JOHANNES BRAHMS
Pierre Monteux conducts Brahms [Incls Symphony No 2] London Symphony Orchestra, Pierre Monteux [ Decca Australian Eloquence / CD - released 20/Jul/2016 ] "...subtleties of nuance and timing, and modifications of pacing, reflect a lifetime's love and experience of the work, and a man who is still keen to explore its textural and structural possibilities." (Gramophone) |
LUIGINI / SAINT-SAENS / TCHAIKOVSKY / DRIGO / etc
Homage to Pavlova London Symphony Orchestra, Richard Bonynge [ Decca SBS Eloquence / 2 CD - released 1/Sep/2013 ] "Delibes's Naïla Intermezzo … has one catching one's breath […] John Georgiadis makes a superb showing in his solo items. […] Bonynge savours every item, and the LSO responds loyally. The recording is predictably excellent." (Gramophone) |
MINKUS / DRIGO / AUBER / HELSTED
Pas de Deux London Symphony Orchestra, Richard Bonynge [ Decca SBS Eloquence / CD - released 1/Sep/2013 ] "tremendous and infectious gaiety … The music is beautifully played and superbly recorded" (Gramophone) |
JEAN-PHILIPPE RAMEAU / CHRISTOPH WILLIBALD von GLUCK
Gluck, Rameau: Orchestral Suites London Symphony Orchestra, Sir Charles Mackerras [ Decca Australian Eloquence / CD - released 5/Feb/2021 ] Two first-ever releases from 1965 Philips sessions of 18th-century music for the stage conducted by the supremely versatile Sir Charles Mackerras. |
JOSEF HAYDN
Symphonies No 94 'Surprise', 92 'Oxford', 104 'London', 99 (with symphonies by Schubert & Mendelssohn) London Symphony Orchestra, Vienna Philharmonic, Josef Krips [ Decca SBS Eloquence / 2 CD - released 10/Apr/2011 ] "This remains the best available version of Haydn's splendid Symphony No. 99 in E flat" (Gramophone) |
BRAHMS / SCHUMANN
Symphonies 1 & 4 (recorded 1950 - 1957) London Symphony Orchestra, Wiener Philharmoniker, Josef Krips [ Decca Australian Eloquence / 2 CD - released 1/Mar/2011 ] "An extremely fine performance in many ways with plenty of weight and sense of purpose. The playing of the Vienna Philharmonic is both sensitive and splendidly alive." (Reissue of the Month Gramophone August 2011) |
PIOTR ILYICH TCHAIKOVSKY
Tchaikovsky: The Nutcracker (complete ballet) / Suite No. 3 / Suite No. 4 'Mozartiana' LOrchestre de la Suisse Romande, Ernest Ansermet [ Decca ABC Australian Eloquence / 2 CD - released 1/May/2009 ] The 2CD Tchaikovsky/Ansermet sets represent his complete Tchaikovsky recordings for Decca. For many, Ansermet's recording of The Nutcracker is in a league of its own. Refined, yet passionate, many of the pieces on these recordings make their first... |
PROKOFIEV
Prokofiev: Symphonies Nos. 1, 5, 6 LOrchestre de la Suisse Romande / Ernest Ansermet [ Decca ABC Eloquence / 2 CD - released 1/May/2009 ] These 2CD sets represent all of Ansermet's Prokofiev recordings for Decca. Both, the Paris Conservatoire and the Suisse Romande versions of the 'Classical' Symphony are included. |
PIOTR ILYICH TCHAIKOVSKY
Tchaikovsky: Swan Lake / Rococo Variations / Symphony No. 6 'Pathetique' L'Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Ernest Ansermet, with Maurice Gendron, cello [ Decca ABC Eloquence / 2 CD - released 1/May/2009 ] The 2CD Tchaikovsky/Ansermet sets represent his complete Tchaikovsky recordings for Decca. Many will find fascinating his own sequencing of numbers from Swan Lake and The Sleeping Beauty. Refined, yet passionate, many of the pieces on these... |
SERGEI RACHMANINOV
Rachmaninov: Symphonies Nos. 1-3 L'Orchestre de la Suisse Romande / London Philharmonic Orchestra / Walter Weller [ ABC Australian Eloquence / 2 CD - released 1/Jul/2008 ] Although they have been intermittently available, Walter Weller's cycle of the three Rachmaninov Symphonies have hidden their blazing light under the Decca bushel for far too long. Recorded in absolutely thrilling Decca sound with L'Orchestre de la... |
RACHMANINOV
