Stephen Layton and his Trinity College Choir forces bring their superabundant talents to bear on the 'B Minor Mass'. The results - as only to be expected from this team - are wonderfully good.

Bernard Haitink was always a familiar figure in London where he was principal conductor of the London Philharmonic from 1967 to 1979 and was also seen at such prestigious British opera houses as Covent Garden and at Glyndebourne. This, the second of three volumes covering Haitink's complete recordings for Decca and Philips, focuses on his London years. The recordings cover a period of two decades, from 1967 (Dvorak with Heinrich Schiff) to 1986 (Rachmaninoff with Vladimir Ashkenazy.) Many of the hallmarks of Haitink's Concertgebouw recordings are present in these readings with the LPO. His unobtrusive authority - letting the score speak - was aptly summarized by Gramophone: "At no point is one remotely aware that the performance is being conducted. It simply is."

Few orchestral pieces demand precision engineering as much as Richard Strauss's 'An Alpine Symphony.' The Decca recording by Sir Georg Solti and the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra was made in 1979, one of the last Decca analog productions before the switch to digital. Solti knew Strauss personally and studied the composer's own recording before taping this uniquely authentic performance in Munich. Recorded by Decca at the Herkulessaal, Munich, in September 1979, the original 1/4-inch, two-track stereo tapes have been mastered by Rainer Maillard and cut by Sidney C. Meyer at Emil Berliner Studios. Pressed on 180g vinyl in gatefold jacket. Decca Pure Analogue Series is limited and numbered.

Stephen Hough's four Rachmaninov Piano Concertos have long been viewed as reference recordings of this iconic repertoire, the standard by which others must be judged. Bolstered by the Dallas Symphony Orchestra under Andrew Litton, Hough made a conscious return to the fast and lean performance tradition of the composer himself, avoiding the sentimental 'Hollywood' approach that had become so prevalent, for this triumphantly successful, awards-lavished Rachmaninov cycle. A 3LP set.

A complete collection of Julius Katchen's Brahms recordings, featuring him as heroic concerto soloist, dynamic chamber-music partner and rugged, scintillating protagonist in the solo-piano music. Includes previously unreleased versions of the clarinet sonatas with Michel Portal, and the First Cello Sonata with Janos Starker, as well as several fascinating repertoire duplications between recordings made in the mono and stereo eras. After Julius Katchen's untimely death from cancer in April 1969, aged just 42, the tribute paid by his record label Decca could claim without hyperbole that Katchen was 'one of the finest Brahms interpreters of his generation'. Less than 20 years earlier, he had burst like a firework onto the international scene with a record of Brahms's F minor Sonata, which became the first solo-piano LP to be issued by Decca. Critics and listeners were quick to admire the muscular, aquiline profile of playing that felt true to Brahms as the 'keyboard lion' of his own generation. In fact Katchen had made his debut on record a few months earlier, with the Handel Variations captured at Decca's West Hampstead studios in April 1949. He would go on to re-record the Variations in both 1958 and 1962, and this new Eloquence box presents all three versions side by side for the first time, demonstrating how Katchen's pianism matured during his brief career while losing none of it's barnstorming virtuosity. Katchen also recorded and then revisited the Paganini Variations, in 1959 and 1966, as well as the Third Sonata, as part of a stereo cycle of the complete solo piano works, made between 1961 and 1965. By then he had recorded both concertos, with the LSO conducted by Pierre Monteux and Janos Ferencsik. Towards the end of the 60s, Decca then captured him in timely manner as a sensitive partner to Josef Suk in the violin sonatas (which he had already recorded twice with Ruggiero Ricci in the 50s, both versions also being reissued here), the clarinet sonatas with Thea King, the cello sonatas with Janos Starker and piano trios with Suk and Starker. As Mark Ainley outlines in his booklet essay, surveying Katchen's meteoric career and special affinity with Brahms, the First Cello Sonata (a 1968 recording from Aldeburgh, made at the same time as the piano trios) was never issued; so too a 1967 set of the clarinet sonatas, in company with Michel Portal. With their first-ever release, this Decca Eloquence set presents the fullest possible portrait of Katchen as a sovereign interpreter of Brahms, capturing the music's muscular energy, refined nuancing, and emotional breadth.

