Pristine Classical

The finest historic recorded music, remastered to award-winning acclaim

Casals' classic solo Bach

Pristine Classical

The finest historic recorded music, remastered to award-winning acclaim

Klemperer in Philadelphia

Pristine Classical

The finest historic recorded music, remastered to award-winning acclaim

Horenstein's Mahler 5

Pristine Classical

The finest historic recorded music, remastered to award-winning acclaim

Die Walküre - Met Opera '40

Pristine Classical

The finest historic recorded music, remastered to award-winning acclaim

Schnabel plays Beethoven

Most Recent Releases

Koussevitzky conducts Tchaikovsky

This is a very special recording: one of only two examples of Koussevitzky conducting Tchaikovsky's "Pathétique" Symphony No. 6, it was captured from a live broadcast of the Boston Symphony Orchestra in 1946 and shows the maestro and his orchestra at the peak of their powers.

And yet the recording itself suffered - post-wartime shortages meant no spares were available for recording machines, which meant old discarded cutting lathes had to be pressed back into service. The broadcast itself, transmitted from ABC's studios in New York, came down a low quality telephone wire from Boston to get there.

And yet in this new transfer and restoration you'll hear nothing of this. The tone is full and bright, the pitch stable and solid, and the full majesty of Koussevitzky's Boston Symphony Orchestra shines through. Coupled with a performance from the same year of Tchaikovsky's Francesca da Rimini, this is a very special release that begs your attention from the opening notes.

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Toscanini conducts Richard Strauss

We ended 2018 with some fine-sounding Toscanini, and we begin 2019 with some astounding-sounding Toscanini, and in doing so mark the 70th anniversary of the death of Richard Strauss with a double-CD containing fine examples of each of the Strauss works that survive in recordings conducted by the Italian maestro.

As with the Russian disc, we have once again been able to access mint sources, offering unprecedented sound quality throughout. Indeed, I'm not sure if I've ever heard recordings from 1938 which sound quite as fresh, new and vibrant as this Don Quixote - you can almost hear the rosin jumping from Emanuel Feuermann's bow!

I was working on the opening recording of Don Quixote and thought to compare it with a previous issue, one I'd not heard for maybe ten years or more. The difference could not be more stark. Gone was not only the noisy, scratchy surface, but also the thin, harsh sound, to be replaced with something of real beauty. What an honour and privilege to be able to unlock such a thing from an 81 year old artefact. A humbling experience indeed.

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Toscanini's Russian Contemporaries

For this final Pristine release of 2018 we turn to the NBC broadcasts of Arturo Toscanini, and music by his Russian contemporaries. The earliest recording we present here, his 1939 account of the Shostakovich First Symphony, demonstrates a particular lightness of touch, and benefits from excellent sound for its era.

Sparkling too is Toscanini's 1947 performance of Prokofiev's First "Classical" Symphony, the fourth of six performances given with the NBC orchestra, and the only work by Prokofiev he ever conducted. We Also have the two works by Dmitri Kabalevsky in Toscanini's repertoire, his Symphony No. 2, here in Toscanini's earlier 1945 performance of two, and the Overture "Colas Breugnon", again in its first appearance, in this case of six, from 1943.

In each case we've been able to draw on excellent sources, and generally the sound quality is superb.This is the first of two back-to-back Toscanini releases - we'll be back with more from the Maestro on the first Friday of 2019. In the meantime we wish you all the very best for this holiday season, and a happy, healthy and prosperous New Year.

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