Legacy

  • Constantin Silvestri: Shostakovich Symphony No. 8, Kabalevsky Colas Breugnon Overture

    This recording is a rarity and belonged to Silvestri, only discovered after his death. The live performance from 1961 of Shostakovich Symphony No.8 is a new addition to Silvestri's discography, as is Kabalevsky’s Colas Breugnon Overture. The recording captures Silvestri’s electrifying performance of Shostakovich’s greatest symphony. During his early years in Moscow, Silvestri conducted Shostakovich and was praised by the composer. Silvestri’s only other Shostakovich recording was Symphony No.5 with the Vienna Philharmonic in 1960

  • BBC Legends Vol.4

    ICA Classics, via its long-term contract with BBC Worldwide, are proud to release a fourth volume of the best-selling BBC Legends box, featuring 20 CDs of some of the greatest artists of the 20th century. Volume one was released in 2013 and comprised 20 CDs taken from the critically acclaimed BBC Legends catalogue which has been unavailable since 2010. The second volume was released in 2017 and is now out of print, while the third volume came out in late 2022. A beautifully packaged clamshell box with individual wallets for each main artist featuring full details of tracks, dates and venues.

  • Gennadi Rozhdestvensky: Berlioz Romeo et Juliette, Scriabin Le Poeme de l’extase

    COMPOSERS Hector Berlioz, Alexander Scriabin ARTISTS Gennadi Rozhdestvensky

  • Sir Adrian Boult: Holst The Planets, works by Vaughan Williams, Walton & Butterworth

    COMPOSERS Gustav Holst, Ralph Vaughan Williams, William Walton, George Butterworth ARTISTS Sir Adrian Boult, BBC Symphony Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Alan Harverson

  • Rudolf Kempe: Dvořák Symphony No. 8, Beethoven Prometheus Overture, Strauss Tod und Verklärung

    COMPOSERS Ludwig van Beethoven, Richard Strauss, Antonín Dvořák ARTISTS Münchner Philharmoniker, Rudolf Kempe

  • Sir Adrian Boult: Vaughan Williams Symphonies Nos 5 & 6

    BBC Symphony Orchestra Sir Adrian Boult

  • Annie Fischer: Beethoven: Piano Sonatas Nos. 19, 15 “Pastoral”, 30 & 32

    "This glorious issue is a reminder of a unique pianist held in awe by artists of the stature of Sviatoslav Richter and Otto Klemperer." - International Piano

  •  Gennady Rozhdestvensky: Shostakovich

    Gennady Rozhdestvensky (1931-2018) was one of Russia's greatest conductors along with Evgeny Mravinsky and Kirill Kondrashin. His close personal and musical relationship with Shostakovich began in the 1950s and continued until the composer's death in 1975. Rozhdestvensky said at the time, 'It would be difficult to overestimate the significance of my relations with Dmitri Shostakovich since he opened before me a musical universe like a gigantic magnifying glass reflecting our fragile world'. Rozhdestvensky conducted the first western premiere of Shostakovich's Symphony No.4 in Edinburgh in 1962 and after many subsequent performances internationally, it was also the inaugural piece in his tenure as chief conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra (1979-81). Composed in 1936 but condemned by the Soviet authorities, it did not receive it's first performance until 1961 in Moscow. The epic Symphony No.11, given a dramatic performance by the BBC Philharmonic in 1997, is based on revolutionary folksongs relating to the 1905 Russian Revolution, and received the Lenin Prize in 1958. Despite this, questions arose as to whether Shostakovich was denouncing the Soviet regime's brutal treatment of it's opponents in it, specifically the 1956 invasion of Hungary or the Tsarist tyranny and oppression of 1905, to which there are no conclusive answers.

  • Shura Cherkassky: Saint-Saëns & Liszt

    Shura Cherkassky was born in Odessa, Ukraine in 1909 and died in London in 1995. He was initially taught by his mother who had played for Tchaikovsky, but when the family moved to the US in 1923, he studied with his long-time teacher and mentor, the legendary Josef Hofmann, before auditioning for Rachmaninov. Prior to World War II, he had made his name in the US but from 1945 he extensively toured Europe and settled in London in 1961. The last of the great Romantic tradition of pianists, Cherkassky was described by Bryce Morrison as a 'mercurial genius', a unique personality, blessed with an incredible technique, who delighted in defying convention as no performance was identical. For a musician reluctant to visit the studio, live performances were the showcase for his stunning virtuosity and creativity caught on the wing.

  • Herbert von Karajan & Clara Haskil: Mozart

    The combination of Herbert von Karajan and the revered Romanian pianist Clara Haskil (1895-1960) was an ideal partnership. Karajan had an extraordinary rapport with her, describing her career as 'a long and often sorrowful march to glory' due to Haskil's well documented ill-health.

  • Chamber Orchestra of Europe: Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms

    MP3 Album:
    This set is a testament to a remarkable collaboration between the conductor Nikolaus Harnoncourt and the Chamber Orchestra of Europe and its release this year marks the Orchestra’s 40th anniversary. These recordings also trace the relationship between Harnoncourt and the Styriarte Festival which started in 1987 and lasted for over 30 years. The repertoire in this set features live concerts performed between 1989 and 2007.

  • Chamber Orchestra of Europe: Schubert The Symphonies

    MP3 Album:
    Chamber Orchestra of Europe & Nikolaus Harnoncourt

MP3 releases from the Legacy Series