The Music Parlour

Beethoven. Violoncello Sonatas - Pierre Fournier -&- Artur Schnabel - HMV 1947/8 - over on HISTORICAL

2012-02-16T20:08:00.008Z

Sonata no.1 in F major, op.5/1    Adagio sostenuto ~ Allegro ~ Allegro vivace
Sonata no.2 in G minor, op.5/2      Adagio sostenuto ed espressivo ~ Allegro molto piu tosto presto ~ Rondo (Allegro)
Sonata no.3 in A major, op.69          Allegro ma non tanto ~ Scherzo (Allegro molto) ~ Adagio cantabile ~ Allegro vivace
Sonata no.4 in C major, op.102/1     Andante ~ Allegro vivace ~ Adagio ~ Tempo d'Andante ~ Allegro vivace
Sonata no.5 in D major, op.102/2     Allegro con brio ~ Adagio con molto sentimento d'affeto ~ Allegro ~ Allegro fugato

EMI Electrola 'Dacapo' 1C 147-01 382/83 M c.1978 German matrices/pressings.
FLAC/WAV files @ http://musicparlourhistorical.blogspot.com
Presumably these excellent performances aren't currently available judging by the CD/LP prices being asked!
The files are on Sendspace as uploading to MediaFire is currently hopeless... so the files will take slightly longer to download (but infinitely less time than it took me to edit the LP's...).

Pablo Casals plays... J.S.Bach. 6 Suites for Violoncello - HMV 1936-1939 - over on HISTORICAL

2012-01-31T23:40:00.028Z

J.S.Bach. Six Suites for solo violoncello, BWV 1007 - 1012

no.1 in G major:         (HMV DB.3671-3673 - Paris, 2 June 1938)
no.2 in D minor: (HMV DB.3399-3401 - Abbey Road, 25 November 1936)
no.3 in C major:       (HMV DB.3402-3404 - Abbey Road, 25 November 1936)
no.4 in E flat major: (HMV DB.6538-6540 - Paris, 13 June 1939)
no.5 in C minor:    (HMV DB.6541-6544s - Paris, 13 June 1939)
no.6 in D major:               (HMV DB.3674-3677 - Paris, 3 June 1938)
HMV RLS 712 (3LP box: 1974 pressings). Matrices: EMI Germany (from: EMI Electrola 'Dacapo' 1C 147-00 892/4 M).
FLAC/WAV files @ http://musicparlourhistorical.blogspot.com
You can compare these with an allegedly 'tremendous improvements' transfer/s from a downloadable 'Pristine' (sic) sample mp3 from Suite 1 which is linked from HERE...

MEGAUPLOAD FIASCO: All files now re-instated to PRISTINE CLASSICS -&- HISTORICAL....Cumulative listing of THIS blogs re-uploaded files

2012-01-27T22:56:00.023Z

Listing of re-instated files: Some older files may take quite some time to appear as, when the WAV has been retained, I may wish to re-edit them. (29 Jan: - total so far - 260 files). SENDSPACE is being used for 200-300MB files; however download speeds are likely to be slow...

Richard Rodney Bennett - Jazz Calendar - FLAC (massively popular)
Martinon/Chicago - Varese & Martin - WAV (ditto)
Larry Adler/RPO/Gould - WAV (ditto....)
Joyce Hatto - Bax. Sonatas, etc - FLAC/WAV
Stravinsky. Soldiers Tale - Ansermet / Pritchard - FLAC
Lambert. Piano Concerto and Li-Po Poems - WAV
USSR Ministry of Defence Band - WAV
Weill. Chansons - Sauvage, etc - FLAC
Philip Jones - FLAC (The 1979 Arnold Symphony for Brass added from the Arnold Symphonies post)
Vaughan Williams. Symphony 9. RPO/Sargent - FLAC
Antonio Brosa - Britten.Violin Concerto / Ysaye - FLAC
Janacek. Jiri Waldhans and Belohlavek - FLAC
The Red Violin and Scotch Bestiary - FLAC
MERCURY - Dorati - Bartok and Kodaly - FLAC
Munchinger - Bach Suites 2 and 3 1949/50 - WAV
Jeanne Demessieux plays JS Bach - WAV
Nielsen.Clarinet and Flute concertos - Turnabout - FLAC
Andre Jouve: Prokofiev. Ugly Duckling/Summers Day/Hebrew - WAV
RE-EDITED FILES: Walter Susskind / ROHO. Gaite Parisienne - FLAC
Arnold. Symphonies 1 - 7 . BBC PO / Gamba - FLAC
RE-EDITED FILES: Fernando Germani. Italian Organ - WAV
RE-EDITED FILES: Robert Simpson - Carl Nielsen. An Introduction to the Symphonies - FLAC Now also as individual 320 mp3 files for each Symphony.
Dmitri Hvorostovsky / Yuri Temirkanov - St.Petersburg Philharmonic -FLAC
George Weldon/LSO - Elgar. In the South, etc - FLAC
Imogen Holst conducts Gustav Holst. Military band - WAV
Prokofiev. Quartets - Novak Qt - FLAC
Gluck - Gretry - NSO/Irving - FLAC
Prokofiev. Kije / Oranges - Boult - FLAC
Enescu conducts Dixtuor / 2 Rhapsodies - FLAC
Shostakovich Symphony 12. Leipzig - Durjan - FLAC
Julius Isserlis plays Scriabin - FLAC
Thurston Dart - Water Music - FLAC
RE-EDITED FILES: Gerhard. Symphonies 3 - 4 - Conc for Orch - FLAC Highly recommended....
RE-EDITED FILES: Bach. Musical Offering. London Harpsichord Ens. - FLAC Minimal re-editing required...

SENDSPACE Elgar. Starlight Express - BBC - FLAC
SENDSPACE Maxim Vengerov -Barbican recital - FLAC
SENDSPACE Alan Bush. Piano Concerto - BBC - FLAC
SENDSPACE Harle. Angel Magick - FLAC OPERA
SENDSPACE Birtwistle. The Last Supper - BBC - FLAC OPERA

Dimitri Mitropoulos / New York PO - Petrushka -&- Romeo & Juliet - CBS 1951/1957

2012-01-26T11:00:00.008Z

Igor Stravinsky: "Petrushka" - Ballet - 1911 version.

First Tableau: The Shrove-Tide Fair ~ Danse Russe
Second Tableau: Petrushka's Room
Third Tableau: The Moor's Room
Fourth Tableau: The Shrove-Tide Fair (towards evening) ~ Grand Carnival

http://www.mediafire.com/?3h9t7j7bgx3uo9r

Philips GBL 6519 (10") 1958 Philips UK matrices/pressing: -4/-1. Recorded: Columbia Studios, N.Y. 5 March 1951

Serge Prokofiev: "Romeo & Juliet", op.64 - Ballet suite (excerpts)

Suite 2/1: The Montagues & Capulets ~ Suite 2/2: Juliet: The little girl ~ Suite 1/1: Folk dance ~ Suite 1/5: Masks ~ Suite 1/6: Romeo & Juliet //
Suite 1/7: The Death of Tybalt ~ Suite 2/5: Romeo & Juliet before parting ~ Suite 2/3: Friar Lawrence ~ Suite 2/7: Romeo at Juliet's grave

http://www.mediafire.com/?hro4s3wwh92leab

Philips ABL 3236 (no UK stereo) 1959 Philips UK matrices/pressing: -1/-1. Recorded: St.Georges Hotel, N.Y. 11 November 1957

The New York Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Dimitri Mitropoulos

December 2010 WAV's further edited January 2012. mono FLAC files "EMG Monthly Letter" review of 'Petrushka' >>>

The NYPO/Mitropoulos Shostakovich: Symphony 10 should be uploaded to 'Pristine Classics' blog by early next month - possibly also the Violin Concerto no.1 (Oistrakh) - from new/original Philips ABL pressings.

Antal Dorati / Minneapolis - Rimsky-Korsakov. Scheherazade - Mercury 1952

2012-01-25T23:17:00.010Z

Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov: "Scheherazade", Symphonic suite, op.35

I: The Sea & Sinbad's Ship ~ II: The Tale of the Kalandar Prince

III: The Young Prince & the Young Princess ~ IV: Festival of Baghdad. The Sea. The Ship goes to pieces on a Rock surmounted by a Bronze Warrior. Conclusion.
FLAC file: http://www.mediafire.com/?iid9g9xgiuyyid5 (The WAV file @ 204MB is slightly over MediaFire's limit)

Rafael Druian, violin - Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra conducted by Antal Dorati
EMI / Mercury MMA 11022 1959 re-issue (John Johnson transfers). Recorded: 27-29 April 1952 - Northrop Auditorium, Minneapolis.

WAV's extensively re-edited January 2012 (so should now be 'flawless') Sleeve-note >>> (Audacity screen-shots: 18 Oct. 2010)

Of Rimsky-Korsakov's fifteen major orchestral works, the three most celebrated were put to-paper within the space of a single year -the Capriccio Espagnol in 1887, and in 1888 Scheherazade and the Russian Easter Overture. Had he written only these three masterpieces, Rimsky-Korsakov would still he renowned as the greatest tone colorist of his day. Here are none of the dark hues favored by the romantic German masters; instead we have an orchestral palette of incredible brightness and transparency -derived from Berlioz, Liszt and Glinka and enriched by the distinctive harmonic textures of Russian and Oriental folksong idiom. In a matter of a few years, the rising young French composers were to discover the intoxicating tonal delights of Rimsky-Korsakov and his other Russian colleagues, and this influence was to play a decisive role in the development of French music during the early 20th century.

Scheherazade is, of course, the name of the lovely narrator of the fabulous collection of The Thousand Nights and One Nights -the Arabian Nights tales by which the vengeful Sultan Shakriar was distracted from his avowed purpose of putting to death each one of his wives after the first night. After one thousand and one nights of absorbing tales from the lips of the steadfast and courageous Scheherazade, we are told that she and the Sultan lived on together in great happiness until "there took them the Destroyer of Delights and the Severer of Societies, the Desolator of dwelling places and Carnerer of graveyards, and they were translated into the truth of Almighty Allah."

The four sections of Rimsky-Korsakov's symphonic suite consist in essence of poetic evocation rather than direct musical narrative, the titles of which provide ample springboard for the listener's imagination:

1. The Sea and Sinbad's Ship

11. The Tale of the Prince Kalandar

111. The Young Prince and the Young Princess

IV. Festival at Baghdad. The Sea. The Ship Goes to Pieces Against a Rock Surmounted by a Bronze Warrior. Conclusion.

The musical unity of the work as a whole is maintained by the recurrence and transformation of certain basic themes: The menacing proclamation of the very opening (said to represent the stern figure of the Sultan) provides the basis for the Sea music in the beginning and the end, and also plays an important part in the Festival at Bagdad episode. Each movement features also in its opening pages the celebrated solo violin passages evocative of Scheherazade in her role as narrator. That she has succeeded at long last in appeasing the Sultan is quite evident in the final measures of the score as we hear the once menacing regal theme transformed into one of tenderness and strength entwined by the ascending figuration of the solo violin.

ABOUT ANTAL DORATI AND THE MINNEAPOLIS SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

Ever since the meteoric rise of Eugene Ormandy to the coveted post of Musical Director of the Philadelphia Orchestra and the assumption by Dimitri Mitropoulos of the conductorship of the New York Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra, the post of conductor of the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra has come to be regarded as a major stepping stone to worldwide acclaim and recognition in the conductorial realm.

Antal Dorati, since he took over the direction of the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra in 1949, seems to be running true-to-form in this respect; for his leadership of the major orchestras of Europe has been hailed as "musical interpretation of Ithe highest order."

Despite the fact that he is still in his early 40's, Antal Dorati has behind him 25 years of baton experience, dating to the time when as an 18-year-old he was directing opera in his home city of Budapest, Hungary. Indeed, Dorati was the youngest musician to receive a degree from the Academy of Music there, where he numbered among his teachers the celebrated composers, Bela Bartok and Zoltan Kodaly. His early years as a conductor encompassed work with Fritz Busch at the Dresden Opera, as well as experience on his own at Munster. In 1933 began an association with ballet, when he joined the Monte Carlo Ballet Russe. He continued to work with this and other ballet companies until 1945, when he was invited to be conductor of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra. It was Dorati's "ballet period" which gave birth to most of his delightful orchestral arrangements from the music of Johann Strauss (Graduation Ball) and Jacques Offenbach (Bluebeard, Helen of Troy). While at Dallas, Dorati also made a widely performed concert suite from Richard Strauss's Der Rosenkavalier.

Although Antal Dorati had become known far and wide throughout this country through his many brilliant guest appearances, it was. his magnificent achievement at Dallas, where he reorganized and trained that city's orchestra to he one of the nation's finest, which led to the invitation to come to Minneapolis following the departure of Dimitri Mitropoulos for New York. In Minneapolis, Dorati is repeating on a broader scale the accomplishments of his Dallas days, bringing the Minneapolis Symphony to the highest peak of technical and musical perfection it has yet known in its nearly 50 years of existence.

Among the major orchestras of America, the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra has had a particularly distinctive "personality"- in the sense that its style of performance and texture of sonority can be mistaken for no other. It is the zest of its rhythmic drive and the vital warmth of its lyrical playing which constitute the major factors in the collective personality of the Minneapolis ensemble. From the days of its founder-conductor, Emil Oberhoffer, through the period of leadership by Henry Verbrugghen, to the brilliant era of Ormandy, Mitropoulos and Antal Dorati, this "personality" of the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra has been maturing, deepening and gaining added refinement and subtlety. It is this last pair of qualities that have been the special contribution of Antal Dorati, who as a conductor has a part`cular flair for eliciting from his players wonderful blendings of instrumental color and delicate dynamic gradations.

With this and the other recordings done by the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra for the Olympian Series, Mercury Classics seeks to bring to the listening public a true representation of the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra both as a performing organization and as a warndy vital "collective personality."

HIFI FACTS

This recording was made in Northrop Memorial Auditorium on the campus of the University of Minnesota, home of the Minneapolis Symphony. As with all LIVING PRESENCE recordings, a single microphone was hung in optimum position and maintained there during the course of this recording, thus assuring actual control by Mr. Dorati at all times of the orchestral balance. Likewise, the Minneapolis Orchestra was arranged in normal concert position throughout the recording sessions.

Fairchild tape machines were used both for the original master tape recording and for the transfer from tape to disc. Cutting of the master discs was done with a Miller cutter mounted on a variable pitch Scully recording lathe - thus guaranteeing preservation on the finished record the full dynamic and frequency range captured on the original master tapes.

This Mercury LIVING PRESENCE recording was made possible through the use of MARGIN CONTROL, a technique whereby it has become possible for Mercury to produce for the record-buying public a disc of truly superior quality, especially with respect to brilliance, clarity, dynamic range and reliable stylus tracking.

A cardinal principal of Mercury's "Living Presence" recording technique is the use of an unusually wide dynamic range, which matches exactly the range from ppp to fff of the original musical performance; for at no lime during the recording sessions do the Mercury engineers tamper with the dynamic range of the music as recorded.

Felicia Weathers - Kodaly Songs / Spirituals - Decca 1966

2012-01-23T21:36:00.006Z

Eight Spirituals: Mr. Banjo ~ Ain't got time to die ~ Go 'way from my window (**) ~ City called heaven ~ My good Lord done been here ~ Jesus lay your head in de winder ~ Hush l'il baby (**) ~ Chere mo lemme toi.
http://www.mediafire.com/?muififdmh9rt1ij

Zoltan Kodaly: Eight Folk Songs: Torik mar a reteket ~ Kocsi szeker ~ A csitari hegyek alatt ~ Ifjusag mint solyommadar ~ Viragos kenderem ~ Magas kosziklanak ~ Akkor szep az erdo ~ Este rocsam ne jojj hozzam
http://www.mediafire.com/?zg9gi0s8x3qvv6k

Felicia Weathers (Soprano) accompanied by Georg Fischer (piano) / ** Karl Scheidt (guitar)
Decca SXL 6245 Matrices: ZAL 7253 -2G / ZAL 7254 -3G (1967 pressing) Recorded: 7-10 March 1966, Sofiensaal, Vienna.
The Kodaly never on CD. Other side was in a 1998 CD (Belart). Edited WAV's re-edited Jan 2012 STEREO FLAC files Sleeve-note >>>
COPYRIGHT NOTICE: This is made available solely for the purpose of evaluating/reviewing the copyrighted recording, after which it must not be otherwise stored/copied. By downloading the file/s you agree to accept these conditions.

