This early gem from the collection opens with the stately elegance of the 3rd movement, showcasing Brain’s effortless virtuosity.
A rare moment, lovingly preserved. Have a listen:
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Posts by ICA Classics | Live Historical Classical Music | Record Label
Today’s pick from the Richard Itter archive? A slice of horn-playing heaven. 📯
Dennis Brain — the legendary British horn player — in Mozart’s Horn Concerto No.2, recorded live in 1953 and captured at home by Richard Itter.
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Lovingly restored and released by ICA Classics, these once-lost performances are now available on CD and your favourite streaming platforms 🎵
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...preserving legendary performances that were never commercially released.
The Itter Broadcast Collection includes concerts, operas, Proms, and premieres, featuring artists like Myra Hess, Klemperer, Boult, and Dennis Brain — capturing the sound of a golden era in British music-making.
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Ever wished you could hear iconic live BBC performances from the 1950s onwards?
Thanks to Richard Itter — music lover, reel-to-reel tape enthusiast, and founder of Lyrita — now you can.
From the early 1950s through to the 1990s, he privately recorded over 1,500 BBC broadcasts at home...
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He did, however, offer an unusual and enigmatic explanation for how he envisioned the creative process behind one of his masterworks.
This recording is conducted by Jascha Horenstein, a friend of Nielsen.
The full version is out now on the ICA Classics label.
oh.lnk.to/HorensteinSh...
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Danish composer Carl Nielsen’s 5th Symphony is often assumed to be a work deeply influenced by the horrors of the First World War in Europe, though Nielsen tentatively denied this.
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It's rare that conductor & composer get to directly collaborate.
But, in the case of conductor Jascha Horenstein & composer Carl Nielsen, the renowned artists knew each other well & worked together to bring Nielsen's compositions to life.
Here, Horenstein recounts his memories of Nielsen's charm.
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🎧 Shostakovich & Nielsen – Horenstein
CD + streaming now.
@royalphilorchestra.bsky.social / New @philharmonialondon.bsky.social
Remastered by Paul Baily
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He first took on Nielsen’s Fifth in the 1920s while assisting Furtwängler — with Nielsen himself at the rehearsals.
This release captures not just the music, but the stories behind it.
**Includes a bonus interview with Horenstein and Deryck Cooke**
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Two landmark symphonies. One conductor who knew them both.
Shostakovich’s explosive First. Nielsen’s radical Fifth. Both conducted by Jascha Horenstein in live BBC broadcasts — out today on ICA Classics.
Horenstein met Shostakovich in the 1930s and performed his music throughout his life.
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Pre-save the album now so you’re ready to listen first thing Friday!
Can't wait? Listen now:
Shostakovich - Symphony No. 1 in F minor, Op. 10: II. Allegro
@royalphilorchestra.bsky.social, conducted by Jascha Horenstein
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What were you doing at 18?
Shostakovich was writing a symphony that would launch his career.
Conducted by the so-called "wandering minstrel" Jascha Horenstein, you can read Audiophile Audition's review of our new release, featuring works by Shostakovich & Nielsen - out 20th June.
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🎬 Whether you're waving a flag or watching from home, we hope you've enjoyed our daily vintage pairings. Thanks for joining us!
What’s been your highlight of the series?
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Filmed live, this Viennese waltz brings elegance, sparkle, and just the right dose of nostalgia.
💿 Part of Viennese Night at the BBC Proms, alongside Strauss favourites and charming operetta excerpts, conducted by Walter Susskind, János Fürst and James Loughran.
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Vintage Prom – Day 55: A Viennese farewell
It’s the Last Night of our Vintage Proms – the final post in our series!
We’re wrapping things up with a nod to tradition and celebration: Franz Lehár’s Gold und Silber, as performed at the BBC Proms in the 1970s.
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🎬 Available from ICA Classics, the release pairs Don Juan with Beethoven’s 5th Symphony and an electrifying Wagner overture — plus bonus rehearsal footage and a John Culshaw interview.
It’s the penultimate day of our Vintage Proms series — if you could watch one conductor rehearse, who would it be?
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Richard Strauss’s Don Juan is a showpiece of orchestral flair and virtuosity. This rare footage of Sir Georg Solti in rehearsal offers a glimpse of the intensity, precision, and charisma he brought to the podium.
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Vintage Prom – Day 54: Solti rehearses Strauss
We’re nearly at the end of our Vintage Proms series — and today, we’re going behind the scenes.
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📺 Just 3 days to go in our Vintage Proms series — if you could sit in on any conductor’s performance, who would you choose?
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For today’s vintage pairing, we rewind to Charles Munch and the Boston Symphony Orchestra, filmed at Sanders Theatre, Harvard, in 1961. Their performance brims with warmth and rhythmic lift — a joyful moment from Munch’s final years in Boston.
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Vintage Prom – Day 53: Munch conducts Brahms’s Symphony No. 2
Brahms once described his Second Symphony as “all blue sky, babbling streams, sunshine and cool green shade.” It’s the centrepiece of an upcoming Prom with Ilan Volkov and the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra.
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Long lines, glowing orchestral colour, and a finale that radiates hard-won joy.
Only four more days to go in our vintage Proms series — what’s been your highlight so far?
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For today’s vintage post, we turn to Evgeny Svetlanov, a conductor who considered Rachmaninov his favourite composer. This 1993 live performance with the Philharmonia Orchestra at the Royal Festival Hall was released for the first time by ICA Classics — and it’s Svetlanov at his most impassioned.
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Vintage Prom – Day 52: Svetlanov conducts Rachmaninov’s 2nd Symphony
This season’s Proms features one of the ultimate Romantic symphonies — Rachmaninov’s 2nd. Lush, sweeping, & emotionally unguarded, it closes a concert that includes Shostakovich’s Cello Concerto No. 1 & music by Lili Boulanger.
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Munch wasn’t known for his Mozart — but his flair, poise, and rhythmic energy make this a standout. BSO principal flautist Doriot Anthony Dwyer said of him: “He did everything well.”
Just five more days to go in our ICA Proms series…
Do you prefer your Mozart lean and lithe — or grand and glowing?
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For today’s vintage post, we go back to the 1950s with Charles Munch and the Boston Symphony Orchestra, filmed at Harvard’s Sanders Theatre and released decades later by ICA Classics on DVD.
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Vintage Prom – Day 51: Munch conducts Mozart’s ‘Prague’ Symphony
Mozart’s Symphony No. 38, the grand, spacious ‘Prague’, features in the Proms as part of the Vienna Philharmonic’s visit. A work full of operatic brilliance & bold invention, it was written for one of Mozart’s most devoted audiences.
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