released January 28, 2024

Tracks 1-3: Grieg: Piano Concerto in A minor
Track 1: Movt 1: Allegro molto moderato
Track 2: Movt 2: Adagio
Track 3: Movt 3: Allegro moderato molto e marcato
Earl Wild, piano

Tracks 4-6: Mendelssohn: Violin Concerto in E minor
Track 4: Movt 1: Allegro molto appassionato
Track 5: Movt 2: Andante
Track 6: Movt 3: Allegretto non troppo; Allegro molto vivace
Hyman Bress, violin

Track 7: Wagner: Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg (The Mastersingers of Nuremburg): Overture

Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
Rene Leibowitz, conductor

Producer: Charles Gerhardt
Recording engineer: Kenneth Wilkinson

Recorded in Kingsway Hall. London, by the Reader's Digest Association, and released in 1963 as disc 5 (Grieg, Mendelssohn) of the 12 disc set Treasury of Great Music.

The Wagner Overture to Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg (The Mastersingers of Nuremburg) was also recorded by Reader's Digest. It was not included within the Treasury of Great Music and is offered here as a bonus item.

The Reader's Digest 12 disc box set 'Treasury of Great Music', released in the United Kingdom in 1963, was masterminded and produced by Charles Gerhardt. It's aim was to bring together outstanding international conductors, leading soloists, and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in core classical music repertoire, recorded to the highest standards of the day in a twelve disc set of long playing records. The set was marketed to subscribers of the Reader's Digest magazine, then a significant number.

A decade or so later some of the individual issues were released at mid-price by RCA, in effect their first public appearance, to great critical acclaim. During the CD era elements of the set reappeared on a variety of labels including Reader's Digest, but the set as a whole has never been reissued since its first publication.

CRQ Editions intends to release the set in stages, to make the complete set ultimately available as it was originally conceived.

A scan of the lavish booklet produced to accompany the first publication of the set in the United Kingdom in 1963 may be downloaded from:
crqeditions.co.uk/acquire.php?file=K8lPz9UrSEkDAA==

A biography of Charles Gerhardt may be found at:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Gerhardt_(conductor)

A biography of Rene Leibowitz may be found at:
www.naxos.com/Bio/Person/Rene_Leibowitz/21709

A biography of Earl Wild may be found at:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earl_Wild

A biography of Hyman Bress may be found at:
pronetoviolins.blogspot.com/2011/04/bress.html

Information about the works presented here may be found at wikipedia:
www.wikipedia.org