As a life-long fan of Williams' film music, I have only recently discovered his more "serious" pieces. Like many versatile composers before him (think Korngold, Waxman, etc.), Williams is able to function in both worlds, writing rousing, effective scores and introspective, yet extremely dynamic works for concerto and orchestra.

Following the "Band Aid" initiative of Bob Geldof, we approached Lorin Maazel two and a half years ago to ask him to organise a big classical music event with prestigious artists. He accepted without hesitation and quickly became the moving spirit behind "Classic Aid."

I believe this was Previn's first recording with the London Symphony, back in 1965. This period yielded a bumper crop of fine recordings with this team, including Nielsen's First Symphony, Scheherazade, and Tchaikovsky's Second Symphony. This is as fine a Shostakovich Fifth as I have ever heard. […]

Tjeknavorian is terrific in this admirable tour de force along the most representative works of this unforgettable colorist composer Aram Katchaturian (1905-1978). I thought that the last word in The Suite Gayaneh came from an old vynil recording of Efrem Kurtz the New York Philarmonic in those fifties, but I still remember how wondered I was when I listened this version thanks to a friend who love the Russian music. […]
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