Reviews

It is with much gratitude and pleasure that I welcome this excellent transfer… a musically very important CD. Strongly recommended.

A unique historical document, lovingly and beautifully restored

I have enjoyed this version, mainly for the committed string playing… Decent sound and excellent presentation have enhanced my pleasure.

a very welcome and well-filled CD. [Two of the major works] are an only recording, making this collection extremely valuable for collectors and students of this composer. The Five Studies was, I believe, Paul Badura-Skoda’s first recording, so there is much of importance in this CD. Strongly recommended.

a fascinating and valuable collection… all very nicely transferred. Well worth investigating.

an excellent Milhaud anthology… an imaginative collection in superbly restored sound

This collection of less familiar pieces is welcome. There is much that is enjoyable… the compelling reason to purchase the disc is the Protée Suite [which] for sheer bacchic mayhem is unsurpassed. Divine Art is to be commended for their selection of works and the care taken with their restoration

⭐️⭐️⭐️ (outstanding)

a very welcome offering… splendidly vigorous performance of the Second Symphonic Suite… good notes by Stephen Sutton and Andrew Rose [restoration engineer] has done an excellent job.

a disc packed full with a connoisseur’s selection of historic recordings. The no-nonsense sound shows the sort of attentive and skilled remastering that makes Divine Art’s vintage Sibelius symphonies disc such a refreshing experience. This is a distinctive entry in the Milhaud lists…more please, Divine Art.

I almost feel guilty in declaring this to be one of the finest and most interesting discs I have yet received for review

A blistering first performance of Moeran’s symphony is a classic of the gramophone… Andrew Rose has achieved impressively full-bodied and refined results (surface noise is remarkably low)… magnificent recording… a truly wonderful account of the String Trio

A fine conspectus… vocal, instrumental and symphonic. These are all classic performances. [The sound]… is much more immediate than Dutton’s rather more occluded sound. Divine Art’s work has subtly re-aligned the orchestral sonority. The strings are warmer whereas with EMI… the strings can sound rather shrill and tonally starved.

An unexpected delight – the engineer has made a fine job of restoring these historical treasures

The main work is [the Symphony] in a 1926 performance of passion, fire and ferocity. This is an extremely valuable disc, both historically and for the incredible performances on it.

Divine Art’s Historic Sound series is turning out to be a real corker. {The Symphony} was available before on a Dutton CD but Pristine Audio’s new transfer has added a little more clarity to the sonic picture. The String Trio… cannot be better interpreted. The sound is very good indeed. Highly recommended.

a particularly attractive CD… a nice record not just for collectors. Heward’s account of the Symphony is indeed definitive

[The music] is simple, slow-moving, making its calm way forward in straightforward melodic lines. Reliable performances, good sound.

fascinating.. the singing is excellent.. the acoustic and engineering first class. .overall a disc worth buying for the singing alone

Exceptionally well performed and recorded