Abravanel is very good in this music - crackling with energy tempered with tender ways with the great melodies. Antar is a neglected prize among Rimsky's works ranking with Sheherazade... Caucasian Sketches have These You Have Loved status with Procession of the Sardar establishing the idiom for a thousand Hollywood triumphal and barbarous marches... The Gli�re is a fun piece that stamps emphatically and clearly influenced by Mussorgsky's Pictures from an Exhibition. As an inexpensive single disc collection of less obvious Russian repertoire this is difficult to top. I recommend it strongly. (Rob Barnett / MusicWeb International)

'A passionately committed performance... outstanding recommendation' [BBC Radio]; 'I enjoyed the whole sweep of his conception, his commanding pianism and complete sympathy with the music... I enjoyed both performances enormously... The recording has an overall sound that is full and rich' [Gramophone] 'this is the best recording of the Paganini Rhapsody I've ever heard'.�[Fanfare, USA]

[Myslivecek] "She is a charming, persuasive advocate... The ECO, too, offer fine support and with a range of tone colours, match de la Vega's recreative imagination. Pentatone has captured these performances in particularly clear sound... de la Vega offers the first recording of a Concerto in D by Myslivecek, one that displays the utmost craftsmanship and appeal... her fine performance renders it memorable" (Gramophone). [Richter etc] "authentic instrument ensemble The New Dutch Academy has an international reputation, formed of well-established early music specialists... string symphonies by the 18th Century 'Mannheim school' composers... Vibrant, energetic and wonderfully secure playing is supported by a sumptuous recording... yet there is no loss of detail in the fast music" (Gramophone)

Iconic recordings of core Classical Repertoire Arthur Grumiaux (violin), Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Bernard Haitink, Eduard van Beinum, Riccardo Castagnone (piano) - [Brahms] "recordings are excellent, Grumiaux's playing and interpretation equal any I have ever heard... balance between soloist and orchestra is natural, no praise is too high for interpretation - a most lyrical performance, full of beauty" - " [Mendelssohn] "these performances are among the best and Grumiaux's playing has his usual purity of style and instinctive musicianship to commend it." - [Corelli] : "a glorious tone, and he infuses Corelli's beautiful slow movements with warm lyricism... difficult to resist such beauty" (all: Gramophone)

Some of Tchaikovsky's most famous works came from his ballets. This recording features performances of his most popular ballet works including Swan Lake, The Nutcracker and Sleeping Beauty by the brilliant Evegeni Svetlanov conducting the USSR State Symphony Orchestra.

Fritz Kreisler and Erich Wolfgang Korngold both shared the same Viennese musical roots, and both fled to the United States to escape Nazi persecution. Even though they moved countries, they maintained their musical roots. Originally on KOCH and featuring the Angeles String Quartet, this recording of string quartets from these two composers showcases their melodic writing and their Viennese musical heritage.

20 tracks of Leontyne Price's own personal favorites spanning Passionate Opera, Classic Gershwin, Traditional Spirituals and Sacred Songs