0001-0200
Cat
No		 Prefix
No in
Set
 Artist/Title
0001 GEMS 2 George Copeland - The Victor solo recordings
0002 GEM 1 Benjamin Britten - Premiere recordings 1938-46
0003 GEM 1 Reynaldo Hahn
0004 GEMS 2 Schnabel plays Beethoven
The 'Named' Sonatas
A blazing intensity of interpretative vision as well as a breathtaking manner of execution' Stephen Plaistow. 'Schnabel is able to reconcile a calm and concentrated slowness with a breathtaking pulse and stirring inner life. No-one now distils these imaginative essences quite as he did' Richard Osborne. 'Here the sound has literally been given new life' L'Interêt. 'Extraordinary fidelity to Schnabel's sound. We can now hear his refined tonal palette, wide dynamics and subtle pedalling…Few historical reissues qualify as revelatory. This one does!' Tower Records Magazine. These were some of the comments on the original issue of this edition of the complete Beethoven Sonatas. Now, in this 2 CD set, the 'named' Sonatas have been collected together for a new public to appreciate the genius of composer and interpreter: the Pathétique, Moonlight, Pastoral, Waldstein, Appassionata, Les Adieux and Hammerklavier Sonatas. Bar code: 7 27031 00042 6
0005 GEMS 2 Leonard Bernstein - Wunderkind
0006 GEMS 2 Schnabel plays Mozart
0007 GEM 1 The Busch Quartet plays Brahms
0008 GEM 1 Mengelberg conducts Strauss
0009 GEMS 2 Marc Blitzstein - Musical Theatre premieres
0010 GEM 1 Ania Dorfmann - The Columbia recordings 1931-38
0011 GEM 1 Orson Welles - Macbeth
0012 GEM 1 Simon Barere
0013 GEM 1 Songs of France - Madeleine Grey, Claire Croiza & Yvonne Printemps
0015 GEMS 2 Orson Welles Julius Caesar
This full-length Caesar follows Shakespeare pretty closely and Welles himself takes three roles in this dramatic and ground-breaking production, always the most popular of the Mercury Theatre presentations. As marvellous encores are included the Richard II and wartime 'England' speeches from Richard II and Henry V of the great Shakespearean Maurice Evans. This release completes our issues of Orson Welles' Shakespeare. A 2 CD set.
0016 GEMS 2 Edwin Fischer plays Bach Vol I
0017 GEMS 2 Edwin Fischer plays Bach Vol II
The Well-Tempered Clavier Book II, Fantasia and Fugue in A minor, Prelude and Fugue in E flat major, 'St Anne' (Bach-Busoni). This is of course among the most celebrated series of recordings in our piano legacy 'uttered out of a deep passion, which expresses itself in a voice of exemplary linear clarity that's typically delicate and luminous rather than forceful or harsh' as The Irish Times said of Volume 1 (GEM 0016). A 2 CD set.
0018 GEM 1 Erno Dohnanyi
0019 GEM 1 Beethoven: 'Spring' / 'Kreutzer' sonatas etc. - Busch/Serkin
0020 GEMS 2 Twelfth Night / Julius Caesar etc. - Orson Welles
0021 GEM 1 Marcel Journet
0022 GEM 1 Gershwin and Grofe - Paul Whiteman and his Concert Orchestra
0023 GEM 1 Robert Simpson - Three String Quartets
0024 GEMS 2 Wagner Conductors on Record
0025 GEM 1 Adolf Busch and Rudolf Serkin
BRAHMS and SCHUMANN
Busch's own teachers and many of his musical friends were of Brahmas' own circle and he made music too with associates of Clara Schumann. These performances - of the Brahms Sonatas in G major and A major and the Schumann Sonata in A minor, together with three Hungarian Dances - show depth and clarity, wit and style to perfection and bring classic sensibilities to romantic music with the rapport unique to Busch and Serkin.
0026 GEM 1 Dennis Brain
0027 GEM 1 Clifford Curzon
0028 GEM 1 Antonio Paoli
0029 GEMS 2 The Merchant of Venice - Orson Welles / Macbeth - Evans/Anderson
Welles' Shylock is a marvel of this Mercury Theatre production! Music is by Elliot Carter. The seven scenes from MACBETH also included are a rare and appropriate companion, performed by the two great Shakespeareans Maurice Evans and Judith Anderson. This issue completes our re-release of these milestone Shakespeare productions. A 2 CD set.
0030 GEMS 2 Giovanni Martinelli
He was one of the greatest tenors of the century. When he began, Caruso was at the apogee of his career and Gigli was still to conquer the world. During Martinelli’s career such great tenors as Pertile, Lauri-Volpi, Slezak, Zenatello and Björling, to name but a few, were rivals. but he remained one of the brightest stars, with a style and sound that were uniquely his own. These two CDs present almost the whole of his recordings for Victor 1925-29. (The remainder are on GEMM CD 9184). They comprise some of the most important tenor recordings of the century, in new and fine transfers by Roger Beardsley. A 2 CD set.
0031 GEM 1 Noel Mewton-Wood
0032 GEM 1 Efrem Zimbalist
0033 GEM 1 Lotte Lehmann - Die Winterreise
0034 GEM 1 Kirsten Flagstad - The Great Arias
Her story is the stuff of legend, her career one of the most glorious of any heroic soprano, Her musical partners themselves almost gods. This anthology shows Flagstad at her grandest, her most powerful - and ends with the delicacy of Im Abendrot. Arias are included by Beethoven and Weber, as well as the great Wagnerian showpieces and collectors may note that the usually heard final chords of Dich, teure Halle (Elizabeth's Greeting) have here, happily, been excised. It is an anthology for that Desert Island.
0035 GEM 1 Amelita Galli-Curci - Lo! Here The Gentle LarkThese electrical recordings are of one of the great voices of the century: 'flawless beauty of tone, so satiny a timbre, such delicately lovely phrasing, such innate God-given talent and feeling for the true bel- canto'. She spoke directly to the public, a gift of only the greatest artists, and is still taken to the hearts of cognoscenti. These later recordings of her bring the voice into better focus and have real presence.
0036 GEM 1 Antal Dorati and the Ballets Russes
0037 GEMS 2 Othello starring Paul Robeson, Jose Ferrer, Uta Hagen
0038 GEM 1 Solomon
Few pianists have been so loved and admired for their goodness and wisdom, as Solomon. Deeply sophisticated, a true Classicist, unity of form and beauty of sound informed all his work. These profound post-war recordings, of Scarlatti, Haydn and the Beethoven Sonatas op. 2, no. 3 and op. 111, reach both mind and heart. In the Piano Masters series, for which further Solomon releases are being prepared. Bar code: 7 27031 00382 3
0039 GEMS 2 The Recorded Viola - Volume IV
0040 GEM 1 The Connoisseur's Peter Dawson
0041 GEM 1 Clifford Curzon - Volume II
His greatest as a pianist is in direct inverse proportion to his own aristocratic reticence and the neglect of his recordings hitherto. The latter we are attempting to rectify. These recordings of the Brahms D minor Concerto (1946) and Nights in the Gardens of Spain (1945) are both with the National Symphony Orchestra, under Enrique Jorda, and both illustrate his magisterial sophistication, his strong yet gentle musical personality, his complexity.
0042 GEMS 2 Edwin Fischer plays Mozart - Volume I
His interpretations were distinguished by a profound respect for the text, his ability to submerge himself in the work played, and the depth and purity of his expression. Like all the greatest art, at the centre is a core of simplicity. On his first volume are: the Concerto no. 17 and the Rondo K 382, with his own Chamber Orchestra, the Concerto no. 20 with the LPO, Concerto no. 22 with Barbirolli and his Chamber Orchestra, Concerto no. 24 with Collingwood and the LPO, and the Sonata no. 10, K 330 and Romance in Ab, K Anh. 205 (attrib.). With Fischer's intellectual and artistic integrity went, unusually, a sense of humour. That lightness, combined with natural authority, make his pianism special. A 2 CD set.
0043 GEMS 2 Edwin Fischer plays Mozart - Volume II
As Paul Badura Skoda, a pupil, has said of Fischer: 'he was endowed with a strange mixture of conflicting qualities powerful manliness and sweetness of feeling are portrayed in his playing'. Here is one of the great pianists, in notable performances of the Piano Concerto n. 25, cond. Josef Krips and the Philharmonia Orchestra, the Piano Sonata no. 11 K331 and the Minuet K1. Volume I is a 2 CD set on GEMS 0042.
0044 GEM 1 William Murdoch plays Beethoven
Now unjustly forgotten, the Australian-born but London-based pianist was a formidable interpreter of a broad repertoire, who recorded much in the two decades before the war. Here, for the first time on CD, are his landmark Beethoven recordings, issued by Columbia to celebrate the centenary of the composer's death - the Pathétique and Appassionata sonatas, and the Archduke Trio, with Albert Sammons and W. H. Squire. This last is an exceptionally balanced and poetic account.
0045 GEMS 2 Pablo Casals - The Bach Cello Suites
These Suites, played by Casals, are a monument of recording history, as much a grand edifice as the Busch Beethoven Late Quartets (GEMS 0053 - January), but they have not been issued before in such marvellous sound and in the order in which they were recorded, between 1936 and 1939. Included also are Bach 'encores', with pianists Blas Net, Nikolai Mednikoff and Otto Schulhof. A 2 CD set.
0046 GEM 1 Wilhelm Backhaus
The latest volume of the 'Piano Masters' series presents a landmark of the piano repertoire - his 1937 HMV recording of the Schumann Fantasy in C, together with the equally prized electrical discs of his Bach, Schubert and Schumann. This is the first CD reissue of the majority of these perform ances, all recorded in the decade 1927-37.
0047 GEM 1 Antonio Cortis
Dubbed 'il piccolo Caruso', Cortis, who died in 1952, was a Spanish tenor of vast renown; his voice had a ringing top always under perfect control, with both thrilling power and caressing subtlety. He was a true spinto and his 'Nessun dorma' remains the standard by which others are judged. This disc contains the very best of his Victor and Italian HMV recordings, many of them of considerable rarity; they may be counted among the finest tenor recordings ever made.
0048 GEMS 2 Lawrence Tibbett - 'Dear Rogue'
He was an international artist but an American phenomenon; star of the Met, film star, social lion. His performances in Falstaff, Simon Boccanegra, The Emperor Jones, Porgy and Bess and then the US première of Peter Grimes became the stuff of legend. His recordings sold in millions. Here is the vocal essence of him - in marvellous new Roger Beardsley transfers.
0049 GEMS 2 Samuel Barber
These are important première recordings of works by one of America's greatest composers. Trained in the classics, influenced by the Romantics, championed by Walter, Koussevitzky and Toscanini, Barber's early acclaim matured into public affection and international musical eminence with these works: Overture to The School for Scandal cond. Janssen, Adagio for Strings (fr. String Quartet op. 11), NBCSO/Toscanini, Capricon Concerto op. 21, Dover Beach op. 3, Barber/Curtis String Quartet, Essay no. 1, op. 12, Philharmonia/Ormandy, Sonata for cello and piano op. 6, Garbousova and Kahn, Symphony no. 1, op. 9 (in one movement), NYPSO/Walter.
0050 GEM 1 The Elgar Concertos
Sammons shows beguiling purity of tone and impeccable technical address. 'As the unerringly eloquent Sammons effortlessly negotiates every twist and turn of Elgar's glorious passagework . . . one feels more than ever that (he) was born to play this music . . . As one listens spellbound, one can't imagine Elgar's sublime inspiration being given any other way - surely the hallmark of a truly great performance.' Gramophone. With the New Queen's Hall Orch./Sir Henry Wood. For many years the Squire recording of the cello concerto was considered the best and today it remains a fine and valuable interpretation, with the Halle Orch./Sir Hamilton Harty. Also included is Harty's conducting of Dream Children. All transfers are new and by Roger Beardsley. This version of the violin concerto is felt by many to provide even greater satisfactions than the famous recording of the young Menuhin.
0051 GEM 1 Bruch - Milstein - Heifetz - Casals
Concerto no. 1: Milstein with the NYPSO under Barbirolli
Scottish Fantasy: Heifetz with the RCA Victor Symphony Orchestra conducted by William Steinberg
Kol Nidrei: Casals with the LSO under.
Sir Landon RonaldNeither the Milstein nor the Heifetz were performances issued originally in Britain. To have three of the greatest artists of the century on one disc, performing Bruch's phenomenally popular concerti, is to have three performances of the greatest beauty and importance - and delight.
0052 GEMS 2 Joseph Schmidt
These are the rare early opera and song recordings, 1929-32, of 'the pocket Caruso', 'the tiny man with the great voice'. Schmidt's wonderfully silver, lyric tenor was known around the world in the 1930s, on records, in films and by wireless. His passion, exquisite taste, beauty of phrasing, sense of style and effortless high notes made him as famous as Tauber and Gigli. But the horrors of war - in France, Austria and Switzerland - killed him tragically young in 1942. These discs contain, among other marvels, his fabulously rare Ultraphon recordings. Transfers by Roger Beardsley. A 2 CD Set.
