BR Klassik

A good account of some of Puccini’s youthful works which is not necessarily an improvement on Pappano’s rival version [RMo]

Ivan Repušić’s impressive conducting helps create a distinct sense of occasion [MC]

A captivating live performance of the Bruckner F minor Mass [MC]

First class performances that are a match for any rival recordings [MC]

A good version but there are better [SB]

An embarrassing discographical postscript to a distinguished career [NC]

A lovely supplement to the complete live recording in much better sound [RMo]

Flawlessly played, beautifully gauged and balanced and in spectacular sound, this is a lovely souvenir of the late Jansons’ prowess as a Mahler conductor [RMo]

A disappointingly dull reading in mediocre sound [RMo]

A good, though not inspired version, which doesn’t compare to an earlier Jansons performance with the Concertgebouw [PT]

Sir Simon Rattle and his new orchestra’s Mahler Sixth in top-flight performance and recording [EJW]

The youthful Puccini’s complete songs, robustly sung – and an even more pleasing trio of early orchestral pieces [RMo]

An exciting, red-blooded performance, captured live in the clearest sound of any available version [MP]

A disc that no Puccini admirer can dispense with [GF]

Haitink displays remarkable consistency in this grand and spacious account [RMo]

Two disappointingly tame live performances [RMo]

Rewarding orchestral versions of Schubert songs, most sensitively performed [SB]

An excellent recording of a gripping but not loveable work [SB]

Charles Castronovo breathes new life to these smart orchestrations of Puccini’s piano songs [MC]

Simon Rattle’s traversal of the Ring finally reaches Siegfried, with highly recommendable results [PCG]

The luscious hot dance music of Eduard Künneke meets Eisler’s boring agit-prop [JW]

The choral singing is first class, but the soloists are disappointing; the two old Gardelli recordings are better [GF]

For those interested in the idea of Schubert’s songs with orchestral accompaniment [GF]

These are striking performances of Tchaikovsky’s renowned Fifth Symphony and Liszt’s Mazeppa [MC]