Sleeve Notes: No composer has found greater inspiration in fairy-tales or legends containing a strong element of magic than Rimsky-Korsakov. Most of his 15 operas are based on such subjects, which gave him great scope for the colourful treatment of … Continued
Sleeve Notes: SIDE ONE During the February of 1880, Tchaikovsky was in Rome. The Carnival was at its height, the weather was glorious, and the composer had fallen in lave with Tivoli and its Villa d’Este. The wonders of this … Continued
Sleeve Notes: An assortment of delectable dances of Old Vienna, in original scoring. No dance music rivals that of old Vienna in combining the most ravishing, open-hearted popular appeal with the artistry and permanence of the finest musical craft. And … Continued
Sleeve Notes: Georges Bizet died on June 3rd 1875, exactly three months after the first performance of his opera “Carmen”. He was thirty-eight. That this gifted man’s life should have ended so soon is one of music’s greatest tragedies, especially … Continued
Sleeve Notes: It is quite fashionable, in certain circles, to look down a long and highly patronizing nose at Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky, to dismiss his music as overblown and over-emotional, and in general to rank his creative genius low down … Continued
Sleeve Notes: This beautifully produced album demonstrates the versatile nature of strings, presenting them in both classical and contemporary style. Listen to The London Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Rens Leibowitz, playing Offenbach’s ‘Waltz from the Gaite Parisienne’ showing strings in … Continued
The Decca viva! label was a popular one among classical music lovers re-packaging older recordings from the previous decades into a new format for the eighties. Most of the recordings were of a very high quality and the cover notes … Continued
Hans Carste was a well respected German conductor and composer. Viewers of the most watched TV News show on German TV are probably unaware that the theme tune was written by him and has remained the theme tune over decades … Continued
The cover of this record features a photograph taken by ‘Lidbrooke’ whose style was in much favour in the early sixties. His photos featured on the cover of Tatler magazine and if you like this kind of thing you can … Continued
