Norrington London Classical Players

These performances of three early and one "late" symphony of Schubert are both bracing and youthfully brisk, done on tart "period" instruments of Schubert's time. This produces what Schubert would have heard and expected to hear. Just listening to each performance convinces that these are "right." Sound is good. Warm and focused.

On the release date of our Sir Roger Norrington retrospective boxset, we also release his long-lost instrumental recordings of Brahms. Norrington approached this project after recording his Beethoven cycle, wondering if mid-19th-century would fit with his views on historically informed performance: “Tempos spacious but forthright; tempo modification, sensitive but simple; textures clear, as benefits such polyphonic writing; balance restored in favour of the winds…” A definitively original vision that gives these recordings a unique appeal.

One of the most fascinating recording projects of this period was Sir Roger Norrington's pioneering set of Beethoven symphonies with The London Classical Players. Here at long last–after a century and a half of neglect–was a conductor bravely determined to conduct these symphonies according to Beethoven's difficult metronome markings, and as played on the original instruments that Beethoven had composed for–that is, the very sounds that he must have had in his mind when he wrote this music down. Norrington astutely saw that Beethoven's original brass and percussion instruments play a crucially prominent role in these symphonies, and most importantly, that they cannot be tempered without diminishing the passionate intensity of the music itself.

This disc is an important one as regards the performance of Bruckner’s symphonies. Norrington tends to be renowned for fast speeds: here he is eight minutes quicker than the only other current recording, Eliahu Inbal’s, of this original (1873) version of the symphony. This is a cogently argued account using the orchestral forces of the Vienna Philharmonic of the 1870s. Forty-five gut string instruments are used, with leather-covered timpani, distinctively different sounding wind and brass, forward-facing cellos and basses and a platform layout which highlights cross-stage dialogue between related instruments.

What is so good about Sir Roger's performances are that they are alive, vibrant, full of colour, devoid of clichés, utterly musical, coherent and convincing. Like Thomson he has a reliable ear for balance and texture and an instinctive ability to gauge the correct and most effective tempi.

On the release date of our Sir Roger Norrington retrospective boxset, we also release his long-lost instrumental recordings of Brahms. Norrington approached this project after recording his Beethoven cycle, wondering if mid-19th-century would fit with his views on historically informed performance: “Tempos spacious but forthright; tempo modification, sensitive but simple; textures clear, as benefits such polyphonic writing; balance restored in favour of the winds…” A definitively original vision that gives these recordings a unique appeal.

Whereas Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 3 is, despite its exemplary classical form, a direct descendant of Mozart's late works of the same genre (the opening theme appears to be a quotation), his No. 4 is a pioneering work full of innovation and ideas that were staggeringly different: the very fact that the first movement is introduced by the pianist playing solo instead of by an orchestral introduction is a revolution in itself and a signpost of the good things to come. The adjective that seems to describe Melvyn Tan's and Roger Norrington's recording best is 'winsome', here used in its positive meaning of 'attractive, pleasing' with a slight tinge of 'childlike-ness'.

Glorious Majesty Music for English Kings and Queens is a 3CD collection of classical music written for English Kings and Queens through the ages. From Elizabeth I to Elizabeth II (via Queen Mary II, Queen Anne, George II, Edward VI, and George V) the collection includes the much-loved classics Handel s Zadok the Priest and Music for the Royal Fireworks, Parry s I was glad, Elgar s Coronation March, Walton s Crown Imperial and Orb and Sceptre, and not forgetting Elgar s arrangement of the National Anthem