rmo

A wild, driven performance which oozes personality and conviction, now cleaned up to an unprecedentedly high standard [RMo]

A fine live account which despite a few quibbles sustains interest throughout its taut execution [RMo]

A beautifully engineered recording which simply exudes the joy of music-making [RMo]

Cool, restrained and beautifully played in Nordic style [RMo]

Perhaps little more than an abridged curiosity, but mostly well done within the limitations of the form [RMo]

A survey by Ralph Moore

An admirable effort to reconstruct the original version of a once popular work which veers between the highly entertaining and the banal [RMo]

A re-release of three great recordings on a different label, whose raison d’être eludes me… [RMo]

A fine, dramatic, beautifully sung live recording headed by Finley’s noble Elijah [RMo]

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

Put aside preconceptions of “authenticity” and enjoy this for what it is – a celebration of some of Rameau’s most appealing music [RMo]

Superb, sensuous, subtle singing from a highly gifted British lyric baritone [RMo]

Yet another classic opera recording given new lustre by Pristine’s remastering [RMo]

A real mixed bag, maddeningly inconsistent with some quirky and mannered decisions [RMo]

An under-rated, somewhat overlooked recording featuring an array of superb voices, very well conducted [RMo]

A mightily impressive debut recording from Stutzmann in Atlanta [RMo]

Pristine’s splendid enhancement of this recording into Ambient Stereo further minimises the differences between this and Callas’ recording seven years later [RMo]

For all that I thoroughly enjoy this recording, the less textually correct Bonynge still retains its places in the affections [RMo]

Once again, I find myself questioning the validity and purpose of such arrangements [RMo]

An extraordinarily vivid sonic refurbishment of Stokowski’s 1941 vibrant Pelleas [RMo]

A survey by Ralph Moore

Sound, solid singing does not compensate for a lack of tonal variety, elegance and refinement [RMo]

Pristine offers three great Bruckner recordings from Kna in a handy, sound-enhanced set [RMo]

The symphony is here given the best possible advocacy and Ravel’s nightmarish La Valse makes the perfect pendant [RMo]