0053 GEMS 3 Beethoven: The Late Quartets - The Bush QuartetThese great classics of music and, in these Busch Quartet interpretations, equally classics of recording history, have of course been reissued before – and have won awards in their previous incarnations. These transfers are entirely new (by Roger Beardsley, with notes by Tully Potter) and a part of our series of Busch reissues: it is hoped that offered too is anew clarity and freshness of sound. The Quartets nos. 11-16, together with the Grosse Fuge op. 133.
A 3 CD set.
0054 GEMS 2 Victor de Sabata and the Berlin Philharmonic
His operatic repertoire was vast, his orchestral leadership pioneering, subtle, classics of the art of conducting. His infrequent recordings are infinitely precious and included on these discs is a unique live recording of the Tristan Prelude and Liebestod. As the then leader of the LPO once put it: 'with him the orchestra got white hot!' Brahms Symphony No. 4, Strauss Tod und Verklarung, Respighi Feste Romane, Kodaly Dances from Galanta and from Tristan, as well as the Prelude and Liebestod, excerpts from a performance at La Scala with Cobelli, Zanelli, Righetti, Stignani, Rossi-Morelli, with that orchestra. A 2CD set.
0055 GEM 1 Lili Kraus
The 1938-39 Solo Parlophone Recordings. Known primarily as a leading Mozart interpreter, especially in her later years, Lili Kraus was also an exponent of many other major composers for the piano. Her studies with Bartók and Schnabel led to an active international career and a series of sought-after discs for Parlophone dating from the late 1930s. Here for the first time on CD, is a generous sampling of those solo recordings from Kraus's prime years, focusing on composers other than Mozart: Haydn, Beethoven, Schubert, Chopin - and Bartók.
0056 GEM 1 Leonid Sobinov
In the words of a contemporary: 'Sobinov was a celebrity almost from the very start (in Moscow, Milan, Monte Carlo and Madrid) and the gentle, caressing timbre of his voice, his vocal charm, his wonderful enunciation and his elegant stage presence, along with a highly developed intellect, all combined to make him a first class exponent of a wide repertoire'. Many of his discs, of which he recorded very few, are of surpassing rarity. Bar code: 7 27031 00562 9
0057 GEM 1 Benny Goodman - Clarinet Classics
As a jazz clarinettist he had no peer and his involvement in his own and other swing bands changed jazz for ever. But his enthusiasm and virtuosity led him to investigate, and triumph in, the most important works of the classical clarinet canon, and to commission new works. These are fine new transfers of the Mozart Quintet, w. the Budapest String Quartet, Bartók's Contrasts, w. Bartók and Szigeti, Debussy's Rhapsody No. 1, NYPSO/Barbirolli, and Brahms Sonata No. 2, Beethoven's Don Giovanni Variations, Weber's op. 38, 3rd mvt., all w. Nadia Reisenberg, piano.
0058 GEM 1 Constant Lambert - Volume I - Conductor
Composer, arranger, conductor, controversial critic, Constant Lambert was a polymathic colossus of 20th century British music. The recordings on this first disc illustrating his Protean qualities show his considerable abilities as a conductor as well as being of important and delightful music: Warlock's Capriol Suite and The Curlew, w. John Armstrong, baritone, Rawsthorne's Street Corner Overture and Symphonic Studies and Delius' On Hearing the First Cuckoo In Spring, with excerpts from Hassan and Koanga. Volume II, Constant Lambert as composer, follows shortly.
0059 GEM 1 Toscha Seidel
Seidel was one, with Heifetz, Max Rosen, Elman and Milstein among others at the time, of Leopold Auer's most gifted students. Triumph in Europe was followed by triumph in the USA. Auer called him one of the great violinists of the world - but his recordings were relatively few, even of his beloved Brahms, and his reserved personality and lack of stage presence prevented his glittering among the stars of his time. But the recordings here are impressive - Brahms' Sonatas Nos. 1 & 2 and Hungarian Dance No.1 and Grieg's Sonata No. 3 - and this release celebrates the centenary of his birth. He died in 1962.
0060 GEMS 2 The Ultimate Showboat
On this 2 CD set are the American original cast recordings (English original cast recordings are on GEMM CD 9105), revivals, film and radio productions and significant performances, 1928 to 1947. Featured artists include Paul Whiteman, Bing Crosby, Paul Robeson, Jules Bledsoe, Al Jolson, Helen Morgan, Countess Olga Albani, Elisabeth Welch, Allan Jones, Irene Dunne, Carol Bruce, Jan Clayton, Kenneth Spencer, Charles Fredericks and the Cleveland Orchestra under Artur Rodzinski. Since the Showboat of Kern and Hammerstein hove into view in 1927, Broadway has never been the same!
0061 GEM 1 Ezio Pinza
Pinza sang for 22 seasons at the Met and for many years in Italy. He was venerated in South America. His voice is instantly recognisable, one of the greatest basses of the century - emotionally powerful, perfectly produced and of extraordinary beauty. He was dynamic, innately musical and of firm masculine appeal. Hearts fluttered when he sang. All these recordings, newl transferred by Roger Beardsley, come from his finest years, 1927-30, and are glorious.
0062 GEM 1 Vaughan Williams
This release combines Vaughan Williams not only as composer, but as arranger, collaborator and conductor, in recordings which are justly famous, in nearly all instances, or rare or unissued on CD in others. And, except in the case of the folksong material, where even the most skilled and sensitive sound engineering can even now only go so far in correcting original recording failings, the sound is transfer state-of-the-art. Eight Folk Dances (arr. Cecil Sharp), National Folk Dance Orch. cond. Vaughan Williams, Ten Folk Songs and Carols (arr, VW), The English Singers, On Wenlock Edge, Peter Pears, Benjamin Britten, Zorian Quartet, Tallis Fantasia, Boyd Neel String Orch., recorded under the supervision of VW, Symphony no. 4, BBCSO cond. VW and the Symphony no. 5, Hallé Orch. cond. Barbirolli. A 2 CD set.
0063 GEM 1 Gérard Souzay
Liedel and Melodies
The voice beautiful, the musical intelligence subtle, Souzay has ever exemplified his own maxim that the prime vocal requisites are style and imagination - but not one without the other. His elegance and extraordinary feeling began to astound connoisseurs with these, his earliest recordings, and he quickly became inheritor of the great tradition of his teachers, Claire Croiza, Vanni-Marcoux, Pierre Bernac.
0064 GEM 1 Robert Merrill
Merrill's operatic career lasted for over 30 years, much of it as the Met's undisputed leading baritone. His range was amazing, the voice of magnificent resonance. He was a great vocal actor, as these recordings all demonstrate: indeed, Vision fugitive is named by many collectors as the most beautiful baritone recording ever made. Arias from Hamlet, Hérodiade, L'Africana, Carmen, La Traviata, Zaza, Andrea Chénier and songs including The Blind Ploughman, Jonah and the Whale and In the Gloaming - as well as Kleinsinger's amazing Brooklyn Baseball Cantata
0065 GEM 1 Stravinsky Father and Son
These late 1940s recordings are indispensable to anyone wanting to understand Stravinsky's works and his artistic intentions as a composer. And the disc includes also two Etudes from op 7 played by his second son ,Soulima, who specialised in performing his father's music for some 60 years, often with Stravinsky himself. Dumbarton Oaks, Danses Concertantes, Scherzo à la Russe, Divertimento from Le Baiser de la Fée, all conducted by the composer.
0066 GEM 1 Bernstein conducts Stravinsky and Ravel
The music of Stravinsky and Ravel - by the time he recorded this performance of the Piano Concerto, Bernstein practically owned the piece! - were stepping stones to his early recognition and success. It is easy to hear why he was so rapidly regarded as a boy wonder, not least by Copland and Koussevitzky, not least thanks to these 1946-47 recordings of L'Histoire du Soldat, the Octet for Wind Instruments and Ravel's Concerto (which was not issued on 78s in Europe). Bar code: 7 27031 00662 6
0067 GEM 1 The Marchesi School
The Marchesi School was responsible for many of the greatest singers in operatic history and, thanks to the gramophone, its methods and marvels have been preserved, for future generations to admire the technique, the precision and the glory of its pupils. Some of the items included here, both recordings and illustrations, are of very considerable rarity. The singers are: Blanche Marchesi herself, Suzanne Adams, Frances Alda, Sigrid Arnoldson, Blanche Arral, Emma Calvé, Ada Crossley, Yvonne de Tréville, Emma Eames, Selma Kurz, Miriam Licette, Nellie Melba, Elizabeth Parkina, Ellen Beach Yaw, Frances Saville and John Freestone. This really is a most marvellous issue for vocal connoisseurs and collectors.
0068 GEM 1 Robert Casadesus
A new 'Piano Masters' release - In honour of the 100th anniversary of his birth, we present an overview of his earliest recordings, which have been unavailable since their first publication. Included in the booklet is an extensive interview done over thirty years ago with Robert and Gaby Casadesus by the producer of this reissue, and published for the first time. Schumann: Etudes Symphoniques op 13, Ravel: Sonatine in F sharp and the Menuet from Le Tombeau de Couperin, Chopin Ballades and Mazurka op 17, no 4, and items by Fauré and De Séverac. Bar code: 7 27031 00682 4
0069 GEM 1 Constant Lambert Volume II
Lambert's ballet music brought together not only some of the brightest talents of the day, Ashton, Beaton, Lambert himself - but demonstrated his deep attachment to Margot Fonteyn. How tragic it was that his penchant for living life perhaps too fully,was to lead to his early death so soon after his last recording of The Rio Grande. Music from the ballets Horoscope, Apparitions, Dante Sonata, w. Louis Kentner, and The Rio Grande, for chorus, contralto, piano and orchestra, w. Kyla Greenbaum, and Gladys Ripley. All items are conducted by Lambert with the Liverpool PO, Philharmonia and Sadlers Wells orchestras. Volume I (Lambert as conductor) is on GEM 0058. Bar code: 7 27031 00692 3
0070 GEMS 2 Claudio Arrau PIano Masters Series
Virtually all his early recordings, examples even then of his exceptionally wide repertoire, great culture and limitless musical enthusiasm. Most of these recordings were made in the 1920s, and some are virtually unknown - certainly they have not appeared on CD: Weber Sonata no.1, Shumann Carnaval, Balakirev Islamey, Chopin Etudes, and other works, Busoni, Debussy, Stravinsky, Liszt - and Paganini-Liszt. High original recording quality is allied to wonderful new Beardsley transfers in this major addition to a fast-growing series of most important releases. Bar code: 7 27031 00702 1
0071 GEM 1 Wagner The Supreme Operatic Recordings
The first in the series which aims to offer just that - the Supreme operatic recordings of a composer, that is, those recordings which have stood the test of time, which remain quite outstanding in terms of singing, and often recording quality too. And these are not items culled from our existing catalogue; all have been newly selected and newly transferred from the very best available copies of originals. It is a series which has been long in the planning and is issued in collaboration with The Record Collector, the journal for vocal collectors and connoisseurs. Represented on this first issue are Elizabeth Rethberg, Lauritz Melchior, Friedrich Schorr, Emmy Bettendorf, Frida Leider, and Albert Reiss.
Bar code: 7 27031 00712 8
0072 GEM 1 Werdi The Supreme operatic recordings
As with the November releases in this series, of Mozart and Wagner, here are to be found the most wonderful recordings of Verdi arias:from a broad range of his operas, but always Verdi at his most sublime, can be heard Martinelli, Lauri-Volpi, Rethberg, de Luca, Gigli, Pinza, Tibbett, Seinemeyer, Ponselle, Tagliavini, Schipa, Spani,Zenatello, Cortis, Kurenko and Korjus. Again the choices were of course incredibly difficult and to choose the SUPREME recordings of any composer invites controversy but collectors will be delighted by these fine, new Roger Beardsley transfers.
