Testament

This 1951 mono recording set the benchmark for many years, and so it probably did much to establish the current, questionable norms of tempo. But it's superb performance, played with skill... — BBC Music Magazine, January 2008More…

There have never been any doubts about these performances. The horn playing in the Sinfoniaconcertante is unsurpassable and in the quintets Gieseking's lightness and his clarity and sense of... — Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010More…

Jacqueline du Pré was 20 when she recorded Elgar's Cello Concerto with Barbirolli and the LSO August 1965 – an interpretation universally acclaimed for its profound expressiveness (see above).... — Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010More…

The world premiere of Four Last Songs in its best transfer ever, plus some previously unissued Wagner from the same concert. — BBC Music Magazine, September 2007, 5 out of 5 starsMore…

Bour's pioneering magical (1947) mono version...should never be forgotten and in some ways is the greatest performance of this sublime score on disc. — Penguin Guide, 2011 editionMore…

The strong emotions that soloist and conductor doubtless felt within six months of the composer's death ensure that there is more than enough raw and authentic feeling to counter any purely... — Gramophone Magazine, May 2010More…

Over the night of 13-14 April 1959 in St Gabriel's Church, Cricklewood, a recording session took place, historic in every way, when the young Charles Mackerras conducted a band of 62 wind players... — Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010More…

This pioneering set of Gerontius has come up newly minted in these superbly engineered transfers taken from 78rpm masters. That only enhances the incandescence and fervour of the reading itself,... — Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010More…