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W. A. MOZART
Mozart: Opera Arias Cynthia Sieden, Charlotte Margiono, Anne Sofie von Otter, Rodney Gilfry, Bryn Terfel, Gerald Finley / English Baroque Soloists, Sir John Eliot Gardin [ Archiv Deutsche Grammophon Virtuoso / CD - released 8/Oct/2012 ] "Gardiner's Mozartian style is well sprung and subtly moulded rather than severe. The principals sing beautifully...The electrifying singing of the Monteverdi Choir adds to the dramatic bite." Penguin Guide |
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RALPH VAUGHAN WILLIAMS
Vaughan Williams: The Complete Adrian Boult Recordings London Philharmonic Orchestra, London Philharmonic Choir, Sir Adrian Boult [ Warner Classics / 13 CD Box Set - released 12/Sep/2018 ] "It seems superfluous to recommend this box. It contains around 17 hours of Boult's VW. Many of these recordings are amongst the very best you will hear." MusicWeb |
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JANACEK / DVORAK / STRAVINSKY / MOZART / ELGAR / SULLIVAN / BRIAN / JANACEK / etc
Sir Charles Mackerras - The Complete Warner Classics Edition Various orchestras conducted by Sir Charles Mackerras, with Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Janet Baker, and more [ Warner Classics / 63 CD Box Set - released 7/Nov/2025 ] "the repertoire in this collection ranges from Handel to Stravinsky and Delibes to Dag Wirén, all of it played with glowing musicality." Gramophone |
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VAUGHAN WILLIAMS
Williams: Legendary Recordings (Incls 'On Wenlock Edge' & 'Serenade To Music') Recorded 1938-1955 George Maran (tenor) / London String Quartet / Ivor Newton (piano) / Isobel Baillie / Heddle Nash / London Philharmonic Orchestra / Sir Adrian Boult [ ALTO / CD - released 25/Mar/2008 ] "1938 was Sir Henry Wood's jubilee and the magical Serenade to Music which Ralph Vaughan Williams wrote for it… this, with the original soloists RVW had in mind, has obvious uniqueness but it possesses a very special beauty and atmosphere." - Gramophone |
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GIACOMO PUCCINI
Puccini: La Boheme (complete opera recorded in 1956) Victoria de los Angeles / Jussi Bjorling / Robert Merrill / Lucine Amara / RCA Victor Orchestra / Sir Thomas Beecham [ Naxos Great Opera Recordings / 2 CD - released 11/Apr/2007 ] Featuring Victoria de los Angeles and Jussi Björling in glorious form, the 1956 set ranks alongside the Callas De Sabata Tosca (Naxos 8.110256-57) as one of the greatest studio recordings of an opera ever made. |
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GEORGES BIZET
Bizet: Carmen (Complete Opera recorded in 1958 & 1959) Victoria de los Angeles, Nicolai Gedda, Janine Micheau / French National Radio Symphony Orchestra, Sir Thomas Beecham [ Warner Classics The Home Of Opera / 3 CD Box Set - released 1/Jul/2019 ] "This classic Beecham set was originally welcomed in Gramophone with a glowing review from Philip Hope Wallace: 'I send up a loud "Ole".' It certainly stands the test of time, sparkling, swaggering and seducing in a way that is uniquely Beecham's. |
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GEORGES BIZET
Bizet: Carmen (Complete Opera recorded in 1959) Victoria de los Angeles, Nicolai Gedda, Janine Micheau / French National Radio Symphony Orchestra / Sir Thomas Beecham [ ALTO / 3 CD Box Set - released 20/Nov/2010 ] "This superb Carmen wipes the floor with any other version I know. The instinctive rightness of the whole conception is simply marvellous." (Gramophone) |
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BIZET / VILLA LOBOS / DEBUSSY / RAVEL / ROSSINI / PUCCINI / etc
Victoria de los Angeles - The Warner Classics Edition Victoria de los Angeles (soprano) with Nicolai Gedda, Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Alicia de Larrocha, Gerald Moore, Sir John Barbirolli, Sir Thomas Beecham [ Warner Classics / 59 CD Box Set - released 20/Oct/2023 ] A singer who inspired the greatest admiration and affection, Victoria de los Ángeles was, in the words of Opera magazine, "one of the supreme vocal artists of the 20th century". |
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WAGNER
The number one Wagner album: over 2 hours of favourites Vienna Philharmonic chorus and orchestra / Sir Georg Solti [ Double Decca / 2 CD - released 10/Jun/2009 ] The classic Solti recordings of choruses and orchestral music from the Wagner operas. |