Bar code: 7 27031 00722 7
0073 GEM 1 Mozart The Supreme Operatic Recordings
Naturally, the same principles apply to this second release - and should there be, as we trust, a healthy demand for such wonderful singing of the greatest operatic composers, then of course second and third volumes of each will follow, to include all those marvellous arias not capable of being released here. On this disc are represented Kipnis, Leider, Tauber, Schumann, Schiøtz, Nemeth, Supervia, Dawson, Lemnitz, Ginster, Domgraf-Fassbänder, Reichelt, Walter Ludwig, Korjus, Lotte Lehmann, Böhmer and Lotte Schöne. Bar code: 7 27031 00732 6
0074 GEMS 2 Mengelberg conducts Beethoven
Mengelbergâs famous Telefunken recordings of the Beethoven symphonies are intense and highly individual. His understanding and clarity of control of an orchestra, here the Concertgebouw, was inspired and these masterly transfers, by Mark Obert-Thorn, open up new vistas for the listener. Symphonies nos. 1, 3 (Eroica), 4, 5, 6 (Pastoral), 7 and 8, w. the ballet music from The Creatures of Prometheus. And collectors will appreciate that the recording of the 5th Symphony is indeed the 1937 version, not the later remake. A 3 CD set.Bar code: 7 27031 00742 5
0075 GEM 1 Donizetti The Supreme recordings
In the most famous and certainly most popular arias and ensembles from Don Pasquale, L'Elisir d'Amore, La Favorita, La Fille du Régiment, Linda di Chamonix, Lucrezia Borgia and Lucia dl Lammermoor. we hear Pareto, Lotte Schöne, Schipa, Galli-Curci, Cortis, Pinza, dal Monte, Sigrid Onegin, de Luca, Homer, Pons ... As ever with this series, the aim is to make these new transfers examples of the very finest recordings of the composer's works, ever. Bar code: 7 27031 00752 4
0076 GEM 1 Jesus Maria Sanroma
A pupil of Cortot, Sanroma's piano tone was particularly beautiful and his work with Schnabel encouraged his great interest in contemporary music. A pianist under-rated in Europe (but certainly not in America) it is more than time to re-evaluate the recordings of an extremely fine artist. A second volume of his work will follow, in this Piano Masters series. Macdowell Piano Concerto no. 2, Campos Eight Puerto Rican Dances, Prokofiev five of the Visions fugitives, Debussy Nocturne in D flat, Schönberg Six Little Piano Pieces, Krenek Little Suite. Bar code: 7 27031 00762 3
0077 GEM 1 Maryla Jonas
A fellow-pupil, with Malcuzynski and Halina Czerny-Stefanska, of the great Polish teacher Turczynski, Jonas was also taught by Paderewski and by von Sauer - a wonderful pianistic lineage for a very fine player whose career was cut tragically short by the effects of Nazi persecution during the war. Her Chopin interpretations are among the greatest ever; her reputation in America fully deserves wider knowledge and appreciation. On this première CD are Chopin Mazurkas, Waltzes, Nocturnes and the Polonaise no.9, op 71, no.2, Schumann's Kinderszenen, Handel, Rossi and Schubert. Piano Masters series. Bar code: 7 27031 00772 2
0078 GEM 1 Golden Operetta Volume II
The success of Volume I (GEMM CD 9255), offers the opportunity for more marvels of romance from Millöcker, Auber, Strauss, Offenbach, Lortzing, Lehár and others, and features the voices of Björling, Schiøtz, Tauber, Lotte Lehmann, Elisabeth Schumann and Lauri-Volpi .. and when in such star-studded and classic performances - no wonder! Bar code: 7 27031 00782 1
0079 GEMS 2 Bach: St. Matthew Passion
conducted by Ralph Vaughan Williams
This uniquely important recording, of a work which Vaughan Williams held close to his heart and conducted often but never recorded commercially, has never before been issued in any form; the master tape exists in only one cpoy. It is of one great composer conducting the work of another and may be compared to Mendelssohn's famous 1829 performance of the same work, in terms of its musical and emotional significance. We are most conscious of the privilege of being in a position to release this performance, recorded live at the Leith Hill Music Festival in 1958, a few months before VW's death. A 2 CD set. Bar code:7 27031 00792 0
0081 GEM 1 Dame Clara Butt 'Abide With Me'
Although her singing of patriotic songs made Clara Butt a symbol of the British Empire, there was much more to her than that. Here she can be heard also in love songs, religious pieces and ballads of her time; some of the finest recordings made by the greatest contralto of the twentieth century show her not just as a popular public figure but as a very fine singer, a first rank artist indeed. (The repertoire on this disc is as that on PAST CD 7012, now n.l.a. - the essence of Clara Butt - but all transfers are new). Included are: The Enchantress, Abide with Me, Land of Hope & Glory, The Lost Chord, Annie Laurie, Barbara Allen ,The Minstrel Boy, Handel's 'Largo', Softly Awakes my Heart and thirteen other tracks . A further Clara Butt CD will also be released shortly. Bar code: 7 27031 00812 5
0082 GEMS 1 Broadway Through The Gramaphone Volume I
New York in European Footsteps 1844-1909. In 1909, shortly after phonograph records were introduced to the public, the Victor Talking Machine Company began to issue medleys of musical shows playing on Broadway at the time, along with recordings of blockbuster shows of similar vintage then to My Fair Lady today.
These were the cast albums of their day, now important historical documentation of the showsí musical highlights and the manner in which the songs were once performed. This first 2-CD set (Volumes III and IV have already been issued, Volume II follows immediately) includes many rarities as well as items from more familiar shows and operettas - and is as essential to the collector as those other fine productions of Jack Raymond, Music from the New York Stage and now the Ultimate series. Bar code: 7 27031 00822 4
0083 GEMS 1 Broadway Through The Gramophone One Volume II
Broadway Prior To WorldWar I
Completing the issue of this essential and scholarly 4-volume series (GEMS 0082-85), produced by Jack Raymond and transferred by Roger Beardsley, is this 2 CD set with further rare or unique material, including Naughty Marietta, The Quaker Girl, The Count of Luxembourg, Ziegfeld Follies of 1914, and many other shows. Bar code: 7 27031 00832 3
0084 GEMS 2 Broadway Through The Gramaphone Volume III
The Musical Stage In The War Years 1914-1920
Original cast medleys from 32 shows by Franz Lehár, Victor Herbert, Irving Berlin, Harry Tierney, Sigmund Romberg, Ivan Caryll, Rudolf Friml, Jerome Kern and others - and with lyrics by such as Harry Graham, B.C. Hilliam ('Flotsam') and P.G. Wodehouse. This is the third volume of our latest scholarly survey, produced by Jack Raymond of MUSIC FROM THE NEW YORK STAGE fame, of all the original cast Broadway shows, an essential purchase for collectors and connoisseurs - and also for those who will be enchanted to discover so many well-known tunes and lyrics in this cornucopia of delight. All in new and very splendid Roger Beardsley transfers of, in many cases, extremely rare material. Volume IV, covering the years to 1929, appears next month and Volumes I & II in due course. A 2 CD set. Bar code: 7 27031 00842 2
0085 GEMS       BROADWAY THROUGH THE GRAMOPHONE VOLUME IV
FROM THE GREAT WAR TO THE TALKIES 1920-29
Original cast medleys from shows by Vincent Youmans, Richard Rodgers, Noël Coward, Cole Porter, George Gershwin, Ray Henderson, Jerome Kern, Rudolf Friml and others. This is the fourth volume of our latest scholarly survey, produced by Jack Raymond of MUSIC FROM THE NEW YORK STAGE fame, of all the original cast Broadway shows, an essential purchase for collectors and connoisseurs - and also for those who will be enchanted to discover so many well-known tunes and lyrics in this cornucopia of delight. All in new and very splendid Roger Beardsley transfers of, in many cases, extremely rare material. Volume III (GEMS 0084) appeared in April and Volumes I & II will appear in due course. A 2 CD set. Bar code: 7 27031 00852 1
0086 GEM       DAME CLARA BUTT
BRITAIN'S QUEEN OF SONG
At last it seems that the great lady is receiving her due, in a new century. That magnificent, unique voice, allied to musical intelligence and personality of a rare order, are finding a new appreciation among lovers of the finest singing.
Includes Elgar's Where Corals Lie, O Don fatale from Don Carlos, Il segreto from Lucrezia Borgia, Deep River, Rock of Ages, Eileen Alannah, Kathleen Mavourneen, Dvorák's Four Biblical Songs - in new Roger Beardsley transfers and as a companion to last month's release of her anthology 'Abide with Me' on GEM 0081. Bar code: 7 27031 00862 0
0087 GEM       DIE FLEDERMAUS
Unforgettable tunes and immeasurable charm have ever made this operetta the most popular of all. And in this classic, abridged version of 1929, in fine, open and now new sound, we have a perfect edition. Starring Adele Kern, Margret Pfahl, Waldemar Henke and Willy Domgraf-Fassbänder, with the orchestra and chorus of the Berlin State Opera cond. Herman Weigert. The Overture, which was not part of the original recording of this interesting and important edition, is here conducted by Richard Tauber. Bar code: 7 27031 00872 9
0088 GEM 1 Rossinin The Supreme Operatic Recordings
The latest in this acclaimed series of new transfers of some of the most wonderful Rossini in the greatest ever performances: Schipa, Tibbett, Supervia, Chaliapin in Il Barbiere, for example, or Martinelli and Journet, Spani, Franci, Tamagno in Guillaume Tell, or the finest, ecstatic Cenerentola, Conchita Supervia. A feast! Bar code: 7 27031 00882 8
0089 GEM 1 Puccini The Supreme Operatic Recordings
The latest in this outstanding series offers Gigli, Bori, Pinza, Schipa, Seinemeyer, Lauri-Volpi, Alda, Schöne, Spani, Björling and Eva Turner in some of the most famous and best-loved arias from Puccini's operas - in the most superb performances ever - and all in new, Roger Beardsley transfers. Other volumes in the series include Wagner, Verdi, Mozart, Donizetti, Rossini and Bellini. Bar code: 7 27031 00892 7
0090 GEM 1 Bellini The Supreme Operatic Recordings
The latest in this acclaimed series of new transfers of the very finest of operatic recordings of Bellini, in the supreme performances: from Norma, I Puritani and La Sonnambula and featuring, Lauri-Volpi, Pinza, Ponselle, Vanelli, Galli-Curci, Schipa, dal Monte, Chaliapin, Tetrazzini, Pareto and Maria Callas. Bar code: 7 27031 00902 3
0091 GEM 1 Earl Wild Piano Masters series
This CD presents a glimpse of Wild's virtuosity during the early years of his career. These 1947-48 radio transcriptions of 'the last romantic' offer, in the Buxtehude Suite in D minor and Hindemith's Sonata no. 3, what are almost certainly première recordings, together with the Ravel Pavane, Liszt 'Sospiro' Etude and eight Chopin Waltzes and Etudes. This is tremendous Chopin playing. Bar code: 7 27031 00912 2
0092 GEM 1 Nelson Eddy Operatic Arias & Concert Songs
y the mid-1930s Nelson Eddy was close to world stardom as a Hollywood box-office phenomenon. But he was always justly proud of his years as an opera singer and his many enthusiastic admirers will be keen to see this release as a reminder of that side of his marvellous career. Mozart, Haydn, Wagner, Massenet, Bizet arias and concert songs by Schubert, Moussorgsky, Tchaikovsky and Strauss. (Other Eddy and Eddy/MacDonald releases are available on PAST CD 7026 and 7824) Bar code: 7 27031 00922 1
0093 GEM 1 Lotte Schoene
With such stunningly beautiful vocal timbre, musicianship and acting ability, as well as physical charm and personality, how can Lotte Schoene not be more widely known and appreciated! This is truly, utterly marvellous coloratura singing, to be taken to the heart: arias from Don Pasquale, Manon, Così, Magic Flute, Rigoletto, Butterfly, Turandot and other operas.? Bar code: 7 27031 00932 0
0094 GEMS 3 Dame Eva Turner The Collected Recordings
It is no exaggeration to describe this CD set as the definitive edition of the recordings of the great Dame Eva. Many items exist in unique copies (and thus can appear legally only on this release), some being private recordings, some rescued from imminent oblivion by concerned collectors, others from her own collection. These are alternate takes and some discs which will have been heard only by their owners - until now. The extensive, illustrated notes are by Richard Beeb, without whom this release would not have been possible. Transfers are very largely by Roger Beardsley and are thus state of the art. This must be one of the most significant vocal releases of the decade. A 3 CD set. Bar code 7 27031 00942 9
0095 GEM 1 Witord Malcuzynski Piano Masters series
A pupil of a pupil of Busoni, of Paderewski (himself taught by Leschetizky), his pianistic pedigree could scarcely have been more distinguished. Like all of this lineage he was especially noted for beauty and variety of sound and his personality, both tasteful and truly charismatic, has still a power combined with delicacy which makes his playing of both Chopin - here the Concerto no. 2 with the Philharmonia under Paul Kletzki and three solo pieces, and Liszt - the Concerto no. 2 with the Philharmonia under Walter Susskind - of permanent value. Included also is Szymanowski's Theme and Variations. op. 3. Bar code: 7 27031 00952 8
0096 GEM 1 H.M.S. Pinafore
The post-war D'Oyly Carte Company returned to the recording studios with principals in their prime, and these late '40s - early '50s performances, conducted by Isidore Godfrey, established themselves as beloved classics, in the catalogue for many years. This release is the first of the planned series, in sound wonderfully restored from those days of transition from 78s to early LPs: GEMS 0097, a 2 CD set containing Trial by Jury and The Pirates of Penzance appears next month and further releases early in 2001. These are the recordings which feature the great Martyn Green, Darrell Fancourt and Muriel Harding. They are known to be much sought after by the very many G & S enthusiasts throughout the world - and, importantly, have not yet appeared on CD. Transfers by Roger Beardsley. Bar code: 7 27031 00962 7
0097 GEMS 2 Gilbert & Sullivan Trial By Jury / The Pirates Of Penzance
