This week’s new release is Gounod’s Faust in its celebrated 1930 Paris recording, with César Vezzani as Faust, Mireille Berthon as Marguerite and Marcel Journet as Méphistophélès. Henri Büsser, a pupil of Gounod himself, conducts the Orchestra and Chorus of the Paris Opéra in a performance steeped in the language, elegance and dramatic instincts of the French operatic tradition.

Originally issued across forty 78 rpm sides, this unusually expansive recording preserves not only the principal scenes but also the Walpurgis Night music and ballet. Mark Obert-Thorn’s new restoration draws together sessions made over ten months, taming their very different recording characteristics while revealing the vocal colour, theatrical immediacy and extraordinary authority of this historic performance. 

To mark the anniversary of Herbert von Karajan’s death on 16 July 1989, all Pristine recordings conducted by Karajan are currently reduced by 10%. The saving is applied automatically at checkout, with highlights ranging from Bruckner’s Seventh Symphony and Puccini’s Tosca to his vivid recordings of French orchestral music.

This week’s new release takes us to Tanglewood in August 1949 for Britten’s Albert Herring, recorded during the opera’s U.S. premiere production. Boris Goldovsky conducts the Berkshire Music Center Opera Department, with David Lloyd, later remembered as the first American Albert, in the title role.

This is a fascinating document of a new opera still finding its American voice: lively, theatrical, quick on its feet, and full of the energy of young singers making the case for Britten’s sharp little comedy of village respectability, spiked lemonade and quiet rebellion. The early tape source has needed careful reel-by-reel pitch correction, but once stabilised the performance comes through with remarkable freshness.

Our special offer this week marks Kirsten Flagstad’s 131st birthday. All Pristine recordings featuring the great Norwegian soprano are reduced by 10% until next Thursday, with the discount applied automatically at checkout.

Johanna Martzy’s legendary 1954-55 English Columbia recordings of Bach’s complete Sonatas and Partitas for solo violin return in this major new Pristine XR remastering. Long treasured by collectors, these performances combine grave concentration, tonal beauty and extraordinary structural command, with the great D minor Chaconne standing at the heart of the set.

The original recordings have often sounded dull, veiled and burdened by hum, thumps, clicks and surface noise. This new restoration transforms the listening experience, opening out the tone and bringing Martzy’s violin into far clearer focus while preserving the essential mono character of the Abbey Road recordings. One of the great Bach violin cycles now speaks with renewed presence and immediacy.

To mark Gustav Mahler’s 166th birthday on 7 July, we are offering 10% off all Mahler recordings for one week. The discount is applied automatically at checkout, covering our full Mahler catalogue, from Mengelberg, Walter and Klemperer to Horenstein, Boult and more.