ARTISTS
Pilar Lorengar, soprano º
Klaus-Jurgen Wussow, narrator º
Concertgebouw Orchestra
Wiener Philharmoniker*
London Symphony Orchestra**
George Szell

TRACKLISTING
BEETHOVEN : Beethoven: Symphony No.5 in C minor Op.67 · Complete incidental music to Egmont, Op.84º*
MENDELSSOHN : Incidental music to A Midsummer Night's Dream Op.61
TCHAIKOVSKY : Symphony No.4 in F minor, Op.36**
SCHUBERT : Incidental music to Rosamunde, D797
SIBELIUS : Symphony No.2 in D major Op.43
HANDEL : Water Music - Suite *(arr.Harty/Szell) · Il pastor fido - Minuet* (arr.Beecham) · Music for the Royal Fireworks - Suite* (arr.Harty) · Serse - Largo*
MOZART : Symphony No.34 in C major, K338
BRAHMS : Symphony No.3 in F major Op.90
DVORÁK : Symphony No.8 in G major, op.58

Legendary conductor George Szell was born in Budapest on 7 June 1897 and died in Cleveland, USA, on 29 July 1970. His conducting debut took place with the Vienna Symphony Orchestra in 1913 at the age of sixteen. Other important debuts followed and it was at the invitation of Richard Strauss that he was engaged at the Berlin Staatsoper in 1915. Further European debuts and engagements followed (including London in 1933) and in 1939 he went to the United States.

ARTISTS
Clifford Curzon piano
Members of the Amadeus Quartet
Queen's Hall Orchestra
National Symphony Orchestra (a, b)
Wiener Philharmoniker (c, f)
London Philharmonic Orchestra (d)
London Symphony Orchestra (e)
Sir Henry Wood
Boyd Neel (a)
Enrique Jorda (b)
Sir Georg Solti (c)
Sir Adrian Boult (d)
Oivin Fjeldstad (e)
Hans Knappertsbusch (f)

TRACKLISTING
SCHUBERT/LISZT: Wanderer Fantasy
MOZART: Piano Quartet No.1 in G minor, K478 · Piano Quartet No.2 in E flat major, K493 · Piano Concerto No.23 in A major, K488
BRAHMS: Piano Concerto No.1 in D minor Op.15
TCHAIKOVSKY: Piano Concerto No.1 in B flat minor, Op.23 (c)
RACHMANINOV: Piano Concerto No.2 in C minor, Op.18 (d)
GRIEG: Piano Concerto in A minor, Op.16 (e)
BRAHMS: Piano Concerto No.2 in B flat major, Op.83 (f)
LISZT: Piano Sonata in B minor, S178 · Liebestraum No.3 in A flat, S541/3 · Valse oubliée No.1in F sharp, S215/1 · Gnomenreigen · Berceuse, S170
SCHUBERT: Impromptu in G flat major, D899 No.3 · Impromptu in A flat major, D899 no.4 · Impromptu in A flat major, D935 no.2 · Moments musicaux, D780
BEETHOVEN: 15 Variations and fugue in E flat major on an original theme 'Eroica', Op.35

The legendary English pianist Clifford Curzon has already featured twice before in ORIGINAL MASTERS in a group of recordings from the years 1941-72. Volume 1 was a winner at the Gramophone Awards in 2003 and Volume 2 was shortlisted in 2004 in the Historic Reissue category. These sets have generated a great deal of interest and have introduced many listeners to recordings long unavailable. Volume 3 brings back more recordings by this English legend of the piano world and includes Curzon's first-ever recording for Decca: Liszt's arrangement for piano and orchestra of Schubert's 'Wanderer' Fantasy. In this he is partnered by Sir Henry Wood. Other rarities include his first recording of Mozart's Piano Concerto in A, K488 (a work he would rerecord on 3 more occasions!) and his first recording of Brahms's monumental D minor Concerto (he would return to this on two subsequent occasions).

TRACKLISTING
DELIBES: Lakmé

This recording of Delibes' Lakmé features the diminutive French soprano Mado Robin. Born on 29 December 1918 she died tragically young - not quite 43 years old - on 9 December 1961.

Although Mado Robin won the Paris Concours des soprani in 1937, the outbreak of World War 2 delayed the development of her career, and it was not until 1945 that she made her debut at the Opéra as Gilda ( Rigoletto ); a year later she made her debut as Lakmé. This, her most celebrated role, was first seen on the stage of the Opéra-Comique. Her popularity in France was huge and debuts in houses abroad soon followed. At San Francisco she appeared in 1954 and sang Lucia and Gilda. It was here as Gilda that she added her 'own' high note - a B above top C!!