BERNARD MAHLER HAITINK, BERNARD ROYAL CONCERTGEBOUW - Mahler: Symphony 5 & 10 - Bernard Haitink's Mahler has always been one of the glories of the Philips catalogue and the set of the 5th Symphony and Adagio from the 10th comes from the analogue cycle he made in the late 1960s and early 1970s. This 1970 recording was made quadraphonically in Amsterdam's Concertgebouw and was praised by Gramophone for having "that special clarity which comes from a close balance". / ROYAL CONCERTGEBOUW - Mahler: Symphony 5 & 10 - Bernard Haitink's Mahler has always been one of the glories of the Philips catalogue and the set of the 5th Symphony and Adagio from the 10th comes from the analogue cycle he made in the late 1960s and early 1970s. This 1970 recording was made quadraphonically in Amsterdam's Concertgebouw and was praised by Gramophone for having "that special clarity which comes from a close balance".

Reissued complete for the first time, the recorded legacy of Sir Colin Davis and the Boston Symphony Orchestra on Philips, including an unsurpassed cycle of Sibelius symphonies. Each element of the tricky chemistry came off when Colin Davis made his debut with the Boston Symphony Orchestra in 1967, in concerts of Berlioz, Stravinsky and Dvorak. In search of a new Principal Conductor at the time, the BSO offered the post to Davis, but he preferred to focus his energies on the directorship of the Royal Opera in London. However, he began making regular return visits to Boston, and in 1974 became the orchestra's Principal Guest Conductor. As the most 'European'-sounding of the great American orchestras, the BSO responded with natural affinity to Davis's sense of line and cultivated warmth in canon repertoire. When he began to explore Sibelius with them, both the orchestra and audience responded with cautious curiosity which blossomed into committed enthusiasm. Philips capitalised on this affinity by recording them together in the complete symphonies and selected tone-poems between 1975 and 1980, successfully capturing the intensity of the associated concerts. While the Sibelius cycle has maintained a firm place in the catalogue, other albums in the BSO/Davis discography have fallen from prominence. They include a fizzing Mendelssohn album of the 'Italian' Symphony and excerpts from A Midsummer Night's Dream; a delectably sprung set of excerpts from Schubert's Rosamunde, and one of the first-ever versions of the 'Great' C major Symphony to include all the repeats. Davis had a long-established harmonious working relationship with Claudio Arrau, and the Chilean pianist came to Boston to record magisterial, lovingly detailed versions of the concertos by Schumann, Grieg and Tchaikovsky. While Tchaikovsky is hardly a name associated with Davis, the conductor also drew remarkable tension, energy and volume from his Boston forces in Romeo and Juliet and the 1812 Overture (complete with chorus, organ, bells and the rest). This Original Covers box from Eloquence comprises newly remastered recordings and includes a new booklet essay by Peter Quantrill, exploring the history of Colin Davis in Boston, the elements of their happy artistic chemistry and the stories behind the scenes.

Ataulfo Argenta and Enrique Jorda - two Spanish maestri in a single Decca collection, newly remastered, with 'original jackets', and several recordings receiving their CD premieres. LIMITED EDITION. When Decca developed it's revolutionary new 'ffrr' technology in the postwar 1940s, the label promoted it with a list of new recordings made by their most distinguished artists: Kathleen Ferrier, Victor de Sabata... and Enrique Jorda. Likewise, when Decca embraced the step-change of LP a few years later, they advertised it's high fidelity and convenience with recordings made in Geneva by Ernest Ansermet and the young conductor he had determined upon as his successor in charge of the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande: Ataulfo Argenta. This set includes, for the first time, all the recordings made by Jorda in the 78 era and receiving their first official digital remastering; his LP discography is also included. Jorda (born in 1911) and Argenta (born in 1913) were the first Spanish conductors to win an international reputation. They did so with the unmannered, dynamically vital interpretations of Romantic and 20th-century repertoire which Decca preserved in these recordings. Both Argenta and Jorda were valued by orchestras and record labels as guarantors of authenticity in the Spanish orchestral repertoire by Falla, Albeniz, Turina, Rodrigo and others. But both conductors yearned to be recognized for their equal mastery of French and German repertoire. Listening now to Argenta conduct the Faust Symphony of Liszt and Schubert's 'Great' C major, and Jorda in Haydn No. 88 and Mozart's 'Linz' Symphony, we can hear the insights they bring to the Austro-German symphonic repertoire from a Hispanic angle. Both conductors made early and near-definitive recordings of Nights in the Gardens of Spain, by Falla, and this set presents a fascinating opportunity to compare their approaches. Argenta's career tragically ended with his death in 1958, aged just 44, while Jorda made a series of erratic career moves which culminated in an ill-starred tenure as music director in San Francisco. Under other circumstances, both conductors could have established a 'Spanish school' of conducting in the stereo age of the 1960s. This set illuminates the virtues of their common approaches to music, which through their Franco-German training in both cases brought together a sure grasp of form and rigor with a sensitivity to orchestral color. The nature of that formation is explored in a new booklet essay written by Peter Quantrill, and the recordings are reissued in Eloquence's 'Original Jackets' format.

