#NowSpinning Gilels and Reiner with Tchaikovsky’s First Piano Concerto. What a propulsive, yet sensitive performance this is!

Dvořak’s Seventh Symphony was premiered on 22 April 1885. Tovey didn’t hold back his praise; he said: “along with the four Brahms symphonies and Schubert's Ninth, it is among the greatest and purest examples in this art-form since Beethoven'. What are your favourite recordings?

Vaughan Williams’ Sixth Symphony was premiered by Adrian Boult and the BBCSO on 21 April 1948. After speculation about its ‘meaning’, RVW famously said 'It never seems to occur to people that a man might just want to write a piece of music'. What are your favourite recordings?

Conductor Sir John Eliot Gardiner was born on 20 April 1943. Before beginning his short-lived career as a boxer, Jeggy ceaselessly promoted historically-informed techniques and produced an extraordinarily wide- ranging discography. What are your favourite JEG recordings?

Conductor Giuseppe Sinopoli died on 20 April 2001. He suffered a heart attack during a performance of Verdi’s Aida at the Deutsche Oper Berlin. Sinopoli’s recorded legacy divides opinion, but there are some phenomenal gems. What are your favourite Sinopoli recordings?

#NowSpinning Heifetz and Reiner with Brahms’ Violin Concerto. A classic performance, but I haven’t heard it for a long time.

#NowSpinning Reiner’s RCA Eroica. I have never heard this performance, which is n excellent mono. Most discs in this box are in stunning early stereo, but this is more than listenable.

#NowSpinning Another masterwork of British music. Vaughan Williams’ Fantasia on a Theme of Thomas Tallis. Constantin Silvestri’s performance was chosen for this set, and a VERY fine performance it is, too.