ARTISTS
Weller Quartet

TRACKLISTING
HAYDN : String Quartet, Op.33 No.1 in B minor, HIII:37 · String Quartet, Op.33 No.2 in E flat major, HIII:38 · String Quartet, Op.33 No.3 in C major, HIII:39 ·   String Quartet, Op.1 No.3 in D major, HIII:3 · String Quartet, Op.33 No.4 in B flat major, HIII:40 · String Quartet, Op.33 No.5 in G major, HIII:41· String Quartet, Op.33 No.6 in D major, HIII:42 · String Quartet, Op.103 in B flat major, HIII:83
BEETHOVEN : String Quartet in E flat major, Op.74 'Harp'* · String Quartet in F minor, Op.95 'Serioso'* · String Quartet in E flat major, Op.127*  
DITTERSDORF : String Quartet No.5 in E flat major*
VANHAL : String Quartet in F major*
MOZART : String Quartet in D major, K575 'Prussian No.1'* · String Quartet in F major, K590 'Prussian No.3'* · String Quartet in G major, K156*
BRAHMS : String Quartet in C minor, Op.51 No.1* · String Quartet in A minor, Op.51 No.2*
SCHUBERT : String Quintet in C major, D956 · Quartettsatz in C minor, D703
BERG : String Quartet, Op.3*
SHOSTAKOVICH : String Quartet No.10 in A flat major

The Weller String Quartet was founded by Viennese-born Walter Weller in 1959. Weller was born on 30 November 1939 and played in the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra from 1956 and from 1961-69 he was leader of the Vienna Philharmonic and the Staatsoper orchestra. He began his conducting career in 1966 and has held appointments with a number of orchestras including the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. As a conductor he had made a number of recordings for Decca including the complete Prokofiev Symphonies, Bartók Piano Concertos (with Pascal Rogé), and Rachmaninov Symphonies.

ARTISTS
Friedrich Gulda, piano
Ruggiero Ricci violin
Wiener Philharmoniker
Karl Böhm

TRACKLISTING
BEETHOVEN :
Piano Sonata No.1 in F minor, Op.2/1 · Piano Sonata No.2 in A major, Op.2/2 · Piano Sonata No.3 in C major, Op.2/3 · Piano Sonata No.4 in E flat major, Op.7 · Piano Sonata No.5 in C minor, Op.10/1 · Piano Sonata No.6 in F major, Op.10/2 · Piano Sonata No.7 in D major, Op.10/3 · Piano Sonata No.8 in C minor, Op.13 'Pathétique' · Piano Sonata No.9 in E major, Op.14/1 · Piano Sonata No.10 in G major, Op.14/2
Piano Sonata No.11 in B flat major, Op.22 · Piano Sonata No.12 in A flat major, Op.26 · Piano Sonata No.13 in E flat major, Op.27/1 · Piano Sonata No.14 in C sharp minor, Op.27/2 · Piano Sonata No.15 in D major, Op.28 'Pastoral' · Piano Sonata No.16 in G major, Op.31/1 · Piano Sonata No.17 in D minor, Op.31/2 · Piano Sonata No.18 in E flat major, Op.31/3 · Piano Sonata No.19 in G minor, Op.49/1 · Piano Sonata No.20 in G major, Op.49/2 · Piano Sonata No.21 in C major, Op.53 'Waldstein' · Piano Sonata No.22 in F major, Op.54 · Piano Sonata No.23 in F minor, Op.57 'Appassionata' · Piano Sonata No.24 in F sharp major, Op.78 · Piano Sonata No.25 in G major, Op.79 · Piano Sonata No.26 in E flat major, Op.81a 'Les Adieux' ·   Piano Sonata No.27 in E minor, Op.90 · Piano Sonata No.28 in A major, Op.101 ·   Piano Sonata No.29 in B flat major, Op.106 'Hammerklavier' · Piano Sonata No.30 in E major, Op.109 · Piano Sonata No.31 in A flat major, Op.110 · Piano Sonata No.32 in C minor, Op.111 · Sonata for Violin & Piano No.7 in C minor, Op.30/2 · Sonata for Violin & Piano No.10 in G major, Op.96 · Piano Concerto No.1 in C major, Op.15 · 15 Variations & Fugue in E flat major, Op.35 'Eroica' · Bagatelles, Op.126/2 & 3

16 May 2005 marked the 75th anniversary of the birth of Viennese-born pianist Friedrich Gulda.

As an interpreter of the classical repertoire Gulda performed a wide range of music by Mozart, Haydn, Schubert and Beethoven, as well as works by Bach, Chopin and Debussy. In his early career Gulda toured extensively with the complete cycle of Beethoven sonatas.

Gulda's recordings for Decca are dominated by his complete cycle of Beethoven sonatas - a project which occupied him throughout the 1950s. He also recorded a number of works by Debussy including the Suite bergamasque, Pour le piano and both books of Préludes (between 1953 and 1957); Ravel is also represented with recordings of the Sonatine, Gaspard de la nuit , and the Valses nobles et sentimentales . During the early 1970s Gulda extended his Beethoven discography when he recorded the Beethoven concertos with Horst Stein.

As Gulda's interest in jazz developed he became something of a controversial figure in the classical world and this was extended even further with his unconventional performances of such things as Mozart on the clavichord, and the employment of electronic devices in his interpretations of 'core' repertory. Gulda's vision of combining a whole variety of elements in his quest for a total work of art even went so far as to include his appearance on stage naked on several occasions. In the later years of his career he also worked extensively with Chick Corea.