Limited 180gm vinyl LP pressing. Seiji Ozawa's arrival in 1970 as music director of the San Francisco Symphony was later vividly described by Obama: "with his mop haircut, and his turtlenecks, and his love beads, he almost looked like a Beatle". This May 1975 recording of Dvorak's New World Symphony was one of the last to be made quadraphonically by Philips and specially remixed for this reissue. For this release Rainer Maillard at Emil Berliner Studios has used the original, four-track quadraphonic master tape to make a new stereo mix sent directly to the cutter head. This preserves a pure analogue path throughout. The Philips engineers of the 1970s would similarly have mixed the four front and rear channels before cutting but this downmix would have resulted in a two-track stereo copy for mastering, whereas here the lacquer is cut directly from a 'live' mix into stereo from the four Quad channels.

LOVE CLASSICAL MUSIC / VARIOUS

Nonesuch Records releases The Wild Heart, the label debut from composer Dylan Mattingly, The Wild Heart, performed by Contemporaneous with conductor David Bloom and vocal soloist Iarla O Lionaird. The vinyl edition features two movements - 'Ulysses Dances' and 'Last Dance' - from the five-movement work The Transmutation Notebooks, as well as Sunt Lacrimae Rerum (these are the tears of things).

Vinyl LP pressing. Nonesuch Records releases The Wild Heart, the label debut from composer Dylan Mattingly, The Wild Heart, performed by Contemporaneous with conductor David Bloom and vocal soloist Iarla O Lionaird. The vinyl edition features two movements - 'Ulysses Dances' and 'Last Dance' - from the five-movement work The Transmutation Notebooks, as well as Sunt Lacrimae Rerum (these are the tears of things).

Andre Cluytens (1905-1967) was known for flowing elegance, fidelity to the score, and temperament without any trace of showmanship. He was the first Frenchman to conduct at Bayreuth, made the first complete recording of Beethoven's symphonies with the Berlin Philharmonic, and was also a frequent and welcome guest in Lucerne. In 1954, he met the young Igor Oistrakh and earned standing ovations with Khachaturian's brilliant Violin Concerto and Franck's Symphony in D minor.