Long-awaited on CD, the second release in the classic Isidore Godfrey-conducted series of G&S, this 1949 recording has been wonderfully restored by Roger Beardsley. The D'Oyly Carte Company of those great days featured of course Muriel Harding, Martyn Green and Darrell Fancourt. ( H.M.S. Pinafore appeared last month on GEM 0096. More to come!). A 2CD set. Bar code: 7 27031 00972 6
0098 GEM 1 Conchita Supervia in Opera
Amongst the many singers of the twentieth century there have been a handful who achieved a greatness that places them on a different plane from all the others. In that Pantheon one must include the Spanish mezzo, Conchita Supervia. She was quite unique, both vocally and in terms of power of personality. In new, Roger Beardsley transfers are her finest operatic recordings, from Carmen, Samson et Dalila, Mignon, Faust, Hansel and Gretel, L'Italiana in Algeri, La Cenerentola, Le Nozze di Figaro and La Bohème. Bar code: 7 27031 00982 5
0099 GEM 1 Carmen Jones
At last on CD, the original 1940s New York cast recordings of this splendid Oscar Hammerstein updating of grand opera, with a marvellous cast, headed by Muriel Smith. A smash hit in its day it is still a delight, orchestra and chorus being directed by Joseph Littau and Robert Shaw. And as a perfect companion piece, the Carmen Fantasy, displayed by the great virtuoso Isaac Stern. Bar code: 7 27031 00992 4
0100 GEM 1 British Film Music Volume I
Not only are major works by major composers offered but here are presented the original recordings of what are, in almost all cases, most important films. Such collections have not previously been released:
The Red Shoes (Easdale), Scott of the Antarctic (Vaughan Williams), Oliver Twist (Bax), The Overlanders (Ireland), Men of Two worlds (Bliss), Nicholas Nickleby (Berners) and While I Live (Williams), inc. The Dream of Olwen. Volume II - GEM 0101 - appears next month and will include previously unknown and unpublished material and further extensively researched volumes are in preparation, for what is fast becoming a very serious area of musical interest. Bar code: 7 27031 01002 9
0101 GEM 1 British Film Music Volume II
As with Volume I - GEM 0100 - not only are major works by major composers offered, but here are presented the original recordings of what are, in almost all cases, most important films. Such collections have not previously been released. Things to Come includes four sides recorded by Bliss, recently re-discovered and containing music from the original score, now lost. Their first publication here is very much a special occasion: also Coastal Command, The Story of a Flemish Farm and 49th Parallel (Vaughan Williams), Malta G.C. (Bax), Dangerous Moonlight (Addinsell), Theirs is the Glory (Warrack), Western Approaches (Parker) and (Bath). As previously mentioned, this is fast becoming a very serious area of musical interest and, after much research, further volumes follow shortly, of both British and American film music. Bar code: 7 27031 01012 8
0102 GEMS 2 Wilhelm Backhaus Complete British Acoustic Recordings 1908-25
A pupil of d'Albert and early noticed as a supreme virtuoso, these early recordings of Backhaus span a period nearly twenty years: they include the first ever recording (much abridged) of a piano concerto - the Grieg - and some extremely rare issues, including much repertoire which he was never to record again. This is the first complete reissue, in superb transfers and with our usual generous disc timing, of his British pre-electric 78s. A 2 CD set. Bar code: 7 27031 01022 7
0103 GEMS 1 BRANDENBURG CONCERTOS and SUITES
Bach conducted by KOUSSEVITZKY is not 'period' Bach, it is big Bach, and those familiar with the magic he worked with the Boston Symphony Orchestra will need no further encouragement. Most of these recordings, of 1945-49, have never before been issued outside the USA, and nowhere on CD. A 3 CD set, transferred by Mark Obert-Thorn. Bar code: 7 27031 01032 6
0104 GEM 1 Artur Schnabel plays Mozart Volume II
In his early sixties Schnabel wrote of Mozart's music: 'It is the best that man can accomplish', just before he began to take a fresh look at this 'symbol of man's place in the Universe'. Those who know these magnificent performances will understand - but may not have heard them in quite such superb transfers. The Sonatas nos. 13 and 16, K. 333 and 570, the Piano Quartet no. 1 in G minor, K. 478, with members of the Pro Arte Quartet, and the third and fourth movements of Schubert's Sonata no. 17 in A minor, Op. 42, D. 845. Volume I is a 2 CD set on Bar code: 7 27031 01042 5
0105 GEM 1 Oscar Levant
The latest release in the Piano Masters series is the first CD offering a comprehensive cross-section of Levant's 1940s studio recordings, concentrating on Debussy, Chopin and several then-modern composers - Poulenc, De Falla, Jelobinsky, Shostakovich and Khachaturian. He was an interpreter of both sensitivity and panache, of total technical command and his playing was of exceptional strength, poetry and imagination. Transfers by Seth Winner. (The Piano Masters series now numbers 15 releases: a list is available on request). Bar code: 7 27031 01052 4
0106 GEMS 2 Landowska plays Scarlatti Sonatas
In this comprehensive reissue of Landowska's Scarlatti Sonatas are to be found both the First and Second Albums of Twenty Sonatas, plus repertoire from the Treasury of Harpsichord Music, including the C P E Bach Concerto in D for Harpsichord and Strings of 1745. Her playing of these Sonatas has ever bewitched listeners and this release has been long awaited by the legion of her admirers. The detailed and extensive notes are by Denise Restout and the transfers by Seth Winner. This is the seventh of our releases of this incomparable musician. A 2 CD set. Bar code: 7 27031 01062 3
0107 GEM 1 Vaughan Williams Sixth Symphony and Film Music
The classic late '40s performance of the 6th Symphony, with the LSO under Boult, established the work as a massive success, with a public impact comparable to those early performances of Britten's Peter Grimes or the War Requiem. Vaughan Williams' wartime music for films is among the most evocative ever written, standing quite comfortably apart from those films and, except on Pearl CDs, rare or impossible to find on disc in these original recordings: Scott of the Antarctic and The Loves of Joanna Godden (Philharmonia cond. Irving), Coastal Command, 49th Parallel and The Story of a Flemish Farm (BBC NO and LSO cond. Mathieson) Bar code : 7 27031 01072 2
0108 GEM 1 FROM BERLIN TO BROADWAY a selection
This single disc, selected from the much praised releases GEMM CDS 9189 and 9294, both 2 CD sets, captures the essence of Weill's revolutionary approach to the music theatre of the 1930s and '40s, in original cast recordings. It is a perfect introduction to the classic recordings of Weill's music and Brecht's lyrics - by Lotte Lenya, Harald Paulsen, Brecht himself, Walter Huston, Gertrude Lawrence, Mary Martin, Kenny Baker - and, too, Weill himself. Bar code: 7 27031 01082 1
0109 GEM 1 Orson Welles Dramatic Readings
Such is the great Orson Welles' vocal mastery that each of these speecheshas a different weight of tone, a personal dramatic character, from the quiet of John Donne to the energy of Roosevelt to the deep resignation of John Brown - there are 14 monologues in all, including speeches of Pericles, Tom Paine, Patrick Henry, Daniel Webster, American presidents Jefferson, Lincoln and Wilson, and finishing with the Song of Songs. The latest in Pearl's PLAYS & POETS series. Bar code: 7 27031 01092 0
0110 GEM 1 The Ultimate Series Rodgers & Hart Volume I
The first volume of Rodgers & Hart launches the exciting new ULTIMATE series. The series is dedicated to collecting together the original cast, or earliest, recordings of the greatest twentieth century composers of shows and musicals. Much of the repertoire is scarce or extremely rare and together these volumes will provide a marvellous overview of the very best of popular entertainment on both sides of the Atlantic.
The series is produced by Jack Raymond, famous for his best-selling Pearl productions of Broadway Through the Gramophone and Music From the New York Stage and really will aim to provide the 'ultimate' for Rodgers & Hart, Gershwin, Cole Porter, Romberg … Later volumes will follow during the year. Bar code: 7 27031 01102 6
0111 GEM 1 The Ultimate Series, Cole Porter Volume 1
This series is dedicated to collecting together the original cast, or earliest, recordings of the greatest twentieth century composers of shows and musicals. Much of the repertoire is scarce or extremely rare and together these volumes will provide a marvellous overview of the very best of popular entertainment on both sides of the Atlantic. The first in the series, Rodgers and Hart Volume I, appeared in February and further issues will be made during the year. Bar code: 7 27031 01112 5
0112 GEM 1 The Ultimate Series Sigmund Romberg Volume 1
The third release in this important series collecting together original cast recordings of the greatest twentieth century composers of shows and musicals. Much of this scarce repertoire - here from Maytime, Blossom Time, The Student Prince, The Desert Song and My Maryland - has never been reissued, and certainly not on CD. Bar code: 7 27031 01122 4
0113 GEM 1 The Ultimate Series George Gershwin Volume 1
The fourth release in this major series of original cast and earliest recordings of the greatest twentieth century composers of shows and musicals includesGershwin's Primrose and The George White Scandals 1920, '22, '23 and '24, as well as Mayfair and Montmartre, Little Miss Bluebeard and Sinbad. Bar code: 7 27031 01132 3
0114 GEM 1 The Ultimate Series
Rodgers & Hart Volume II
The fourth volume of this important series includes, as ever, scarce and rare material, here from original cast recordings of Mississippi, Jumbo, On Your Toes, Babes in Arms, I Married an Angel and Too Many Girls. Bar code: 7 27031 01142 2
0115 GEM 1 The Ultimate Series
Cole Porter Volume II
The sixth release in this important series. The sophisticated words and music of his heyday in the '30s: the hits from Hey Diddle Diddle, Anything Goes, Red, Hot and Blue, and the film Born to Dance - with Douglas Byng, Ethel Merman, Frances Langford, and other great original cast names. Bar code: 7 27031 01152 1
0116 GEM 1 The Ultimate Series
Irving Berlin Volume I
From the man who personified American music, the first volume in this best-selling series, of issues dedicated to Irving Berlin. His earliest musical hits featuring original casts and recordings of The Jolly Bachelors, Ziegfeld Follies 1911, Everybody's Doing It, Hullo Ragtime, Watch Your Step and Stop! Look! Listen! with such hits as Woodman Spare that Tree, Alexander's Ragtime Band, I've Gotta Go Back to Texas, I Love to Dance. Bar code: 7 27031 01162 0
0117 GEM 1 THE ULTIMATE SERIES
IRVING BERLIN VOLUME II
The fourth volume in this best-selling series contains original cast and first recordings from two 'Ziegfeld Follies', four 'Music Box Revues' and features individual delights like Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Blue Skies, Mandy and A Pretty Girl is like a Melody. Grace Moore, Beatrice Lillie and Eddie Cantor are some of the stars.Bar code: 7 27031 01172 9
0118 GEM 1 THE ULTIMATE SERIES
RODGERS & HART VOLUME III
The latest volume in this unique and best-selling series of original cast, and earliest, recordings of the greatest 20th century composers of shows and musicals. Here are twenty-two tracks from the shows and films Too Many Girls, The Boys from Syracuse, Higher and Higher, Pal Joey, Up and Doing, They Met in Argentina, By Jupiter, Words and Music and Young Man with a Horn. Artists featured include Lena Horne, Doris Day, Perry Como, Mel Tormé, Shirley Ross, Gene Kelly, Alberto Vila and Ray Bolger. Bar code: 7 27031 01182 8
0119 GEM 1 THE ULTIMATE SERIES
SIGMUND ROMBERG VOLUME II
The New Moon, Nina Rosa, and from the films of The New Moon, The Night is Young and Maytime, the latest in this best-selling series of original cast recordings by the 20th century's greatest composers of shows and musicals - including stars like Evelyn Herbert, Lawrence Tibbett, Evelyn Laye, Ramon Novarro and Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy. Hit songs include Softly, as in a Morning Sunrise, Stout-Hearted Men, Lover, Come Back to Me, The Night is Young and Farewell to Dreams. There are now ten volumes in this important collection. Bar code: 7 27031 01192 7
0120 GEMS 2 The Cetra Tenors
Their rarity is such that most collectors will never have seen the majority of the discs included here, let alone been able to acquire them. These are the Italian tenors who carried the flame during and after the War years but whose voices, because of the vicissitudes of the time, have never reached a wide enough public: Salvarezza, Civil, Bellon, Ferrauto, Marcato, Masini, Valletti, Rumbo, Gero, Albanese, Malipiero, Munteanu, Prandelli and, above all perhaps, Tagliavini. This release is a tenor fancier's incredible dream, with much to surprise and delight, in new Roger Beardsley transfers. A 2CD set. Bar code: 7 27031 01202 3
0121 GEM 1 George Copeland Piano Masters series
The Private Recordings 1957-63
Following the release [GEMS 0001] of Copeland's early recordings for Victor, we now have this superb American pianist in a selection of rare private recordings, works not included on his earlier discs. Highly esteemed by Debussy, and acclaimed for his tonal beauty and rhythmic élan in the French and Spanish repertoire, he plays here Debusssy's Suite bergamasque, items from Images, Children's Corner and Préludes, together with works by Rameau, Mozart, Schumann's Faschinsschwank aus Wien, Satie and Albeniz. Bar code: 7 27031 01212 2
0122 GEMS 2 Menotti the Medium - The Telephone - Sebastian
The Medium and The Telephone have been landmarks in 20th century dramatic music: the words and music of, among others, Betjeman, Logue, Britten, Nyman have connections. These prime, and in some cases extremely rare, recordings are now available for the first time on CD: The Medium features Marie Powers in the 1947 recording, and there are two rare solo songs by her; The Telephone stars Marilyn Cotlow and Frank Rogier, also the 1947 recording with orchestra cond. Emanuel Balaban.
