Covering recordings from July 1956 to July 1961, here are early stereo spectaculars on Mercury, under the inspired baton of Antal Doráti: classic albums of Haydn, Tchaikovsky, Stravinsky and many more in a new 'Original Jackets' Limited Edition.

Eloquence has been making a systematic and critically acclaimed survey of the Mercury legacy of recordings made by the Hungarian conductor Antal Doráti. Boxes of his complete recordings with the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra and the Philharmonia Hungarica have revived albums from the 1950s and 60s which set new standards for lifelike sound and intensely engaged performances in the recording studio.

Volume 1 of Doráti's London recordings covers sessions from July 1956 to July 1961. Conductor and orchestra met for an intensive fortnight each year after the end of the concert season. Both the conductor and the Mercury engineers were demanding in their pursuit of perfection. The repertoire for these Mercury sessions in London played to Doráti's strengths.

Volume 1 includes library versions of music by Rimsky-Korsakov, Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker and Stravinsky's Firebird. Symphonies by Haydn (nos. 45, 100 & 101) and Mozart (no.40) are rhythmic and stylish. Anthologies of Verdi and Wagner orchestral music from operas tap into Doráti's theatrical strengths, no less than ballet scores by Khachaturian (Gayaneh) and Copland (Appalachian Spring and Billy the Kid).

A powerful meeting of minds is achieved with the pianist Byron Janis in the standard-setting Rachmaninov Third Piano Concerto, with the violinist Henryk Szeryng in Brahms and the cellist János Starker in Dvořák.

Unique to this new collection is the first official CD release of Dvořák's Carnival Overture.

"This disc should give delight to Handelians who place colour and subtlety above the occasional drabness of scholastic monochrome." - Gramophone, April 1960 (Handel)

"Fastidiously prepared ... well prepared and sensibly paced ... to say that the thrilling finale [of no.100] is supercharged is an understatement." - Gramophone, December 2020 (Haydn)

"This Firebird is really alive, and it pecks hard! ... It still sounds ridiculously good ... a riveting performance." - Gramophone, January 2024 (Stravinsky)

"Szeryng's playing all through has unusual distinction. His tone is pure, his intonation faultless, his control of the bow miraculous ... This is a quite unusually expressive performance." - Gramophone, April 1963 (Brahms - Violin Concerto)

"Dorati, as usual, never fails to make the maximum effect from every instrumental line in the score ... Starker's feeling for this work and his great technique are well known." - Gramophone, April 1963 (Dvořák - Cello Concerto)