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Historical
Recordings over 50 years old.
A huge catalogue featuring many of the greatest artists of the 20th Century.
Made up of the following series:
Great Cellists - Great Conductors - Great Opera Recordings
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Brahms: Piano Concerto No. 2 & Tchaikovsky: Piano Concerto No. 1
RecommendedVladimir Horowitz (piano)
NBC Symphony Orchestra, Arturo Toscanini
Awards:
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Penguin Guide, Rosette
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Building a Library, November 2022, Also Recommended - Tchaikovsky
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Great Violinists - Joseph Szigeti
RecommendedJoseph Szigeti (violin)
London Philharmonic Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra, Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire, Paris, Thomas Beecham, Constant Lambert, Charles Munch
Awards:
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Penguin Guide, Rosette
Purchase product
Downloads
Audio formats guide -
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Bellini: I Puritani
RecommendedMaria Callas, Aurora Cattelani, Carlo Forti, Angelo Mercuriali, Rolando Panerai, Nicola Rossi-Lemeni, Giuseppe di Stefano
Chorus and Orchestra of La Scala, Milan, Tullio Serafin
Awards:
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Building a Library, January 2005, Budget Choice
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Schumann: Piano Quintet & Brahms: Piano Quartet No. 2
RecommendedClifford Curzon (piano)
Budapest String Quartet
Awards:
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Building a Library, April 2008, Budget Choice
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The LSO plays out of its skin for the composer; Falstaff is brilliantly characterised, the Symphony has serious intensity. Fair sound for the vintage, with some harshness in the Symphony. —
Awards:
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Presto Recording of the Week, 16th February 2009
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Building a Library, October 2016, Historic Choice
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Donizetti: Lucia di Lammermoor
RecommendedMaria Callas, Giuseppe Di Stefano, Tito Gobbi, Raffaele Arié, Valiano Natali, Anna Maria Canali, Gino Sarri
Chorus and Orchestra of the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Tullio Serafin
Today, for a very modest price, all lovers of bel canto operas and their performance on record can listen and make their own judgement on what was, without doubt, a seminal recording of the... —
Awards:
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Building a Library, October 2008, First Choice
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Building A Library, May 2025, Recommended Recording
Purchase product
Downloads
Audio formats guide -
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Great Violinists - Albert Sammons
RecommendedAlbert Sammons (violin)
London Philharmonic Orchestra, Hamilton Harty
Awards:
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Building a Library, June 2019, Also Recommended
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Great Violinists - Kaufmann
RecommendedLouis Kaufman (violin), Peter Rybar (violin)
Winterthur Symphony Orchestra, Clemens Dahinden
this is avowedly old-school Vivaldi; indeed, the oldest on disc. Recorded in 1947, this is the first-ever recording of The Four Seasons; Louis Kaufman is worlds away from Alessandrini's account... —
Awards:
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Penguin Guide, Rosette
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Awards:
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Building a Library, December 2002, Historic Choice
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Purcell: Dido and Aeneas
RecommendedKirsten Flagstad, Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Eilidh McNab, Arda Mandikian, Sheila Rex, Anna Pollak, Thomas Hemsley & David Lloyd
The Mermaid Singers and Orchestra, Geraint Jones
[On the original release in January 1953] At last we have a really satisfactory recording of Dido. —
Awards:
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Building a Library, November 2019, Also Recommended
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