This 2-CD set includes also the ballet suite Sebastian cond. Mitropoulos, the overture Amelia goes to the Ball and excerpts from Amelia al Ballo, starring Margaret Daum, in the 1937 original cast recording. All in all, a veritable feast for those long starved of the important works of Menotti on CD. Bar code: 7 27031 01222 1
0123 GEM 1 Jesus Maria Sandroma Volume II Piano Masters series
Each of the recordings here is a 'first' of that work in its entirety. Like Haskil, Perlemuter and Lipatti, Sanroma studied with Cortot – and also with Schnabel and with a pupil of Michalowski. His extraordinarily beautiful tone was put at the service of the premières of very many modern works until his death in 1984. Here the Paderewski Concerto in A minor, Liszt's Totentanz and the Gershwin Concerto in F, all with the Boston 'Pops' Orchestra under Arthur Fiedler. (SANROMA VOL. I may be found on GEM 0076). Bar code: 7 27031 01232 0
0124 GEM 1 Darius Milhaud Composer, Piamist & Conductor
In recordings of the 1930s and '40s and all with Milhaud himself as conductor and/or pianist are perhaps his most charming and important works: the Piano Concerto,
w. Marguerite Long, the Violin Concertino, w. Yvonne Astruc, Quartet no. 7, w. the Galimir String Quartet, Six Chants Populaires Hébraïques, w. Martial Singher, LaCréation du Monde and the Suite Française w. the NYPSO. This CD is a significant addition to our composer/performer/conductor releases. Bar code: 7 27031 01242 9
0125 GEM 1 Schnabel and Fournier play Beethoven and Brahms
Artists of similar musical ideals and interpretative insights, and each with supreme intellectual control but yet with subservience to the music and to ensemble, it is scarcely surprising that Schnabel and Fournier should have recorded what is arguably the recording of Beethoven Cello Sonatas. And Schnabel knew Brahms personally. These marvellous performances date from 1947 and 1948: Beethoven Cello Sonatas no. 3 Op 69, 4 and 5 Op. 102 and Brahmsí Rhapsody no. 2 Op. 79, and two Intermezzi from Op. 116 and 117. Bar code: 7 27031 01252 8
0126 GEM 1 Edward Kilenyi
The American-born pianist, who died only last year, was a protégé of Dohnányi, who earned great acclaim for his musical intelligence, his comprehensive repertoire, and his superlative command of his instrument.
Here, in splendid transfers on CD for the first time, is a generous selection of Kilenyi's American Columbia recordings from the period around the Second World War. A high point is the much sought-after collaboration of Kilenyi and Dohnányi in the latter's exuberant Suite en Valse for two pianos. Also included are works by Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Tchaikovsky, Chopin, Bartók and the Schumann Symphonic Etudes.
Bar code: 7 27031 01262 7
0127 GEM 1 Greatest Violin Encores
FRANCESCATTI, HEIFETZ, MILSTEIN, ELMAN, RICCI, ZIMBALIST, KREISLER, STERN - let us let down our hair and enjoy Zigeunerweisen, The Flight of the Bumble-bee, Zapateado, the Carmen Fantasia, Sevillanas, Wieniawski's glittering Polonaise brillante - in all, eighteen delicious tracks of fireworks fit to stun. New transfers! Bar code: 7 27031 01272 6
0128 GEMS 2 The Dream Of Gerontius and Sea Pictures
Recognised as a masterpiece even at its first performance this recording, with its magnificent cast of Heddle Nash, Gladys Ripley, Dennis Noble, Norman Walker, the Huddersfield Choral Society, and the Liverpool Philharmonic under Sir Malcolm Sargent, was seen in 1945 as a milestone. It is still arguably the greatest ever recording. Gladys Ripley's Sea Pictures is also a very fine performance, here with the Philharmonia cond. George Weldon. New transfers by Roger Beardsley. A 2 CD set. Bar code: 7 27031 01282 5
0129 GEM 1 TheVienna Octet Mozart: Divertimento no. 17 in D, K 334 and SCHUBER
Quintet in A major for piano and strings, op. 114 (The Trout). Never before will recordings of the legendary Vienna Octet (here Willi Boskovsky, Gunther Breitenbach, Nikolaus Hubner, Johann Krump, Philipp Matheis, Joseph Veleba, Otto Nisch and with Walter Panhoffer) have been heard in such marvellous sound, original recording problems now having been corrected. Of The Trout this 1950 recording is perhaps the most famous.
Bar code: 7 27031 01292 4
0130 GEMS 2 Tribal, Folk and Cafè Music of West Africa
These quite remarkable recordings of now vanished folk material are valuable not only in themselves, but give the listener a closer understanding of the people and cultures of West Africa. They are, too, vastly entertaining as well as providing insights into some of the wellsprings of recent American and European music. This première CD release retains all the scholarly written and illustrative material of the extremely rare and uniquely valuable original 1950 edition, in startlingly fine sound quality. A 2 CD set. Bar code: 7 27031 01302 0
0131 GEM 1 The Hammersrein Legacy : Volume 1 - Operettas.
He was one of the most versatile lyricists of the 20th century, as an old style romantic, as writer of popular songs and as one of the major creators of the modern musical. His vast body of work is destined to last, especially as it has been performed, as here, by the finest possible artists: Music in the Air, The New Moon, Rose Marie, The Desert Song, Give Us the Night, The Three Sisters, The Night is Young and The Great Waltz. Artists include Lawrence Tibbett, Jeanette MacDonald, Nelson Eddy, Evelyn Laye, Stanley Holloway, Jan Kiepura, Harry Welchman and Edith Day, Mary Ellis and Richard Tauber. Together with the second release this month, these two discs represent a pretty comprehensive tribute to the two wonderful sides of Hammerstein's genius.
0132 GEMS Oscar Hammerstein II - The Hammerstein Legacy : Volume II - Musicals.
Even more famous than his work in operetta perhaps are the stunning musicals to which he contributed. Who does not know intimately the songs included here from State Fair, Show Boat, High, Wide & Handsome, Carousel, Centennial Summer, South Pacific, Oklahoma!, Roberta, Very Warm for May and Sweet Adeline - they are a roll-call of favourites: It's a Grand Night for Singing, Why Do I Love You, Ol' Man River, People Will Say We're in Love, Bali Hai, Some Enchanted Evening, I Won't Dance, All the Things You Are …23 great tracks in all, performed by the very greatest artists - Dick Haymes, Tony Martin, Frances Langford, Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, Elizabeth Welch, Paul Robeson, Mary Martin, Bing Crosby, Helen Forrest, Tommy Dorsey, Vic Damone, Judy Garland …
Absolutely an irresistible pair of discs.
Bar codes: 7 27031 01312 9 and 7 27031 01322 8
0133 GEMS 2 Die EntfÜhrung Aus Dem Serail Mozart.
The famous 1950 Vienna State Opera production, with Wilma Lipp, Emmy Loose and Walther Ludwig. The Vienna Philharmonic cond. by Joseph Krips. Now transferred with much subtlety to provide at last a well-integrated, satisfying sound, with Krips anundoubtedly great Mozart conductor, this set is at last able to be enjoyed as it should. A 2 CD set. Bar code: 7 27031 01332 7
0134 GEMS 3 Gilbert & Sullivan The Mikado and TheYeoman Of The Guard
Continuing our reissue of the classic and still favourite Isidore Godfrey-conducted D'Oyly Carte series come these two wonderful 1950 recordings, starring Darryl Fancourt, Martyn Green, Leonard Osborn, Muriel Harding, Ann Drummond-Grant and Ella Halman. A 3 CD set. Bar code: 7 27031 01342 6
0135 GEMS 3 Gilbert & Sullivan The Gondoliers/Ruddigore
Completing this reissue of the classic Isidore Godfrey G &S recordings of the early days of LP comes this last DíOyly Carte 3-CD set. Transfers are by Roger Beardsley and notes by Marc Shepherd, as for all releases in the series.
0136 GEM 1 Ruggiero Ricci
The Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto, w. the New Symphony Orchestra under Sargent in that great - and now classic - 1950 recording, coupled with the Paganini Caprices, op. 1, which he was the first violinist ever to record, in the same year. Both performances and recordings display the slashing attack, the daredevil virtuosity, the easy elegance for which he was famous - and they still amaze. And of course here in stunning new sound. Bar code: 7 27031 01362 4
0137 GEM 1 Marcelle Meyer plays Scarlatti
A unique figure in the annals of French pianism, Marcelle Meyer, who died in 1958, was acclaimed for her authority in music of both the eighteenth and twentieth centuries.The brilliance, vitality and subtlety of her playing are especially evident in the 27 Scarlatti Sonatas that she recorded in 1947. All are presented here, reissued for the first time, together with her equally impressive version of the Bach Toccata in C minor. Bar code: 7 27031 01372 3
0138 GEM 1 Shura CherkasskyY
Shortly after World War II, but long before his international reputation was securely established, Cherkassky made a little-known series of recordings that are here reissued for the first time in state-of-the-art transfers. Together with a rare 1946 broadcast collaboration with Leopold Stokowski, and the Hollywood Bowl SO they reveal all the pianistic colour and imagination that defined the playing of this unique virtuoso. Volume 17 in our PIANO MASTERS series. Bar code: 7 27031 01382 2
0139 GEM 1 Robert Stolz Viennese Memories
Steeped as he was in Viennese musical style and operetta, Stolz' fame as a composer and conductor of such great (and permanent) hits as White Horse Inn and many other stage and film successes reached around the world. On this CD are his Offenbach Fantasy, based on the so-popular tunes of his operettas, Kálmán Memories, Waldteufel Memories, Strauss' Radetsky March, Berlioz' Rakoczy March and two of his own compositions. This really is the very essence of Vienna! Bar code: 7 27031 01392 1
0140 GEMS 2 Die Fledermaus/Der Zarewitsch
Johann Strauss and Franz Lehár
Two of the world's evergreen, wonderful and most popular operettas, each with a star-studded cast of supreme quality: Wilma Lipp, Hilde Gueden, Sieglinde Wagner, Julius Patzak, Helge Roswaenge, Manfred Jungwirth and a young and scintillating Lisa della Casa … These are the classic 1950 recordings, under Clemens Krauss and Victor Reinshagen respectively (Der Zarewitsch is abridged, of course), and both display the most perfect Viennese style and tradition – and with the recordings sounding better than they have ever done, definitely a release to lighten the winter blues! A 2 CD set. Bar code: 7 27031 01402 7
0141 GEM 1 British Film Music Volume III
Patriotism and courage as well as a well-designed desire for calm and pleasure after a terrible war may both be met with in this wide-ranging third volume of that important genre, British Film Music (Volumes I and II are on GEM 0100 and 0101): Walton The First of the Few/Henry V, Vaughan Williams The Loves of Joanna Godden, Collins Odette, Rozsa Spellbound, Alwyn Desert Victory/The Rakeís Progress, Jacob Esther Waters, Gray A Matter of Life & Death/This Man is Mine, Frankel Sleeping Car to Trieste/So Long at the Fair. Bar code: 7 27031 01412 6
0142 GEM 2 Benno Moiseiwitsch The Complete Acoustic Recordings.
This is the first thorough and systematic presentation of the earliest phase of his studio activity. Between 1916 and 1925 Moiseiwitsch recorded 30 solo pieces and one concerto, the Mendelssohn no. 1. The fact that he was still in his twenties indicates his stature among emerging pianists. Included also on this 2 CD set is a sampling of his early electrical recordings (1925-30). This is a major piano collectors' release.
Bar code: 7 27031 01422 5
0143 GEM 1 Anthony Pini and Solomon
The ELGAR CELLO CONCERTO with the LPO/van Beinum, and the BEETHOVEN ARCHDUKE TRIO, with Henry Holst. Pini's Elgar Concerto was the first ever to appear on LP and has long been a great favourite, his very serious musicianship - unsentimental, but with sparkle and robustness - and the 1710 'Mara' Strad. providing an outstanding interpretation. Solomon's greatness in the Archduke needs no further comment except to say how superbly all these artists understand one another, in this music-making of the highest integrity. Bar code: 7 27031 01432 4
0144 GEM 1 Gilbert & Sullivan Princess Ida
The wit and glitter of Sargent's 1932 recording of Princess Ida unites some of the best ever G & S soloists with Sullivan's subtle and delicate score and a fine original recording, restored here by the doyen of transfer engineers, Roger Beardsley. Recorded under the direction of Rupert D'Oyly Carte, w. Derek Oldham, George Baker, Sir Henry Lytton, Darrell Fancourt and Muriel Dickson. Bar code: 7 27031 01442 3
0145 GEM 1 MASTER ERNEST LOUGH
'HEAR MY PRAYER'
For many years Pearl's earlier CD of Ernest Lough has been delighting connoisseurs of the finest boy's voice ever to have been recorded. That CD has now been deleted [GEMM CD 9211] and replaced with this issue, in which never before have so many of the recordings of 'the most famous choirboy in the world' been published. (Playing time is nearly twice that of the earlier release). Rare, private and unknown recordings have been made available for this release, together with family photographs, to make this the definitive Ernest Lough release. Of course all transfers have been remade to today's highest standards, by Roger Beardsley.
