The BR-KLASSIK label is now taking the 75th anniversary of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra (BRSO) in 2024 as an opportunity to make previously unreleased recordings of concerts that are worth listening to available on CD and as a stream for the first time. Hector Berlioz's passionate "Symphonie fantastique", the almost revolutionary symphonic masterpiece by the great French composer, was performed by Colin Davis with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra at Munich’s Philharmonie im Gasteig on January 15 and 16, 1987.

The late Sir Colin Davis and the London Symphony Orchestra present a collection of Haydn’s expressive and resplendent London Symphonies alongside the spirited and melodic Oxford Symphony.

The late Sir Colin Davis and the London Symphony Orchestra present a collection of Haydn’s expressive and resplendent London Symphonies alongside the spirited and melodic Oxford Symphony.

This is Colin Davis' third recording of Hector Berlioz's great oratorio and it may be the best. Under his baton, the music flows without undue haste or stodgy piety. Berlioz was a consummate dramatist, even in this uncharacteristic work that often hearkens back to archaic musical forms to evoke the Biblical story. The singers are all outstanding, especially tenor Yann Beuron as the Narrator, whose pure tones and sincere delivery bring continuity to the tripartite structure. Karen Cargill as Mary and William Dazeley as Joseph bring welcome interpretive simplicity to their roles, while Matthew Rose and Peter Rose bring their ample bass instruments to such key roles such as Herod and the Householder. The LSO always plays at its best for Davis, and here it is a major attraction given the extensive orchestral sections of L'enfance du Christ.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart wrote at least five violin concertos between 1773 and 1776 in Salzburg, Austria, most likely for his own use as concertmaster of the Archbishop of Salzburg's orchestra.

When Henry Purcell wrote his one and only opera "Dido and Aeneas" in the second half of the seventeenth century, there was no existing opera tradition in England. With a libretto based on Virgil’s Aeneid and its music stylistically close to and derived from the typically English ‘Masque’ form, Purcell created a monumental baroque opera. On this 1970 multi-channel Philips Classics recording, Dido is interpreted by soprano Josephine Veasey. The Academy of St Martin in the Fields and the John Alldis choir are conducted by Sir Colin Davis. The recording has been remastered in 2015 and is now re-released in Pentatones’s Remastered Classics series, which finally gives it the chance to expose its magnificent sound quality.