Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

These live recordings of Le Nozze di Figaro, Don Giovanni and CosÏ fan tutte are a fine tribute to celebrate 40 years of La Petite Bande. They have released an Anniversary Series to mark the oustanding achievement of this highly regarded Belgium-based ensemble.

The Czech violinist Váša Príhoda has been somewhat forgotten.

He was famous for the warmth of his tone and brilliant technique.

These studio recordings were made in Torino in 1957.

This collection is Sigiswald Kuijken’s personal selection of recordings by La Petite Bande and also celebrates their 40th anniversary. It includes excerpts from opera, baroque compositions and the works of Bach.

It is 30 years since legendary British pianist Clifford Curzon died (1 September 1982). Over the course of his career, during a long and almost exclusive association with Decca, Clifford Curzon established a pre-eminence unrivalled by any other British pianist of his generation.

For the first time this collection brings together absolutely every recording he ever made for Decca which has survived [in the days of fragile 78rpm shellac discs one or two items were given to the artist as unique-copy test-pressings and these have not survived], including several which have never been published on CD ( or even LP) by Decca [Falla: Noches en los jardines de España (recorded in September 1945); Liszt: Mephisto Waltz No.1 and Liebestraum No.3 – recorded in September 1947, Liszt: Sonetto 104 del Petrarca recorded in1942].

Published for the first-time ever in any format are 8 pieces including a Medtner Fairy Tale, Chopin C sharp minor nocturne, Beethoven’s “Rage over a lost penny”, and 5 pieces by Brahms. These recordings survived as 78rpm test-pressings in Clifford Curzon’s private collection and have been made available for publication through his family.

Also herewith alongside 23 CDs is a famous DVD programme made by the BBC. It includes Curzon performing solo works by Schumann and Brahms [filmed in 1959, black & white] and Schubert – including a complete performance of the Piano Sonata in B flat, D960, filmed in 1968 [colour].

Sir Adrian Boult was born on 8th April, 1889 in Chester and died on 22nd February 1983 in London and hence next year we mark 30 years since his passing. From an early age he was attending concerts, firstly in Liverpool, primarily with Hans Richter, and then in London, whilst a pupil at Westminster School, by Sir Henry Wood, Claude Debussy, Arthur Nikisch and Richard Strauss; he also met Elgar for whose music he was to do so much during his life. He started studying History at Christ Church, Oxford but changed to music graduating in 1912. Among musical friends at Oxford was Ralph Vaughan Williams with whose compositions he is much associated.

He spent a year studying in Leipzig where Arthur Nikisch had the greatest influence on him. He gained experience conducting for both the Royal Opera House, where he assisted in the first production there of Wagner’s Parsifal , and Serge Diaghilev’s ballet company. He was appointed conductor of the City of Birmingham Orchestra in 1924 and six years later the BBC made him director of music where he established the BBC Symphony Orchestra and became its chief conductor. During these years he introduced works by Bartók, Stravinsky and the Second Viennese School composers – Schönberg, Webern and Berg including his opera Wozzeck.

Forced to leave the BBC when he reached their retirement age, he became chief conductor of the LPO retiring in 1957. Although he worked with the other London Orchestras he was generally associated with them and this set of recordings bears this out. He became a champion of British music, giving numerous performances of Bliss, Britten, Delius, Tippett, Walton and Holst, whose Planets he had premiered, and the aforementioned Elgar and Vaughan Williams that he was primarily associated. His repertoire was wide from Baroque through to modern but it was the main period of Mozart to Brahms where he was pre-eminent. He continued conducting concerts and recordings until 1978.

The reissue of this unique collection of chamber music masterpieces, ranging from Baroque to 20-century, played by the legendary David Oistrakh, with his luminous, sonorous and deeply moving tone.

Partners include Sviatoslav Richter, Lev Oborin, Alexander Goldenweiser and Vladimir Yampolski. With his supreme technique, enormous precision in rhythm as well as extensive variety in sound, David Oistrakh is one of the most celebrated violinists of the 20th century.

This 10-CD release details some of his best chamber music recordings and is filled to the brim with first-rate performances. The compilation effectively documents the development of violin music, simultaneously revealing Oistrakh’s mastering of an extensive repertoire.

Beginning with J.S. Bach, who was one of the first composers to write for the instrument independently and whose works are given an overtly romantic appraisal by the Russian maestro, it also traverses a series of Classical compositions – including Mozart’s Sonata No.3 K306 and Beethoven’s ‘Kreutzer’ Sonata Op.47. Most of the collection’s space, however, is taken up by a large assortment of 19th- and 20th-century music; this is undoubtedly where Oistrakh’s heart lies, and the violinist shows a strong commitment to pieces from his native country.

What is particularly evident from this release is that no matter how big or small, famous or little-known, each work is treated as a masterpiece. With largely forgotten names such as Catoire and Vladigerov sitting alongside some of the greatest composers in musical history, the compilation represents a musical feast that is not to be passed up.