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.

One of Bartók’s most popular symphonic works is his Concerto for Orchestra. Rafael Kubelik’s fabulous recording of it has long been out of the catalogue and is now restored to circulation at budget price. What’s more, it’s the first recording of the piece made by the orchestra for which it was written. Koussevitzky and the […]

William Steinberg made only three recordings for Deutsche Grammophon and his Hindemith recordings, authoritative, sumptuously recorded and pulsating with energy, are among the most invaluable in the Hindemith discography. Barenboim’s coupling of ‘Der Schwanendreher’ is no less welcome, offering what is substantially an important 20th-century viola concerto and being a viola player himself, Hindemith’s writing […]