The distinguished Swedish conductor Herbert Blomstedt, long associated with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra as a regular guest, conducted Anton Bruckner's Symphony No. 9 in d Minor, in concerts on May 7 and 7, 2009 in the in the Philharmonie i'm Gasteig in Munich. This new BR-KLASSIK CD presents not only the live recording of this compelling interpretation but also a live orchestral rehearsal recording from May 2009. The latter forms part of BR Klassik's acclaimed series Conductors at Rehearsal, offering a glimpse into their artistic work with the orchestra. "It seems that the Ninth is a limit. He who wants to go beyond it must pass away. [...] Those who have written a Ninth stood too close to the hereafter." Arnold Schoenberg wrote those words in reference to Gustav Mahler, who had just died without ever having heard his own Ninth Symphony performed. Bruckner was apparently afraid of the fatal number as well: "I don't want to start on my Ninth at all, I don't dare'. However, very soon after the completion of his Eighth Symphony in September 1887, Bruckner started on his first drafts. Overall, work on the Ninth then dragged on over the long period from 1887 to 1896, having to be constantly interrupted because of the composer's deteriorating health. Bruckner finally died while working on the fourth movement - and his masterpiece dedicated to "the beloved God' remained unfinished. Even without a finale, the three-movement torso that survives is, of course, extremely impressive. The completed movements were first performed in Vienna on February 11, 1903, in an unusual personal version by the conductor Ferdinand Lowe. The actual first performance of the original score with it's three movements only took place on April 2, 1932 in Munich. Ever since, Bruckner's Ninth has been an essential part of the Late Romantic symphonic repertoire - above all in it's original version. The detailed rehearsal recordings on the CD provide a deeper insight into this magnificent work. Listeners can experience first-hand how the conductor's wishes, ideas and instructions are implemented, how his explanations and his temperament change the resulting sound, and what thoughts lie behind the interpretation of the work. Thanks to this series, which is now also available on CD, the unique artistic partnership between Herbert Blomstedt and the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra can be documented. Blomstedt's seemingly inexhaustible source of energy - music itself - is palpable in every word and every bar. ? Herbert Blomstedt conducts the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra in concerts on May 7 and 8, 2009 ? Live recording of Bruckner's Symphony No. 9 ? Includes "Conductors at Rehearsal": live recording of the orchestra rehearsal May 7 and 8, 2009 for the Munich concerts

Ernst von Dohnanyi was one of the most versatile and influential musicians of his time but his works are now seldom played. A gap which Capriccio want to fill now with this already eight recording of his late romantical, sensual music, deeply rooted in the Austro-German classical tradition. His Symphony No. 2 is a colossal work, lasting around an hour and calling for an extraordinarily large orchestra. The composition coincided with his departure from war-torn Hungary during World War II. Ruralia Hungarica, written in 1923 and arranged for orchestra in the following year, makes use of familiar Hungarian folk-melodies, some of them known abroad through their appearance in the work of other Hungarian composers.

Hans Werner Henze is one of the outstanding composers of the 20th century. To mark his 100th birthday, this edition will contain all the recordings released on the WERGO label, some of which were produced under his supervision - an extensive collection that does not claim to be complete, yet serves as an impressive testament to a versatility that echoes Henze's open-mindedness and cosmopolitan outlook: in terms of cultural history, politics and society, as well as form and composition. Regrouped and divided into groups of works in this edition, the recordings, some of which are no longer available, will be released in five CD box sets in 2026, starting with the symphonies, followed by orchestral works and instrumental concertos, chamber music and piano music, vocal music, and concluding with stage works, including the previously unreleased recording of 'Der Prinz von Homburg'. Almost 50 years passed between the composition of Hans Werner Henze's First Symphony in 1947 and the Tenth, which was completed at the turn of the millennium. The literary and political references are wide-ranging, stretching from ancient mythology to the Cuban Revolution to the Ninth as great choral symphony based on 'The Seventh Cross'. From work to work, one can trace Henze's development as a composer up to the sublime mastery of his late works. With his 10 symphonies, Henze created one of the monumental symphonic cycles of the 20th century.

