‘I think that every art is an art of authority but between “authoritarian” and “dictatorial” there is a vast difference.’ So remarked the Hungarian conductor, Antal Doráti, towards the end of a long career which included, near its beginning, almost a decade spent working closely with orchestras in The Hague and Amsterdam. That work, very […]

Newly remastered and compiled for the first time, the complete Decca recital albums of Irma Kolassi are now available on this 4CD set from Eloquence. Born in Greece but raised in Paris,she  began her career as a pianist until her ‘richly regal’ (The Times) mezzo-soprano was discovered. As a vocal coach in Athens, she worked […]

Unlikely in theory, fruitful in practice: for the first time on CD, Eloquence presents a duet recording of the Greek-born, French mezzo-soprano, Irma Kolassi and French-Canadian tenor, Raoul Jobin. Kolassi was no creature of the stage: her brief recording career centres around Decca recital albums which have also been newly remastered and reissued by Eloquence […]

‘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 […]

The renowned Cleveland sound coupled with the stylish, high-powered baton technique of Lorin Maazel, here bring you a wonderful selection of overtures, some of them making their first appearance on CD.

The first release on CD of these two wonderful performances. The Berlioz is scored for viola and orchestra while the Bloch is written for cello and orchestra and both works represent their heroes (one named, the other unnamed) in ever-changing landscapes. Needless to say, the performances are absolutely first-rate.

Berlioz’s full-blown Romantic symphony was inspired by his infatuation with a pretty British ingénue named Harriet Smithson and one of the work’s greatest recording artists was Charles Munch. His RCA recordings are well known but very rare is his Philips recording made in 1966 with the Hungarian Radio and Television Orchestra.

This generously compiled CD brings together two great sopranos – Hildegard Behrens and Elly Ameling – in ravishing French music for the voice and orchestra.  The entire Ameling/de Waart recording (Ravel, Duparc, Debussy) is coupled with the Berlioz cycle, the former making a welcome return to the catalogue after a long absence and showcasing the […]

A simply gorgeous recording of the most popular Violin romances. The recording had long been deleted from the catalogue and is now reissued with the added ‘bonus’ of the Schubert Rondo.

One of Joan Sutherland’s last records was a disc of trios for soprano, horn and piano. All the music is virtually unknown (and texts/English translations are included), all of it charming and lovingly performed by the trio of Australians.

Since the beginning of opera, the convention of the duet, in which two characters simultaneously express their feelings, has been one of the staple ploys of musical dramatists. Characters may join their voices in a unity of feeling, or in extreme disagreement, or in any one of the thousand shades in between; though in the […]

The stunning ‘Covent Garden Anniversary Album’ released complete for the first time on CD, coupled with Solti’s firecracker accounts of Overtures and Preludes. Soloists include a range of 1960s Covent Garden stalwarts, – Carlyle, Sutherland, Veasey, Minton, Shuard, Collier, Gobbi, Evans, Pears and Ward; and conductors – Downes, Bonynge, Walton and Goodall. Nearly 160 minutes […]