Johanna Martzy’s legendary 1954-55 English Columbia recordings of Bach’s complete Sonatas and Partitas for solo violin return in this major new Pristine XR remastering. Long treasured by collectors, these performances combine grave concentration, tonal beauty and extraordinary structural command, with the great D minor Chaconne standing at the heart of the set.

The original recordings have often sounded dull, veiled and burdened by hum, thumps, clicks and surface noise. This new restoration transforms the listening experience, opening out the tone and bringing Martzy’s violin into far clearer focus while preserving the essential mono character of the Abbey Road recordings. One of the great Bach violin cycles now speaks with renewed presence and immediacy.

To mark Gustav Mahler’s 166th birthday on 7 July, we are offering 10% off all Mahler recordings for one week. The discount is applied automatically at checkout, covering our full Mahler catalogue, from Mengelberg, Walter and Klemperer to Horenstein, Boult and more.

This week’s new release brings together János Starker’s celebrated 1957-59 Columbia recordings of Bach’s six Suites for Solo Cello. These are performances of extraordinary discipline, clarity and physical presence: Bach not as distant monument, but as living sound, shaped by bow, string, wood and breath. Starker’s playing is lean, articulate and intensely alive, with each dance, prelude and sarabande given its own distinctive weight and movement.

The original recordings have been newly XR remastered by Andrew Rose, with Ambient Stereo processing applied to the earlier mono material, while the later true stereo recordings have been preserved and remastered as such. The result is a striking transformation, opening the sound and bringing the listener much closer to the cello itself: the grain of the bow, the resonance of the instrument, and the remarkable authority of Starker’s Bach.

Also this week, to mark the anniversary of Alfred Cortot’s death on 15 June 1962, we are offering 10% off all Pristine recordings featuring the legendary French pianist. Cortot remains one of the most compelling and individual pianists on record: poetic, volatile, visionary, and never merely correct.

This week we continue Franz Konwitschny’s 1959 Covent Garden Ring cycle with Wagner’s Die Walküre, broadcast by the BBC from the Royal Opera House on 23 September 1959. Astrid Varnay, Hans Hotter, Ramón Vinay and Amy Shuard head a remarkable cast in the emotional heart of the cycle, where myth gives way to human conflict, compassion and sacrifice.

Konwitschny’s conducting brings theatrical urgency, dramatic pressure and a keen sense of balance between stage and pit, while the BBC’s 1959 broadcast sound preserves a vivid sense of Covent Garden in performance. Pristine’s Ambient Stereo XR remastering opens out the original recording with warmth, depth and presence, allowing this great live Walküre to speak with renewed immediacy.

We also mark Igor Stravinsky’s birthday this week with 10% off all Stravinsky recordings in the Pristine catalogue. The discount is active and automatic at checkout, covering a wide range of historic Stravinsky performances, from the great Russian ballets to recordings conducted by Stravinsky himself.