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This is an interesting record, for it introduces us to one of Janacek's earliest compositions, the Suite for Strings composed in 1877, when he was 23 years old. It is hardly characteristic of the Janacek we know—I doubt whether many people would get the right answer if it were made the subject...

Apart from Loibner's routine rendering of the Second Hungarian Rhapsody, which is not very well recorded, this is a most satisfying Liszt concert. Van Otterloo brings a vital sensitivity and a strong structural sense to bear on Hungaria (not otherwise available), making that rather diffuse work...

Sawallisch takes a very dynamic view of the Italian Symphony, reminding us that Mendelssohn was, after all, a contemporary of Berlioz. The first and last movements are whipped along at a spanking speed, with plenty of fierce accents; in the more lyrical music, there isn't much repose, and this is...

Reading some reviews in an American record magazine the other day I noticed a comrrient that "the Berlin Philharmonic is a far better orchestra than the London Symphony". Without arguing about that I want to make the point that what the critic should have said was that the Berlin Philharmonic...