Enrique Jorda / New SO - Dvorak. Symphony 9 - Decca 1951 - over on PRISTINE CLASSICS

2012-01-02T22:11:00.004Z

Antonin Dvorak: Symphony no.9 in E minor, op.95 ('From the New World')

I: Adagio - Allegro molto ~ II: Largo
III: Scherzo (Molto vivace) ~ IV: Allegro con fuoco

The New Symphony Orchestra of London conducted by Enrique Jorda

Decca ACL 18 (originally LXT 2608) 1959 LP. Recorded: 2 July 1951 - Kingsway Hall Not on CD

FLAC/WAV files @ http://pristineclassics.blogspot.com

Herbert von Karajan / Vienna Philharmonic - Johann Strauss. Die Fledermaus: Gala Sequence - Decca 1960 / Overtures, Waltzes, Polkas - Decca/RCA 1959 - over on PRISTINE CLASSICS

2011-12-16T11:56:00.019Z

Johann Strauss II: "Die Fledermaus" - Overture / Ballet music (with Vienna State Opera Chorus)
Gala Sequence - Part One
Renata Tebaldi (Villa-Lied - Lehar:"Merry Widow") ~ Fernando Corena ('Domino' - Ferari) ~ Birgit Nilsson (I could have danced all night - Lerner/Loewe:"My Fair Lady") ~ Mario del Monaco ('Passione' -Valente) ~ Teresa Berganza ('Lullaby' - Lavilla) ~ Joan Sutherland ('Il Bacio' - Arditi)
Gala Sequence - Part Two

Jussi Bjorling (Dein ist meinganzes Herz - Lehar:"The Land of Smiles") ~ Leontyne Price (Summertime - Gershwin:"Porgy & Bess") ~ Giulietta Simionato & Ettore Bastianini (Anything you can do.. - Berlin:"Annie get your gun") ~ Ljuba Welitsch ('Wien, Wien nur du allein' - Sieczynski)

Decca SET 201-203 New! 1960 LP's. Recorded: June/July 1960 - Sofiensaal, Vienna, also Rome & London

Johann Strauss II: "Die Fledermaus" - overture
Johann Strauss II: Annen Polka & Auf der Jagd
Josef Strauss: Delirien waltz
Johann Strauss II: "Gipsy Baron" - overture
Johann Strauss II: Tales from the Vienna Woods

Decca SDD 259 (RCA SB 2091) New! 1971 LP. Recorded: 7/8 April 1959 - Sofiensaal, Vienna

Vienna State Opera Chorus ~ Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Herbert von Karajan

The LP mastering of the Gala Sequence (as with the SDD) is at a much lower-level than the orchestral recordings: that difference is retained here.
Also: the L/R channels are reversed due to a re-wiring 'glitch'...& which nobody mentioned whilst there was the 'opportunity'...Ha Ha..
STEREO FLAC/WAV files @ http://pristineclassics.blogspot.com

Joyce Hatto plays... Arnold Bax. Piano Sonatas 1 & 4, Toccata, Water Music - Revolution 1971

2011-12-11T19:05:00.038Z

Sir Arnold Bax: Sonata no.1 in F sharp minor
FLAC: http://www.mediafire.com/?srb2vrfy87hdfhl       WAV: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=ZP03218C
"Water Music" FLAC: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=RT4GSH5G WAV: http://www.mediafire.com/?k10cc366tj8ccah

Sonata no.4 in G major (Allegro giusto ~ Allegretto quasi andante ~ Allegro)
FLAC: http://www.mediafire.com/?co3dyi3omgkg5z5    WAV: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=IIEKO0XS
"Toccata" FLAC: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=S7QE9DDE WAV: http://www.mediafire.com/?3bvhss0v04unpk5

Joyce Hatto, piano Revolution RCF.010 Recorded: c.1969. New! RCA UK pressing/matrices: 1E / 1E STEREO files

Whilst this LP has very fine piano sound the matrices appear to have been contaminated - causing numerous loud 'ticks/clicks', etc.
These are now 'mostly' removed and reveal performances as being far better than when heard through a barrage of distracting surface defects.
Additionally (& apparently no longer online) is Radio New Zealand's http://www.mediafire.com/?gdf82hgns21aod6 28 May 2006 Murray Khouri programme - with Joyce Hatto speaking by telephone on 7 April 2006.
These 'Revolution' master-tapes are apparently now 'lost'.              'All Rights Reserved for the Sound Restoration'                               Sleeve-note >>>
COPYRIGHT NOTICE : This is made available solely for the purpose of evaluating/reviewing the copyrighted recording, after which it must not be otherwise stored/copied. By downloading the file/s you agree to accept these conditions.

Gianandrea Noseda / BBC Philharmonic - Rachmaninov. The Covetous Knight - BBC 2008 - over on OPERA PARLOUR

2011-12-04T18:55:00.021Z

Sergei Rachmaninov: "The Miserly Knight" - An opera in One Act, 3 scenes. (1905)

Baron ......................... Maxim Mikhailov (Bass)
Albert ........................ Misha Didyk (Tenor)
Duke .......................... Sergey Murzaev (Baritone)
Moneylender ................ Peter Bronder (Baritone)
Servant ...................... Gennadi Bezzubenkov (Bass)

BBC Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Gianandrea Noseda
BBC Radio 3FM - Live from Bridgewater Hall, Manchester - 21 November 2008.

A slightly different cast compared to the CHANDOS recording. This is an outstanding performance of a marvellous composition.
The CHANDOS link has a downloadable booklet. STEREO FLAC files + Russian/English libretto @ http://operaparlour.blogspot.com

Jean Martinon / London Philharmonic - J.Strauss-Desormiere: Le Beau Danube ~ Rossini: William Tell - ballet - Decca 1956 - over on PRISTINE CLASSICS

2011-12-02T22:44:00.008Z

Johann Strauss II (arr: Desormiere): "Le Beau Danube" - ballet

Gioachino Rossini: "Guillaume Tell" - ballet music

London Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Jean Martinon

Decca ACL 158 c.1960/1 matrices

This transfer is marginally 'cleaner-sounding' than original LXT transfers - and was rated as 'Superlative' by EMG Monthly Letter..

FLAC/WAV files @ http://pristineclassics.blogspot.com

Guido Cantelli / La Scala Orchestra - Tchaikovsky. Symphony 5 - HMV 1952 - over on PRISTINE CLASSICS

2011-11-19T17:11:00.008Z

Peter Tchaikovsky: Symphony no.5 in E minor, op.64

I: Andante - Allegro con anima ~ II: Andante cantabile con alcuna licenza

III: Valse (Allegro moderato) ~ IV: Finale (Andante maestoso - Allegro vivace)

Orchestra del Teatro alla Scala, Milano conducted by Guido Cantelli

HMV ALP 1001 Edited from a 1955 'as new from the shop'/never wet-cleaned LP.

FLAC/WAV files @ http://pristineclassics.blogspot.com

Dmitri Hvorostovsky / Yuri Temirkanov - St.Petersburg Philharmonic: Glinka, Mussorgsky, Rachmaninov - BBC Proms 2004

2011-11-17T21:17:00.050Z

Mikhail Glinka: "Ruslan and Lyudmila" (Act.3) - Dances of Naina's Magical Maidens    http://www.mediafire.com/?qufc0fe296copey

Modest Mussorgsky (orch: Shostakovich): "Songs & Dances of Death" - Lullaby ~ Serenade ~ Trepak ~ The Field Marshal
http://www.mediafire.com/?l63cdt2m9kadnh2

Sergei Rachmaninov: Symphonic Dances, op.45.    http://www.mediafire.com/?2z7ic209qi69xok
I: Non allegro ~ II: Andante con moto (Tempo di valse) ~ III: Lento assai - Allegro vivace - Lento assai. Come prima - Allegro vivace

Modest Mussorgsky (arr: Rimsky-Korsakov): "Khovanshchina" - Prelude: Dawn over the Moscow River
http://www.mediafire.com/?gzzzxxxa166q34s
Dmitri Hvorostovsky (Baritone) ~ St.Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Yuri Temirkanov                       STEREO FLAC files
BBC Radio 3 FM. Live: 24 August 2004 - Royal Albert Hall. (Cambridge Audio T55 > Minidisc >optical> CD-Recorder)
Warner only issued the two main works in 2005: MusicWeb review The other two works total about 18minutes.
COPYRIGHT NOTICE: This is made available solely for the purpose of evaluating/reviewing the copyrighted recording, after which it must not be otherwise stored/copied. By downloading the file/s you agree to accept these conditions.

2011-10-29T17:28:00.032+01:00

USSR Ministry of Defence Symphonic Band - Rimsky-Korsakov. Oboe Variations / Trombone -&- Clarinet Concertos ... Prokofiev / Tchaikovsky. Marches - EMI/Melodiya 1975

2011-10-03T13:32:00.021+01:00

Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov: Trombone Concerto    (Victor Batashov, trombone, conducted by Nicolai Navarov)
FLAC:       WAV: http://www.mediafire.com/?oza3zdszq5f6uki
Variations for Oboe & Brass Band (Yevgeny Lyakhovitsky, oboe, conducted by Yuri Pitiriov)
FLAC:      WAV: http://www.mediafire.com/?75ogd3m5369ps9z
Clarinet Concerto (Lev Mikhailov, clarinet, conducted by Leonid Dunsev)
FLAC:   WAV: http://www.mediafire.com/?31nf1nxlpa3l6ps
Serge Prokofiev: Marches, op.69 no.1 in B flat major // no.3 in B flat major (conducted by Nicolai Navarov)
FLAC:      WAV: http://www.mediafire.com/?ww2qvofmswwwxi2
March, op.69 no.2 in F major // March in B flat major, op.99 (conducted by Nicolai Sergeyev)
FLAC:      WAV: http://www.mediafire.com/?jc3yej9bcdfcflf
Peter Tchaikovsky: Military March in B flat major    (conducted by Nicolai Sergeyev)
FLAC:      WAV: http://www.mediafire.com/?bdd8e2xdc8fvjiv

EMI/Melodiya ASD 3107 Issued 1975 (p)1971 Matrices: 2YRM 1281 -1 / 2YRM 1282 -1.
COPYRIGHT NOTICE: This is made available solely for the purpose of evaluating/reviewing the copyrighted recording, after which it must not be otherwise stored/copied. By downloading the file/s you agree to accept these conditions.

Elgar. The Starlight Express - BBC Welsh Orchestra / Lionel Salter - BBC 1965

2011-09-28T16:26:00.041+01:00

Sir Edward Elgar: "The Starlight Express", op.78 (A Play with Songs & Incidental Music)

The Organ Grinder ............................. Denis Dowling

Laughter .................................. Audrey Attwood Henry Rogers ................................... Patrick Barr

Daddy ...................................... Noel Howlett Mother ........................................ Noel Hood

Madame Jequier .............................. Cecile Chevreau Jane Anne ................................... Jane Wenham

Monkey ................................... Elizabeth Proud Jimbo .................................... Danny Rambler

A Gardener ................................... Wilfrid Carter A Dustman ................................... Bruce Beeby

A Lamplighter ................................... Brian Hewlett A Tramp ................................... John Dearth

A Sweep ......................................... Hector Ross The Guard ................................... Patricia Gallimore

BBC Welsh Orchestra conducted by Lionel Salter Adapted and Produced by Raymond Raikes. Recorded: 10 December 1965.

As first broadcast - 26 December 1965 on the BBC Home Service: http://www.sendspace.com/file/3yxwz7
Additional music included in the BBC Radio 3 repeat - 29 Dec.1968: http://www.sendspace.com/file/x9t1au

BBC Radio 3 FM - 13 December 2004. MONO FLAC files Wikipedia article
COPYRIGHT NOTICE: This is made available solely for the purpose of evaluating/reviewing the copyrighted recording, after which it must not be otherwise stored/copied. By downloading the file/s you agree to accept these conditions.

Peter Katin ~ London Philharmonic / Sir Adrian Boult - Rachmaninov. Piano Concerto 1 -&- Tchaikovsky. Concert Fantasia - Decca 1958 - over on PRISTINE CLASSICS

2011-09-12T02:35:00.009+01:00

Sergei Rachmaninov: Piano Concerto no.1 in F sharp minor, op.1

Peter Tchaikovsky: "Concert Fantasia", op.56

Peter Katin, piano - London Philharmonic Orchestra   conducted by Sir Adrian Boult

Decca SDD 188   Recorded: 17-19 February 1958 - Kingsway Hall

The Tchaikovsky (FLAC previously posted 25 Feb.) re-edited from original edited WAV. The Rachmaninov newly edited from a Feb.2011 WAV.
Except for Christopher Howell's July MusicWeb review there were no 'comments' (343 downloads) - so no need to bother this time, either! Despite very careful editing some faint residual 'Decca crackle' remains. STEREO FLAC/WAV files @ http://pristineclassics.blogspot.com

Sergio Fiorentino ~ Hamburg Pro Musica/Hurst - Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto 1 - Saga 1959 - over on PRISTINE CLASSICS

2011-08-17T16:21:00.011+01:00

Peter Tchaikovsky:
Piano Concerto no.1 in B flat minor, op.23

Sergio Fiorentino, piano - Hamburg Pro Musica (NDR SO, Hamburg) conducted by George Hurst.

Saga Films AAA-ST 4003 c.1959 pressing/PYE matrices Recorded: 18 May 1959 Musikhalle, Hamburg.

Side.1 also matrixed 'STM 6021 A3'. Side.2 was mastered at a lower level: transferred @ c.3dB more. Though the peak-levels now 'match' the sides seem dissimilar. Both matrices have a very slight 'background'. Additionally have the AAA pressing of the Beethoven "Emperor".

Stereo FLAC/WAV files @ http://pristineclassics.blogspot.com

Nielsen. Clarinet -&- Flute Concertos - Deak / Pazmandi ~ Philharmonia Hungarica ~ Maga - Turnabout 1970

2011-08-15T11:29:00.017+01:00

Carl Nielsen:
Concerto for Clarinet & Orchestra
FLAC: http://www.mediafire.com/?t0tcrdz50p6jqtb       WAV:

Concerto for Flute & Orchestra
FLAC: http://www.mediafire.com/?8dnlhds0mnljdj9    WAV:

Josef Deak, clarinet -&- Paul Pazmandi, flute - Philharmonia Hungarica conducted by Othmar Maga

Turnabout TV34261S 1970 Decca pressing/matrices: VS2054 -1L / VS2955 -1L
Excellent UK transfer (as with Nielsen Sym.2 / Garaguly). Better performances than as reviewed in Gramophone Not on CD    Sleeve-note >>>
COPYRIGHT NOTICE: This is made available solely for the purpose of evaluating/reviewing the copyrighted recording, after which it must not be otherwise stored/copied. By downloading the file/s you agree to accept these conditions.

Howard Hanson / Eastman-Rochester SO - McPhee. Tabuh-Tabuhan / Carter. The Minotaur - Mercury 1956 - over on PRISTINE CLASSICS

2011-08-07T10:14:00.007+01:00

Colin McPhee: "Tabuh-Tabuhan" - Toccata for Orchestra
Ostinatos ~ Nocturne ~ Finale

Elliott Carter: "The Minotaur" - Suite from the Ballet
Overture ~ Pasiphae ~ Entrance of the Bulls ~ Bulls' Dance with Pasiphae ~ Pas de Deux - Ariadne & Theseus ~ The Greeks enter the Labyrinth ~ Theseus fights & kills the Minotaur ~ The Greeks emerge triumphant & prepare to leave Crete.

PYE / Mercury MRL 2515 Original 1956 LP / MG-50103 'YMG' matrices.

