- Strauss: Four Last Songs with soprano Lisa Della Casa
- Karl Böhm conducting the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra
- rec. at the Grosser Saal, Musikverein, Vienna, June 1953
- Decca Eclipse ECM 778. Listen here.
- Peter Pears in the title role of Britten’s Peter Grimes
- From Act II, Scene II: “In dreams I’ve a built a kindlier home” Benjamin Britten conducting soloists and the Chorus and Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden
- rec. at Walthamstow Assembly Hall, London, Dec 1958
- Decca LXT 5674
- Dame Edith Evans & Sir John Gielgud perform Congreve
- Congreve: The Way of the World, Act IV, from “Positively, Mirabelle….” to “…dwindle into a wife”
- > rec. at Studio No. 3, Abbey Road, London, Sept/Oct 1954
- Columbia 33CX 1384
- George Malcolm plays “Flight of the Bumble Bee”
- Rimsky-Korsakov (arr. Malcolm): “Flight of the Bumble Bee”, from The Tale of Tsar Saltan
- rec. at West Hampstead Studio No. 1, London, March 1960
- Decca CEP 5502 (7″ 45 rpm EP). Listen here.
- Oistrakh plays Shostakovich’s Violin Concerto No. 1
- Shostakovich: Violin Concerto No. 1 in A minor Op. 99, with Dimitri Mitropoulos conducting the NYPO
- rec. at Carnegie Hall, New York on 2 January 1956
- Philips ABL 3101. Listen here.
- Fischer-Dieskau sings the Intermezzo from Liederkreis
- Schumann: Intermezzo, from Liederkreis Op. 39, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, baritone & Gerald Moore, piano
- rec. Studio No. 3, Abbey Road, London, on 10 March 1954
- HMV BLP 1068 (10″ LP). Listen here.
- Peter Sellers: “Suddenly it’s Folk Song”
- “Suddenly it’s Folk Song”, from The Best of Peter Sellers, Peter Sellers with orchestra conducted by Ron Goodwin
- rec. at Abbey Road, London, in October 1958
- Parlophone PMD 1069. Listen here.
Jennifer Vyvyan’s Favorite of her 8 selections
- “Scave sia il vento” – the Act I trio from Mozart’s opera Così fan tutte.
- Elisabeth Schwarzkopf (soprano), Nan Merriman (mezzo-soprano), Sesto Brus- cantini (baritone), Herbert von Karajan / Philharmonia
- rec. at Kingsway Hall and Abbey Road Studios, London, in July & November 1954
- Columbia 33CX 1262/1264 (3 LP Set). Listen here.
More history on the “Desert Island Discs” program and pictures in Issue 6 – available in your subscriber account – on page 160.