NB: Due to the current pandemic CDs may take longer than usual to arrive.

This week we see our 1000th release, and it's something very, very special indeed. Jascha Horenstein's reputation as a conductor of Mahler is second to none, and his recorded performances of Mahler's Symphony No. 5 are both exceptional and exceptionally rare.

This is the third and final Horenstein Mahler 5, recorded live in concert in October 1969 with the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra. It's final in more ways than one - there are no other known recordings of Horenstein conducting this work (the two others, with the London Symphony and Berlin Philharmonic have already been issued here), and it was his final performance of the work. An absolute must-have for any collection!

NB: Due to the current pandemic CDs may take longer than usual to arrive.

The highlight and main body of this, the 999th release on Pristine Classical, concerns Schoenberg's monumental Gurrelieder, one of the pioneering composer's final fully tonal works, and a piece Stokowski and the Philadelphia Orchestra first performed for its US première in 1932 in a short series of concerts from which this performance was drawn.

The release is augmented by two recordings made later that year, again from live performances, recorded this time using optical film tracks. Dubensky's The Raven was issued only on 78rpm picture discs in the US (it was unissued elsewhere at the time), whilst Paul Hindemith's piano concerto "Kammermusik No. 2" was not issued on 78s at all and survives to this day thanks to a single set of acetates discs.

Together this is a remarkable set of recordings, brilliantly restored by Mark Obert-Thorn, that demands your ears!

NB: Due to the current pandemic CDs may take longer than usual to arrive.

"The first release of the cycle (Pristine Audio PAKM 082) includes Sonatas 1-7, and what a wonder it is. Kempff’s deft, but tasteful use of the pedal is fully in evidence, as is a warm, singing tone to the piano. Technically, of course, they are beyond reproach, but the performances are fully engaging emotionally as well ... Judging by Volume One, this cycle by Kempff goes right to the top of the heap." - Tim Snider, WTJU FM, August 2020

This second volume of the Complete Beethoven Piano Sonatas by Wilhelm Kempff takes us from No. 8, 'Pathétique' to No. 15, 'Pastoral', via the 'Fantasia' and 'Moonlight' sonatas and more. Sounding incredibly good in these new XR remasters, this is a series not to be missed - and one which demands a complete reassessment of these seminal recordings.