FLAC/WAV files @ http://pristineclassics.blogspot.com

Arthur Bliss conducts his: Violin Concerto (Alfredo Campoli) ~ Colour Symphony ~ Things to Come, etc - over on PRISTINE CLASSICS

2011-08-03T01:55:00.018+01:00

Concerto for Violin & Orchestra (1955)    ** UNMISSABLE ** /   Theme & Cadenza for Solo Violin & Orchestra (1949)
Alfredo Campoli, violin - London Philharmonic Orchestra - Sir Arthur Bliss    Decca ACL 317

A Colour Symphony (1922) / Introduction & Allegro (1923)    Decca ACL 239 //    "Things to Come" - suite (1935)   / "Welcome the Queen" (1954) RCA SB 2045
London Symphony Orchestra - Sir Arthur Bliss    FLAC/WAV files @ http://pristineclassics.blogspot.com

Howard Hanson / Eastman-Rochester SO - The American Symphony - Barber. no.1 ~ Hanson. no.4 ~ Harris. no.3 ~ Piston. no.3 - Mercury 1953/4 - over on PRISTINE CLASSICS

2011-07-21T20:03:00.073+01:00

Samuel Barber: Symphony no.1, op.9    Recorded: May 1954

Roy Harris: Symphony no.3      Recorded: May 1953    EMI / Mercury MMA 11097

Walter Piston: Symphony no.3 Recorded: 11 May 1954

Howard Hanson: Symphony no.4 Recorded: 11-13 May 1953   Philips / Mercury SRI 75107

FLAC/WAV files @   http://pristineclassics.blogspot.com

Paul Kletzki / Suisse Romande Orchestra - Nielsen: Symphony 5 - Decca 1971

2011-07-16T00:13:00.036+01:00

Carl Nielsen: Symphony no.5, op.50

I: Tempo giusto - Allegro non troppo
FLAC: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=ISVJO4NB WAV: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=9XW3CTGW

II: Allegro; Andante un poco tranquillo; Allegro
FLAC: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=O3JQIS3S WAV: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=Y0WFDAMI

L'Orchestre de la Suisse Romande conducted by Paul Kletzki

Decca SXL 6491 1971 LP/matrices: ZAL 10037 -1W / ZAL 10038 -1W Recorded: 13-15 September 1969 - Victoria Hall, Geneva.
A very very slight occasional trace of 'Decca crackle' remains. Not on CD 1971 "Gramophone" review
Previously auditioned with a Decca Gold (& the defunct Stanton CS100) & still sounding rather 'coloured/congested' using the B&O MMC-5000 MMC5000 review (I rather prefer the Bournemouth SO / Berglund performance, which also sounds extremely fine in an early '80's 'EMI Eminence' transfer: the original ASD pressing is now @ 'In My Room' Blog )
If you don't like this transfer you can blame Bang&Olufsen - and/or Decca's typically 'bloated' Dolby-ized recording Robert Simpson's sleeve-note >>>
COPYRIGHT NOTICE: This is made available solely for the purpose of evaluating/reviewing the copyrighted recording, after which it must not be otherwise stored/copied. By downloading the file/s you agree to accept these conditions.

Robert Simpson - Carl Nielsen: An Introduction to the Symphonies - Unicorn 1974

2011-06-24T17:04:00.060+01:00

STEREO FLAC files:
Side A: Three tracks (33")    Symphonies 1, 2, 3 http://www.mediafire.com/?kviornea64k8bqi

Side B: Three tracks (30")    Symphonies 4, 5, 6 http://www.mediafire.com/?txg62v9maptjdxr

STEREO 320 mp3 files:
Symphony 1 http://www.mediafire.com/?532m9rlwu9tw41n    Symphony 2 http://www.mediafire.com/?p1ws2z5fhl2s9rz
Symphony 3 http://www.mediafire.com/?mw59wp96u93tpr2 Symphony 4 http://www.mediafire.com/?ylwa5ia1vz62vxu
Symphony 5 http://www.mediafire.com/?g6b14zd8p7jtp1r       Symphony 6 http://www.mediafire.com/?03g951gua4obt9n

Dr.Robert Simpson - with illustrations from the recordings by the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Ole Schmidt
Unicorn RHS 330. - From the original 1974 German pressed box set: RHS 324-330 NOT ON CD Edited January 2012 'Gramophone' comment >>>
COPYRIGHT NOTICE: This is made available solely for the purpose of evaluating/reviewing the copyrighted recording, after which it must not be otherwise stored/copied. By downloading the file/s you agree to accept these conditions.

GRAMOPHONE - Jan.1975: These records have a further advantage in that Robert Simpson, our own authority on the composer, has been closely associated with them and contributes a short spoken introduction to each symphony: this comes on a separate record. These introductions are unfailingly illuminating not only for those coming freshly to this music but for the well-informed listener too. Dr Simpson enjoys the enviable capacity of being able to engage the interest of music lovers at all levels; he does not shirk discussion of tonality but he does so in a way that is readily accessible to the lay music-lover. It is a great pity that these short talks are insensitively produced: illustrations are badly faded and inserted with little feeling for pace. They would be unacceptable in a broadcast talk, let alone in something intended for repeated hearing.
EMG Monthly Letter - Jan.1975: "...not unfortunately very well recorded..."

Jascha Horenstein / Vienna Pro Musica - Beethoven Choral Symphony - Decca/VOX 1966 - over on PRISTINE CLASSICS

2011-06-22T15:25:00.036+01:00

Ludwig van Beethoven: Symphony no.9 in D minor, op.125 ("Choral")

Wilma Lipp, Soprano ~ Elisabeth Hoengen, Contralto ~
Julius Patzak, Tenor ~ Otto Wiener, Bass
Singverein der Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde, Vienna
Pro Musica Symphony, Vienna conducted by Jascha Horenstein
Decca/VOX GBY 10000 First edition 1966 LP
FLAC / WAV files @ http://pristineclassics.blogspot.com

Some congestion/limiting of loud passages is still apparent despite Decca's superior tape-to-disc transfer compared to the original 'RVG' transfers used by Decca for PL 10 000.

Fernando Germani - Italian Organ: Frescobaldi, Pasquini, Bencini, Casini, Porpora, Zipoli - DG Archiv 1970

2011-06-10T11:30:00.000+01:00

Girolamo Frescobaldi: Toccata Quinta http://www.mediafire.com/?r5f39o2dfjm4duh
Toccata Quarta http://www.mediafire.com/?bjxtnmvjdmcr9pw Toccata Prima    http://www.mediafire.com/?3022wnpnu20h9xh
Toccata Terza    http://www.mediafire.com/?trtd6rnsk3ozqbo Toccata Sesta http://www.mediafire.com/?xc1d95sgsumubua
Bernardo Pasquini: Toccata / Sonata http://www.mediafire.com/?hso3da3glof4nci
Domenico Zipoli: Canzona in G http://www.mediafire.com/?dcecenbyp0g5rde
Giovanni Maria Casini: Pensiero in D http://www.mediafire.com/?xciavdc6zdv04bi
Guiseppe Bencini: Fuga in G / Sonata in F http://www.mediafire.com/?gh4ydr8fuxzoo3s
Nicolo Antonio Porpora: Fuga in E http://www.mediafire.com/?53vy8mqp2xw3y3o

Fernando Germani at the Church Organ of Santa Maria del Riposo - Venice.
Archiv Produktion 2533 043 Recorded: 20-23 January 1969. 1970 pressing - matrices: February 1970.    Gramophone review
STEREO WAV files Most WAV's re-edited Jan. 2012 Sublime music/performances - & Organ ! Sleeve-note/track-listings >>>
COPYRIGHT NOTICE: This is made available solely for the purpose of evaluating/reviewing the copyrighted recording, after which it must not be otherwise stored/copied. By downloading the file/s you agree to accept these conditions.

London Harpsichord Ensemble. Bach: The Musical Offering - Saga 1964 ..... Sarah Francis ~ Millicent Silver ~ Bernard Richards: 4 Oboe Sonatas - Argo 1978

2011-04-28T19:59:00.027+01:00

Johann Sebastian Bach: "The Musical Offering", BWV 1079 ( realisation: Millicent Silver )
Side One: FLAC: http://www.mediafire.com/?4bf6shni9ha7srf
Side Two: FLAC: http://www.mediafire.com/?q14m1ec30m1qv24

The London Harpsichord Ensemble ( John Francis, flute ~ John Tunnell, violin ~ Francis, oboe/cor anglais ~ Bernard Davis, viola ~ Roger Birnstingl, bassoon ~ Norman Jones, 'cello ~ Millicent Silver, harpsichord ) directed by John Francis

SAGA XID 5237 1964 Mono: no stereo issue (a 'dry' acoustic - & the sound becomes a bit/more 'hair-shirt' towards side-ends..) 1965 Gramophone review

G.F.Handel: Sonata no.2 in G minor

FLAC: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=VM1RP9D6 WAV: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=S6S0A06F

Georg Telemann: Sonata in B flat major

FLAC: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=WBC9YM6W WAV: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=T9UVYWVW

Nicolas Chedeville (attrib: Vivaldi): Sonata in A major, op.13, no.4
FLAC: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=PV0GJCY6 WAV:    http://www.megaupload.com/?d=SBSGQ3R3

Johann Sebastian Bach: Sonata in G minor, BWV 1020
FLAC: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=UBYHF3JV WAV: http://www.miegaupload.com/?d=ZEWASC1T

Sarah Francis, oboe ~ Millicent Silver, harpsichord ~ Bernard Richards, 'cello       Millicent Silver - Biography
ARGO ZK 41    1978 LP/matrices: ZRG 4623 -1Y / ZRG 4624 -1Y Recorded: 16/17 May 1977 - St.George the Martyr.    Sleeve-notes >>>
COPYRIGHT NOTICE: This is made available solely for the purpose of evaluating/reviewing the copyrighted recording, after which it must not be otherwise stored/copied. By downloading the file/s you agree to accept these conditions.

William Walton conducts... "Troilus & Cressida" -&- Orb & Sceptre / Crown Imperial / Portsmouth Point / Wise Virgins - EMI 1953/1955 - over on PRISTINE CLASSICS

2011-04-20T19:10:00.056+01:00

"Orb & Sceptre" - Coronation March, 1953    /    "Portsmouth Point" - overture
"Crown Imperial" - Coronation March, 1937 (original version) / J.S.Bach: arr Walton: "Sheep may safely graze" ("The Wise Virgins")
Columbia 33C 1016 (10")   1953 pressing. Recorded: 18 March 1953 - Kingsway Hall

"Troilus and Cressida" (scenes)
TROILUS: Richard Lewis, tenor ~ CRESSIDA: Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, soprano ~ EVADNE: Monica Sinclair, contralto ~
THREE WATCHMEN: Geoffrey Walls, tenor ~ John Hauxvell, baritone ~ Lewis Thomas, tenor
World Record Club OH 217 (originally: Columbia 33CX 1313)    Recorded: 18 April ~ 20 May 1955 - Kingsway Hall.
The Philharmonia Orchestra conducted by Sir William Walton
FLAC / WAV files @ http://pristineclassics.blogspot.com

Equale Brass - "Cabaret" ..... Morera ~ Spanish Renaissance ~ Bartok ~ Rameau - Nimbus 1981

2011-04-10T22:56:00.060+01:00

Enric Morera: Four Sardanas: La Senta Espina ~ La Nostre Roser ~ Les Fulles Segues ~ La Sardana de las Monjes
FLAC: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=49VE8IJQ    WAV: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=DZ1AJSCZ
Spanish Renaissance Music: Ponce: Torres de la Nina ~ Anon: Cancion Nina y Vina ~ Valderravano: Differencia sobre Guardame las vacas ~ Anon: Cancion de la Virgen que Parlo ~ Milan: Fantasia
FLAC: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=IJ3WR7S3       WAV: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=ZIPMY1MN
Bela Bartok: "Mikrokosmos" - Dances in Bulgarian Rhythm: (nos. 6, 1, 2, 3, 5) ~ Crossed Hands ~ Merry Andrew ~ From the Diary of a Fly ~ Major seconds; Broken & Together ~ Bagpipe
FLAC:    http://www.megaupload.com/?d=ISPHCA06    WAV:    http://www.megaupload.com/?d=5LOTU9IN
Jean-Philippe Rameau: Les Sauvages ~ Le Rappel des Oiseaux
FLAC: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=9QU6E5QB    WAV: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=ZPBFPVTN

John Kander: "Cabaret" - Three Songs: Willkommen ~ Mein Herr ~ Maybe this time / Hanns Eisler: Lied eines Freudenmadchens ~ Ballade von der Judenhure Marie Saunders
FLAC: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=ZSLUEWPD    WAV: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=YKZ1ECZ5
Herbert Chappell: "Hollywood Portraits": Keaton - Bogart - Marilyn Munroe - Presley / William Walton: "Facade": Popular Song
FLAC: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=SD8BOXHP    WAV:    http://www.megaupload.com/?d=O899OB10
Scott Joplin: Cleopha / George Gershwin: By Strauss ~ Love is here to stay ~ Fascinating Rhythm
FLAC: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=ORZGDPNG    WAV: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=YXXLWUAO
Cole Porter: I've got you under my skin ~ Easy to love / Ned Washington: On Green Dolphin Street
Irving Berlin: Top Hat, White Tie & Tails / Scott Joplin: Combination March & two-Step
FLAC: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=61SFD8AM    WAV: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=T9V4KUZ0
NIMBUS 45010 / 45014 45rpm Rec: 22/23 December 1980 & 8/9 May 1981 - Nimbus Studios    Ambisonic/UHJ FLAC/WAV files
I WILL SEE IF RE-EDITING IS WORTHWHILE - UNFORTUNATELY THE 'SURFACES' WERE MOSTLY LESS THAN QUIET..
Equale Brass: John Wallace, trumpet ~ John Miller, trumpet ~ Michael Thompson, horn ~ Peter Goodwin, trombone ~ John Jenkins, tuba
Not on CD (a minor degree of 'matrix contamination' except, fortunately, 45010/side 2 - the superb Bartok..) Sleeve-notes >>>
COPYRIGHT NOTICE: This is made available solely for the purpose of evaluating/reviewing the copyrighted recording, after which it must not be otherwise stored/copied. By downloading the file/s you agree to accept these conditions.

Philip Jones Memorial Concert - Ewald ~ Mussorgsky 'Pictures', etc. / PJBE: Archive recordings - BBC 2001

2011-04-07T21:20:00.054+01:00

Quintet in Honorium Philip Jones: ( James Watson, Rod Franks, James Gourlay, Roger Harvey, David Pyatt )
16th C. Dances ~ Aston: Hornpipe (arr: Howarth) / Stephen Dodgson: 'Philip's Repose' http://www.mediafire.com/?ilcxipnmc1x1i71

Victor Ewald: Quintet no.3 in D flat, op.7 Allegro Moderato ~ Intermezzo ~ Andante ~ Vivo
The Wallace Collection http://www.mediafire.com/?srn503nw8z3t8sa

Modest Mussorgsky: "Pictures at an Exhibition" (arr: Elgar Howarth) http://www.mediafire.com/?i1mnzz9f59ac8vn
London Symphony Orchestra Brass Ensemble conducted by Elgar Howarth
BBC Radio 3 FM- 21 January 2001 - from Barbican Hall concert: 17 January 2001

Iain Hamilton: "Circus" for 2 Trumpets & Orchestra (1969) http://www.mediafire.com/?usz43pujbrlewjh
Philip Jones ~ Elgar Howarth, trumpets - BBC SO conducted by John Pritchard. 21 January 1970 - Royal Festival Hall.

Giovanni Gabrieli: 8vv Sonata (Sinfoniae Sacrae, 1615) -&- Motet: "Salvator noster" http://www.mediafire.com/?0fdgqa0rn9z99b9
PJBE, John Angelo Massana, Counter-Tenor - Monteverdi Choir - John Eliot Gardiner. 4 January 1973 - Westminster Cathedral

Samuel Scheidt: "Battle Suite" (arr: Philip Jones) Philip Jones Brass Ensemble http://www.mediafire.com/?7umtdv9nbkh16ys

Benjamin Britten: Fanfare for St.Edmundsbury (1959) Philip Jones ~ John Miller ~ James Watson, trumpets.
http://www.mediafire.com/?lgyjewjlp5eaa52

Malcolm Arnold: Symphony for Brass Instruments, op.123 (1978) Allegro moderato ~ Allegro grazioso ~ Andante con moto ~ Allegro con brio Philip Jones Brass Ensemble
http://www.mediafire.com/?bqxyknrb4ds1lld
BBC Radio 3 FM. Cheltenham Festival, July 1979. Re-broadcast 28 January 2001 ( 'BBC Legends' series ). STEREO FLAC files "The Times" Obituary >>>
COPYRIGHT NOTICE: This is made available solely for the purpose of evaluating/reviewing the copyrighted recording, after which it must not be otherwise stored/copied. By downloading the file/s you agree to accept these conditions.

Jean Martinon / Chicago Symphony Orchestra - Edgar Varese -&- Frank Martin - RCA 1966

2011-04-03T14:05:00.012+01:00

Edgar Varese: "Arcana"
FLAC: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=R8EPZWQZ WAV: http://www.mediafire.com/?6lczedzqj4eehyl

Frank Martin:
Concerto for Seven Wind Instruments, Timpani, Percussion & String Orchestra ( Allegro ~ Adagietto ~ Allegro vivace )
FLAC: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=67FAMAWP WAV: http://www.mediafire.com/?gcx7spbsb2623kb

Chicago Symphony Orchestra conducted by Jean Martinon

RCA SB 6710 Decca pressing/matrices: TRRS 2362 -2K / TRRS 2363 -2K Recorded: March 1966 - Orchestra Hall, Chicago.
STEREO FLAC/WAV files Gramophone review - 1967 Sleeve-note >>>
COPYRIGHT NOTICE: This is made available solely for the purpose of evaluating/reviewing the copyrighted recording, after which it must not be otherwise stored/copied. By downloading the file/s you agree to accept these conditions.

