A fairly broad selection of winners this month, with instrumental, chamber, concerto, solo vocal, choral and operatic discs all featuring as Editor's Choices. It's also a very wide spread in terms of eras, stretching from the second volume of Monteverdi's Madrigals from Les Arts Florissants right up to Harrison Birtwistle's oratorio Angel Fighter and Arvo Pärt's Te Deum.
Also making the cut are Javier Perianes' Grieg Piano Concerto with the BBCSO, Christiane Karg's selection of dramatic scenes with Arcangelo and others - and Disc of the Month is Alina Ibragimova's stunning account of Ysaÿe's six solo sonatas (and you can read David's interview with her about this disc here).
Recording of the Month
Ysaÿe: Six Sonatas for solo violin Op. 27
Alina Ibragimova
'Ibragimova has made many fine recordings in recent years, but this solo Ysaye disc must count as one of her most memorable achievements...she takes her place now as one of the most distinguished exponents of these fascinating works.”'
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
Editor's Choices
Grieg, Hough, Mendelssohn: Cello Sonatas
Steven Isserlis, Stephen Hough
'everywhere their reading [of the Grieg] glints with conviction...Isserlis is matchless in the way he tugs at the simple melody to heart-rending effect...[The Hough is] unafraid to breathe an air of nostalgia...but the results are refreshingly personal.'
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
Grieg: Piano Concerto & Lyric Pieces
Javier Perianes, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Sakari Oramo
'Perianes's performance is of such a fearless and arresting brilliance that it virtually erases memories of the past... you may well find yourself falling in love and in awe all over again with this evergreen Romantic masterpiece.”'
Available format: Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
Gasparini: Il Bajazet
Auser Musici, Carlo Ipata
'Ipata conducts with a thoughtful ear for detailed phrasing and Auser Musici provide graceful orchestral playing...The set is essential for anyone wanting to better understand the course material that inspired Handel's genius.'
Available format: Download & Streaming (up to 88.2 kHz, 24 bit)
Scene!
Christiane Karg, Arcangelo, Jonathan Cohen
'Throughout, Karg holds vocal finesse and expressive intensity in near-ideal equipoise...Singing with style, grace and fiery temperament, Karg brings each of these distraught heroines excitingly, individually alive.'
Available format: CD
Monteverdi Madrigali, Vol. 2 – Cremona
Les Arts Florissants, Paul Agnew
'If a keen sense of the interpretative moment is the hallmark of ensemble performance at its best, then this new Monteverdi instalment from Les Arts Florissants deserves to be held up as such.'
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 48 kHz, 24 bit)
Birtwistle: Angel Fighter
London Sinfonietta, David Atherton
'Anyone in 2015 disposed to expect ageing dinosaurs going through the motions should be struck by the energy and sharpness of response in these recordings...Atherton couples scrupulous attention to detail with exemplary alertness to the steadily unfolding shape of the whole.'
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 44.1 kHz, 24 bit)
Pärt: Te Deum, Wallfahrtslied
Munich Radio Orchestra, Bavarian Radio Chorus, Peter Dijkstra
'this spacious music is full of alluring contrasts...The Kyrie's timeless quality sets the scene beautifully. Singers and players are perfectly balanced...Simplicity is the keyword here.'
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 48 kHz, 24 bit)
Reissue of the Month
Beethoven: Symphony No. 6 'Pastoral'
London Philharmonic Orchestra, Klaus Tennstedt
'The LPO was the ideal medium for Tennstedt's reading. Their playing is a joy, finely sprung ostinato rhythms buoying the visionary wind descants that carol above...This is a visionary performance and it deserves its own quietus.'
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 44.1 kHz, 16 bit)