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LUDWIG van BEEHOVEN
Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 5 & 6 "Pastorale" Wiener Philharmoniker [Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra], Sir Simon Rattle [ Warner Classics Masters / CD - released 13/Feb/2012 ] "These are not interpretations set in stone, deeply as Rattle has obviously thought them through; and his encouragement of the brilliant VPO woodwind and horn soloists to challenge each other in imagination and individuality adds to the impression of... |
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WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
Hamlet (BBC Third Programme Live Broadcast, 1948) (Abridged) Sir John Gielgud, Andrew Cruickshank, Hugh Griffith, Marian Spencer & cast [ Naxos Audiobooks / 3 CD - released 31/Jul/2006 ] This outstanding historical recording made in 1941 for radio is widely regarded as one of the finest Hamlet performances ever, and one of John Gielgud's greatest moments. Though he went on to record it for commercial release, nothing matched this... |
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LALO / SAINT-SAENS
Cello Concertos Zara Nelsova (cello) / London Philharmonic Orchestra, Sir Adrian Boult & Ernest Ansermet [ Testament / CD - released 10/Mar/2012 ] Recorded 1954-55, mono |
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BARTOK
Piano Concertos: No. 1 & No 2; The Miraculous Mandarin Suite Zoltan Kocsis (piano) / Budapest Philharmonic Orchestra. Gyargy Lehel / Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra. Sir Neville Marriner [ Capriccio SACD / SACD - released 1/Sep/2005 ] "A generally enjoyable disc" (MusicWeb Aug 2005) |
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Admiral Sir Cloudseley Shovell
Don't Heart it Fear it! [ Rise Above / CD - released 13/Jul/2012 ] |
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REINGOLD GLIERE
Gliere: Symphony No.3 In B minor 'Il'ya Murometz' BBC Philharmonic, Sir Edward Downes [ Chandos / CD - released 2/Feb/1991 ] "If not the symphony's first outing on disc, it remains the best...Chandos's recordings still sound glorious and the orchestra's manifest engagement with the music shines through." Gramophone |
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JOHANNES BRAHMS
Brahms: Symphony No. 1 in C minor, Op. 68 (with Elgar: Enigma Variations) BBC Symphony Orchestra, Sir Adrian Boult [ ICA Classics / CD - released 30/Jun/2011 ] "this Brahms 1 is superbly paced: hard-driven yet flexible, virile yet richly expressive. The opening's 6/8 - relentless, tragic - has, rightly, the same pulse as the ensuing allegro (where Boult, unusually, observes the repeat). In Elgar, Boult... |
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RICHARD STRAUSS
Ein Heldenleben / Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme Suite Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra / Sir Simon Rattle [ EMI / CD - released 20/Mar/2006 ] "Rattle digs deep to deliver a reading of breathtaking power." Recording of the Month (Gramophone May 2006) |
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RICHARD WAGNER
Wagner: Die Walküre (LP) Birgit Nilsson, Hans Hotter, Régine Crespin, James King, Christa Ludwig, Gottlob Frick / Wiener Philharmoniker, Sir Georg Solti [ Decca / 5 Vinyl Box Set - released 4/Aug/2023 ] For these new editions, a decade since the last remastering, a completely new set of high-definition 24 bit/192kHz transfers of the original master tapes have been utilized. |
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RICHARD WAGNER
Wagner: Götterdämmerung (LP) Birgit Nilsson, Wolfgang Windgassen, Gottlob Frick, Gustav Neidlinger, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau / Wiener Philharmoniker, Sir Georg Solti [ Sony Classical / 6 Vinyl Box Set - released 4/Aug/2023 ] "The greatest recording of all time": Gramophone Magazine 1999 · BBC Music Magazine 2011 |
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NICOLAI RIMSKY-KORSAKOV
Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherazade Op 35 / Capriccio Espagnol Op 34 London Symphony Orchestra, Sir Charles Mackerras [ Telarc Classics / CD - released 25/Jan/2003 ] "It also demands a performance which combines virtuosity with excitement, sensuous ardour with subtlety of feeling and above all is seemingly spontaneous. Mackerras meets all these requirements admirably in a reading of great power and romantic... |