SOMM Recordings is delighted to release the next CD of it's ongoing, glowingly reviewed Beecham Collection. The label's initiative in issuing this collection is widely regarded by critics and music historians as a superb and invaluable endeavour. Focusing on live performances, radio broadcasts, and rare recordings-often featuring the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra-the series has been described as a "ground-breaking" enterprise that unearths "buried treasure" for enthusiasts of Sir Thomas Beecham. This 36th issue includes live performances from two of Beecham's last concerts in 1959 and 1960, as well as one from 1954. Once again, producer and audio restorer Lani Spahr 'has done wonders with the restoration,' to quote John Quinn, Music Web International. This release opens with two of Beecham's signature musical lollipops, which he described collectively as 'delightful little pieces.' By the River comes from the Florida Suite by Frederick Delius. Though written in Leipzig, the suite was inspired by Delius's sojourn on an orange plantation in Florida, where his father had sent him in a vain attempt to try to dissuade him from pursuing music. Beecham championed the suite, and this piece, recorded live at the Royal Festival Hall on 24 April 1960, is an especially poignant document, as it was taped at what turned out to be Beecham's last concert in London. The second of the four Symphonic Dances by Edvard Grieg is the earliest performance on this CD, recorded live at the Royal Festival Hall on 26 October 1954. Grieg noted on the title page of the autograph manuscript that the dances were 'based on Norwegian motifs,' and this second dance, marked Allegretto grazioso, was an especial favourite of Beecham. The works of Leonard Salzedo, an English composer of Spanish descent, include seventeen ballets, the most successful of which was The Witch Boy from 1956, based on the 'Ballad of Barbara Allan.' Beecham's exciting and clearly committed concert performance three years after the premiere was described on the programme as 'Scenes and Dances from the Ballet, The Witch Boy,' and this recording faithfully reproduces the section titles as they were printed in the original Royal Festival Hall programme on 14 November 1959. That performance also included the Symphony No. 3 by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky-his only completed symphony in a major key, and the only one with five movements instead of the traditional four. Nicknamed 'The Polish' after the Tempo di polacca marking of the fifth and last movement, it is a lighter work than his other symphonies and considered by some less masterful. Beecham never saw it that way, and he always made a persuasive case for the symphony. By the time of the present performance, he had been playing the 'Polish' symphony for decades, and his conducting reveals a deep engagement with the work.

This album brings together Andrzej Panufnik's late London works, music shaped by a rigorous search for formal clarity and expressive balance. Symphony No. 10, his final symphony, exemplifies the composer's use of geometric principles, unfolding in a continuous span whose restraint gives it cumulative weight. The Violin and Cello Concertos, written for Yehudi Menuhin and Mstislav Rostropovich respectively, avoid overt display, favouring lucid textures and a direct, vocal approach to solo writing. Love Song, heard in it's instrumental arrangement for solo cello, harp and strings, closes the programme with characteristic economy and poise. John Mills and Božidar Vukotic are partnered by the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra under Alexander Walker.

Classical Music

Nur zwei Mal hat der japanische Dirigent Seiji Ozawa (1935-2024) das Symphonieorchester Des Bayerischen Rundfunks in Munchner Konzerten geleitet - doch beide Male wurde nichts weniger als Musikgeschichte geschrieben! I'm Juli 1983 dirigierte Ozawa i'm Herkulessaal der Munchner Residenz Strawinskys Le sacre du printemps und Beethovens Egmont-Ouverture sowie dessen Erstes Klavierkonzert mit Martha Argerich als Solistin, das als CD bereits erschienen ist (CD 900701). Und i'm Januar 1990 prasentierte er sich in der Philharmonie i'm Gasteig mit dem hier erstmals auf CD vorgelegten Programm - mit beispiellos beeindruckenden Interpretationen von Beethovens Funfter Symphonie und Strauss' Tondichtung Ein Heldenleben. In Beethovens funfter Symphonie bestaunte bereits der erste Rezensent E. T. A. Hoffmann das in jener Musik zum Ausdruck gebrachte dramatische Ringen des Menschen durch Nacht zum Licht', das auf rein musikalische Weise gestaltet ist, in struktureller Dichte und auerster Stringenz. Erst in der zweiten Halfte des 19. Jahrhunderts wurde das Werk dann zur Schicksalssymphonie', i'm Sinne jenes heroischen Bildes des Menschen und Kunstlers Ludwig van Beethoven, das sich mittlerweile eingeburgert hatte. Demnach sollte die Symphonie das Leiden und uberwinden des titanisch mit dem Schicksal ringenden Beethoven, insbesondere mit dem personlichen Schicksal seiner Ertaubung behandeln. Eine romantische Anschauung vom Kunstler als leidendem Auenseiter wurde nachtraglich dem Leben und Werk Beethovens aufgepfropft, vor allem seiner funften Symphonie. Um das Leben eines Helden geht es auch in Richard Strauss' Tondichtung, die entstand, als er das Amt des Berliner Hofkapellmeisters antrat. Auch mit diesem Werk wollte er (wie etliche seiner Zeitgenossen) an Beethoven oder die von jenem geschaffene musikalische Ausdruckskraft anknupfen - mit den Mitteln seiner Zeit. Die Tondichtung Ein. Heldenleben, die ihre Urauffuhrung am 3. Marz 1899 in Frankfurt am Main erlebte, liee sich einem Brief Strauss' zufolge als moderne Variante der Eroica deuten, die auch formal auf die klassische Sonatenhauptsatzform zuruckgreift. In der Partitur fehlen die programmatischen Erlauterungen; die uberschriften der sechs Abschnitte wurden erst unmittelbar vor der Urauffuhrung formuliert - vermutlich nicht einmal von Strauss. Trotzdem machte man dem Komponisten, den man als Personalunion seines Helden' sah, den Vorwurf tonender Selbstdarstellung.

