Posts tagged as "london-symphony-orchestra"

Rachmaninov: Piano Concertos Nos. 1 & 3

April 29, 2016

The famous ‘Shine’ piano concerto – No. 3 – now appears at budget price in this very romantic performance from one of Decca’s star pianists, Alicia de Larrocha. The coupling is the no-less-difficult and wildly exciting Piano Concerto No. 1 from Peter Katin.

The Best of Ravel

April 29, 2016

There are few Ravel orchestral compilations – at any price – that could hold a candle to this one. And most of the Mehta material appears on CD for the first time. A wilder ‘La Valse’, a more erotic ‘Daphnis et Chloé’ with its orgiastic finale you’d be hard-pressed to find! And what a magical finale […]

Bartók: Piano Concertos Nos. 1-3

April 29, 2016

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.

Dvorak: Slavonic Dances; Massenet: Le Cid; Meyerbeer: Les Patineurs

April 29, 2016

Jean Martinon (1910-76) was not only a successful conductor but also an accomplished composer and his musical intuition and fine ear for detail is evident at every turn in these recordings. This release will achieve cult status, as did the original recordings, made in 1958 (Massenet, Meyerbeer) and 1959 (Dvorak). The French works were recorded […]

Bach: Keyboard Concertos

April 29, 2016

Purists might squirm but purists should think again. As Raymond Tuttle says in his background notes to this unique release, ‘When purists complain about Bach played on the piano, they also need to be reminded that, as these five concertos were not written for the keyboard in the first place, one might argue that any […]

Mozart, Weber, Spohr: Clarinet Concertos

April 29, 2016

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.

Rachmaninov: Symphony No. 3; Youth Symphony; Piano Concerto No. 4

April 29, 2016

Sergei Rachmaninov began his Third Symphony in August 1935 at Senar, his Swiss villa, while riding a final wave of popular success. His ‘Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini’ had enjoyed a successful premiere the year before, and subsequent performances had gone far to mute criticism that the composer’s well of inspiration had dried up. […]

Grieg: Holberg Suite; Elegiac Melodies; Nordic Melodies; Ceremonial March

April 29, 2016

In 1976, Willi Boskovsky, unusually perhaps, made a lovely Grieg recording for Decca. About a third of it was briefly issued in the 1980s on Decca’s ‘Headline’ series but now, for the first time, we offer the whole record with the bonus of Stanley Black’s recording of the four ‘Lyric Pieces’ (on CD for the […]

Mendelssohn: Symphonies Nos. 3 & 4

April 29, 2016

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 […]