Frederick Stock closes his remarkable Chicago Symphony discography with a final set of 1941 studio recordings that perfectly capture the qualities which made him one of America’s great orchestral builders: authority, warmth, colour and complete musical conviction. From Stock’s own grand orchestration of Bach’s “St. Anne” Prelude and Fugue to a wonderfully atmospheric Dvořák In Nature’s Realm, these performances reveal a conductor whose artistry deserves to stand alongside the bigger names of his era.

At the heart of the release lies a superb performance of Chausson’s Symphony in B-flat, passionately played and beautifully recorded, alongside a rare Wagner Forest Murmurs transferred from a surviving test pressing. Issued here in the sixth and final volume of our Frederick Stock series, these recordings form both a fitting conclusion and a compelling reminder of a major conductor too often overlooked today.

To mark the 213th anniversary of Richard Wagner’s birth on 22 May 1813, we’re also offering 10% off all Wagner recordings this week. With 116 Wagner titles currently available, from legendary Ring cycles conducted by Furtwängler and Krauss to Toscanini’s blazing orchestral broadcasts and historic Parsifal and Tristan performances, there’s no better moment to explore one of the most transformative figures in musical history.

Bruno Walter’s 1953 Carnegie Hall performance of Mahler’s Symphony No. 4 stands among the most eloquent recordings of this deeply personal work. Conducting the Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra of New York, with Irmgard Seefried joining for the radiant finale, Walter brings a rare authority born of direct experience: he had known Mahler personally and remained one of the composer’s most persuasive interpreters throughout his life.

Preserved from an exceptionally fine radio broadcast source and newly restored in Ambient Stereo XR, this performance reveals all the warmth, clarity and humanity of Walter’s late Mahler style. From the sleigh bells of the opening movement to the serene beauty of Das himmlische Leben, this is Mahler interpretation of extraordinary tenderness, balance and insight.

This week we also mark the 147th anniversary of Sir Thomas Beecham’s birth with a special 10% discount across all 49 Beecham releases in the Pristine catalogue. From Delius and Mozart to Handel and Sibelius, Beecham’s remarkable recorded legacy remains one of the great treasures of 20th-century conducting. The discount is applied automatically at checkout and runs until next Thursday.

Yehudi Menuhin is at the centre of this week’s new release in two of the twentieth century’s most important violin sonatas - Béla Bartók’s Sonata for Solo Violin and Sergei Prokofiev’s Violin Sonata No. 1. Both works were still new when these recordings were made in 1947 and 1948, and in Bartók’s case Menuhin was not only the first recording artist but also the work’s dedicatee and first performer, preserving on disc a sonata written especially for him by the composer.

These Abbey Road recordings capture Menuhin at a pivotal moment in his career, bringing extraordinary authority to music then at the forefront of modern violin writing. Bartók’s fiercely individual solo sonata and Prokofiev’s dark, searching Violin Sonata No. 1, with Marcel Gazelle at the piano, are heard here in vivid new Pristine Ambient Stereo XR remasterings, revealing fresh depth and presence throughout.

To mark Guido Cantelli’s birth anniversary on 27 April, we’re offering 10% off all 25 of his Pristine releases this week. One of the most brilliant conductors of his generation, Cantelli died tragically young in 1956, but left behind performances of extraordinary precision, intensity and youthful fire.