Even though Vladimir Ashkenazy is most often celebrated for his brilliantly virtuosic interpretations of Romantic repertoire, his skills in playing works of the Classical era are just as worthy, as proved by this 10-disc set from London of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's piano concertos. These performances span a period from 1966 to 1988, capturing a youthful and vigorous Ashkenazy playing and conducting the Philharmonia Orchestra and the English Chamber Orchestra from the keyboard, in approved Mozartian fashion. All of the keyboard concertos are here, including the official 27 concertos for piano and orchestra, the Concerto for two pianos in E flat major, K. 365, the Concerto for three pianos in F major, K. 242, as well as the two Rondos K. 382 and K. 386. Ashkenazy's elegant playing has been highly praised by critics and placed on a level with his esteemed contemporaries Murray Perahia, Daniel Barenboim, and Alfred Brendel, all past masters of Mozart's primary medium of expression.

The performance here of Samson is definitive. It is lively, colourful and highly dramatic. There is no comparison with the tedious performance by the Sixteen on Coro. The performance of the Messiah with limited modern instrumental forces of the English Chamber Orchestra and Chorus with very good soloists doesn't sacrifice grandeur nor does it go to the other extreme of over-blown pomp. It is a very good performamce on modern instruments under the direction of the Baroque music specialist conductor Raymond Leppard.

This magnificent performance is without a doubt among the top two or three Handel opera recordings in the catalog. John Nelson outdoes even the period instrument competition, conducting with a vitality and freshness that sweeps all before it. Kathleen Battle is a great Semele (if listening to this woman sing "Myself I Will Adore" isn't a classic example of typecasting, then what is?). But the real palm must go to Marilyn Horne as the jealous Juno, who simply stops the show with her two arias (she sings Ino as well). A very great recording.

Orlando (HWV 31) is an opera seria in three acts by George Frideric Handel written for the King's Theatre in London in 1733. The Italian-language libretto was adapted from Carlo Sigismondo Capece"L'Orlando after Ludovico Ariosto"Orlando Furioso, which was also the source of Handel's operas Alcina and Ariodante". More an artistic than a popular success at its first performances, Orlando is today recognised as a masterpiece.

If you want a good sampling of Copland's orchestral works, then this 2-CD compilation comes highly recommended, with excellent performances of works such as Appalachian Spring, Quiet City, El Salón México and others. (Presto Classical)

These 2 discs offer the music of 3 different choirs and 4 different times periods. CD 1 features the Choir of King's College, Cambridge,performing 4 Coronation Anthems: Zadok the priest; My heart is inditing; Let my hand be strengthened and The King shall rejoice. Recording Date:August,1963.

As Sir András Schiff turns 70 (in December 2023), this 78-disc edition celebrates an artist who has made a significant contribution to shaping Decca’s history through an array of artistic endeavours. Neatly divided into four sections – solo, concertante, lieder and chamber music, the set includes several currently unavailable recordings; the first international release of Beethoven’s complete Violin Sonatas, with Sándor Végh; four CDs’ worth of material recorded on Mozart’s fortepiano; and the booklet includes an interview with Misha Donat in which Schiff tells the story of his journey with Decca.

Tear's Serenade and Nocturne are sterling performances, fervent and expressive without falling into preciousness. Harper's passionate Illuminations makes a strong case for a female voice in these fevered poems. Civil, Marriner and Tate provide atmospheric support.

The first 14 of the 16 symphonies chosen span the years 1771, when Mozart was 15, through to 1773, when he produced in the G minor No. 26, his first out-and-out masterpiece among the symphonies. In addition to the regularly numbered works Tate includes the so-called Symphonies Nos. 48 (adapted from the overture to Ascanio in Alba) and 50 (adapted from the overture to Il sogno di Scipione). Then, almost as an appendix to the rest, come two more adaptations from opera overtures, dating from 1775-6, No. 51 (from La finta giardiniera) and No. 52 (from Il re pastore, with an adaptation of an aria inserted).

Peter Serkin, whose recorded output is dwarfed by his father's in sheer size but by no means in artistic distinction, is spotlighted in a new release playing Mozart: his complete RCA recordings of the composer. When his set of Piano Concertos Nos. 14-19 was released in 1973, High Fidelity's reviewer wrote: "I have heard no other pianist who seems to follow every pulse of this Mozartean vitality quite as beautifully as Peter Serkin, and the combined efforts of Serkin fils with Alexander Schneider and the English Chamber Orchestra on this RCA set form very simply one of the most important contributions to the Mozart discography." The new box also contains Serkin's distinguished mid-1970s recordings of the Clarinet Quintet and Piano-Wind Quintet K 452 with members of his distinguished ensemble TASHI.

Warner Classics brings you a rendition of his masterpiece Transfigured Night, originally for string sextet but here performed in a version for reduced string orchestra. This piece, based on a poem by Dehmel that resounded deeply with Schoenberg sentimental life at the time of its compositions, is an absolute summit of late Romanticism. Jeffrey Tate’s musicians from the ECO also play the iridescent second Chamber Symphony, lately published after numerous revisions but still very Romantic in tone.

An album combining works by Schubert, Piazolla and Lintinen, cellist Trey Lee is joined by the English Chamber Orchestra to perform compositions embracing the effects and impacts of climate change on both the environment and society. The album has two world premiere recordings of new arrangements for both cello and piano, and cello and orchestra by Trey Lee.

This new collection of music for two pianos by Mozart features pianists Ivo Varbanov and Fiammetta Tarli, alongside the English Chamber Orchestra and Muhai Tang. Renowned for their wide-ranging careers as soloist and ensemble players, Varbanov and Tarli present performances of Mozart's Concerto for 2 Pianos and Orchestra, K365, Concerto for 2 Pianos and Orchestra, K242, and Sonata for 2 Pianos, K448/375a.

The virtues of Uchida's playing are the ones classically associated with Mozart: grace, fluidity, restraint, and a certain playful quality. Those are all on display in these performances of Mozart concertos from the 1770s, early in the composer's career. Uchida's style is more concerned with small details than with large spaces, and this puts her somewhat out of the mainstream in a work like the Piano Concerto No. 9 in E flat major, K. 271 – many performances recorded since the 1992 date of Uchida's version have emphasized the way a vast architecture suddenly appeared in the mind of the young composer. Still, there are many lovely details, often connected to Uchida's way of bringing out the various wrinkles in the concerto's left-hand parts.