Larry Adler - RPO/Morton Gould - Harmonica Concertos: Arnold/Benjamin/Milhaud/Vaughan Williams - RCA 1968

2011-03-29T21:34:00.027+01:00

Malcolm Arnold: Concerto for Harmonica & Orchestra, op.46
FLAC: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=OPGDHGLD WAV: http://www.mediafire.com/?wqd8dhwd7bdsz52

Arthur Benjamin: Concerto for Mouth Organ & Orchestra
FLAC: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=E7N08XXS WAV:    http://www.mediafire.com/?3faxj9fehvq1ra6

Ralph Vaughan Williams: Romance for Harmonica & String Orchestra (with Piano)
FLAC: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=UG887K5S       WAV:    http://www.mediafire.com/?9gdpb26ephs1jga

Darius Milhaud: Suite for Harmonica & Orchestra ( Gigue ~ Sailor Song ~ Hornpipe )
FLAC: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=VOTPSD0A       WAV:    http://www.mediafire.com/?ma555cce5vctkq5

Larry Adler, harmonica - Royal Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Morton Gould                Larry Adler's 1958 PYE recital @apartyinsuburbia.blogspot >>>
RCA SB 6786 1969 Decca pressing/matrices: T2PY-9494 -2K / T2PY-9495 -1K    PYE recording    Not on CD    STEREO FLAC/WAV files 1969 Gramophone review
24bit-recorded CD-RW: 'indistinguishable' from the LP (LP mastered @ a low level: this transfer peaks @ 0dB: some occasional low-frequency 'noises' are audible) Sleeve-note >>>
COPYRIGHT NOTICE: This is made available solely for the purpose of evaluating/reviewing the copyrighted recording, after which it must not be otherwise stored/copied. By downloading the file/s you agree to accept these conditions.

Hugo Rignold / Royal Opera House Orchestra - Prokofiev: Cinderella - Decca/RCA 1957 - over on Pristine Classics

2011-03-24T23:31:00.009Z

Serge Prokofiev: "Cinderella"
Suite no.1, op.107
Introduction ~ Pas de Chat ~ Quarrel ~ Fairy Godmother & Fairy Winter ~ Mazurka ~ Cinderella goes to the Ball

Suite no.2, op.108
Cinderella Dreams of the Ball ~ Dancing Lesson & Gavotte ~ Fairy Spring & Fairy Summer ~ Bouree ~ Cinderella at the Castle ~ Galop

Royal Opera House Orchestra, Covent Garden conducted by Hugo Rignold ... over @ http://pristineclassics.blogspot.com

RCA VICS 1138 - First edition 1965 Decca pressing Recorded: 2,3,8 May 1957 - Kingsway Hall Not on CD STEREO FLAC/WAV files
Somewhat low-voltage performance in places. There is a small difference in sound quality between sessions. 24-bit CD recorder used.

Jean Morel / ROHO - L'Arlesienne ~ Espana ~ Marche joyeuse - Decca/RCA 1959 - over on PRISTINE CLASSICS

2011-03-14T02:24:00.025Z

Emmanuel Chabrier: "Espana" - Rapsodie / Marche joyeuse

Georges Bizet: L'Arlesienne: Suite no.1 (Prelude ~ Minuetto ~ Adagietto ~ Carillon)

Georges Bizet: L'Arlesienne: Suite no.2 - orch/arr: Ernest Guiraud
(Pastorale ~ Intermezzo ~ Minuetto ~ Farandole)

Royal Opera House Orchestra, Covent Garden conducted by Jean Morel. http://pristineclassics.blogspot.com

RCA VICS 1058 1969 Decca pressing of RCA SB 2057. Original 1959 Decca matrices. Recorded: 18-20 Sept.1958 - Kingsway Hall.
STEREO FLAC/WAV files Not on CD (Might upload the original RCA SB of Morel/ROHO "Swan Lake")

Edward Downes / London Symphony Orchestra - Bax: Symphony 3 -&- The Happy Forest - RCA 1969

2011-03-09T16:49:00.018Z

Sir Arnold Bax: The Happy Forest    http://www.mediafire.com/?t6aesm3m93gs24q

Sir Arnold Bax: Symphony no.3
I: Lento Moderato - Allegro moderato http://www.mediafire.com/?9g8gzuhzdgc1v3l
II: Lento ~ III: Moderato http://www.mediafire.com/?e9647sbyvv5gxsp

London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Edward Downes    Symphony 3 (1943 Halle/Barbirolli) also over on HISTORICAL
RCA GL 42247 1977 RCA Italy/RCA UK matrices: 1E/1E (First issue: RCA SB 6806) Recorded 9/10 January 1969 - Barking Assembly Hall.

Sir Arnold Bax: Overture to a Picaresque Comedy http://www.mediafire.com/?ghztx1dfofqhv2h
Above file uploaded last September (Lennox Berkeley: Divertimento in B flat - not yet dubbed. See 25 August 2010 post for sleeve)
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Igor Buketoff
RCA SB 6730 Decca pressing/matrix: T2PY 9347 -1K Recorded by PYE, 1967. STEREO FLAC files    Not on CD Sleeve-note >>>
COPYRIGHT NOTICE: This is made available solely for the purpose of evaluating/reviewing the copyrighted recording, after which it must not be otherwise stored/copied. By downloading the file/s you agree to accept these conditions.

Vernon Handley / BBC Philharmonic - Arnold Bax: Orchestral Concert - BBC 2006

2011-03-08T20:02:00.007Z

Sir Arnold Bax: "Nympholept" http://www.mediafire.com/?a9c7xv70i47xrki

"Into the Twilight" ('Eire' - Prologue) http://www.mediafire.com/?a4d038s21h3x4oi

"Red Autumn" (orch: Graham Parlett)    http://www.mediafire.com/?y5cyibp3rnciy26

Northern Ballad no.1    http://www.mediafire.com/?2x63sshzoymcrca
Northern Ballad no.2 http://www.mediafire.com/?issq3ejuiscesxe
"Prelude for a Solemn Occasion" (Northern Ballad no.3) http://www.mediafire.com/?4ncddmvggocd9p5

BBC Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Vernon Handley.    MusicWeb review of the CHANDOS release
BBC Radio 3 DAB (192kbps). Live relay: BBC Studio 7, Manchester - 19 December 2006. Minidisc: direct analog transfer. STEREO FLAC files
COPYRIGHT NOTICE: This is made available solely for the purpose of evaluating/reviewing the copyrighted recording, after which it must not be otherwise stored/copied. By downloading the file/s you agree to accept these conditions.

Barry Tuckwell, Gervase de Peyer, a.o. - Instrumental Music: Banks / Bennett / Hamilton / Tate - Argo 1966

2011-02-09T00:25:00.015Z

Don Banks: Trio for Horn, Violin & Piano http://www.mediafire.com/?2hzfa1o95qhot8l

Richard Rodney Bennett: Trio for Flute, Clarinet & Oboe    http://www.mediafire.com/?fcsjise7dxd5pgn

Phyllis Tate: Sonata for Clarinet & Cello http://www.mediafire.com/?278l467nimzcqbg

Iain Hamilton: "Sonata Notturna" for Horn & Piano    http://www.mediafire.com/?e55ik2fu3bfj4f7

Barry Tuckwell, horn - Gervase de Peyer, clarinet - Brenton Langbein, violin - William Pleeth, cello - William Bennett, flute
- Peter Graeme, oboe - Maureen Jones, piano (Banks) - Margaret Kitchin, piano (Hamilton)
Argo ZRG 5475 First Edition pressing/matrices: ZRG 2827 -2G / ZRG 2828 -3W    Gramophone review - 1966    STEREO FLAC files
Recorded: 19 January & 25 February 1966 - Kingsway Hall.    Not on CD    Sleeve-note >>>
COPYRIGHT NOTICE: This is made available solely for the purpose of evaluating/reviewing the copyrighted recording, after which it must not be otherwise stored/copied. By downloading the file/s you agree to accept these conditions.

Milhaud conducts... Les Quatre Saisons. Soloists / Concerts Lamoureux - Philips 1958 - over on PRISTINE CLASSICS

2011-02-06T11:43:00.003Z

No.1: Concertino de Printemps (for violin & chamber orchestra)    Syzmon Goldberg, violin

No.2: Concertino d'ete (for solo viola & nine instruments)    Ernst Wallfisch, viola

No.3: Concertino d'automne (for two pianos & eight instruments)    Genevieve Joy & Jacqueline Bonneau, pianos

No.4: Concertino d'hiver (for trombone & string orchestra)    Maurice Suzan, trombone
Ensemble de Solistes des Concerts Lamoureux conducted by Darius Milhaud

Philips 6527 221 Stereo re-issue, 1984. Recorded June 1958
STEREO FLAC files @ http://pristineclassics.blogspot.com

London Wind Quintet - Arnold / Fricker / Gerhard / Seiber - Argo 1962

2011-01-28T20:56:00.019Z

Matyas Seiber: Permutazioni a Cinque (1958) http://www.mediafire.com/?yu5ebr2nsdcws21

Roberto Gerhard: Wind Quintet (1928)    http://www.mediafire.com/?4purutdh9hevaal

Peter Racine Fricker: Wind Quintet, op.5 (1947) http://www.mediafire.com/?hhiakxjssk8tk0a

Malcolm Arnold: Three Shanties for Wind Quintet (1952) http://www.mediafire.com/?k5g2rek6ln10nky

The London Wind Quintet -
Gareth Morris, flute - Sidney Sutcliffe, oboe - Bernard Walton, clarinet - Gwydion Brooke, bassoon - Alan Civil, horn
Argo ZRG 5326 1962 matrices: ZRG 2145 -1D / ZRG 2146 -3G STEREO FLAC files Not on CD
Recorded: c.February 1962 - Decca West Hampstead Studio no.3. An 'Audiophile' LP.    Sleeve-note >>>
COPYRIGHT NOTICE: This is made available solely for the purpose of evaluating/reviewing the copyrighted recording, after which it must not be otherwise stored/copied. By downloading the file/s you agree to accept these conditions.

Delius. Hassan - RPO - Sir Thomas Beecham - Fontana 1958 - over on PRISTINE CLASSICS

2011-01-28T11:30:00.013Z

Frederick Delius: "Hassan"
Introduction ~ Serenade ~ Short Interlude ~ Unaccompanied chorus behind scene ~ The Beggars of Baghdad ~ Chorus of women ~ Prelude to Act.III ~ Chorus of soldiers ~ The Procession of Protracted Death ~ Serenade - repeated ~ Closing scene: The Golden Road to Samarkand

Leslie Fry, Baritone - Arthur Leavins, violin - Frederick Riddle, viola
BBC Chorus, (chorus-master: Leslie Woodgate) - Royal Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Sir Thomas Beecham

Fontana CFL 1020 - issued 1958. Recorded: Walthamstow Assembly Hall. 29 May 1956

Mono FLAC / WAV files @ http://pristineclassics.blogspot.com (Closing Scene: "The Golden Road to Samarkand" additionally as a FLAC)

Thurston Dart: Maurice Andre, Jean Pirot, a.o. - "The Royal Brass Music of King James I" - L'Oiseau-Lyre 1960

2011-01-23T14:00:00.033Z

Side One: Band 1: Thomas Simpson: Intrada ~ James Harding: Almande ~ Antony Holborne: The Fairy Round
FLAC: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=5CWFHWB9      WAV:   http://www.megaupload.com/?d=RFS6VBIH
Side One: Bands 2 + 3: Thomas Leetherland: Pavan ~ Nicholas Guy: Almande no.13 ~ Holborne: The Choice //
Jerome Bassano: Fantasia ~ Giles Farnaby: Almande ~ Holborne: Galliard
FLAC:    http://www.megaupload.com/?d=AR21YEQZ               WAV:   http://www.megaupload.com/?d=8MMWO1SJ

Side Two: Bands 1-3: Robert Johnson: Almande no.7 ~ Holborne: As it fell on a holy eve ~ Giovanni Coperario: Fantasia no.76 ~
Alfonso Ferrabosco II: Almande no.5 // Richard Dering: Fantasia ~ Thomas Lupo: Almande ~ Anthony Bassano: Pavane no.16 //
Holborne: The fruit of love ~ Ferrabosco II: Pavane -&- Alman
FLAC:    http://www.megaupload.com/?d=QYCEM0TO       WAV:    http://www.megaupload.com/?d=XDMCKEOW
Maurice Andre, Jean Pirot, trumpets -&- Maurice Suzan, Henri Arque, Camille Verdier, Bernard Gallot, trombones
Directed by Thurston Dart      L'Oiseau-Lyre SOL 60019 First pressing/matrices: ZTT 451 -1D / ZTT 452 -2D Not on CD Sleeve-note >>>

MacMillan: A Scotch Bestiary (Wayne Marshall) -&- Corigliano: The Red Violin (Joshua Bell) - BBC Proms 2005

2011-01-15T20:47:00.021Z

James MacMillan: A Scotch Bestiary (Wayne Marshall, organ)
I: The Menagerie, Caged ~ II: The Menagerie, Uncaged
BBC Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Gianandrea Noseda
London premiere: 21 July 2005 34:13" http://www.mediafire.com/?g1f508736vh6234

John Corigliano: Violin Concerto, 'The Red Violin' (Joshua Bell, violin)
I: Chaconne ~ II: Pianissimo Scherzo ~ III: Andante Flautando ~ IV: Accelerando Final
Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra conducted by Marin Alsop
UK premiere: 28 July 2005 37:14" http://www.mediafire.com/?1cdtyl0kagd62x7

BBC Radio 3 DAB (192kbs) Live from Royal Albert Hall (MacMillan's programme note, below >>>) STEREO FLAC files
COPYRIGHT NOTICE: This is made available solely for the purpose of evaluating/reviewing the copyrighted recording, after which it must not be otherwise stored/copied. By downloading the file/s you agree to accept these conditions.

James MacMillan: Scotch Bestiary
This concertante work for organ and orchestra was commissioned by the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the BBC, for the BBC Philharmonic. It is in two movements, and follows in a tradition of musical portraiture set by Elgar, Saint-Saëns and Moussorgsky, as indicated in the sub-title of the work. Since the first performance takes place in the new Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, I was motivated by the great American cartoon makers who represented human characters in animal form. A Scotch Bestiary is inspired by human archetypes and personalities encountered in Scottish life over the years.

I. THE MENAGERIE, CAGED

The book is opened. Moussorgsky’s ‘Promenade’ from Pictures at an Exhibition provides the model here for this recurring refrain.

1. Ode to a cro-magnon hyena. Duetting melodic lines on organ, violas and cellos are accompanied by laughing trumpets, lolloping trombones, howling clarinets, and little ticking rhythmic figures on percussion and horns.

A page is turned. The refrain material is now presented on the woodwinds.
2. Reptiles and Big Fish (in a small pond). Large, slithering and lumbering melodies are presented on the organ pedals, tuba and double basses, which lead to an ungainly waltz, doused in watery textures.
3. Her Serene and Ubiquitous Majesty, Queen Bee. A buzzing organ solo emerges from the depths, interrupted by violent and shrill interjections, before a grotesque Scottish reel winds its way through various fluttering textures. The section ends regally and serenely.

Another page is turned. The refrain material is now carried by the strings.
4. The red-handed, no-surrender, howler monkey. A military strain is overlaid by a jabbering organ, tootling flutes and cackling trumpets and clarinets. Horns blare out an obsessive two note motif.
5. Uncle Tom Cat and his chickens. Sleek, surreptitious, prowling clarinets and nervous strings and woodwind predominate in this section.

Yet another page is turned. This time the refrain is presented on percussion, harp and electric piano.
6. Scottish Patriots. A discarded fanfare for the opening of the new Scottish Parliament receives appropriate transformations on trombones, accompanied by bagpipe-like drones and snuffling on the organ. Later it is accompanied by a vamping piano and jazz-like pizzicato bass.
7. The Reverend Cuckoo and his Parroting Chorus. A high clarinet represents the obsessive cuckoo and the other woodwind instruments parrot their eager responses. The organ accompanies this with a hymn.
8. Jackass Hackass. This is a moto perpetuo movement, where the organ rushes and flies virtuosically, accompanied by a bodhran (a celtic drum) and braying hee-haws on strings and brass. A couple of noisy typewriters improvise a fast jig over a vamping piano and bass.

The book is closed. A coda for the solo organ, and a tentative dreamy final chord.

II. THE MENAGERIE, UNCAGED

This is a freewheeling, through-composed fantasy on all the major ideas from the first movement. All the animals are now unleashed and rampage in chaotic, violent abandon. New animals appear – elephants, horses, cows, dogs, lions and more birds, with some added grunting and rooting. The materials are all predominantly fast and frenetic, rushing to a virtuosic finale for soloist and orchestra.

