Steffe: Battle Hymn of the Republic 'Glory Hallelujah'

Unique men’s professional choir in France, and founded in 1982, it numbers 45 singers. Part of the French Republican Guard, it’s the official choir of the republic of France. The choir regularly performs with the large French symphonic orchestras, under conductors such as Yutaka Sado, Christoph Eschenbach, Pierre Boulez, Michel Plasson, Peter Eötvos.

Quintessential mezzo-soprano Marilyn Horne treats us to a program of great songs from The American Songbook - a veritable quilt of many-coloured delights. The arrangements range from delicate to lush and the mood ranges from racy fun to religiously uplifting. This CD, one of Decca's first releases on compact disc, has been excerpted occasionally but, as an entity, has long been out of circulation, so it's good to have it back again - at super-budget price!

This 2-CD compilation contains 147 minutes of music by leading American orchestras and conductors including the Cleveland Orchestra with Lorin Maazel, the Boston Baroque with Martin Pearlman, the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra with Leonard Slatkin, the Dallas Symphony Orchestra with Robert Shaw & Andrew Litton and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra with Robert Spano & David Zinman. They perform works by Copland, Holst, Vaughan Williams, Hindemith, Berlioz, Shostakovich, Enescu and Handel.