Classical Music

Classical Music

Just prior to the Second World War, Sir Adrian single-handedly built the BBC Symphony Orchestra into a world-renowned ensemble. This live 1975 Proms performance of Brahms's Symphony No.4 has never been issued before. It has been recorded in stereo and fully captures the 'Indian summer' that Boult enjoyed at the Proms and in the studio with EMI at the time.

Characteristic Viennese waltzes, polkas, and overtures represent some of the best moments from Viennese Night Prom concerts spanning a vintage period in their history. Included are works by Johann Strauss I & II, Franz Lehar, and Franz von Suppe.

Sir John Barbirolli was one of the most versatile conductors of his generation, associated with composers and works of every era. These historic recordings, never before released, present works he previously had not recorded, - like the Britten Serenade for Tenor, Horn, and Strings - or were under-recorded - like Schubert's Symphony No. 4.

With stunning accounts of Brahms and Mahler, this recording marks an exciting, new relationship between ICA Classics and the SWR in Stuttgart, and it is the first release of this material outside Japan. 'Klaus Tennstedt's concerts with the LPO at the Festival Hall were among the greatest performances I have ever heard' (Sunday Times review of ICAC 5033, Mahler: Symphony No.3)

Classical Music

These revelatory films feature Britten with his favored English Chamber Orchestra performing at two very different times of his life, with equal value. Filmed at Christmas 1964, the main program of Mozart's Symphony No.40 and Britten's own Nocturne shows a man in his prime. The Mozart was a particular favorite of Britten's and his admiration for it certainly comes across in the performance.

Classical Music

Gennadi Rozhdestvensky (b.1931) is the last living survivor of a great Russian quartet of conductors consisting of Mravinsky, Kondrashin and Svetlanov. He was the highly distinguished principal conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra from 1978 to 1981, an exciting period in the orchestra’s history faithfully captured here. These recordings of Holst’s Planets and Britten’s Variations & Fugue on a Theme of Purcell have never been issued before on CD.

Classical Music

Classical Music

Russian pianist Emil Gilels is regarded by many as one of the most significant pianists of the twentieth century and is universally admired for his superb technical control and burnished tone. The performance of Brahms's Piano Concerto 2 dates from 1971when Gilels was at his peak, and the live recital dates from 1974 featuring performances of Debussy and Prokofiev, both favorites of the pianist.

Hartmut Haenchen was born in Dresden in 1943 and from the moment of his 1971 Carl Maria von Weber Competition victory onward, he has been a force of nature in the classical music world. These Mahler recordings are being released to commemorate Haenchen's seventieth birthday and a rich career conducting orchestras and opera companies worldwide.

Ingrid Jacoby has established herself as one of the most poetic and admired pianists of her generation. This recording of Beethoven's Piano Concertos Nos. 2 & 4 marks her debut on ICA Classics 'Live' series. Beautifully recorded in the best digital sound there is a palpable feeling of the live performance being created in the Witold Lutoslawski Concert Studio.