(The work is dedicated to my good friend, Gillian Moore MBE, Artistic Director of the London Sinfonietta).

James MacMillan

Band of the Grenadier Guards / F.J.Harris: Holst Suite no.1 -&- Rosse / Ansell / Wood - Decca 1959

2011-01-13T18:53:00.016Z

Gustav Holst: Suite no.1 for Military Band    http://www.megaupload.com/?d=YRFTIQXC

Frederick Rosse: "The Merchant of Venice" - Portia ~ Doge's March http://www.megaupload.com/?d=7GSXGSWQ

John Ansell: Three Irish Pictures    http://www.megaupload.com/?d=D179GBWA

Arthur Wood: Three Dale Dances http://www.megaupload.com/?d=PTOSWB4F

Band of the Grenadier Guards conducted by Major F.J.Harris Recorded: 1958    1970 Gramophone review of the Eclipse reissue

Decca SKL 4041 1959 LP/Matrices: ZAL 3408 -1E / ZAL 3409 -1E       Not on CD STEREO FLAC files    Sleeve-note >>>

Imogen Holst: The Purcell Singers, Jean Stewart & Daphne Ibbott - English Folk Songs (arr: Vaughan Williams) - WRC 1963

2011-01-10T17:01:00.046Z

Side One: Just as the tide was flowing ~ The captain's apprentice ~ The lark in the morning ~ An acre of land
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=R2IAPC5D
The unquiet grave ~ The carter ~ As I walked out ~ On Christmas night http://www.megaupload.com/?d=J3O8LU50

Side Two: Six studies in English folk song, for viola & piano (as WAV file) http://www.megaupload.com/?d=LU2GD7ZS
(Lovely on the water ~ Spurn Point ~ Van Dieman's Land ~ She borrowed some of her mother's gold ~ The lady and the dragoon ~ As I walked over London Bridge) http://www.megaupload.com/?d=ZEJR5DN9

Dives and Lazarus ~ The cuckoo and the nightingale ~ Bushes and briars ~ Wassail song http://www.megaupload.com/?d=ACFBI9S0

Rosamond Strode, Soprano - Patrick Shuldham-Shaw, Baritone - Jean Stewart, viola - Daphne Ibbott, piano
The Purcell Singers directed by Imogen Holst.
WAV: "The captain's apprentice" sung by Patrick Shuldham-Shaw www.megaupload.com/?d=JUH4G2Y9 Gramophone review
World Record Club SCM 46 Original 1963 EMI LP/Matrices: SW 7726 -5 / SW 7727 -1 STEREO FLAC files Not on CD.    Sleeve-note / Song-texts >>>
COPYRIGHT NOTICE: This is made available solely for the purpose of evaluating/reviewing the copyrighted recording, after which it must not be otherwise stored/copied. By downloading the file/s you agree to accept these conditions.

Imogen Holst conducts... Gustav Holst: Military & Brass Band Music - EMI 1966

2011-01-07T00:07:00.036Z

"A Moorside Suite", for Brass Band. (Scherzo ~ Nocturne ~ March)
http://www.mediafire.com/?t8n8buc2wd73myc
BMC (Oxford) Band conducted by Imogen Holst

Suite no.1 in E flat, for Military Band. (Chaconne ~ Intermezzo ~ March)
http://www.mediafire.com/?ar6wa0q3a6lahp6
Suite no.2 in F major, for Military Band. (March ~ Song without words ~ Song of the blacksmith ~ Fantasia on the Dargason)
http://www.mediafire.com/?pudo7zp99vzv4nw
The Central Band of the Royal Air Force conducted by Imogen Holst

"Hammersmith": A Prelude & Scherzo for Military band, op.52 http://www.mediafire.com/?48586uj386ldm3d
The Central Band of the Royal Air Force conducted by J.L.Wallace
HMV CSD 3507 Original 1966 LP/Matrices: 2YEA 1165 -2 /2YEA 1166 -3 Not on CD. 1966 Gramophone review STEREO WAV files

31 October 2011. Further to today's comment below. Corrected files for 'Moorside' / Suite no.1 have been uploaded (with a few minor edits) plus the original WAV of Suite no.2. 'Hammersmith' may be re-uploaded if the end-of-side 'swish' can be further reduced. Sleeve-note >>>
COPYRIGHT NOTICE: This is made available solely for the purpose of evaluating/reviewing the copyrighted recording, after which it must not be otherwise stored/copied. By downloading the file/s you agree to accept these conditions.

Sir Adrian Boult / LPO: On Parade / Bravo! / Bartered Bride ~ Vltava ~ Romeo & Juliet - EMI 1968

2010-12-30T00:16:00.058Z

Peter Tchaikovsky: "Romeo & Juliet" - Fantasy Overture http://www.megaupload.com/?d=S7AGB418
Bedrich Smetana: "The Bartered Bride" ( Overture ~ Polka ~ Furiant ~ Dance of the Comedians ) http://www.megaupload.com/?d=38Z8A9S0

Bedrich Smetana: "Ma Vlast" - Vltava http://www.megaupload.com/?d=2O6KA77V

HMV 'Concert Classics' SXLP 30199 Matrices: 2YEA 5044 -2 /2YEA 5045 -2 First issue: WRC ST 665 (Smetana) & ST 683 (Tchaikovsky) Not on CD.

William Walton: Overture - "Portsmouth Point" http://www.megaupload.com/?d=RMV9MYRZ

Max Bruch: "Kol Nidrei" ( Christopher Bunting, 'cello ) http://www.megaupload.com/?d=NE07KM7Y

Jeremiah Clarke: Trumpet Voluntary in D (Gordon Webb, trumpet ) http://www.megaupload.com/?d=75IJNN4N

Camille Saint-Saens: Dance macabre ( Rodney Friend, violin ) http://www.megaupload.com/?d=FA3VKMU0

George Gershwin: Cuban Overture http://www.megaupload.com/?d=W5NN610I
Camille Saint-Saens: "Wedding Cake", op.76 ( Gwynneth Pryor, piano ) http://www.megaupload.com/?d=L4HXEDPX

Igor Stravinsky: Circus Polka / Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari: "Jewels of the Madonna" - Intermezzo ( Richard Adeney, flute )
/ Manuel de Falla: "Amor Brujo" - Ritual Fire Dance. These 3 as one file: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=RYMGFK9W

EMI / Classics for Pleasure CFP 158 Matrices: SW 8790 -5G / SW 8791 -3G First issue: WRC ST 698

Side One: Rodgers: "Guadalcanal" ~ Coates: "Dam Busters" ~ Sousa: "Washington Post" ~ Trad./Alford: "Lillibulero" ~ J.F.Wagner: "Under the double Eagle"
~ Teika: "Old Comrades" ~ Trad.: "British Grenadiers" http://www.megaupload.com/?d=VGEVYUE8
Side Two: Sousa: "Stars and Stripes" ~ Alford: "Colonel Bogey" ~ Sousa: "El Capitan" ~ Walford Davies: "RAF March" ~ Zimmermann: "Anchors Aweigh"
~ Sousa: "Liberty Bell" ~ Trad.: "Battle Hymn of the Republic" http://www.megaupload.com/?d=EPZBQTOC

EMI / World Records ST 750 1968 LP/Matrices: SW 8844 -1G / SW 8845 -3G
London Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Sir Adrian Boult. Recorded 1967. STEREO FLAC files CFP 158 sleeve-note >>>

The Tchaikovsky/Smetana are very fine. Bravo! contains some quirky performances...sparkling Piano playing/sound...and a rather miserable account of the Bruch... :~((
Portsmouth Point was on CD.. On Parade (I now see..) was in a 1997 Sony CD (minus Guadalcanal?) as well as the previous 1971 CfP reissue: so possibly a bit less raucous?
COPYRIGHT NOTICE: This is made available solely for the purpose of evaluating/reviewing the copyrighted recording, after which it must not be otherwise stored/copied. ownloading the file/s you agree to accept these conditions

Irma Kolassi / LPO - de Froment: Chausson -&- Ravel / Debussy / Greek Folk Songs - Decca 1954/1955

2010-12-23T11:53:00.031Z

Maurice Ravel: Cinq melodies populaires greques.
( Chanson de la mariee ~ La-bas vers d'eglise ~ Quell galant m'est comparable ~ Chanson des cueilleusses de lentisques ~ Tout gal )
FLAC: WAV:
With Jacqueline Bonneau, piano From: LW 5246 (10") Recorded: 2/3 December 1955 - West Hampstead Studios

Maurice Ravel: Chansons madecasses ( Nahandove ~ Aoua! ~ Il est doux )

FLAC: WAV:

With Geoffrey Gilbert, flute - William Pleeth, 'cello - Andre Collard, piano From: Decca LW 5246 (10")

Claude Debussy: Fetes galantes ( En sourdine ~ Fantoches )

FLAC: WAV:

Claude Debussy: Trois chansons de Bilitis ( La Flute de Pan ~ La Chevelure ~ La Tombeau des naiades )

FLAC: WAV:

With Andre Collard, piano From: Decca LW 5161 (10") Recorded: 27 Sept.-1 Oct. 1954 - West Hampstead Studios.

Ernest Chausson: Poeme de l'amour et de la mer ( La fleur des eaux ~ Interlude ~ La Mort d'amour )

FLAC: WAV:

London Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Louis de Froment

Recorded 9-10 May 1955 - Kingsway Hall. First issued as: Decca LX 3150 (10")

Decca 'Grandi Voci' 417 559 Issued 1987. Matrices: ARL 19113 -1K / ARL 19114 -1K

Eight Greek Folksongs: Side One: The Little Lamb ~ The spring under the plane tree ~ Rinaki ~ The price of a kiss

FLAC: WAV:

Side Two: Sirtos from Paros ~ The Priest's wife ~ Cradle song ~ Dourou Dourou
FLAC: WAV:

With Andre Collard, piano. Recorded 26/28 May 1954 - West Hampstead Studios. Decca LW 5129 (10") 1954 pressing. Matrices: TRL 297 -2B / TRL 298 -1B

The Chausson sounds suspiciously 'damped down' - especially the orchestra... The 1954 LW was quite atrocious for surface defects and have made quite an effort to eradicate that. Greek Folksongs sleeve-note >>>
These files will soon be uploaded (as I notice there have been 'a few page views' rec ently) - however; although nobody previously mentioned 'a problem', one of the Debussy files I retain (only have FLAC's, I think) is 'defective' - so need to re-dub that part of the LP

Maxim Vengerov: Recital @ Barbican Hall - Bach / Ysaye / Shchedrin - BBC 2002

2010-12-18T14:33:00.014Z

J.S.Bach, arr: Fox-Liebriche: Toccata & Fugue in D minor
Eugene Ysaye: Sonata in A minor, op.27 no.2
Rodion Shchedrin: Echo Sonata, op.69 PART ONE (44min) http://www.sendspace.com/file/7dpjhx

Eugene Ysaye: Sonata in D minor, op.27 no.3
Eugene Ysaye: Sonata in E minor, op.27 no.4
Eugene Ysaye: Sonata in E major, op.27 no.6
encores: J.S.Bach: Adagio /   Rodion Shchedrin: Balalaika, op.100 PART TWO (39min) http://www.sendspace.com/file/0qh5rz

STEREO FLAC files    Live performance at the Barbican Hall, London, 10 October 2002.
BBC Radio 3FM. The complete November 2002 broadcast - including BBC Introduction/commentary & Maxim Vengerov's wacky narration.
(Meridian 104 tuner - Recorded/Playback: Akai GX-52 - TDK SA C90: Dolby-B/HX-Pro > EAC ripped CD-RW)
A Highly-rated concert MusicWeb review .. and rather good sound-quality!    Don't forget two other Ysaye sonata recordings here... by: Ion Viocu -&- Antonio Brosa.
COPYRIGHT NOTICE: This is made available solely for the purpose of evaluating/reviewing the copyrighted recording, after which it must not be otherwise stored/copied. By downloading the file/s you agree to accept these conditions.

Roby Lakatos Ensemble -&- David Krakauer's 'Klezmer Madness!' - BBC Proms 2001

2010-12-09T20:09:00.070Z

THE COMPLETE CONCERT: Royal Albert Hall, 14 August 2001. STEREO FLAC files

Roby Lakatos Ensemble ( Roby Lakatos - arranger & violinist ) "Gypsy Melodies"

Traditional: "Two Guitars" / Brahms: Hungarian Dance no.5
Roby Lakatos: Symphony 'The Bird in the Dust' -&- Minuet for Menuhin
Django Reinhardt: Nuages / Grigoras: Dinicu alouette ("The Lark")

encores: Dark eyes ("Ochi chornye") / 'Sabre Dance' (Khachaturian)
Split 27/28 minutes:

Part One: http://www.mediafire.com/?wi2557ym55g0252 Part Two: http://www.mediafire.com/?ji5lcx6ljdj4hdt

Klezmer Madness! ( David Krakauer - arranger & clarinettist )

David Krakauer: Klezmer Dance Tune Medley in B flat major -&- Tribute to Sidney Bechet
David Krakauer: Gasn Nigon (The Street Song) -&- Love Song for Lemberg/Lvov
Traditional: Klezmer Wedding Song http://www.megaupload.com/?d=8QKE7AYE
Split 30/28 minutes:
Part One: http://www.mediafire.com/?o93aav77d4e16pk Part Two: http://www.mediafire.com/?4rs81vccklr7vuq

BBC Radio 3FM. Meridian 104 tuner. Recorded/Playback on: Akai GX-52 - Maxell C110 Metal tape: NO Dolby. rocketremnants.blogspot have a cassette dub of the Klezmer.
COPYRIGHT NOTICE: This is made available solely for the purpose of evaluating/reviewing the copyrighted recording, after which it must not be otherwise stored/copied. By downloading the file/s you agree to accept these conditions.

Ivry Gitlis - Steven Isserlis, etc. @ Wigmore Hall: Taneyev -&- Tchaikovsky - BBC 2002

2010-12-01T00:08:00.027Z

Sergei Taneyev: String Quintet no.1 in G major, op.14
http://www.mediafire.com/?w36qluh37ikujw3

I: Allegro con spirito ~ II: Vivace con fuoco ~ III: Tema con variazione
Pekka Kuusisto, Arisa Fijita, violins - Rachel Roberts, viola, - Steven Isserlis, Daniel Müller-Schott, 'cellos.

Peter Tchaikovsky: Piano Trio in A minor, op.50
I: Pezzo elegiaco. Moderato assai—Allegro giusto ~ II: (i) Tema con variazione. Andante con moto ~
(ii) Variazione finale e coda. Allegro risoluto e con fuoco — Andante con moto
Part One: http://www.mediafire.com/?c164klkjr94pxkb
Part Two: http://www.mediafire.com/?5d41rsvtuf13ns2 Part Three: http://www.mediafire.com/?posysyowua8ndsw
Nelson Goerner, piano - Ivry Gitlis, violin - Steven Isserlis, 'cello
BBC Radio 3FM - Live from Wigmore Hall - 16 January 2002. Rec./Playback: Akai GX-52 (TDK SA C90 tape) STEREO FLAC files MusicWeb review "The Times" review >>>
COPYRIGHT NOTICE: This is made available solely for the purpose of evaluating/reviewing the copyrighted recording, after which it must not be otherwise stored/copied. By downloading the file/s you agree to accept these conditions.

