Future Releases

Beethoven's most significant Mass, conducted by maestro Kurt Masur and performed by famous musicians: this recording convincingly reflects the great composer's humanist ideals in a way rarely heard. Here, belief and enlightenment blend together in the most moving manner through the music.

Schubert's "Die schöne Müllerin" – at first glance a series of cheerful songs, which on closer listening reveals an ostensibly ideal world with dark undertones. Peter Schreier has always been a master of the great art song genre, for whom a beautiful tone, clear articulation, and sensitive and intelligent interpretation have always been paramount.

This recording marks the artistic peak of two choral legends of the past century: Rudolf Mauersberger, who was choral director at the Dresden Kreuzchor, and his brother Erhard, who held that post at the Thomanerchor in Leipzig. Here, they join forces with their choirs and some renowned soloists in Bach's St Matthew Passion.

This concert recording represents a real stroke of luck, for which we have to thank a conductor – Herbert Kegel – who championed music during the GDR era that was not viewed as "politically correct". This 1975 recording of Parsifal, featuring snappy tempos and devoid of the usual mystique surrounding Wagner, is an interpretation which seems to have evolved well ahead of its time.

Otmar Suitner's Mozart interpretations during his years in Berlin are legendary. This recording of Die Entführung demonstrates that the Austrian conductor was already well aware, when he worked in Dresden, of how to portray Mozart's dramatic verve and his psychological sensitivity: this is a real gem, recorded in the Lukaskirche in Dresden, where so many recordings with Suitner were made.

To fill out the niches in our Wagner Year Release Schedule, we are delighted to announce:-

A 6-LP Limited Edition vinyl set (comparable to the recently released Mercury Living Presence set) offering the same high production values and pricing.

Limited-Edition, Numbered-Box Sets.

Every LP to be expertly remastered at the Emil Berliner Studios.

The pressings from Optimal will be on 180 gsm vinyl stock.

Original LP front and back covers in all their glory.

8-page leaflet, with introduction to the recordings by opera buff and Wagner expert Mike Ashman.