Rachmaninov: Symphony No. 1 / The Rock L'Orchestre de la Suisse Romande / London Philharmonic Orchestra. Walter Weller [ Decca Australian Eloquence / CD - released 14/Aug/2005 ] "Surging, romantic readings from a re-juvenated Suisse Romande under their then chief conductor, unfortunately, not long with them" (MusicWeb) |
CLAUDE DEBUSSY / PAUL DUKAS
Debussy / Dukas: Orchestral Works L'Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Paris Conservatoire Orchestra, Ernest Ansermet [ Decca SBS Australian Eloquence / CD - released 12/Aug/2018 ] 'The Swiss orchestra give each score a splendid performance, with the strings especially outstanding.' Gramophone, May 1959 (Jeux, La Péri) |
SIBELIUS
Symphonies Nos. 2 & 4 / Tapiola (with Rachmaninov-Isle of the Dead) L'Orchestre de la Suisse Romande / Paris Conservatoire Orchestra / Ernest Ansermet [ Decca ABC Australian Eloquence / 2 CD - released 20/Jun/2008 ] While it remains a pity that Ansermet didn't venture further into the bleaker landscapes of Sibelius, less may well be more, and these epic recordings of the Second and Fourth symphonies, together with a raw reading of Tapiola are collected together... |
DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH
Shostakovich: Symphonies Nos 1 & 9 / The Age opf Gold - ballet suite L'Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Walter Weller / London Symphony Orchestra, Jean Martinon (conductor) [ Decca SBS Australian Eloquence / CD - released 12/Dec/2009 ] Venerated for their perky, piquant performances and the ripe, rich Decca sound, Walter Weller's thrilling readings of Shostakovich's Symphonies 1 and 9 have long been on the reissue request lists. Now, they appear on CD for the first time. |
VARIOUS COMPOSERS
Popular Overtures (Including William Tell, The Silken Ladder, Die Fledermaus & Poet and Peasant) Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra / Israel Philharmonic Orchestra / Zubin Mehta [ Decca ABC Australian Eloquence / 2 CD - released 9/Apr/2007 ] A thrilling collection of Overtures and Preludes (with some popular orchestral pieces thrown in for good measure) from Zubin Mehta. As a showman of the best variety, his recordings remains one of the Decca catalogue's richest legacies, and more than... |
MAHLER
Symphony No.5 Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra. Zubim Mehta [ Decca Eloquence / CD - released 6/Sep/2003 ] Eloquence - the budget label from Decca |
LUDWIG van BEETHOVEN
Beethoven: Symphony No. 7 in A major, Op. 92 / Overtures Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra / Zubin Mehta [ Decca SBS Eloquence / CD - released 1/Jun/2010 ] "This is a characteristically thrustful and dramatic reading (the brashness of the horns in the coda of the finale may be too much for some), but one which presents Beethoven's dance rhythms in full freshness and urgency. They are bright exciting... |
RAVEL
The Best of Ravel: Bolero; Daphnis et Chloe Suite No. 2; etc Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra / Zubin Mehta / London Symphony Orchestra / Pierre Monteux [ Decca Eloquence / CD - released 21/Aug/2002 ] 'the visceral excitement Mehta produces is most compelling one marvels at the vivid Decca sound' Penguin Guide to CDs (2000 Yearbook) |
MENDELSSOHN
Mendelssohn: Octet for Strings op 20 (with Boccherini - Cello Quintet Op 37 No 7) Academy of St. Martin in th Fields [ Decca Australian SBS Eloquence / CD - released 20/Sep/2015 ] "When you hear the superbly ebullient, well phrased and sensitive opening to the Octet in this clear, well balanced and very lifelike recording it is hard to believe that it was recorded nearly half a century ago." (MusicWeb) |
BEETHOVEN / ROSSINI / VERDI / SUPPE
Solti Overtures London Philharmonic Orchestra, Sir Georg Solti [ Decca Australian Eloquence / CD - released 16/Oct/2016 ] This collection of overtures - many of them appearing internationally on Decca CD for the first time - comes from the very start of Georg Solti's recording career. That for Beethoven's Egmont was, in fact, his first recording as conductor, issued as... |