Pristine Audio
Budapest Quartet: Grieg & Sibelius (Pristine Audio)
Classic accounts of both works, very well restored [SB]
Ernest Ansermet (conductor): Fauré Requiem, Orchestral Suites (Pristine Audio)
Historical recordings in excellent remastered sound that belies its considerable age [GF]
Bruckner: Symphony 8 (Pristine Audio)
A wild, driven performance which oozes personality and conviction, now cleaned up to an unprecedentedly high standard [RMo]
Respighi: Roman Trilogy (Pristine Audio)
Toscanini’s reference Respighi in even better sound [MBu]
Puccini: Turandot (Pristine Audio)
A most worthwhile remastering of this classic Turandot, with sonic improvements throughout [EJW]
Brahms & Franck: Symphonies (Pristine Audio)
One relative novelty, plus a valuable addition to Leinsdorf’s discography [SV]
Grieg & Sibelius: String quartets (Pristine Audio)
More pre-war classics from the Budapest Quartet [JW]
Wagner: Götterdämmerung (Pristine Audio)
All Wagnerians should consider this 1956 live Bayreuth Götterdämmerung [SB]
Frederick Stock (conductor) Chicago Symphony Vol. 4 (Pristine Audio)
An absorbing study of an unjustly neglected body of recordings continues [JW]
Puccini: Turandot (Pristine Audio)
Yet another classic opera recording given new lustre by Pristine’s remastering [RMo]
Willem Mengelberg (conductor) The Concertgebouw Telefunken Recordings Vol. 4 (Pristine Audio)
Further excellent performances and transfers in this ongoing series [PSt]
Bellini: Norma (Pristine Audio)
A pleasure to be reacquainted with Callas’s Norma in this remastering of her second studio recording [PT]
Ponchielli: La Gioconda (Pristine Audio)
Pristine’s splendid enhancement of this recording into Ambient Stereo further minimises the differences between this and Callas’ recording seven years later [RMo]
Puccini: Madama Butterfly (Pristine Audio)
De los Ángeles is a winning Butterfly in this classic set, now reissued by Pristine [PT]
Joseph Szigeti (violin): European Columbia Records Volume 2 (Pristine Audio)
An evergreen Beethoven Concerto with delightful encores as a bonus [RMas]
Bizet: Carmen (Pristine Audio)
A marvellous restoration of an old and half-forgotten recording [GF]
Schoenberg: Unheard Recordings (Pristine Audio)
An extraordinarily vivid sonic refurbishment of Stokowski’s 1941 vibrant Pelleas [RMo]
Bruckner: Symphonies Nos 3-5 (Pristine Audio)
Pristine offers three great Bruckner recordings from Kna in a handy, sound-enhanced set [RMo]
Karajan Conducts French Music (Pristine Audio)
Familiar recordings, probably skippable [SV]
Wagner: Siegfried (Pristine Audio)
This third instalment of the Knappertsbusch Ring will not disappoint enthusiasts [SB]
Bizet: Carmen (Pristine Audio)
An authentically French, operetta-style Carmen of the kind you will not hear today – but over-refined and lacking punch [RMo]
Nathan Milstein (violin) The American Columbia Solo Recordings Vol. 1 (Pristine Audio)
Splendid transfers of Milstein’s 1930s baroque repertory [JW]
Wagner: Die Walküre (Pristine Audio)
This second instalment of Knappertsbusch’s 1956 Ring is very acceptable [SB]