Anthony Collins / London Symphony Orchestra - Francesca da Rimini -&- Capriccio Italien - Decca 1956

2010-11-29T18:04:00.012Z

Peter Tchaikovsky:
"Francesca da Rimini" (Fantasia after Dante), op.32
FLAC: http://www.mediafire.com/?g9zlkc2643o4na3 WAV: http://www.mediafire.com/?4wh9b7v6je63g86

"Capriccio Italien", op.45
FLAC: WAV:

The London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Anthony Collins
Francesca extensively re-edited Feb.2012 ...C.Italien to follow..
Decca LXT 5186 1956 LP/Matrices: ARL 3027 -1A / ARL 3026 -1A
Recorded: 17/18 January 1956, Kingsway Hall. Not on CD / unissued as Stereo. Sleeve-note >>>

Amy Shuard sings Italian Operatic Arias -&- Elektra - EMI -&- Decca 1951-1968

2010-11-16T11:52:00.021Z

Mascagni: "Cavalleria Rusticana" - 'You here Santuzza' - with James Johnston, Tenor http://www.mediafire.com/?34vavahagoke6u6
The Philharmonia Orchestra - Michael Mudie. Rec: 7 March 1951 (Columbia 78 - DX.1748)
From HMV RLS 707 (CLP 3720) 3LP album - "Stars of the Old Vic & Sadlers Wells"

Side One: Verdi: "Aida" - 'Ritorna vincitor?' / "Aida" - 'Qui Radames verra' / "Un Ballo In Maschera" - 'Morro, ma prima in grazia' / Mascagni: "Cavalleria Rusticana" - 'Voi lo sapete, o mamma' http://www.megaupload.com/?d=WNJUXNL6
Side Two: Puccini: "Turandot" - 'In questa reggia' / "Gianni Schicchi" - 'O mio babbino caro' / "La Tosca" - 'Vissi d'arte' / "La Boheme" - 'Quaundo me'n vo'' / Giordano: "Andrea Chenier" - 'Ma mamma morta' http://www.megaupload.com/?d=112G7H8A
Royal Opera House Orchestra - Edward Downes HMV SXLP 20046 1962 LP - matrices: 2YEA 691 -1 / 2YEA 692 -2

R. Strauss: "Elektra" - 'Allein! Weh ganz allein' WAV: http://www.mediafire.com/?d8ai7ds6rv704w7
Royal Opera House Orchestra - Edward Downes. Rec: 22 June 1968 - Kingsway Hall.
From Decca SET 392/3 "Covent Garden Anniversary Album". 1968 LP - matrix: ZAL 8489 -1G
STEREO FLAC files (except item one) Dutton issued SXLP 20049 in 2000 (now OOP). SET 392/3 issued 2009 on Decca Eloquence. RLS/SXLP sleeve-notes >>>
COPYRIGHT NOTICE: This is made available solely for the purpose of evaluating/reviewing the copyrighted recording, after which it must not be otherwise stored/copied. By downloading the file/s you agree to accept these conditions

Kurt Weill - "Chansons" - Catherine Sauvage / Christiane Legrand, etc. - Philips 1958

2010-11-12T00:25:00.014Z

L'Opera de quat'sous: Side One: Chant des Canons (Les Quatre Barbus) ~ Bilbao Song (Catherine Sauvage) ~ Complainte de Mackie (Yves Robert) ~ Chanson de Barbara (C.Sauvage) ~ Le roi d'Aquitaine (Q.Barbus) ~ La Fiancee du Pirate (C.Sauvage) ~ Grandeur et decadence de la ville de Mahagonny - Overture ~ Speak Low (Christiane Legrand)
FLAC http://www.mediafire.com/?d6hq8w402cdhv7y WAV http://www.megaupload.com/?d=N4JMOHEK

Side Two: Ballade de la ville agreable ~ Sorabaya Johnny (C.Sauvage) ~ Le Grand Lustucru (Q.Barbus) ~ Nanna's Lied (C.Sauvage) ~ Tango des Matelots ~ J'attends un navire (C.Legrand) ~ Alabama Song (C.Sauvage) ~ September Song
FLAC http://www.mediafire.com/?y2r8a81ouhynfp1 WAV http://www.megaupload.com/?d=RN2MA0J7
Orchestra under the direction of Franck Aussman. Philips 'Realites' V.4. Original 1958 French Philips pressing/matrices: AA 77.454/5
Good sound-quality - though a bit 'upfront/compressed' - with slight traces of 'groove-wear' apparent towards the end. Further track details >>>

Gordon Watson / Alexander Young - Charles Groves. Lambert Piano Concerto -&- 8 Li-Po Poems - Argo 1955

2010-11-10T13:12:00.006Z

Constant Lambert:
Concerto for Pianoforte & Nine Players ( Gordon Watson, piano )
WAV:     http://www.mediafire.com/?l6de5o2m5ndgd0c       FLAC: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=L6JP0F39

Eight Poems by Li-Po ( Alexander Young, Tenor )
WAV: http://www.mediafire.com/?q7s375fbq163k3d       FLAC: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=EHLTCEZJ

The Argo Chamber Ensemble conducted by Charles Groves
Argo RG 50   c.1960 Matrices: ARG 2119 -1L / ARG 2120 -1L
Very good recordings & a tape-to-disc transfer of 'near-mastertape' quality. Performances are excellent. Sleeve-note >>>
Harvey Usill's "A History of Argo" (BIRS - July 1980) - 13pp scanned / zip folder @     http://www.mediafire.com/?h4uvpic3xa7fd3o

Ogan Durjan / Leipzig Gewandhaus - Shostakovich Symphony 12 - Philips 1970

2010-11-04T16:24:00.017Z

Dmitri Shostakovich: Symphony no.12, op.112 "The Year 1917"

I: Revolutionary Petrograd: Moderato - Allegro - Piu mosso
II: Razliv: Allegro [L'istesso tempo] http://www.mediafire.com/?cpr38g6nnqqgk41

III: Aurora: L'istesso tempo - Allegro
IV: Dawn of Humanity: L'istesso tempo - Allegretto - Allegro - Moderato http://www.mediafire.com/?w6dkejkizzjp7yw

Gewandhaus Orchestra, Leipzig - Ogan Durjan STEREO FLAC files http://www.anne-kristin-mai.de/dourianarchiv.htm
Philips 6580 012 Dutch Matrices: 2 / 1. 1974 Dutch pressing. VEB/DDR recording. A Philips 'limited edition' CD was issued in 1992.
COPYRIGHT NOTICE: This is made available solely for the purpose of evaluating/reviewing the copyrighted recording, after which it must not be otherwise stored/copied.
By downloading the file/s you agree to accept these conditions.

Novak Quartet - Prokofiev String Quartets 1 & 2 - Philips 1970

2010-10-27T14:43:00.016+01:00

Serge Prokofiev:
String Quartet no.1, op.50 (1930) I: Allegro ~ II: Andante molto vivace ~ III: Andante http://www.mediafire.com/?7lafopgoovv3pa7

String Quartet no.2, op.92 (1941) I: Allegro sostenuto ~ II: Adagio ~ III: Allegro http://www.mediafire.com/?3alqmn78isdc5s8

Novak Quartet ( Antonin Novak & Dusan Pandula, Violins - Josef Podjuki, Viola - Jaroslav Chovanec, 'Cello )
Philips 6503 114 - reissued/remastered 1984. Matrices: -2/-2. Original Philips issue: 6500 103. VEB/DDR recording. Not on CD
STEREO FLAC files
Excellent performances - & very high-quality tape-to-disc transfers... Sleeve-note >>>
COPYRIGHT NOTICE: This is made available solely for the purpose of evaluating/reviewing the copyrighted recording, after which it must not be otherwise stored/copied.
By downloading the file/s you agree to accept these conditions

Paul Doktor - LPO / Edward Downes - Walton Viola Concerto / Hindemith Der Schwanendreher - CBS 1968

2010-10-22T17:03:00.018+01:00

William Walton: Concerto for Viola & Orchestra (1961 revised version) http://www.megaupload.com/?d=OSQBWGDC
I: Andante comodo ~ II: Vivo con molto preciso ~ III: Allegro moderato

Paul Hindemith: "Der Schwanendreher" http://www.megaupload.com/?d=5YLISU9Z
I: Langsam - Massig bewegt, mit Kraft ~ II: Sehr ruhig ~ III: Massig schnell

Paul Doktor, viola - London Philharmonic Orchestra - Edward Downes. CBS 72677 - 1968 matrices: A5 / B6 STEREO FLAC files

This was deleted by 1971 & has not been reissued on CD. The performances are highly enjoyable - with very good sound-quality (far superior to the Gramophone reviewer's claim). "Gramophone" review - LINK Sleeve-note >>>
COPYRIGHT NOTICE: This is made available solely for the purpose of evaluating/reviewing the copyrighted recording, after which it must not be otherwise stored/copied.
By downloading the file/s you agree to accept these conditions

Malcolm Sargent / BBC Symphony Orchestra - Tallis Fantasia / Wand of Youth suite 2 - HMV 1953

2010-10-20T11:40:00.011+01:00

Ralph Vaughan Williams:
Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis http://www.megaupload.com/?d=KVBPK1I4

Sir Edward Elgar:
"Wand of Youth", Suite no.2, op.1b http://www.megaupload.com/?d=VS21KGIH
March ~ The Little Bells ~ Moths & Butterfles ~ Fountain Dance ~ The Tame Bears ~ The Wild Bears

BBC Symphony Orchestra - Sir Malcolm Sargent
HMV BLP 1019 (10" LP) 1958 pressing. Matrices: 0XEA 294 -2N / 0XEA 295 -3N Recorded circa 1952, Abbey Road Studio no.1
Gramophone 1953 review: the Elgar is far better than stated - LINK ..I don't believe this has been reissued since deletion some 50+years ago.
FLAC files Sleeve-note >>>

Malcolm Arnold: Symphonies 1 - 7, etc. - Rumon Gamba / BBC Philharmonic - BBC 2001

2010-09-20T23:05:00.091+01:00

Malcolm Arnold - 1966

Symphony no.1, op.22 (1948/9) I: Allegro ~ II: Andantino ~ III: Vivace con fuoco
http://www.mediafire.com/?dh45s5zzd4vt3c1
Symphony no.2, op.40 (1952/3) I: Allegretto ~ II: Vivace ~ III: Lento ~ IV: Allegro con brio
http://www.mediafire.com/?s14r3e6q9vvdjhq
Concerto for Flute & Strings no.1, op.45 (1954) I: Allegro energico ~ II: Andante ~ III: Con fuoco
http://www.mediafire.com/?ofsf24jfzdab92b
Symphony no.3, op.63 (1954/7) I: Allegro ~ II: Lento ~ III: Allegro con brio
http://www.mediafire.com/?240jp45cqb50tt1
Symphony no.4, op.71 (1960) I: Allegro ~ II: Vivace ma non troppo ~ III: Andantino ~ IV: Con fuoco
http://www.mediafire.com/?qbcn6r4by9pt5tb
Broadcast BBC Radio 3 FM - 18/19 October 2001 - the Flautist is 'unknown'..
Symphony no.4, op.71 192kbps DAB version (19 Oct.2006): wider dynamic-range.. but the FM version has 'sonic advantages'.. http://www.mediafire.com/?tlrtcz7wvl733l2

Symphony no.7, op. 113, (1973) http://www.mediafire.com/?jbcjv6xs388ll5a        The Smoke (Overture), op. 21 (1948) http://www.mediafire.com/?mur0eivd6s89yq0
I: Allegro energico (Katherine) ~ II: Andante con moto - Molto vivace - Lento (Robert) ~ III: Allegro - Allegretto - Allegro - Allegretto - Allegro (Edward)
Re-Broadcast on BBC Radio 3 DAB 192kbps - 19/24 October 2006

"Tam O'Shanter", op.51 (1955) http://www.mediafire.com/?e65gic9dgelrqnw    4 Scottish Dances, op. 59 (1957) http://www.mediafire.com/?uz02yfa5uwpoiuc
Symphony no.5, op.74 (1961) I: Tempestuoso ~ II: Andante con moto ~ III: Con fuoco ~ IV: Risoluto http://www.mediafire.com/?deie4uy25oicde4
Symphony no.6, op.95 (1967) I: Energico ~ II: Lento – Allegretto – Lento ~ III: Con fuoco    http://http://www.mediafire.com/?lv6vwnrn7i6a28w
Live Broadcast, in the presence of the Composer: BBC Radio 3 FM - 21 October 2001 ( Concert sequence: Tam / Sym.6 /-/ Scottish / Sym.5 )
BBC Philharmonic Orchestra - Rumon Gamba. Performed in the Royal Northern College of Music, Manchester. STEREO FLAC files MiniDisc Co-ax transfers (except for the DAB's of Sym. 4, 7, "The Smoke" which are direct analogue transfers). Symphony 4 duplicated as previous FM recording had 4secs of, now mostly removed, subdued 'car-ignition noise'.
COPYRIGHT NOTICE: This is made available solely for the purpose of evaluating/reviewing the copyrighted recording, after which it must not be otherwise stored/copied. By downloading the file/s you agree to accept these conditions

Robert Irving / Philharmonia - Swan Lake - HMV 1953

2010-09-17T14:36:00.014+01:00

Peter Tchaikovsky: "Swan Lake", op.20 - excerpts (54 minutes)

Side One: Act.1. Scene ~ Valse ~ Sujet ~ Danses des coupes / Act.2. Scene ~ Danses des cygnes.
FLAC: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=RPHWNXKE WAV: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=D8ZURZJ7

Side Two: Act.3. Danse hongroise ~ Danse espagnole ~ Danse napolitaine ~ Mazurka ~ Pas de deux ~ Scene / Act.4. Entr'acte ~ Scene ~ Danses des petits cygnes ~ Scene ~ Scene finale.
FLAC: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=WB15DIOF WAV: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=V23EH4ZW

The Philharmonia Orchestra - Robert Irving. HMV CLP 1018. Matrices: 2XEA 398 -4N / 2XEA 399 -3N (1959 pressing).
Recorded: 4 May 1953, Kingway Hall. Sleeve-note scan >>> (Minimal residual 'surface noises' are occasionally apparent).

Anatole Fistoulari / Roger Desormiere - Paris Conservatoire - Nutcracker / Sleeping Princess - Decca 1951

2010-09-10T21:02:00.039+01:00

Peter Tchaikovsky: The Nutcracker, op.71 ( conducted by Anatole Fistoulari )

Suite no.1: Minature overture ~ March ~ Dance of the Sugar-Plum Fairy ~ Russian Dance ~ Arab Dance ~ Chinese Dance ~ Dance of the Mirlitons ~ Waltz of the Flowers

WAV: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=VWXCR9JK FLAC: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=L7EHAWTC

Suite no.2: Scene (Act.1) & Coda ~ Pas de deux ~ Scene & Grandfather Dance ~ Pas de deux ~ Waltz of the Snowflakes ~ Scene (Act.2) ~ Spanish Dance ~ Final Waltz & Apotheosis

WAV:    http://www.megaupload.com/?d=IVLU9Q95 FLAC:    http://www.megaupload.com/?d=J98ZNYLD
Decca LXT 5371 1957 matrices: ARL 901 -4Dr / ARL 902 -5Dr (first issued as LXT 2611)

The Sleeping Princess, op.66 - Ballet Suite:    ( conducted by Roger Desormiere )
Introduction (Prologue) ~ Finale, Act.1 (The Lilac Fairy) ~ Pas d'action, Act.1 ~ Pas de caraciere, Act.3 (Puss in Boots & the White Cat) ~ Panorama, Act.2 ~ Valse, Act.3. WAV:    http://www.megaupload.com/?d=KX77BNS7    FLAC:    http://www.megaupload.com/?d=DF0W4U2P
Decca ACL 8 1958 matrix: ARL 899 -3Er (first issued as LXT 2610) Both recorded in La Maison de la Mutualite, Paris - June 1951. LXT 5371 sleeve-note & ACL 8 sleeve >>>

Shura Cherkassky: Schubert/Schumann/Liszt - WRC 1960 ... Stravinsky/Balakirev/Bennett/Bartok - Philips 1968

2010-09-03T02:30:00.047+01:00

Igor Stravinsky: Three movements from "Petrushka" http://www.megaupload.com/?d=BR0OT7NM
Mily Balakirev: "Islamey" http://www.megaupload.com/?d=NOLPSP1M
Richard Rodney Bennett: Five Etudes http://www.megaupload.com/?d=BF3SROOR
Bela Bartok: Sonata. Allegro moderato ~ Sostenuto e pesante ~ Allegro molto http://www.megaupload.com/?d=W8R8XNX3
(a very slight 'swish' in parts of the slow movement..)
Philips 4FM 10002 1968 Philips UK matrices: -1 / -1 1968 Gramophone Review - also 'contrary' review of the 1986 ASV CD - LINK

Franz Schubert: Piano Sonata in A, D.959 http://www.megaupload.com/?d=O87OJ5I5

Allegro ~ Andantino ~ Scherzo: Allegro vivace ~ Allegretto
Robert Schumann: Fantasiestucke, op.111 http://www.megaupload.com/?d=N0D2XXSE

Molto vivace e Appassionato ~ Andantino ~ Con Forza e Ben Marcato
Franz Liszt: Grand Galop Chromatique http://www.megaupload.com/?d=WYHZ0M2W
World Record Club T 58 (mono only). 1962 LP - matrices: W 7136 -3N /W 7137 -3N FLAC files T 58 sleeve, & sleeve-note scans >>>
COPYRIGHT NOTICE: This is made available solely for the purpose of evaluating/reviewing the copyrighted recording, after which it must not be otherwise stored/copied. By downloading the file/s you agree to accept these conditions

Richard Rodney Bennett: Jazz Calendar / Symphony 1 / Aubade ..... John McCabe: Symphony 3

2010-08-25T21:53:00.052+01:00

Jazz Calendar (1964) London Jazz Ensemble - John Lanchbery. Philips 6500 301. 1971 matrix: 1Y -1 http://www.mediafire.com/?c5engrcyqb38cc8

Aubade for Orchestra (1964) Philharmonia Orchestra - David Atherton. Argo ZRG 907. 1979 Decca matrix: ZRG 4896 -1Y http://www.megaupload.com/?d=CTRRRLK9

Symphony no.1 (1965) Royal Philharmonic Orchestra - Igor Buketoff. RCA SB-6730. 1967 Decca matrix: T2PY 9348 -1K http://www.megaupload.com/?d=OIVD3ZH9

John McCabe: Symphony no.3 "Hommages" (1978) BBC Concert Orchestra - Barry Wordsworth http://www.megaupload.com/?d=F3SMO452
BBC Radio 3 DAB (192 kbps). Broadcast 3 October 2005. Live recording: 27 September 2005 - Watford Colosseum. (Sony ST SDB900 tuner -optical > MiniDisc)
The Philips / Argo couplings are issued on LYRITA / NMC CD's. McCabe's Symphony no.3 has not been commercially recorded.
'Aubade' (15 Aug 1978 - Kingsway Hall). Symphony (1st. pressing) recorded by Bob Auger/ PYE. STEREO FLAC files Philips / RCA Sleeve-note scans + 'Aubade' sleeve-note >>>
COPYRIGHT NOTICE: This is made available solely for the purpose of evaluating/reviewing the copyrighted recording, after which it must not be otherwise stored/copied. By downloading the file/s you agree to accept these conditions

Aubade for orchestra

This short orchestral work was commissioned by the BBC for performance at the 1964 Henry Wood Promenade Concerts; it is dedicated to the memory of John Hollingsworth - a conductor who was a familiar figure to Prom audiences until his untimely death shortly before, and who had conducted many of Bennett's early film scores.

