Sir John Barbirolli’s Vaughan Williams cycle with the Hallé Orchestra remains one of the great interpretive landmarks in British music. These four symphonies, recorded between 1944 and 1957, reveal a conductor who understood Vaughan Williams instinctively and an orchestra shaped perfectly to his vision. From the wartime serenity of the Fifth to the haunting glacial landscapes of the Sinfonia Antarctica, the performances carry an emotional depth that still astonishes.

The later stereo recordings of the London and Eighth Symphonies add new colour and impact, showcasing the Hallé’s warmth and precision at their finest. Presented here in newly restored sound, this double-CD set captures a partnership defined by trust, character and deep musical insight. A major release for anyone who values Barbirolli, Vaughan Williams or simply great orchestral storytelling.

PLUS: all this week save 20% on everything here at Pristine in our 20th anniversary Black Friday sale - automatic discounts galore!

Pristine continues its centenary salute to the dawn of electrical recording with a landmark release: Felix Weingartner’s pioneering 1925 Symphonie Fantastique. These sessions, wrapped up exactly a century ago, produced what appears to be the first Classical electrical recording ever issued by English Columbia. Usually cast as a cool Beethovenian Classicist, Weingartner reveals a wilder Romantic streak here, shaping Berlioz’s fevered score with a flexibility and fire that might surprise even long-time admirers. The cramped Petty France studio and early-electric limitations are very real, but so is the sheer electricity of the performance. 

The Fantastique is joined by the conductor’s only other Berlioz recording, the punchy Trojan March, captured in far better sonics fourteen years later, plus two Liszt tone poems – Les Préludes and the Mephisto Waltz No. 1 – recorded at the close of Weingartner’s long career with no loss of energy or precision. Together they chart not only the arc of a remarkable musician but also the seismic shift brought about by early electrical recordings, which raised orchestral standards worldwide. These new transfers draw on the finest surviving Columbia pressings and bring fresh clarity to performances that helped redefine how the world listened.

We also celebrate the 125th anniversary of Arthur Sullivan with a 15% discount on all his music at Pristine.

Enrique Jordá’s 1959 recording of Falla’s El sombrero de tres picos returns in sparkling new restoration, bursting with the rhythmic heat and vivid colour that made him one of the great interpreters of Spanish music. Conducting the London Symphony Orchestra, Jordá brings irresistible bite to Falla’s flamenco-charged dances and a painterly glow to the score’s sunlit lyricism — a performance that still dances off the page more than six decades on.

Paired with other gems from Jordá’s Spanish repertoire - Albéniz, Granados, Turina - this release celebrates a conductor whose instinctive feel for pulse, atmosphere and drama made these works truly sing. It’s vibrant, characterful, and unmistakably Iberian — the perfect invitation into Falla’s world of humour, passion and sheer orchestral brilliance.

We also celebrate Aaron Copland's 125th birthday this week with an automatic 15% off all his recordings at Pristine.