Bar code: 7 27031 01452 2
0146 GEMS 2 Karol Szreter Piano Master Series
At last there can appear on CD the vastly rare serious recordings of a great, but gravely neglected, Polish pianist, Karol Szreter: Schumann Carnaval, Beethoven Sonatas nos. 8, 14 and 15, and the Concerto no. 4 (the first electrical recording), Liszt, Johann Strauss, Mendelssohn, Grieg and Sauer. He died very young in 1933 but his reputation among those lucky enough ever to have heard these recordings is cherished. A 2 CD set. Bar code: 7 27031 01462 1
0147 GEMS 2 Bartok
The String Quartets The Juilliard Quartet
These pioneering records represent what was a considerable achievement in 1950 and were immediately recognised as something very special. For very many people they have not been supplanted by any of the numerous excellent recordings since. Although fine recordings for their time, today's technology has been able further to improve the sound, making this set a very special release indeed. The first Juilliard Quartet was of course Robert Mann and Robert Koff, Raphael Hillyer and Arthur Winograd. A 2 CD set. Bar Code: 7 27031 01472 0
0148 GEM 1 Louis Kentner plays Bartok and Liszt
Acclaimed for the extent of his repertoire, Kentner's special authority in the music of his compatriots Bartók and Liszt was legendary. This CD contains the first release of a hitherto unknown, and very splendid, broadcast from 1946 of Bartók's Piano Concerto no. 3, with the BBCSO under Sir Adrian Boult, with excerpts from For Children, together with ten pieces by Liszt from his extensive Columbia discography. Bar code: 7 27031 01602 1
0149 GEM 1 Egon Petri in recital
Petri was an extraordinarily compelling artist, deeply serious, intellectual, not for the faint-hearted. A pupil of Busoni, his own pupils read like a roster of the great, in several fields - Ogdon, Istomin, Szreter, Alan Rawsthorne, Penderecki and Victor Borge. This recital is of four Beethoven Sonatas, Nos. 26 Les Adieux, 30, 31 and 32, recorded live in 1954, and offering perhaps a freedom missing from studio recordings.
Bar code: 7 27031 01492 8
0150 GEM 1 BACH ART OF THE FUGUE
RICHARD BUHLIG and WESLEY KUHNLE, pianos
Richard Buhlig, who died in 1952, was an American-born pupil of Leschetizky.He made no commercial recordings but was acclaimed for the breadth of his repertoire and the penetrating intellect he brought to his interpretations. In the 1930s he prepared a two-piano transcription of Bach's Art of the Fugue, which he recorded privately with his pupil Wesley Kuhnle, a pioneering enterprise which, with recordings of Beethoven's Opp. 106 and 109 Sonatas, seems to be the only surviving evidence of his solo playing. This is the first CD release of this virtually unknown, but major, contribution to the early Bach discography. Bar code: 7 27031 01502 4
0151 GEM 1 Samuel Barber
Originally the 'Flight' Symphony, Barber's SECOND SYMPHONY is as much a major work as the splendid CELLO CONCERTO, with the greatly admired Zara Nelsova in the solo part. MEDEA, the orchestral suite from the music to the ballet 'Cave of the Heart', was written to a Martha Graham commission and all these important works benefited from fine early LP recordings, now re-engineered in state-of-the-art transfers. All works are conducted by the composer. Bar code: 7 27031 01512 3
0152 GEM 1 Marian Nowakowski
For some unaccountable reason the recorded legacy of one of the finest post-war basses is small indeed. Very fortunately we have been able to include on this pioneering CD, as well as commercial releases, examples of his wonderful singing from rare private tapes, by courtesy of his family: arias by Handel, Mozart, Verdi, Wagner, Borodin, Rimsky-Korsakov, Mussorgsky and songs which include The Old Corporal, The Song of the Flea, The Song of the Volga Boatmen, Massenet's Elégie and I Got Plenty o' Nothing from Porgy and Bess. Bar code: 7 27031 01522 2
0154 GEM 1 Lyapunov Twelve Transendental Studies Louis Kentner
'A devastating compendium of intricate and ingenious pianistic devices … expertly crafted and gracious'. Needing the fingers of steel and heart of gold so abundantly displayed by Kentner in this famous and long unavailable recording, sponsored originally by the Foundation of the Maharajah of Mysore, the Studies are one of the peaks of virtuoso display. This release is indispensable to all piano-lovers. Bar code: 7 27031 01542 0
0155 GEM 1 HUMPERDINCK HANSEL UND GRETEL
LORTZING ZAR UND ZIMMERMANN
Here are two more of the wonderful 1929 series of ideally abridged operettas that Polydor offered, models of their kind thanks to the musicianship of the adapter and conductor Hermann Weigert and the choice of marvellous singers. Featured here are Else Ruziczka, Tilly de Garmo and Willy Domgraf-Fassbänder in these idiomatic, tuneful and quite delightful works. Bar code: 7 27031 01552 9
[see also Die Fledermaus w. Adele Kern, Margret Pfahl and again Willy Domgraf-Fassbaender - GEM 0087]

0156 GEM 1 Julius Patzak
For a survey of the very finest of Patzak's recordings, on one CD, there is no need to look further. In superbly renovated sound, from 1929-1950, are arias of the great tenor from Die Zauberflöte, Don Giovanni, Cosí, Die Entführung, from Eugene Onegin, Mignon, Manon, Verdi's Ballo, Trovatore, Nicolai's Merry Wives of Windsor. There are songs by Strauss, Weingartner, Brull and Rossini, 'Ach, mein sinn' from Bach's St. John Passion and the great scene from Beethoven's Fidelio. [He may also be heard in a wonderful Fledermaus on GEMS 0140]. Bar code: 7 27031 01562 8
0157 GEM 1 Magda Tagliaferro Piano Masters series
It is astonishing that her name is unknown to many music-lovers. Perhaps never has there been a pianist with such style, such buoyant, subtle rhythm and controlled energy, such swagger and sensuality. They are displayed here in the rare and sought-after HAHN PIANO CONCERTO and in her beloved Schumann - Faschingsschwank aus Wien - Debussy and the music of Spain and South America. Bar code: 7 27031 01572 7
0158 GEM 1 Tossy Spivakovsky
Another dazzling virtuoso, this time of the violin, Spivakovsky's career was made largely as a soloist in the classic concerti, as well as in more modern works. He displays here his strong tone and fast vibrato in twenty showpiece tracks, some well known, others less so – in works by Paganini, Kreisler, Bloch, Beethoven, Brahms, Wieniawski, Sarasate and others. Bar code: 7 27031 01582 6
0159 GEM 1 Gerard Souzay
Chansons, Lieder and Opera
This CD contains some of Souzay's very finest recordings, from 1950, and it quickly becomes apparent why he was so highly regarded – for beauty of tone, precision and his ability to illustrate the words of songs. Handel, Beethoven Monteverdi and Lully are represented but the main contents are chansons by Fauré, (among his most admired recordings), Debussy and Ravel and a wonderful group of Schubert lieder. Bar code: 7 27031 01592 5
0160 GEM 1 Chaucer The Canterbury Tales
The General Prologue and Reeve's Tale
'a dynamic reading, full of fun, as well as a work of scholarship' was Gramophone's comment on the publication of these two parts of the Tales on cassette. Now on CD, with the addition of the Reeve's short Prologue, it is the first release of what we trust will be the complete Canterbury Tales in Trevor Eaton's acclaimed performances. The accompanying booklet includes details of 44 track points, with standard line references and brief details for essential ease of reference by teachers and students - and too for the lover of great literature! Bar Code: 7 27031 01602 1
0161 GEM 1 The Wedding Of Their Royal Highness Princess Elizabeth and The Duke Of Edinburgh 1947
The survival of this recording, made direct onto acetate discs, is something of a miracle. Originally made at huge expense for a wealthy client we are proud to be able to restore and offer such a wonderfully romantic memory in this year of Her Majesty's Golden Jubilee. With commentaries by those doyens of the art, Richard Dimbleby and Wynford Vaughan Thomas, inside and outside Westminster Abbey, as well as the complete wedding service music and liturgy, addresses by the archbishops of both Canterbury and York, the choirs of the Abbey and the Chapel Royal, with organ and trumpet fanfares, this release is a marvellous reminder of those days after the war when a new age was beginning and hope was in the air. The booklet includes most interesting notes and illustrations and is a totally necessary souvenir for all enthusiasts for things royal, in addition to being a remarkable documentary of the time. Bar code: 7 27031 01612 0
0162 GEM 1 DENIS MATTHEWS
PIANO MASTERS series
His tragic early death in 1988 robbed us of a great artist, one of the most notable interpreters of Mozart and Beethoven and another wonderful exemplar of Walter Legge's genius as a producer. He wrote, too, cadenzas for Myra Hess's wartime sequence of Mozart Concerto recordings! In these recordings from 1942-46 - Mozart Concerto K. 488 with the Liverpool Philharmonic cond. George Weldon; the Sonata K. 310; Beethoven Sonata Op. 109 and two Field Nocturnes - Denis Matthews always allowed the music to speak for itself, high praise indeed. Bar code: 7 27031 01622 9
0163 GEMS 3 Gilbert & Sullivan
Iolanthe and Patience
Recorded under the direction of Bridget D'Oyly Carte is the latest in our acclaimed and immensely successful series of G & S reissues, conducted by Isidore Godfrey, again with those marvellous casts of the '50s including Martyn Green, Leonard Osborn, Ann Drummond-Grant, Ella Halman, Peter Pratt, Darrell Fancourt and Muriel Harding. [Other titles in the series are Trial by Jury/The Pirates of Penzance GEMS 0097, The Mikado/Yeomen of the Guard GEMS 0134, The Gondoliers/Ruddigore GEMS 0135, HMS Pinafore GEM 0096 and Princess Ida GEM 0144]. A 3 CD set. Bar code: 7 27031 01632 8
0164 GEM 1 Ernest Bloch
Sacred Service - Schelomo
There is a very special authority for performances, as here, where the composer conducts or plays. Bloch's Sacred Service is a genuine milestone in the history of liturgical music, first performed in 1934, and the composer, here conducting the LPO and Chorus in 1950, considered it his masterpiece. It speaks universally to all men. In Schelomo the soloist is ZARA NELSOVA, with the LPO again conducted by the composer. As he himself said: 'Zara Nelsova is my music'. Included also are two of Bloch's short pieces for cello and piano, with both Nelsova and the composer playing. Bar code: 7 27031 01642 7
0165 GEMS 2 Renata Tebaldi
La Bohème and Recital
Renata Tebaldi's earlier recordings, of which this is of course one, from 1951, can be intensely moving: the sheer purity and loveliness of that full-toned, golden voice, together with her wonderful floated pianissimi have great beauty. It was a voice of magnificent, creamy freshness and could thrill an audience like no other. This is an enchanting recording of La Bohème, with Prandelli, Corena, Inghilleri, de Palma and Hilde Gueden and the Orchestra of the Accademia di Santa Cecilia cond. Erede. The 30 minute recital which follows – of Gounod, Verdi and Puccini - displays the same beauty and again Decca's technical excellence for the period. The two final tracks, of Giordano and Catalani, are Fonit recordings and very rare outside Italy: they provide a wonderful encore. A 2 CD set. [Tebaldi's 1951 recording of Madama Butterfly appears in June, on GEMS 0172] Bar code: 7 27031 01652 6
0166 GEM 1 FRIEDRICH GULDA - BEETHOVEN PIANO SONATAS
These are searching and individual performances from a pianist who, even at the age of 20, was a great musician and a master performer. Later his interests reached outside the classical, to jazz and other pleasures, and that intellectual searching of the true artist never ceased. He was one of the very few pianists, perhaps the only, to be confident enough sometimes to decorate Mozart Concertos as he himself might have done. These Beethoven Sonata recordings, from 1950, are very serious indeed: the Moonlight, Les Adieux, No. 31 in A flat op. 110 and the Eroica Variations and Fugue Op. 35. Bar code: 7 27031 01662 5
0167 GEMS 2 The Casals Festivals
Perpignan 1951
These are rare and precious performances and recordings indeed, the first volume in our series of four, and appearing for the first time on CD. The roster of artists playing, with Casals as conductor, reads like a pantheon of integrity and virtuosity and the results are unique and quite unrepeatable. Mozart: Piano Concerto no. 9, K271 w. Dame Myra Hess, Piano Concerto no. 22, K482 w. Rudolf Serkin, Piano Concerto no. 14, K449 w. Eugene Istomin, Piano Concerto no. 27, K595 w. Mieczyslaw Horszowski and the Serenade K525 Eine kleine Nachtmusik – all with the Perpignan Festival Orchestra cond. Pablo Casals. The orchestra was led by Schneider, Tortelier was principal cello, the wind was led by John Wummer, principal of the NYPO, the first oboe Marcel Tabuteau, principal oboe of the Philadelphia; this great gathering of the talents resulted in astonishingly fine music-making. There are a number of really indispensable gramophonic classics – this series is one such. A 2 CD set. Bar code: 7 27031 01672 4
0168 GEMS 2 The Casals Festivals
Perpignan 1951
This is the second of our four-volume series of those amazingly wonderful recordings made of the Casals Festivals, occasions when every aspect of musicality came together to produce a unique fusion of genius. Here, Mozart and Beethoven: the Violin Concerto no. 5, K 219, w. Erika Morini, the Flute Concerto no. 1, K 313, w. John Wummer, Sinfonia Concertante, K 364, w. Isaac Stern and William Primrose, the Symphony no. 29, K 201 and Serkin and Casals perform both Beethoven's Twelve Variations and Seven Variations, from Die Zauberflöte. The orchestra throughout is the Perpignan Festival Orchestra, cond. Casals himself. [Volume I is on GEMS 0167and Volumes III and IV will appear later in the year on GEMS 0174 and GEM 0175] A 2 CD set. Bar code: 7 27031 01682 3
0169 GEM 1 WANDA LANDOWSKA plays BACH
This is a most notable release: combined are some of Landowska's finest Bach recordings, a precious recording of Denise Restout herself, Landowska's pupil and amanuensis for 25 years, whose choice this is of her favourite recordings, and the first ever CD publication of the long-thought-lost Weydenhammer Portrait from life of Bach, a discovery of the producer of this record. The Toccata, BWV 912, English Suite no. 2, BWV 807, French Suite no. 6, BWV 817 and the Concerto no. 1 in D minor for Harpsichord, Strings and Continuo, BWV 1052, cond. Eugène Bigot. [The Pearl catalogue is rich in the recordings of Landowska, the doyenne of all harpsichord players: there are seven previous releases, details of which we are happy to provide]. Bar code: 7 27031 01692 2
0170 GEM 1 GUIOMAR NOVAES
The earlier recordings of the Brazilian Novaes have the double benefit of showing her at the peak of her powers and of being of unhackneyed pieces, while the later Columbias show her mastery both of classics and the idioms of South America. Her playing life was packed with critical plaudits on both sides of the Atlantic, ever after her stunning teenage debut as an artist in Paris. The repertoire on this latest volume in the Piano Masters series includes works by Bach, Mozart, Chopin, Saint-Saëns, her mentor Isidor Philipp, Moszkowski, Macdowell, Villa-Lobos, Pinto, Mompou and Gottschalk. Bar code: 7 27031 01702 8
0171 GEM 1 WALTON conducts WALTON
Without doubt these are all important and unforgettable - and première - recordings by one of the most significant composers of the 20th century. The two Suites from Façade, Walton conducting the LPO, appear now in the correct format and Frederick Riddle's 1937 performance of the Viola Concerto [1929 version] is magnificent, with both depth and sparkling virtuosity. The recording of Belshazzar's Feast, with the Huddersfield Choral Society, the Liverpool Philharmonic, Brass Bands, Organ and Dennis Noble, baritone. It may well be described as one of the great recordings of the century. In this 'Walton Year' we are fortunate to be able to offer such a release.
