Our final release of the year turns the spotlight on the unjustly forgotten Sir Dan Godfrey in a revelatory performance of Vaughan Williams’ A London Symphony, recorded in 1925 using the composer’s expanded 1920 score with the London Symphony Orchestra. This passionate, committed reading reveals a far more serious and profound musician than Godfrey’s later “pops” reputation might suggest.

Among the very finest achievements of the acoustic era, the sound has extraordinary presence and impact, beautifully restored by Mark Obert-Thorn. Partnered with Godfrey’s earliest electrical recordings of Debussy and Dvořák, the release invites a fresh appreciation of a conductor who played a crucial role in the shaping of British musical life.

We also celebrate Puccini's birthday with a 10% discount on all his music at Pristine all this week. 

Sir Thomas Beecham’s 1959 Messiah is one of the most striking reimaginings of Handel ever committed to record. Working with Sir Eugene Goossens’s richly coloured, full-symphonic orchestration, Beecham transforms Handel’s oratorio into a sweeping musical drama that glows with energy, grandeur and unmistakable personality. The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorus perform at their zenith, with a luxury quartet of soloists — Jennifer Vyvyan, Monica Sinclair, Jon Vickers and Giorgio Tozzi — delivering interpretations as bold and vibrant as the orchestral palette behind them.

Beautifully restored by Pristine, this release allows modern listeners to experience Messiah exactly as Beecham conceived it: opulent, theatrical, unapologetically imaginative and utterly unlike any other version. Whether you cherish Handel’s masterpiece or are discovering this legendary reinterpretation for the first time, Beecham’s Messiah offers a thrilling encounter with a score reborn — a vivid reminder that great music thrives not only in tradition but in inspired reinvention.

We also celebrate Beethoven's 255th birthday with 15% off all of his hundreds of Pristine appearances.

Artur Rodziński’s December 1938 broadcasts with the NBC Symphony capture the orchestra in its blazing early prime, recorded live from Radio City’s Studio 8H. Across two programmes he draws electrifying performances from his young ensemble, from the brilliance of Glinka’s Ruslan and Lyudmila Overture and a commanding Tchaikovsky Fifth, to the rarity of Starokadomsky’s Concerto for Orchestra and a vividly characterised Firebird Suite. A week later, Rodziński returns with an entirely new set of masterworks: Dvořák’s Eighth Symphony, Hindemith’s powerful Mathis der Maler, and a razor-sharp Till Eulenspiegel.

Pristine’s new XR and Ambient Stereo restoration reveals these performances with remarkable clarity and warmth, overcoming the bone-dry acoustic of Studio 8H and restoring a sense of space, colour and immediacy to the original acetates. Together, these two broadcasts offer a thrilling snapshot of Rodziński’s artistry and the NBC Symphony’s early brilliance, preserved at a defining moment in American musical broadcasting.

Plus we celebrate Sibelius's 160th birthday with a 20% discount on all his recordings at Pristine.