Anderson's Archive Archives

From the Anderson Archive – No.9 – Ida Haendel records Elgar’s Violin Concerto with Sir Adrian Boult and the London Philharmonic for EMI/HMV.

Aug 8, 2020 | Anderson's Archive

I needed a corrective to two recent Elgar Violin Concertos that I experienced – the inconsistent (shall we say) approach from Nicola Benedetti for Decca, and the shambolic Proms account (given during the 2008 season) from Nigel Kennedy, often hectic and messy, that...

From the Anderson Archive – No.8 – Leopold Ludwig records Mahler’s Fourth Symphony in Dresden for Eterna.

Aug 2, 2020 | Anderson's Archive

I have not heard this recording in years, yet it’s rather good, as re-visited in a faithful transfer on a Berlin Classics compact disc (BC 2119-2). As captured by Eterna in January 1957 in the Kreuzkirche, Leopold Ludwig (1908-79) leads a cohesive and unexaggerated –...

From the Anderson Archive – No.7 – Hollywood String Quartet & friends record Schoenberg & Schubert for Capitol.

Aug 1, 2020 | Anderson's Archive

Stimulated by knowing that the celebrated Hollywood String Quartet’s complete recordings (though not the one with Frank Sinatra) have just been issued as a box in Japan I returned to Testament’s 1990s’ CD coverage of these tapings, and opted for SBT 1031, which acted...

From the Anderson Archive – No.6 – Rudolf Barshai records Michael Tippett with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra for EMI/HMV.

Jul 23, 2020 | Anderson's Archive

Rudolf Barshai (1924-2010) – conductor, viola-player and co-founder in 1945 of the Borodin Quartet. Between 1982 and 1988 Barshai was conductor of the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra. One of their recordings was an album of Sir Michael Tippett’s music, made in November...

From the Anderson Archive – No.5 – Leonard Bernstein records Elliott Carter’s Concerto for Orchestra with the New York Philharmonic for CBS.

Jul 20, 2020 | Anderson's Archive

In a Comment left on Archive posting No.4 (Ansermet) I signposted that I would look for something featuring Leonard Bernstein for the next instalment. Given the many choices, Elliott Carter’s Concerto for Orchestra (1969) is perhaps not obvious, but, put simply, it’s...

From the Anderson Archive – No.4 – Ernest Ansermet records Haydn’s Paris Symphonies with the Suisse Romande Orchestra for Decca.

Jul 19, 2020 | Anderson's Archive

During the 1970s, when I was growing up, not least musically, I was very fortunate to be introduced to much of the repertoire from Ernest Ansermet’s recordings. Not that he was the draw – I hadn’t a clue who he was – it was more the inexpensive price (99p) attached to...