Bar code: 7 27031 01712 7
0172 GEMS 2 RENATA TEBALDI
PUCCINI - MADAMA BUTTERFLY
This is the wonderful 1951 Rome recording, under Erede, and starring also Giuseppe Campora, Nell Rankin, Piero de Palma, Fernando Corena and Giovanni Inghilleri. Tebaldi was in golden and glorious voice, as she was for the two rare Fonit tracks included as a bonus. A 2 CD set. Bar code: 7 27031 01722 6
0173 GEM 1 BARTÓK PREMIÈRES
CONCERTO FOR ORCHESTRA Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra/Fritz Reiner PIANO CONCERTO no. 3 Gyorgy Sandor/Philadelphia Orchestra/Eugene Ormandy PORTRAIT op. 5 no. 1 Joseph Szigeti/Philharmonia Orchestra/Constant Lambert. Within nine months of his death in 1945, these three première recordings of Bartók's works were made. The Third Piano Concerto had taken his last scrap of energy to finish. Each of these performances and recordings, apart from their interest as premières, is quite outstanding and deserves a permanent place in the canon of his recorded oeuvre. Naturally, the recorded sound is extremely good, for its time and now, restored. Bar code: 7 27031 01732 5
0174 GEMS 2 THE CASALS FESTIVALS VOL. III
PERPIGNAN 1951
As with the first two volumes [GEMS 0167 and 0168], pantheons of integrity and virtuosity, of which early reviews have not only said, of course, 'unforgettable performances' but 'I'd imagine that the source material was pristine vinyl' (true) - Gramophone, this third volume is equally stunning. Mozart: Quartet in F major, K 370 and Beethoven: Trios nos. 2, 4, 6 and 7 from op. 1, 11, 70 and 97, The Archduke. Artists featured are Marcel Tabuteau, Isaac Stern, William Primrose, Paul Tortellier, Eugene Istomin, Alexander Schneider and Pablo Casals himself. A 2 CD set. The fourth volume, GEM 0175, is released in September. Bar code: 7 27031 01742 4
0175 GEM 1 THE CASALS FESTIVALS VOL. IV
PERPIGNAN 1951
The final volume in this series is a single disc, but is just as rich in content and artistry as the first three: Bach and Haydn shorter pieces, Mozart Divertimento K 251 for oboe and strings, Beethoven Sonata no. 2 in G minor, Op. 5, no. 2 and Casals rehearsing a movement from a Bach violin concerto with the Prades Festival Orchestra and Isaac Stern. Other artists are Casals himself, Eugene Istomin, Marcel Tabuteau and Rudolf Serkin. Critical and public response to the first three volumes has been most enthusiastic [GEMS 0167, 0168 and 0174]. Bar code: 7 27031 01752 3
0176 GEM 1 CHARPENTIER conducts CHARPENTIER
His most celebrated orchestral work, the colourful and once immensely popular Impressions d'Italie, is based on Italian folk music, a picturesque and evocative suite. La Vie du Poète is a cantata for soloists, chorus and orchestra and mirrors Charpentier's own life in Bohemian Paris. It dates from the time of his most famous opera, Louise. Included also are five songs of the composer, sung by Jean Planel, Joseph Lanzone and Germaine Féraldy: all works have the distinction and historical importance of being conducted by the composer, between 1928 and 1933, and appear now on this important release in state-of-the-art transfers by Roger Beardsley. Bar code: 7 27031 01762 2
0177 GEM 1 SOLOMON plays CHOPIN
Matchless early recordings [1933-46] by one of Britain's greatest musical treasures, a tragic genius whose last recordings were made in 1956, the year of his death. Included also are two Liszt compositions, the Etude La Leggierezza, Au bord d'une Source, from Années de pèlerinage I, and the Bach/Liszt Organ Prelude and Fugue in A minor BWV 543. Bar code: 7 27031 01772 1
0178 GEM 1 SUZANNE DANCO
Suzanne Danco was as quintessentially a French singer as was Ninon Vallin. She was described by Scherchen and Serafin as having a 'perfect technique' and 'a most rare voice', 'limpid and pure'. Ansermet praised her musical intelligence and Poulenc her Elvira as 'sublime'. Encomia indeed! This release offers an unusual opportunity to hear her in some of her finest recordings: Berlioz' Nuits d'été (Cincinatti SO/Johnson), in ten songs by Gounod, w. Frederick Stone, piano and in two Debussy songs, w. Ernest Lush piano. These songs she did not record commercially and are extremely rare: they show a youthful bloom in her voice which many connoisseurs may not have heard before. Bar code: 7 27031 01782 0
0179 GEM 1 BARTOK plays BARTOK
Mikrokosmos: only eleven sides of this masterpiece by arguably the greatest composer of the twentieth century, played by the composer himself, have ever been issued. For the first time, and of course in the finest sound, the complete set appears - and in the correct order. The Sonata is a rare 1940 broadcast performance, with Bartók and Ditta Pasztory-Bartók, pianos and Harry J. Baker and Edward J. Rubsan, percussion.
Bar code: 7 27031 01792 9
[Other releases of Bartók playing Bartók are on GEMM CD 9166, 9266 and GEM 0057].
0180 GEMS 2 BACH: MAGNIFICAT in D BWV 243
BRAHMS: LIEBESLIEDER WALZER Op. 52
HINDEMITH: SIX CHANSONS
ROBERT SHAW and the RCA VICTOR CHORALE
Even before his great personal fame and that of the eponymous Chorale, Robert Shaw was making very fine recordings. Those featured here are from 1945-47 (and include Blanche Thebom in the Magnificat) and were bold ventures for their day. There is also a complete and fine Mass in B minor, from which have been extracted to stand alone as being of especial interest the Laudamus te and Benedictus including as they do some of the rare recordings of the violinist Oscar Shumsky. Bar code: 7 27031 01802 5
0181 GEMS 2 DELIBES
LAKMÉ
This marvellous recording of MADO ROBIN in her signature role of Lakmé embodies a long-established tradition of French singing and such a cast - Agnes Disney, Jean Borthayre, Jacques Jansen - could not be assembled today: this is authentic. Mado Robin was a lyric soprano of tremendous power, superb technique and great range. Tragically her career was cut short by her early death, in 1960. Lakmé is exotic, tuneful, lush and quite magical. It is hard to imagine why today the opera is not still part of the core operatic repertoire. A 2 CD set. Bar code: 7 27031 01812 4
0182 GEM 1 MARIO LANZA
'THE GREAT CARUSO' and 'THE TOAST OF NEW ORLEANS'
These are the arias and songs featured in the films together with favourite songs of Mario Lanza. Arias from Rigoletto, La Traviata, Carmen, Tosca, Madama Butterfly, Aida, La Gioconda are here, together with some of his most popular hit songs - Granada, Be My Love and The Loveliest Night of the Year. The 'Three Tenors' admit that he was their source of inspiration - his voice was a fine instrument, used with meticulous attention to detail, warm and mellifluous, and he opened opera to millions around the world. The days are long gone when intellectuals sniffed at Mario Lanza. His audience is still numbered in millions. This wonderfully transferred disc has to be a best-seller. Bar code: 7 27031 01822 3
0183 GEM 1 AUBREY BRAIN
MOZART: Concerto no. 3 K.447, Divertimento no. 17 K.334, Quintet for Piano, Oboe, Clarinet and Bassoon K.452.
Until the recent past there have been two great names only attached to virtuoso horn playing, those of Dennis and his father Aubrey Brain. Aubrey played for Nikisch, Beecham, Covent Garden, the BBC and he taught at the Royal Academy until his death in 1955. Mozart of course was a cornerstone of his repertoire and these delectable recordings, exuberant music-making despite the inevitable limitations of recording at the time, do display his impeccable intonation, fine-spun tone, elegance of phrase and general insouciance, to perfection. And to hear father and son in their only recording together, the Divertimento, with the Lener Quartet, is a treat indeed. Concerto: w. BBC SO/Boult, Quintet: w. Leon Goossens, Kathleen Long, Frederick Thurston and J. Alexander.