Completely forgotten today, Friedrich Schwindl (1737 - 1786) was a highly esteemed violinist and composer in his time. His name appears repeatedly in the writings of Leopold Mozart, Charles Burney, and Daniel Schubart, yet his biography can only be reconstructed in a very fragmentary way. Born in Amsterdam, the stages of his life can be traced along the Rhine, from the Netherlands to Switzerland. The focus of his work was instrumental music, especially symphonies, of which 31 survive. They are influenced by the compositions of the Mannheim School but have a more folk-like character. A fascinating discovery of music history, brought to life virtuously and authentically by the musicians of the L'Arte del Mondo orchestra under Werner Ehrhardt.

The Polish composer Moritz Moszkowski (1854-1925) is best remembered for a handful of virtuoso piano pieces, but he also produced a substantial body of orchestral music, most of it unperformed for a century or more. This fourth volume presents his only symphony, a strikingly assured work for a composer in his late teens. Unsurprisingly, it owes a good deal to Schumann in it's dancing rhythms, heraldic bearing and orchestral colours - and the Scherzo might almost be by Mendelssohn on holiday in Poland. The 'Six Episodes' - charming, ingratiating and energising by turn - are all that remain of the lost full-length ballet Laurin. They were saved because Moszkowski excerpted them for concert performance, thereby creating a 'Dance Suite' in all but name.

Between 1972 and 2018 the Ukrainian composer Yevhen Stankovych - born in 1942 and now the senior figure in Ukrainian music - produced a series of seventeen Chamber Symphonies, many of them doubling as concertos. This substantial body of music has remained largely unheard until now, even inside Ukraine, and should prove a major discovery for audiences everywhere. These works cover a kaleidoscopic range of moods - lyrical, rhythmically propulsive, bashfully hesitant, buoyantly assertive, elegiac, optimistic - expressed in a direct language with it's distant roots in the mild modernism of Berg, Britten, Janacek, Shostakovich and like composers. Stankovych's achievement is unparalleled in the history of music not simply because of the sheer number of his Chamber Symphonies - they also contain some of the finest music of the past half-century.

Gianandrea Noseda is clearly one of those conductors who 'are equally at home in both genres', as the 'Neue Zurcher Zeitung' put it in 2021 on the occasion of his debut as General Music Director at Zurich Opera House. 'In hindsight, one cannot even judge whether he is the better opera or symphony conductor.' In his concert performances in Zurich, Noseda focused on the works of Johannes Brahms. Following a highly acclaimed performance of the 'German Requiem', he also conducted the Zurich Opera Orchestra in performances of Brahms's symphonies. The four symphonies by Johannes Brahms were completed between 1876 and 1885 and are regarded as milestones in the Romantic orchestral repertoire. Under the baton of Gianandrea Noseda, they were recorded live at the Zurich Opera House during various concerts and can now be heard together on this album.

Don Quixote' and 'Ein Heldenleben' are two large-scale tone-poems that Richard Strauss composed in Munich and Berlin during the final years of the 19th century. Whilst the first work was inspired by Cervantes' tragicomic novel hero, in the second work he effectively stylised himself as a successful (artistic) hero. Similar characters make an appearance in the two other works on this album: Shakespeare's tragic hero 'MacBeth' in an early overture, and another domestic Strauss hero (named 'Stork') in the opera 'Intermezzo', from which four symphonic interludes are featured here. As General Music Director of the Zurich Opera Orchestra, Gianandrea Noseda has conducted these compositions by Strauss, some of which feature a huge orchestra. They are now released together on this album.