Music from five original Argo albums, newly remastered and compiled together for the first time in a 2CD set, with new booklet notes on the music and a tribute to Simon Preston. During the 1960s, it often seemed as if a new Simon Preston organ LP appeared every few months: so much in demand was […]
Even while creating a sensation across the US with concerts in Chicago, Cleveland, New York and further afield, Rafael Kubelík recorded the four symphonies of Brahms with the Vienna Philharmonic for Decca (in stereo) in the 1950s. Long unavailable, they are here presented together for the first time on CD, in an economical 2CD package, […]
Founded in 1937, the annual Queen Elisabeth Competition for violin and piano is still the best-known such event organised in Belgium and is considered among the best and most demanding in the world. Following in the footsteps of his fellow countryman, Emil Gilels who won first prize for piano in 1938, Mikhail Faerman stunned both […]
Is nothing sacred? The Cambridge Buskers bring their madcap humour to the greats of classical music – everything from the ‘Hallelujah Chorus’ and the ‘1812 Overture’ to Ravel’s ‘Bolero’ and the ‘Teddy Bears’ Picnic’! And not forgetting Beethoven’s Nine Symphonies in under four minutes… This 4CD set brings together the pair’s most famous albums, released […]
Although noted for his fearless and thrilling performances of music by Paganini for Deutsche Grammophon, Salvatore Accardo also recorded extensitvely for Philips in the 1970s and 80s. His repertoire ranged from Baroque music through to 19th and 20th century concertos, including the complete music for violin and orchestra by Bruch and concertos by Mendelssohn and Sibelius. Here, […]
Georg Solti’s first recordings were as a pianist – those with the great German violinist, Georg Kulenkampff, here collected in their entirety. The two artists recorded Brahms’s G major sonata in February 1947 and Beethoven’s ’Kreutzer’ Sonata in June 1947. They completed the Brahms sonatas in July 1948. Sadly, this would be their only collaboration. Kulenkampff died […]
Hans Hotter (1909–2003) was 64 when he recorded two recital LPs for Decca, here coupled as a 2CD set. One of the rare singers to achieve equal eminence in Wagner and in Lieder, the singer’s voluminous bass-baritone, at once majestic and profoundly human, was in its autumn. Yet, the sense of detail, of characterisation, he […]
Pianist John Lill, born in London in 1944, has long been associated with the music of Beethoven and Brahms. He catapulted to international fame, however, when he was the co-winner of the International Tchaikovsky Competition in 1970. The Concerto No. 2 presented here is a live recording from that competition, dating from 25th June. The […]
‘The veteran Swiss conductor was a fine Brahms conductor’ wrote Gramophone magazine and as these recordings prove, he was indeed. The majority of these recordings make their first international debut on CD, following repeated requests by Ansermet fans around the world. Classically poised, yet Romantically generous in their spirit, they make a welcome appearance on […]
As an eleven-year-old in 1895, Wilhelm Backhaus met and performed for D’Albert, Grieg, Nikisch and Brahms, among others. Here was a pianist who shunned hectoring gestures of the late Romantic era for economy and purposefulness. ‘His facial expression always remained steady, showing an unceasing concentration on the sounds his hands were coaxing from the instrument […]
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.
From Decca’s rich catalogue of piano music comes a generous selection of miniatures for piano, many of them quiet, all of them popular and much sought-after, in the finest of performances, of course.
