The supreme exponent of Viennese Mozart and his first recording of Mozart’s ‘rescue opera’ set in a Turkish harem (Decca’s first opera to be issued on LP), coupled with a superbly stylish collection of overtures. Weber’s verdict on ‘Die Entführung’ – ‘the victory of youth in all its freshness’ – has hardly been challenged since […]

At a time when Donizetti was represented on the world’s stages by little more than ‘Lucia di Lammermoor’ and the recording industry was only beginning to capitalise on public hunger for the sublime art of bel canto, this complete recording of the composer’s first great international success was welcomed as a landmark in the history […]

‘Der Zigeunerbaron’ (The Gypsy Baron) completes a trio of Strauss-family recordings made by Clemens Krauss for Decca in the early 1950s. Like ‘Die Fledermaus’ (482 7379) and his New Year Concerts (482 7364), it is now reissued by Eloquence, in a new remastering with a fresh editorial retrospective from Mike Ashman on the special chemistry […]

Still considered by many to be the finest recording ever made of the jewel in Viennese operetta: ‘Die Fledermaus’ was one of a trio of Strauss-family recordings made by Clemens Krauss for Decca in the early 1950s. Like ‘Der Zigeunerbaron’ (482 7371) and his New Year Concerts (482 7364), it is now reissued by Eloquence, in […]

This recording of ‘Die Meistersinger’ was one of the first operas released on LP by Decca in January 1952. Act II was recorded in 1950 and released separately; a year later came Acts I and III. It was also the first complete studio recording of the opera to be released on LP and came early […]

Certain rhythms seem to flow naturally for certain people. Shakespeare could probably have held a conversation in iambic pentameters and, when it comes to music, you can find many national preferences: the tango for Argentinians, the samba for Brazilians, the polka for Czechs, the mazurka for Poles, the czárdás for Hungarians, and so on. The […]

Aromatherapy, the quiet moments of classical music. And the seventh volume is a collection of music inspired by the countryside. This album takes a tour of many and varied landscapes beginning with the English countryside as seen through the eyes of Vaughan Williams, coupled with the Vienna Woods, in Johann Strauss II’s popular waltz, France’s […]

Gifted with great beauty and a natural stage presence, Hilde Gueden was unfailingly easy on the ear as well as the eye. With her creamy tone and ability to spin the silvery upper-register sonority needed for her Strauss roles, she was a natural successor to Elisabeth Schumann, Lotte Schöne and Adele Kern. Fortunately for posterity, […]

The first CD release of Kertész’ recording of Mozart’s choral masterwork with some glorious solo singing. The work achieved huge popularity in the 1980s through its pivotal inclusion in the film ‘Amadeus’.

The incomparable strings of the Vienna Philharmonic and the airborne singing of the Vienna State Opera Chorus are just two highlights of this memorable recording of Schubert’s Incidental Music for ‘Rosamunde’. It is here released for the first time on CD.

The first release at super-budget price of this towering performance of the ninth symphony. Many of the recordings in this Beethoven cycle have never before been locally available.

Aromatherapy, the quiet moments of classical music. And the seventh volume, Reflections in the Water, is the ultimate tranquility! Water is a force of nature that inspired composers to some of their most languid compositions, from the Baroque (Handel’s Water Music written for a royal party held on a barge) to Impressionistic (the aqueous ripples and shimmer […]