Bar code: 7 27031 01832 2
0184 GEM 1 THE CONCHITA SUPERVIA SONGBOOK
RARE & UNKNOWN SONGS in Italian, Spanish and English
The gloriously beautiful, gloriously voiced Supervia's live recitals covered an immense range but her non-operatic recordings can be very rare. This collection, in most excellent new transfers, not only contains some highly sought-after rarities but will charm the ear of any lover of fine singing, as well as showing her linguistic mastery. The four Gennai childrens' songs were written specially for her and we hear her speaking voice introducing them. This new release is a wonderful addition to our existing Supervia CDs on 9969, 9975, 9165, 9191 and 0098. Bar code: 7 27031 01842 1
0185 GEM 1 IVOR NOVELLO
'THOSE DREAMING YEARS'
ORIGINAL CAST RECORDINGS of Careless Rapture, The Dancing Years, King's Rhapsody - how evocative these titles are! And how much memory is captured in the songs and duets from these shows; they almost define 'nostalgia'. It is music to dream in, to be lost in. And in addition to these superbly re-engineered original cast recordings is included a probably unique copy of a duet between Novello himself and Dorothy Dickson, appearing certainly for the first time on CD. As well of course as Novello himself at the piano, featuring also Olive Gilbert, Mary Ellis, Roma Beaument, Vanessa Lee, Phyllis Dare and others. An 'Original Cast Series' release. Bar code: 7 27031 01852 0
0186 GEM 1 JANINE MICHEAU
Janine Micheau, along with Suzanne Danco (for whom see GEM 0178) was that rare phenomenon, a French singer of international renown. Her association with the music of Milhaud was close but her repertoire was wide in French and Italian opera, not infrequently in Paris premières, and also as a recitalist. These most interesting recordings – of Debussy, Chabrier, Gounod, Thomas, Charpentier and Bizet, in opera and song, are from the period 1946-52, perhaps the peak of her career. Bar code: 7 27031 01862 9
0187 GEM 1 TALENTED TALKERS'
FAVOURITE MONOLOGUES - featuring Gillie Potter, Tom Clare, Ernest Hastings, Stanley Holloway, Jack Warner, Max Bacon, Cyril Fletcher, Billy Bennett, Ronald Frankau, Tommy Handley, John Tilley, Bransby Williams, Oliver Wakefield and Arthur Marshall. The twenty tracks on this extensive CD include such gems as Mr Potter visits Southend, There's nothing over sixpence in the store, The Drum Major, Old Sam, William T-hell, The Bookmaker's daughter, Miss Pritchard's Tricycle and The Green Eye of the Little Yellow God. Just one track from all our previous Monologue releases appears here also, for reasons which will be obvious to all Stanley Holloway fans who have our PAST CD 7021 – which must be all of them! - and we trust that that very British sense of humour is alive and well and loves the comic monologue still. Bar code: 7 27031 01872 8
0188 GEMS 3 MOUSSORGSKY
BORIS GODUNOV
This is the yardstick 1952 performance of Boris Christoff, never before available to be heard as it should be, both the original and the re-cut LP versions being inadequate in different ways. Only Chaliapin has ever been so closely identified with the tragic hero Boris as is, for our age, Boris Christoff and it is good, to say the least, to have this magnificent characterisation, in proper and glorious sound at last. The very fine cast includes Nicolai Gedda, Kim Borg and Eugenia Zareska, with the Orchestre National de la Radiodiffusion Française cond. Issay Dobrowen. As a bonus are included two of the Songs and Dances of Death, w. Gerald Moore, and two songs by Tchaikovsky and Rimsky-Korsakov. A 3 CD set. Bar code: 7 27031 01882 7
0189 GEMS 3 SULLIVAN
THE ROSE OF PERSIA and THE EMERALD ISLE
These are the première stereo recordings of these two works, now restored for CD, and featuring The Gilbert & Sullivan Society of Edinburgh and The Prince Consort, conducted by David Lyle.
Original reviews included such comments as '(Pearl) have done uncommonly well to get together a company so accomplished as this … consistently good team of soloists' Gramophone and 'essential addition to any collection of the Savoy operas worthy of the name'. The Rose of Persia was first produced at the Savoy Theatre in 1899, ten years after The Gondoliers. In that period Sullivan's work had met with less than great success but this new operetta was greeted with enthusiasm, one of the very best to have come from the composer's pen, and in America as 'an unceasing joy to hear'. On its revival in 1935 The Times described the story as being a cross between The Mikado and the Arabian Nights with 'threats of beheadings and hopes of weddings'. The Emerald Isle was Sullivan's final operetta, completed by Edward German, and first produced at the Savoy Theatre in 1901. It at last gave Sullivan a chance to work on an Irish subject and is a work full of jigs and colourful fairy music, fine melodies and joie de vivre. A 3 CD set. Bar code: 7 27031 01892 6 [The Beauty Stone appears in March 2003]
0190 GEMS 2 SULLIVAN
THE BEAUTY STONE
This is the first CD release of what again was the première stereo recording of this operetta, newly restored for CD, and again with the highly praised Prince Consort of Alan Borthwick and the G & S Society of Edinburgh, conducted by David Lyle. The Beauty Stone was produced at the Savoy Theatre in May 1898 as Sullivan's first opera after his final break with Gilbert, with a libretto by Pinero, the intention being to create a work halfway between the romantic flights of Ivanhoe [SHE CDS 9615, a 3 CD set] and the familiar humour of the Gilbert series. Sullivan insisted on its 'absolute novelty'. Arthur Wing Pinero's fame rested in part on his still popular The Second Mrs Tanqueray, and the joint result is a delight. A 2 CD set. Bar code: 7 27031 01902 2
0191 GEMS 2 VERDI AIDA
RENATA TEBALDI - DEL MONACO - STIGNANI - CORENA
In this 1952 recording, the three principals were widely regarded in the world of Italian opera as the leading exponents of their roles and it seems extremely likely that they never sang these parts, or any other, together on the stage. This is the third in our series of Tebaldi releases, made when her voice was at its most full and golden: on GEMS 0165 appears La Bohème, on GEMS 0172 Madama Butterfly, both with rare recital arias included also and in summer 2003 will appear her Tosca on GEMS 0199. [Stignani's Adalgisa in Norma may be heard on GEMM CDS 9422]. All are 2 CD sets not to be missed! Bar code: 7 27031 01912 1
0192 GEM 1 'ACTORS PLAYING THEIR PARTS'

The number of actors 'playing their parts' in the earlier and middle parts of the 20th century is really pretty small. Some recordings are very rare; some are masterpieces of the art, others perhaps show the difference between genius and less than that. All the recordings on this CD have much interest, some because of the actors and the parts they play - and the comparison between the treatments given to the same speeches by three indisputably great actors cannot but be fascinating - others because of their rarity or their illustration of the theatrical styles and pleasures of their time. And one recording at least is a desert island classic.

In Shakespeare, Sybil Thorndyke and Lewis Casson, Laurence Olivier, Stanley Holloway, John Gielgud, Alec Guinness, Pamela Brown; in Oscar Wilde, Edith Evans and John Gielgud; in Somerset Maugham, Constance Collier and Ronald Squire. Other artists include Ivor Novello, Edna Best, Fay Compton, Gordon Harker, George Baker, Dinah Sheridan, Jean Forbes-Robertson and Charles Laughton.

A new release in Pearl's Plays & Poets series.

Bar code: 7 27031 01922 0
0193 GEM 1 THE ULTIMATE SERIES
GEORGE GERSHWIN VOLUME II
The latest release in this ongoing and best-selling series of original cast, or earliest, recordings of the greatest twentieth century composers of shows and musicals. Here, some marvels from Gershwin - Lady Be Good, the Gershwins' first score to be produced on Broadway and which established them as leaders in the world of Jazz Age musical comedy, Tell Me More, once entitled My Fair Lady and a rip-roaring success in London and Tip-Toes, a smash of the '25/'26 Broadway season - with the likes of Arden & Ohman, Fred and Adèle Astaire, Dorothy Dickson and Buddy Lee. Bar code: 7 27031 01932 9
0194 GEM 1 THE ULTIMATE SERIES
COLE PORTER VOLUME III
The latest release in this worldwide best-selling series [fourteen volumes by next month!] includes at least as many favourites as usual - It's De-lovely, My Heart belongs to Daddy, Friendship, Do I love You? for example - as previous releases, and the starry line-up of artists includes Ethel Merman, Pat Kirkwood, Yvonne Printemps & Pierre Fresnay, Nelson Eddy, Frances Day, Bert Lahr, Mary Joan Walsh, Danny Kaye and even Flanagan & Allen, nearly all of original casts. The shows are from 1936 to 1941: O Mistress Mine, Rosalie, The Fleet's Lit Up, The Sun Never Sets, Leave it to Me, DuBarry was a Lady, Black Velvet, Panama Hattie, Let’s Face it and Black Vanities. There is absolutely no escaping the sheer tunefulness and showbiz know-how of Cole Porter! Bar code: 7 27031 01942 8
0195 GEM 1 THE ULTIMATE SERIES
COLE PORTER VOLUME IV
The fourteenth release in this uniquely comprehensive and ground-breaking series. Covering the period 1941-46, original cast artists include Fred Astaire, Ethel Merman, Bill Johnson, Paula Laurence, Evelyn Dall, the Benny Goodman and Teddy Wilson Quintets, Roy Rogers, Carlos Ramirez and Larry Laurence in Around the World in Eighty Days, as well as You'll never get Rich, Something for the Boys, Seven Lively Arts, Hollywood Canteen and Night and Day. The magic of Cole Porter goes on! Bar code: 7 27031 01952 7
0196 GEM 1 JAN PEERCE sings VERDI
The great success of 'Blue Bird of Happiness' on GEMM CD 9297 must mean that there are a lot of lovers of the magnificent voice of Jan Peerce out there! His career was a wonderful rags to riches tale. From massive popularity of the Lanza/Boccelli/Watson kind he grew to become a star of the Met., a lyric tenor who sang with the greatest vocal artists of the day, for 26 seasons there until 1968. These recordings, including his renowned Rigoletto, really do show off the vibrant, thrusting tenor voice which made him an operatic 'best-seller'; and his partners here include Erna Berger, Nan Merriman, Leonard Warren, Kerstin Thorborg and Licia Albanese in arias also from Il Trovatore, La Traviata and Forza, plus two arias from La Gioconda and Lucia di Lammermoor. This is definitely the Jan Peerce showcase release. Bar code: 7 27031 01962 6
0197 GEMS 2 MOZART DIE ZAUBERFLÖTE
The Vienna Philharmonic and Vienna Singverein under KARAJAN, and a cast which includes SENA JURINAC, WILMA LIPP, IRMGARD SEEFRIED, EMMY LOOSE, ERICH KUNZ, ANTON DERMOTA, LUDWIG WEBER and GEORGE LONDON has to be one of the most star-studded ensembles ever brought together for one of the greatest operas ever written. It was recorded in 1950 in very fine sound indeed and is now restored to stunning 21st century quality, by Roger Beardsley. Even a record collection which has a number of recordings of The Magic Flute [as of course it should] has to include this one! A 2 CD set. Bar code: 7 27031 01972 5
0198 GEM 1 JENNIE TOUREL
Especially in French opera, from Russia (she was an emigrée) to Paris, to Lisbon and America, narrowly escaping the Nazis, Jennie Tourel developed a large repertoire and a larger following, enthusiastic for her grace, her power and the delight she offered. Virgil Thompson, the American composer, even waxed lyrical: 'voice beautiful, her diction clear, her vocalism impeccable … the kind of vocalism one dreams about'. Later she appeared with Bernstein in Mahler and in The Damnation of Faust at Carnegie Hall - but her versatility embodied the ultimate in coquetry in La Périchole, heard here quite bewitchingly. Her sheer style can be heard in Ravel's Shéhérezade, the Scène Lyrique from Berlioz' Cléopatre and also in Offenbach's Les Contes d'Hoffmann and La Vie Parisienne
Bar code: 7 27031 01982 4
0199 GEMS 2 RENATA TEBALDI TOSCA
and OTHER PUCCINI HEROINES
Continuing our reissue of the great Renata Tebaldi comes this mighty recording of her Tosca from 1952, with the chorus and orchestra of the Academia di Santa Cecilia, Rome, conducted byAlberto Erede. Her Cavaradossi is Giuseppe Campora, Scarpia is Enzo Mascherini, the Sacristan is Fernando Corena and the
Spoletta Piero di Palma.

Erede's conducting is a major contribution to the structure and control of this performance, his fidelity to Puccini's instructions is obvious and his influence on the singers exemplifies his reputation as a fine conductor of the greatest operatic performers.

The beauty of Tebaldi's voice, her diction, placing and control are fabulous and the simplicity of her interpretation touches the heart.

We have been able to put Acts I and II on one long CD which enables the second CD, in addition to Act III, to offer examples of some other great Puccini heroines – Geraldine Farrar, Lucrezia Bori, Lotte Schöne, Maria Farneti, Eva Turner, Hina Spani and Meta Seinemeyer. A 2-CD set.
Bar code: 7 27031 01992 3

Renata Tebaldi may also be heard on the following 2-CD sets:
GEMS 0165 – La Bohème
GEMS 0172 – Madama Butterfly
GEMS 0191 – Aida
0200 GEMS 2 THE PRADES BACH FESTIVAL 1950 VOLUME I
PABLO CASALS
Rarely if ever have music festivals gathered together such a stellar array of names as those in Prades and Perpignan, thanks to the glory of Casals' name and the force of nature which was Alexander Schneider. This release of the Prades Festival is rarely heard and contains the most stunning performances of the Brandenburg Concertos, together with items from The Musical Offering. All are now of course in very fine, up-to-date sound. And to hear Marcel Mule in the Second Concerto will certainly delight all saxophone players!

Soloists include Schneider himself, Marcel Tabuteau, John Wummer, Paul Tortelier, Bernard Goldberg, Eugene Istomin and Joseph Szigeti. Casals conducts the Prades Festival Orchestra.

Volumes II and III follow in September and October.
Volume I Bar code: 7 27031 02002 8

The Perpignan Festival recordings may be heard on GEMS 0167, 0168, 0174 - all 2 CD sets - and GEM 0175
Next catalogue numbers will be new releases