Aubade (Morning Song) is prefaced by the following quotation from John Donne: ". . . And all the powerfull Kings, and all the beautifull Queens of this world were but as a bed of flowers, some gathered at six, some at seven, some at eight, all in one Morning, in respect of this Day". The piece is cast as a single slow movement in which the form of each of the outer sections reflects the A-B-A form of the work as a whole. The opening statement on horns and woodwind of a slow to unfold and mostly tranquil melody soon develops a more passionate curve. It then rises to a quickly reached climax on woodwind and strings, pulsed by a repeated-note figure on the brass, before gradually subsiding back to the gentler mood of the opening bars with the scoring now reversed between wind and strings. In the central section, the ascending horn phrase with which the piece began is transformed into a shimmer of woodwind arabesques, while the strings explore a new and more dance-like theme evidently associated with the repeated-note brass figure heard earlier. The dance episode is then restated a tone higher, this time with the woodwind arabesques failing instead of rising, in preparation for the altered return of the opening section of the piece. This return overlaps with the continuing arabesques, which now alternate descending and ascending versions of the initial melodic shapes. Thereafter, as the arabesques die away, the music resumes its original course, ending the piece as at the close of the first section, with the addition of a more prolonged and hushed cadence.

SUSAN BRADSHAW

Ion Voicu (violin) plays Enescu / Ravel / Ysaye - Decca 1973

2010-08-23T20:32:00.056+01:00

Maurice Ravel: Sonata for Violin and Piano (1927) http://www.megaupload.com/?d=ODOK3NIF
Allegretto ~ Blues: Moderato ~ Perpetuum Mobile: Allegro
Eugene Ysaye: Sonata no.3 for Violin, op.27 (1924) http://www.megaupload.com/?d=WK2G8T1F
Georges Enescu: Sonata no.2 for Piano and Violin, op.6 (1899)
Assez Mouvemente ~ Tranquillement ~ Vif http://www.megaupload.com/?d=8T63T7KB

Ion Voicu (Violin) and Victoria Stefanescu (Piano)
Decca SDD 352 Matrices: ZAL 11456 -3W / ZAL 11457 -1W Recorded: 21-26 April 1972 - Sofiensaal, Vienna (no US LP / not issued on CD)
STEREO FLAC files SDD 352 sleeve-note scan >>>
COPYRIGHT NOTICE: This is made available solely for the purpose of evaluating/reviewing the copyrighted recording, after which it must not be otherwise stored/copied. By downloading the file/s you agree to accept these conditions.

Gerhard - Symphonies 3 / 4 -&- Concerto for Orchestra - BBC SO - Argo/EMI/BBC 1967/8

2010-08-16T01:20:00.098+01:00

Roberto Gerhard:
Symphony no.3 "Collages" - for electronic tape & orchestra (1960)
Allegro moderato ~ Lento ~ Allegro con brio ~ Moderato ~ Vivace ~ Allegretto ~ Calmo.
http://www.mediafire.com/?tv29lrcosuloa8w
BBC Symphony Orchestra - Frederik Prausnitz
EMI / HMV ASD 2427 Matrix: 2YEA 3553 -1G (first edition pressing, 1968)

Concerto for Orchestra (1965) http://www.mediafire.com/?bq276umsvu1mhpf
BBC Symphony Orchestra - Norman Del Mar Argo ZRG 553    Matrix: ZRG 2986 -2G
(first edition pressing, 1968). Recorded: 4 April 1967, Kingsway Hall
Above files re-edited from the WAV's - January 2012
Symphony no.4 "New York" (1967) http://www.mediafire.com/?xs6qkls4ihewegh
BBC Symphony Orchestra - Colin Davis UK premiere - Royal Festival Hall. 4 December 1968. BBC Radio 3 FM Stereo re-broadcast: 24 September 2007. High-quality sound...
STEREO FLAC files    The EMI/Argo recordings are not on CD - the couplings are issued as EMI / LYRITA CD's.   MusicWeb's Gerhard analysis - LINK    sleeve-notes >>>
COPYRIGHT NOTICE: This is made available solely for the purpose of evaluating/reviewing the copyrighted recording, after which it must not be otherwise stored/copied. By downloading the file/s you agree to accept these conditions.

Bruno Walter / New York Philharmonic - Dvorak Symphony 8 - CBS 1947

2010-07-15T17:21:00.029+01:00

Antonin Dvorak: Symphony no.8 (4) in G major, op.88

Side One: I: Allegro con brio ~ II: Adagio - Side Two: III: Allegretto grazioso ~ IV: Allegro ma non troppo
WAV Side One: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=4C355MUS Side Two: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=10UDX5K9

FLAC Side One: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=DCIKD3MP Side Two: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=GDZ2G6C9

New York Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra - Bruno Walter EMI / Columbia 33CX 1036

Recorded: 28 November 1947, Carnegie Hall, New York. Original 1953 pressing. Matrices: XLP 443 -6N / XLP 444 -5N.

Loris Tjeknavorian / LSO - "Othello" - EMI 1985 digital

2010-07-13T21:03:00.049+01:00

Loris Tjeknavorian: Symphonic Suite from the ballet "Othello", op.31

Side One: I: Presentation of Iago's Character ~ Plotting Dance ~ Dialogue: Entry of Desdemona ~ Othello's Bravura Dance ~ Dialogue: Desdemona & Othello Pas de Deux ~ The Rage of Iago / II (pt.1) Storm ~ Love Pas de Deux http://www.megaupload.com/?d=3NIEW8HY

Side Two: II (pt.2): Festive Dance ~ Dagger Dance ~ Othello's Rage / III: Jealousy Pas de Deux ~ Remorse of Othello ~ Finale: Deaths of Desdemona & Othello. http://www.megaupload.com/?d=SGXOFAJ5

London Symphony Orchestra - Loris Tjeknavorian EMI Digital EL 27 0322 UK DMM - Matrices: 1/1. Recorded: 17/18 January 1985 - St.Barnabas Church, London. STEREO FLAC files
A slight 'cyclic crackle' affected the start of side 1 - now virtually eliminated.. Not on CD....and a scarce LP - also rated as an 'Audiophile must-have'... Sleeve-note scan >>>
COPYRIGHT NOTICE: This is made available solely for the purpose of evaluating/reviewing the copyrighted recording, after which it must not be otherwise stored/copied. By downloading the file/s you agree to accept these conditions.

Malcolm Sargent / RPO - Vaughan-Williams' 9th Symphony - BBC 1958

2010-07-02T17:01:00.066+01:00

Ralph Vaughan Williams: Symphony no.9, in E minor
I. Moderato maestoso ~ II. Andante sostenuto ~ III. Scherzo: Allegro pesante ~ IV. Andante tranquillo
FLAC (82MB) http://www.mediafire.com/?faxbwo6aqv4qrze

Royal Philharmonic Orchestra - Sir Malcolm Sargent
UK/World premiere performance at the Royal Festival Hall, 2nd April 1958, broadcast on the BBC Home Service.

BBC Radio 3 FM circa 2004 (repeat) Direct digital MiniDisc to CD transfer. Full Frequency & Dynamic-Range .
Concert announcement + Frequency-Range Analysis.... 500 downloads in 6 months...
"NIGERIAN SCAM" email (updated, 10 Oct..) from Messrs 'Pristine' also included >>>

To tinear@ymail.com
Sent: 27 September 2010 11:26:19
To: tinear@ymail.com

When I first read the email from Pristine Audio addressed to you, that was on the Music Parlour blog I thought it a joke,it can not possibly be for real.Can it?
Food on table,starving children! it reads like one of those scam emails from Nigeria.

I enjoy visiting your blog on a regular basis,mainly for the information on labels etc,and do the odd download of something I am interested in hearing,
I have no view re charging for Music Parlour,it's your blog and your call.I do not doubt you put a lot of time and effort in a excellent and professional (maybe that's Pristine's problem) undertaking.

I would suggest to Pristine Audio if they are that worried by you,do it better,problem solved.That is how the world works.

Reply:

Yes - that was for real.
The sort of email one should never send - and a 'Sword of Damocles' if ever there was.
I hadn't intended ever using it - (ie, he 'could' have relied upon his 'confidence' in me) but now wish to draw a line - as, over the years, he has been taking people for fools - and I've absolutely lost interest in 'correcting' his errors/misinformation on RMCR...which he considers as 'destroying' his business (yeh, right!!).

He is, no doubt, a decent 'nice' person - but seemingly has acquired many 'enemies' - either due to his 'success' (turning 'lead into gold') - or the fact he will charge heavily for 'synthesised' transfers of LP/78 - or, ie, very easy copying of BBC broadcasts (as in the RVW 9/Sargent - which he had the nerve to describe as 'rare' - hence my upload - which I'd anyway previously intended doing as had uploaded the Sargent/Moiseiwitsch's from the same 2000/1 BBC series 'BBC Legends') - or by the fact he has got his stuff 'advertised' all-over - pretty annoying when one realises how 'cheap'/commonplace most of the originating LP's are...

Re: charging.
This is quite simple.
Take the Fistoulari 'Nutcracker' - which otherwise is only available as a Japanese 'Opus Kura' copy from LP...100 downloads in a week.
That 'new' LP will/can take an evening for just 1 or 2 sides to edit-free of most 'blemishes' ..and I use PU cartridges which are £250+ to retip/new styli (if available) -then there's the Electricity/CD-RW's becoming faulty, etc etc: which all adds up.

If I can arrange a (secure/easy) method to recoup just my typical costs/minimum value of my (hard) 'labour' then I would be happier.
The intention would be to charge a flat-rate nominal £1 for something like "Nutcracker" - but, in that case, it would be for both sets of matrices I have - with the download/s available in FLAC/WAV - also the originating WAV + possibly a 320mp3.

'Free' uploads would still be made - albeit, perhaps mostly those where there are 'copyright conditions' attached - though existing ones would remain - and possibly added-to.

It may well be an unsuccessful 'experiment' - if so, that's the point where the Blog/s should cease - but virtually no-one else is offering 'untainted' (other than the CD!) transfers like I've done - simply preferring to offer 'fakes' (ie, similar to Pristine - who even claims his transfers are better than the commercial-issue CD from tape-masters - see the Krips LSO Brahms/Mozart of a few months back) - with the use of 'click-repair', or similar; meaning they spend relatively little time on a transfer compared to mine - but with so much potential 'damage' to the sound (as you can see in comments in the Dart/Brandenburgs posting from someone who is aware of that aspect).

Anyway, what Pristine basically doesn't want is 'competition' - but when you realise how little I have ever given to his business (despite my having such a large percentage of what he has, or is likely to issue), then that email is extremely revealing - and in such contrast to what you will see being peddled elsewhere!

Bruno Walter / New York Philharmonic - Mahler Symphony 1 - CBS 1954

2010-06-12T01:04:00.071+01:00

Gustav Mahler: Symphony no.1, in D major

Side 1: I. Langsam ~ II. Kraftig Bewegt - Side 2: III. Feierlich und Gemessen ~ IV. Sturmisch Bewegt

WAV files: Side 1: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=LR8CLYFM Side 2: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=K97YPPB3

FLAC files: Side 1: http://www.sendspace.com/file/u0a6c3               Side 2: http://www.sendspace.com/file/d9ku03

New York Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra - Bruno Walter      Philips ABL 3222 - matrices: AA 01150 -1L = 7 / AA 01150 -2L = 5
Recorded: 25 January 1954 - Carnegie Hall, New York.    Philips UK mastered/pressed in 1959. sleeve-note >>>

Leos Janacek: Jiri Waldhans - Brno - Supraphon 1967 / Jiri Belohlavek - BBC SO - BBC 2000

2010-06-07T19:34:00.074+01:00

Leos Janacek:
Lachian Dances: Ancient Dance ~ Blessed dance ~ Dymak ~ Ancient Dance ~ Celadna Dance ~ Saws
http://www.mediafire.com/?s1a8rdlu3a5602n
The Fiddler's Child ( Ballad for Orchestra ) http://www.mediafire.com/?2e7qaxhfbslg8ua
Jealousy ( Prelude to the Opera 'Jenufa' ) http://www.mediafire.com/?4bbl2db1b7jlb74
The Ballad of the Blanik Hill    http://www.mediafire.com/?09pgt3rfnix4s4z
Brno State Philharmonic Orchestra - Jiri Waldhans. Supraphon SUAST 50894   Matrices: E 863/A - E 864/A. 1968 pressing.

The Fiddler's Child ( Ballad for Orchestra ) Stephen Bryant, violin    http://www.mediafire.com/?8cpfd8oh44l8wit
From the House of the Dead - Suite arr. Frantisek Jilek http://www.mediafire.com/?zpy34gd6rrzaec3
BBC Symphony Orchestra - Jiri Belohlavek BBC Radio 3 FM. Live from Barbican Hall. 31 October 2000 (Digital MiniDisc transfer)
The Guardian review of the BBC Concert - LINK    The Gramophone - 1968 review of the Supraphon LP - LINK
STEREO FLAC files
COPYRIGHT NOTICE: This is made available solely for the purpose of evaluating/reviewing the copyrighted recording, after which it must not be otherwise stored/copied. By downloading the file/s you agree to accept these conditions

Genevieve Joy & Jacqueline Robin ... Lorand Fenyves / Robert Gugolz / Livia Rev - Bartok - Concert Hall 1967

2010-06-01T15:00:00.039+01:00

Bela Bartok:
Sonata for two Pianos & Percussion
Assai lento: Allegro molto ~ Lento, ma non troppo ~ Allegro non troppo http://www.megaupload.com/?d=12GXU8FH
Genevieve Joy & Jacqueline Robin (pianos) Jean-Claude Casadesus, Jean-Pierre Drouet (percussion)

"Contrasts" for Violin, Clarinet & Piano
Verbunkos (Recruiting Dance) ~ Piheno (Relaxation) ~ Sebes (Fast Dance) http://www.megaupload.com/?d=3NSIGOLH
Lorand Fenyves (violin) - Robert Gugolz (clarinet) - Livia Rev (piano)

Concert Hall SMSC 2491 - Swiss matrices? - 1969 Philips UK pressing STEREO FLAC files sleeve-note >>>
COPYRIGHT NOTICE: This is made available solely for the purpose of evaluating/reviewing the copyrighted recording, after which it must not be otherwise stored/copied.
By downloading the file/s you agree to accept these conditions.

The period 1937-1939 was climactic for Bartok both in his personal life and as a composer. By 1937 the Anschluss of Germany with Austria was already inevitable and Bartok had to decide whether he could still work in his beloved Hungary. By 1939 war had broken out, and he foresaw it would no longer be possible for him to continue his creative work in his own country. Yet musically these years were perhaps the most important in his career as a composer. The Music for Strings, Celesta and Percussion, commissioned for the tenth anniversary of the Basle Chamber Orchestra, was given its first performance in January 1937, the Sonata for two Pianos and Percussion, another Basle commission, was heard there in the following January, Contrasts, commissioned by Benny Goodman and Joseph Szigeti, had its first performance in New York in January 1939, and two months later the Violin Concerto, commissioned by Zoitan Szekely, was given in Amsterdam. To this already impressive list should be added the publication of his Microcosmos for piano, and the Divertimento for String Orchestra, completed in August 1939.

