtuoso. Sibelius’ best mature compositions, however, are free of mere showmanship and his Violin Concerto might be the composer’s attempt to reconcile the world of the flashy virtuoso with that of the brooding, Nordic ascetic. Whether […]

Eschewing the barn-storming bravura of some of his colleagues, Claudio Arrau brought an extra dimension – a spiritual, meditative one – to his performances of Liszt and these recordings of the Concertos unfold with unequalled grandeur. Equally compelling are his expansive readings of the three ‘Études de Concert’.

Colin Davis’ recordings of Mozart have stood the test of time and his readings of the composer’s choral music are imposing, ennobling edifices of interpretation. The soloists in the ‘Great Mass’ blend marvellously and the ‘Ave Verum Corpus’ is given a reading of quiet intensity.

This is surely one of the most elegant, heart-warming recordings of ‘The Marriage of Figaro’, capturing the singers – and the conductor – at the peak of their profession. A choice collection of highlights.

Stephen Kovacevich’s accounts of the Bartók piano concertos have long set the benchmark by which others are measured. In their gravity, exploration of colour and explosion of fury they are unmatched and the partnership with Davis is febrile and energetic.

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.

Gervase de Peyer was one of the leading clarinet players in the 1960s, making several recordings as both soloist and chamber-music player for L’Oiseau-Lyre. Three of his most critically-acclaimed recordings – concertos by Mozart, Weber and Spohr – are offered here, all performed with the London Symphony Orchestra.

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 […]

Collectors’ ears will prick-up at the inclusion of the Bavarian Radio/Sir Colin Davis recording of a chorus from ‘Messiah’, otherwise unavailable.

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.

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, […]