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NEW: Brutal, passionate, delicious - Stoki's de Falla is on fire! SUMMER SIZZLERS: Top Five Downloads so far in 2009
Stokowski's de Falla
PASC154 BEETHOVEN: Symphonies 3, 7 (Kleiber, 1950)
"...I sampled the the Decca Masters issue with all of Kleiber’s orchestral recordings for Decca. Decca’s transfer sounds quite well, the whiskery strings not too much in evidence. However, next to the Pristine Classical issue, produced from a dub from LP, the Decca produced from the master tape has a scrawny sound. Pristine’s restoration gets the orchestra sounding far more like it does in the Concertgebouw and complete with its unmistakeable acoustic. Astonishing!" - Audiophile Audition
PASC157 BRAHMS: 2nd Symphony (Toscanini, 1951)
"This is virtuoso NBC Symphony execution, where the warblings above and the churnings below coalesce into a onrush of Brahms sound, the full treatment. The working out in sonata-form merely accentuates the dialectic in Brahms between Dionysian energy and a fear of self-revelation, a reticence to which Toscanini refuses to coddle. A force of Nature, this Toscanini, who delivers a D Major Symphony that appeals to us instinctively, a most gratifying performance." - Audiophile Audition
PASC171 BRAHMS: 2nd Piano Concerto (Horowitz '45)
How rare can a recording get? Not much more so than this one. Only one acetate disc copy is known to exist. It's been in the hands of a private collector for many years... Finally, after nearly 65 years, we get to hear it in a brand new transfer of this rarest of discs, painstakingly restored and XR-remastered by Pristine's Andrew Rose, complete with artwork from the original concert flyer, surely among the great historic releases of this year. An absolutely essential listen!
PASC161 PROKOFIEV: Symphonies 5, 6 (Stokowski)
"The Prokofiev Symphonies are staggering: the slow movement of the 5th a revelation. And the 6th is electrifying.
Incredible that it was essentially a new work to the players. It seems absolutely true to Prokofiev: nervy, larky, sardonic."

- Simon Callow CBE, world-renowned actor and ardent Stokowski-phile
PASC152 BEETHOVEN: 9th Symphony (Toscanini, '41)
Toscanini's 1941 Beethoven 9th is legendary, , with many considering this to be his greatest Choral Symphony recording. With a fine cast of soloists, most famously Alexander Kipnis, and an orchestra which has clearly risen to the occasion, it's an occasionally wild, savage tour de force that's absolutely not to be missed. With this meticulous new restoration we have reduced as many sonic obstacles as possible, to allow you to enjoy a truly remarkable performance in all its available glory!

Many of Leopold Stokowski's rarest recordings were collected during his lifetime and after his death into an archive by the conductor's one-time assistant, Jack Baumgarten. A large collection of open-reel tapes survives which include recordings of performances often almost unheard since the day of the concert. Occasionally one of these turns out to be a performance so vivid and stunning that it takes your breath away, and you wonder how it could have remained forgotten for over 60 years.

Such a recording is the 1948 performance here of Manuel de Falla's El Amor Brujo, with Nan Merriman the soloist and the New York Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra at their best. It captures an almost wild savagery about the music that I've never heard elsewhere, a dark and explosive Spanish passion that can make your hair stand on end.

Coupled with a newly remastered Nights in the Gardens of Spain with Kapell, this will stay high on your listening list for a long time to come!

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