The Sonata for two Pianos and Percussion was commissioned by the Basle section of the International Society for Contemporary Music for the tenth anniversary of its founding, and the two piano parts were written for Bartok himself and his young wife Ditta PAsztory. 1t had a tremendous success" wrote the composer. "Mrs. Bartok played very well-this was her first appearance in a foreign country". In the following June, husband and wife repeated the work at the I.S.C.M. Festival in London. Bartok wrote that they had played better and more freely than in Basle, but that while the drummer was as good as the one there, the other percussion player was more uncertain, since rehearsal was limited to 6½ hours.When Bartok eventually went to America he rescored the Sonata for orchestra, revising certain passages in the piano parts. While this made the work more suitable for symphonic performance it did not increase its musical impact.'

The list of percussion instruments in the original version includes 3 timpani, xylophone, side drums with and without snares, cymbals both in pairs and suspended, bass drum, triangle and tam-tam. In the opening movement these instruments are used mainly for rhythmical emphasis, but later they become soloists in their own right, particularly the xylophone, which plays an important thematic part in the final movement. As is usual with Bartok his instructions to the players are written with meticulous care. At the beginning of the second movement he indicates whether the drummers should play in the centre or on the extreme edge of the skin, while the cymbal is instructed to play alternately with a thin wooded stick and a soft-headed one, either at the extreme edge or the dome of the instrument. At the end of the final movement, which dies away into silence, the cymbal has to be played "with the fingernail, or the blade of a pocketknife, on the very edge".

Before the days of atonality, music students were taught to look at the final chord of a work to discover in what key it was. The present work ends in a definite C major, but a glance at the opening shows that the timpani begins it with a drum-roll on F sharp. This augmented fourth (or tritone) between C and F sharp is a basic element in Bartok's plan. The opening theme of the Assai lento introduction is a chromatic figure revolving around a tritone based on F sharp, while the main Allegro molto is begun by the timpani on a C-F sharp ostinato. There are three main themes, the last of them, distinguished by repeated leaping intervals of a sixth, being later treated fugally.

After this long and complex movement comes one in structurally simple ternary form, but which thoroughly exploits the colouristic potentialities of all the percussion instruments. It is a type of movement which Bartok increasingly used in his later works, and includes a faster middle 'night music' section with the pianos indulging in glissandi on both black and white keys. The final movement is again typical Bartok with the xylophone introducing the bucolic main theme in a scale of C with sharpened fourth and flattened seventh. This sonata rondo movement displays all Bartok's skill in developing fragments of his thematic material and exploiting these fragments, both in their new and original forms, by such means as canonic imitation and inversion. The coda is as striking as it is simple in conception. First a new version of the opening motive against an intermittent rhythm on the side-drum and an occasional timpani glissando, getting softer and softer. Then a cadence (ending in C) from the pianos, after which side-drum and fingernail-tapped cymbal accompany the held piano chords to eventual silence.

In his maturity, except for works specially composed for the violinists d'Aranyi, Szekely and Szigeti, Bartok wrote no chamber music including the piano. In Contrasts, therefore, he gives the piano a comparatively subordinate role, while the virtuoso violin and clarinet are each allotted a cadenza, the latter in the opening Verbunkos and the former in the Sebes. The Verbunkos was an 18th-century national Hungarian dance in which soldiers in full uniform with swords and spurs took part. Like the later Czardas it consisted of two sections, slow and fast. in the Czardas, however, there was often a highly ornamented middle section, and Bartok replaces this with a slow interlude called Pihend (Relaxation). The Sebes can be considered as the fast section of the Verbunkos, though it contains an interlude at slower speed.

As in the Sonata for two Pianos and Percussion, the sharpened fourth of the scale is important, and indeed Bartok's disruption of the major-minor scales based on his folk-music researches may eventually have more importance than the theoretical conceptions that have abolished tonality. It only needs to be added that the clarinet uses both his A and B flat instruments and that the violin begins the final Sebes with an instrument tuned to G sharp-D-A-E flat, so that open-string doublestopping of two tritones is possible. Incidentally, Benny Goodman originally hoped that the work would go on two sides of a twelve-inch record, but luckily Bartok found this to be impossible.

JULIAN HERBAGE

Antonio Brosa (violin) plays... Britten. Violin Concerto -&- Ysaye - BBC 1950's

2010-05-21T14:05:00.089+01:00

Benjamin Britten: Concerto for Violin & Orchestra, op.15
Moderato con moto ~ Vivace ~ Passacaglia, Andante lento
http://www.mediafire.com/?zc83ujg1c31avdc

Antonio Brosa, violin - BBC Scottish Orchestra conducted by Dr. Ian Whyte

Eugene Ysaye: Sonata in A minor, op.27 no.2
Obsession (Poco vivo) ~ Malincolia (Poco lento) ~ Danse des ombres (Sarabande) ~ Les furies (Allegro furioso)
http://www.mediafire.com/?46ljlzi08uc0yjg
Antonio Brosa, violin

Stereo Records & Tapes - SRT/Custom 009. Private LP - released in 1975.
FLAC files CHARM: Mendelssohn: Violin Concerto (Andante) Antonio Brosa website (now defunct..)
"The Times" 22/11/54 review of the Ysaye + SRT 009 label scan >>>

Natan Rakhlin / USSR SO - Shostakovich Symphony 11 - CCCP 1957

2010-04-30T19:19:00.067+01:00

Dmitri Shostakovich: Symphony no.11, in G minor, op.103. "1905"

D-04234 - mvt.1 The Palace Square
D-04235 - mvt.2 The 9th of January
D-02436 - mvt.3 In Memoriam
D-04237 - mvt.4 The Tocsin
The above 4 movements as FLAC's in a Zip folder: http://www.sendspace.com/file/y0bpoq
(I will be re-uploading some edited files onto Megaupload)

USSR State Symphony Orchestra conducted by Natan Rakhlin.
As premiered on 30 October 1957 and recorded shortly afterwards. The original CCCP pressings
Some movements might need slight 'Click-Repair' due to remaining surface-crackle - which is somewhat more obvious than I would like...
Mvt 4 remains the best side for pressing quality/sonics.

Leonard Slatkin / BBC SO / Ashley Holland - Alan Bush: Piano Concerto - BBC 2000

2010-04-22T12:06:00.100+01:00

Alan Bush: Piano Concerto, op.18 (1937)
I. Con moto moderato ma deciso ~ II. Scherzo: Con vivicata, ma non troppo ~ III. Grave ~ IV. Finale: Allegro vigoroso ma non troppo
STEREO FLAC: http://www.sendspace.com/file/f1xbjq
Rolf Hind, piano - Ashley Holland, Baritone - Apollo Voices - BBC Symphony Orchestra - Leonard Slatkin
BBC Radio 3 FM Live from Maida Vale Studios - 19 December 2000. (Digital MiniDisc transfer) The version with BBC intro/applause is too large to upload..

"Song to Labour": A portrait of Alan Bush, narrated by John Amis, which preceded the above performance.
MONO FLAC: http://www.sendspace.com/file/47d1aw

The 4th mvt, this performance, @ Alan Bush Music Trust: http://www.alanbushtrust.org.uk MusicWeb review of the Piano Concerto MusicWeb review of this performance
COPYRIGHT NOTICE: This is made available solely for the purpose of evaluating/reviewing the copyrighted recording, after which it must not be otherwise stored/copied. By downloading the file/s you agree to accept these conditions.

Robert Irving / New SO - Gluck -&- Gretry: Ballet Suites - Decca 1955

2010-04-21T00:47:00.038+01:00

Christoph Gluck: Ballet Suite no.1 ( arr: Felix Mottl )
Introduction ("Don Juan") - Air gai ~ Lento ~ Air gai ("Iphigenie en Aulide") ~ Dance of the Blessed Spirits ("Orfeo ed Euridice") ~ Musette ("Armide") - Air gai ("Iphigenie en Aulide") ~ Siciliene ("Armide") ~ Air gai ("Iphigenie en Aulide")
http://www.mediafire.com/?emt2rconhj6d0eb

Andre Gretry: Ballet Suite ( arr: Constant Lambert )
Largo - Andante ~ Gigue legere ~ Pantomime ~ Passepied ~ Largo ~ Pantomime ~ Tambourin ~ Loure ~ Air lent ~ Passepied ~ Gavotte ~ Finale. http://www.mediafire.com/?7y7ggh0cn1rhu19

Geoffrey Gilbert (Flute solo) The New Symphony Orchestra of London - Robert Irving
Decca LXT 5063 - 1959 Matrices: ARL 2519 -5Nr / ARL 2520 -4Nr Recorded: 14/15 February 1955, Kingsway Hall, London. Not on CD. FLAC files Sleeve-note scan>>>

Karl Munchinger / Stuttgart CO - J.S. Bach: Orchestral Suites 2 & 3 - Decca 1949/50

2010-04-17T17:59:00.053+01:00

Johann Sebastian Bach: Orchestral Suites
No. 2 in B minor for Flute, Strings & Continuo, BWV 1067    Overture ~ Rondeau ~ Sarabande ~ Bouree I & II ~ Polonaise ~ Menuet ~ Badinerie
Andre Pepin (Flute) & Doris Rossiaud (Continuo)
WAV: http://www.mediafire.com/?c23s453v7u8088d

No. 3 in D major, BWV 1068    Overture ~ Air ~ Gavotte no.1 ~ Gavotte no.2 ~ Bouree ~ Gigue
WAV: http://www.mediafire.com/?5rs5cbh44m96b2n

Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra conducted by Karl Munchinger
Decca ACL 29 - 1958 Matrices: ARL 1729 - 1Dr / ARL 1728 -1Dr.    First issued as: Decca LX 3043 / LX 3002
Recorded: October 1950 / November 1949 - Victoria Hall, Geneva. Somewhat 'buzzy' string-tone - more evident in No.3. Not on CD
Re-edited files derived from the previous FLAC files - November 2011 (unfortunately the originating WAV files were lost: the FLAC files have been converted to WAV - then edited).

Sir Adrian Boult / LPO - Paris Conservatoire - Prokofiev. Love of 3 Oranges / Lieutenant Kije - Decca 1955

2010-04-12T19:29:00.052+01:00

Serge Prokofiev: "The Love of Three Oranges" - Symphonic Suite, op.33a

Les Ridicules ~ Le Magicien Tchelio et Fata Morgana jouent aux cartes (Scene Infernale) ~ Marche ~Scherzo ~ Le Prince et la Princesse ~ La Fuite http://www.mediafire.com/?41beb6b6fhqsejz
London Philharmonic Orchestra - Sir Adrian Boult Recorded: 27-29 June 1955, Kingsway Hall, London

"Lieutenant Kije" - Symphonic Suite, op.60
The Birth of Kije ~ Romance ~ The Wedding of Kije ~ Troika ~ The Burial of Kije
http://www.mediafire.com/?rtn77c3akwa4fj2
Paris Conservatoire Orchestra - Sir Adrian Boult - Recorded: 9 June 1955 - La Maison de la Mutualite, Paris.
Decca ACL 159 - 1962 Matrices: ARL 2669 -4Ar / ARL 2668 -3Ar Issued 1956: Decca LXT 5119. This ACL has a slightly wider dynamic-range.
(Kije was later reissued from the Stereo taping - Three Oranges never issued on CD). FLAC files LXT 5119 sleeve/sleeve-note scan >>>

Antony Hopkins / Boyd Neel Orchestra & Soloists: De Lalande choral - L'Oiseau-Lyre 1957

2010-04-10T17:25:00.058+01:00

Michel-Richard de Lalande: ( edited by Stanley Sadie )

Te Deum (1684, rev.1689) http://www.megaupload.com/?d=IA1NB5F4
Confitemini (1705) http://www.megaupload.com/?d=8QW56IZX

Heather Harper, Eileen McLoughlin (Sopranos); John Whitworth (Counter-tenor); Leslie Fyson (Tenor); James Atkins (Bass);
St Anthony Singers, Desmond Dupre (Viola da Gamba); Eric Halfpenny (Serpent); Thurston Dart (Organ Continuo)
Boyd Neel Orchestra conducted by Antony Hopkins

Editions de L'Oiseau-Lyre OL 50153 Matrices: TT 411 -1B / TT 412 -1B (1956/7 - no stereo)
FLAC files "His music is of Great Majesty & Splendour" - Thurston Dart's 1957 sleeve-note >>>

Thurston Dart / Philomusica - "The Water Music" - L'Oiseau-Lyre 1959

2010-04-07T00:11:00.030+01:00

G.F. Handel: "The Water Music" ( edited by Brian Priestman )

Side One: Suite no.1 in F (pt.1) http://www.mediafire.com/?sotvcc8c8ovnsk6

Side Two: Suite no.1 in F (pt.2) ~ Suite no.2 in G ~ Suite no.3 in D
http://www.mediafire.com/?ifxcpj4f4x1sc4i

Philomusica of London directed by Thurston Dart

Editions de L'Oiseau-Lyre SOL 60010
Matrices: ZTT 509 -2M / ZTT 510 -1M Recorded c.1959 Original LP STEREO FLAC files Sleeve-note >>>

Thurston Dart / Philomusica - 6 Brandenburg Concertos - L'Oiseau-Lyre 1959 stereo

2010-04-04T21:12:00.139+01:00

Johann Sebastian Bach: The Six Brandenburg Concertos:
In a file folder: http://www.mediafire.com/?bv8233u6e8n3d

Concerto no.2 in F major, BWV 1047
Concerto no.1 in F major, BWV 1046
Concerto no.1 in F major, BWV 1046 - transfer from DPA 577 (1977 release - matrices 2A / 2A)
Concerto no.6 in B flat major, BWV 1051
Concerto no.4 in G major, BWV 1049

Concerto no.5 in D major, BWV 1050

Concerto no.3 in G major, BWV 1048

Philomusica of London - directed by Thurston Dart (harpsichord) Editions de L'Oiseau-Lyre SOL 60005/6 Matrices: ZTT 495 -1K / ZTT 496 -1K & ZTT 497 -1K / ZTT 498 -1K

Originally issued 1958 as (mono) OL 50167 (Concerti 1, 2, 4) OL 50160 (Concerti 3 & 5) - Concerto no.6 re-recorded 10/11 October 1958 - Decca West Hampstead Studios.
FLAC files Original 1959 LP's. Brandenburg no.1 additionally from the 1977 re-issue due to previous defective mastering towards the latter-part of the work.
Screen-shot (1959 mastering on the Left - RH channel is the bottom trace, side-change @ 13:10) shows marked differences. See comments.
Sleeve-note scans + 1977 2LP reissue sleeve + 1958/9 "EMG Monthly Letter" reviews + SOL & DPA waveform screen-shot >>>

The EMG Monthly Letter (October 1958) OL 50167
"The Oiseau-Lyre record is to some extent a curiosity since Mr. Dart has decided that Brandenburg No.1 should be played with two high trumpets instead of two horns. He advances plausible arguments that Bach wanted the old jagdhorn which plays an octave higher than the normally used French horns. As a compromise he uses two F trumpets. The effect is almost brutally harsh and brilliant (especially since the recording seems to have been made in a very small studio) and it certainly takes some getting used to, particularly when the trumpets are not quite in tune. The performance does not appear in any case to be very well rehearsed and there are infelicities in the ensemble. No.2 would have fared much better had that excellent trumpet player, Dennis Clift, been on the top of his form. His instrument is, unfortunately, slightly sharp all the time, which sets the teeth on edge, despite his brilliance. No.4 is given with two recorders which make a very pleasing sound, but again in these two concertos, as in No.1, the playing lacks the last ounce of necessary efficiency. Where there are trumpets the small studio makes the sound unbearably hard, and only No.4 does not suffer from this disadvantage"

The EMG Monthly Letter (March 1959) SOL 60005/6
" In this re-coupling one gets the best and the poorest of these performances on each record. The most satisfactory are those of Nos. 3, 5 and 6. Nos. 1, 2 and 4 do not fare so well but they appear to be very much better recorded here than they were on the single-channel disc. Our main criticism of the original recording was that being made in a small studio the trumpets were made to sound hard and unpleasant. They still do not make a captivating sound for they are not always perfectly in tune. As a stereo recording No.4 comes off splendidly, especially in the Presto finale where the division of strings is effectively delineated. Unequal versions these may be but there is still pleasure to be had from them."