rmo

The best of a composer forever doomed to dwell in Verdi’s shadow, performed by a first-rate cast and starring the great Nelly Miricioiu [RMo]

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 swift, cohesive, sensitive and beautifully played account of the greatest English symphony [RMo]

A disappointingly dull reading in mediocre sound [RMo]

Here we go again … best avoided [RMo]

The culmination of a great Ring cycle has a place among the best: scintillating singing, playing and conducting [RMo]

A magnificent account of the last version of Bruckner’s most approachable symphony, beautifully played in ideal recorded sound [RMo]

A patchy account, hobbled by a particularly egregious bit of tinkering with the codas of the first movement and the finale [RMo]

A swift, coherent, absorbing onslaught upon Bruckner’s Ninth which carries its own conviction [RMo]

A fine set but compromised by comparatively lacklustre Second and Seventh Symphonies [RMo]

Hindoyan does absolutely everything right in a beautifully played account [RMo]

Another majestic instalment of living theatre  – the best so far – in Kna’s 1956 Bayreuth Ring, in superb sound but again afflicted by persistent coughing [RMo]

A survey by Ralph Moore

Over fifty years on, this set is still holding up pretty well, despite a few negligible flaws [RMo]

Poschner once more subjects Bruckner’s Third Symphony to unreasonable and unaesthetic haste [RMo]

A fine Scheherazade, beautifully played but not necessarily superior to classic versions, and two thrilling Mussorgsky novelties which for me constitute the main interest of this issue [RMo]

Pristine’s stereo remastering reveals its glories yet more vividly – but unfortunately also highlights the constant hacking of the audience and Windgassen’s coordination problems. [RMo]

A great Callas recording is tidied up a bit, and her co-singers are brought into better focus [RMo]

A mercilessly rushed series of performances which almost invariably sacrifices grandeur in favour of mere propulsion [RMo]

An accomplished, early Strauss chamber work of mild interest and a tender, carefully wrought, but slightly too cautious Metamorphosen [RMo]

A great performance revitalised in extraordinarily vivid sound – another Pristine remastering triumph [RMo]

Bernstein in genial mood directing a luscious-sounding Concertgebouworkest [RMo]

An extraordinarily daring and vital realisation of a masterwork by a “maverick” conductor who dares to challenge convention – and triumphs [RMo]