Audio Samples

We have serious doubts about the value of on-line sound clips that are only seconds long and, even then, have poor sound that cannot do justice to the performance. We also just loathe ‘bleeding chunks’: those intensely irritating chopped-off or faded-out excerpts.

If you have a broadband connection, there is no need for such compromises. Please click on one of the links below to hear a near-CD-quality (128kbs or 160kbs) MP3 file of a complete work, or at least a complete movement, recorded during one of our recent concerts. You can save this file on your computer and play it on Windows Media Player (or, of course, a dedicated MP3 player). We hope it will make you want to join our audiences.

Even if you don’t have broadband, you can hear the same high-quality sound if you are willing to spend some minutes downloading each MP3 file before you play it. To do this, right-click on the link and choose 'Save Target As...', saving the file to any convenient folder. If you activate the link using a normal left-click, your computer may ask you whether you want to play the file (using Windows Media Player, for example), and you must say "No" because the data will not be arriving fast enough to be played as it downloads. Instead, choose the option "Save file to disk", again selecting a convenient folder. Once the file has been downloaded, you can disconnect from the Internet and play the file at any time by double-clicking on its name to play it.

Mozart: The Magic Flute (Overture)
(Running time 7 min 27 sec / File size 7.0 MB / 11th March 2006 / Copyright 2006 FCO, David Lardi)

Brahms: Serenade No 1 in D (Minuets I and II)
(Running time 3 min 46 sec / File size 2.6 MB / 16th November 2002 / Copyright 2002 FCO, David Lardi)

Glinka: Ruslan and Lyudmila (Overture)
(Running time 6 min 23 sec / File size 6.0 MB / 13th July 2002 / Copyright 2002 FCO, David Lardi)

Fauré: Masques et Bergamasques (I. Ouverture)
(Running time 3 min 57 sec / File size 4.6 MB / 19th May 2007 / Copyright 2007 FCO, David Lardi)

Fauré: Masques et Bergamasques (II. Menuet)
(Running time 2 min 34 sec / File size 3.0 MB / 19th May 2007 / Copyright 2007 FCO, David Lardi)

Fauré: Masques et Bergamasques (III. Gavotte)
(Running time 3 min 32 sec / File size 4.1 MB / 19th May 2007 / Copyright 2007 FCO, David Lardi)

Fauré: Masques et Bergamasques (IV. Pastorale)
(Running time 4 min 55 sec / File size 5.8 MB / 19th May 2007 / Copyright 2007 FCO, David Lardi)

Click here to hear David Lardi talking to Petroc Trelawney on Radio 3
and for links to further audio files associated with that interview