Alfred Deller was a musical pioneer. His career as an acclaimed countertenor, pioneering conductor, and inveterate scholar was a major force behind renewed interest in renaissance and baroque music, and shaped the early years of the movement toward authentic performance practice. His partnership with producer Seymour Solomon from the years 1952 to 1967 yielded an astounding fifty LP releases on the Vanguard label, including many recording premieres.

In 2008, Musical Concepts released the first of six thematically compiled volumes in its edition, including a CD-R with extensive annotation and complete original liner notes.

Click here to visit Musical Concepts' Alfred Deller mini-site, including the complete edition's programs and liner notes (opens in a new window or tab). Click below for information on buying or downloading  individual sets on Musical Concepts and single CDs on Alto.

Nearly a decade and a half after his death, Sviatoslav Richter garners a reputation as one of the greatest pianists in history, and one of the most popular of classical recording artists. He recorded for every major label and a huge roster of eastern European and independent American and western European labels; the proliferation of live recordings, authorized and otherwise, that have been released have resulted in the largest commercially-released recorded legacy of any classical pianist.

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Olympia Records released a series of compact discs in partnership with Soviet publisher Mezhdunarodnaya Kniga featuring live performances by Richter of many of his own favorite works for solo piano. Released in limited circulation, these recordings became some of the most sought-after of Richter's recordings. In partnership wit Olympia, Alto has made many of these discs available again — premium music-making in excellent sound at a bargain price.

In late 2009, Musical Concepts released the first authorized edition of "Richter in Spoleto", originally released as 2 LPs on Turnabout in the late 1960s and out of print for nearly three decades, remastered from archival tapes in greatly improved sound.

Click below for information on buying or downloading  individual Richter discs on Musical Concepts and Alto.

In case you missed it: watch violinist Miranda Cuckson playing one of Michael Hersch's 14 Pieces for violin after Primo Levi.

If you're familiar with Jed Distler as one of the most engaging music writers and radio hosts in the United States, you might be surprised to learn he is also "an altogether extraordinary pianist" (Newark Star-Ledger) and New York's “Downtown keyboard magus" (The New Yorker).

Vanguard Classics' pioneering Mahler Symphony cycle, the first to make these monumental works available on LP at a value price, returns to the catalogue on Musical Concepts.

Musical Concepts returns this landmark recording series featuring the Utah Symphony conducted by early Mahler champion Maurice Abravanel to the catalogue – at an unbeatable bargain price.
Click here for more information.
Click here to visit the Mahler mini-site, including background information and original liner notes by Jack Diether, Martin Bookspan, and others.