London Philharmonic Orchestra

One of the leading baritones and dramatic interpreters of his generation, Gerald Finley is an artist who sets alight the stage and delights the ear in whatever the role he portrays.

On this (his first arias disc, and first for Opera in English) he explores a broad range of repertory: old favourites, hidden treasures, and roles which he himself has created, among them J.Robert Oppenheimer in John Adams’s Doctor Atomic and Harry Heegan in Mark-Anthony Turnage’s The Silver Tassie.

Gerald has won accolades across the globe including Gramophone Editor’s Choice Award at the 2006 Gramophone Awards for Stanford: Songs of the Sea (CHSA5043).

English National Opera director Edward Gardner offers a great understanding of Opera in English, and here conducts the London Philharmonic Orchestra in his debut on Chandos.

Gulda's hottest Chopin phase was the mid-1950s, when he regularly played the complete Preludes and complete Ballades in concert. Captured here are recordings from a variety of sources, all released for the first time, with the exception of the Piano Concerto recording, made for Decca (with whom he also recorded the Preludes and Ballades)

Performances are sometimes fiercely virtuosic, sometimes dreamily spun-out. The Ballades in particular are carried off with great panache.

First ever releases of 24 Preludes, 4 Ballades and single pieces.

Special compiled improvisation, in which Gulda (among other things) muses over his (broken) relationship with Chopin.

All newly mastered / remastered by Paul Gulda, who writes the liner notes.

Two more splendid Nixa recordings with Sir Adrian Boult, now transferred to CD, join last month’s Sibelius disc on SOMM. This symphony is a real landmark of English composition, and combining it with Walton’s oratorio Belshazzar’s Feast makes this a very collectable disc. The Gramophone review of the original recording referred to the oratorio as a “tour de force” which was “irresistibly exciting”.

Each release includes a booklet with a three-language synopsis (English/French/German), full cast list and detailed track list.

Recorded in 1973

The Mahler 1 broadcast from 1990 has never appeared before and represents Tennstedt's mature interpretation caught in brilliant stereo from the Royal Festival Hall recorded by the celebrated BBC producer Misha Donat.

Glinka's Ruslan & Ludmilla Overture is a new addition to the Tennstedt discography from the 1981 Edinburgh Festival

The CD is completed with a rare Tennstedt interview with the esteemed writer and broadcaster, John Amis, who discusses Mahler with the conductor.

Tennstedt's Mahler 7 (BBCL42242) has been an international best seller.

Recorded in 1971.

‘Stuart Burrows … steals the vocal honours. Impassioned and youthful in sound, he produces a lovely lyrical legato in true Italian style but with intelligence and impeccable taste: this is his first Italian opera recording … Beverly Sills, as Mary Stuart, is in a class of her own. It is her technical prowess as a singer which stays in the mind rather than her characterisation of the unhappy queen.’ Gramophone

Donizetti’s take on the last few days in the life of Mary, Queen of Scots, was premiered in 1834, but under the title of Buondelmonte due to the censor having problems with the subject matter. Executing monarchs made many European governments very jittery in the first part of the 19th century, with the French Revolution still very fresh in the memory of most leaders. In the past 300 years Mary, Queen of Scots, and Charles I in Britain, Carl Gustav in Sweden, and Louis and Marie Antoinette in France had all been executed or murdered.

The libretto of Maria Stuarda is taken from a play by Schiller and adapted by Giuseppe Bardari. The action takes place in the Palace of Westminster and Fotheringay Castle in 1587. Maria (Mary) attempts to plead for a pardon from Elisabetta, her half sister. The two Queens meet, and in the course of the meeting, Maria is provoked to the extent that she can no longer contain her anger, and lashes out at Elisabetta. Her fate is sealed, and she prepares for death calmly, and prays for her friends before going to the scaffold. The original uncensored version was premiered with Maria Malibran in the title role in 1835. Strangely, the British premiere was given in 1966 in St Pancras Town Hall, and the US premiere took place two years earlier in New York.

Rarely heard in concert at all, the Requiem by Antonín Dvorák captured on this CD from a live concert seems a near-forgotten masterpiece. Dvorák scholar Gervase Hughes cites this work for four soloists, chorus and orchestra as one of the composer’s finest sacred creations, ‘a deeply moving expression of faith on the part of a composer whose religious conviction never wavered’. It’s a conviction stamped through the composer’s illuminating, fervent score.

David Oistrakh’s 1967 performance of Shostakovich’s Violin Concerto No. 2 with Eugene Ormandy conducting the LSO was the Western European Premiere of the work. This is a major historical document.

Since this was a Gala concert in aid of the LSO Trust, the Shostakovich performance was preceded by a Fanfare composed by Arthur Bliss and this has been included.

The Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto from 1972, a work very much associated David Oistrakh, was performed during a Russian Festival in London’s Royal Albert Hall is conducted by Maxim Shostakovich, the composer’s son. This makes a great combination.

Both recordings are in very good stereo and David Oistrakh’s playing is sensational.

David Oistrakh has a large and varied BBC Legends catalogue including a later version of the Shostakovich Violkin Concerto No.2 with Svetlanov (BBCL40602).