This month’s heavyweights include retrospectives from the Academy of St Martin in the Fields and Concerto Köln, a whistle-stop tour of the recording history of the Choir of King’s College Cambridge, a bumper organ anthology from Brilliant Classics, and the first complete set of Sweelinck’s keyboard music from a single performer.
Beethoven Rediscovered
Yury Martynov (piano), Arthur Schoonderwoerd (fortepiano), Alexei Lubimov (piano), Olga Pashchenko (fortepiano) Anima Eterna, Cristofori, Jos van Immerseel
The mainstay of the 17-CD collection Beethoven is Jos van Immerseel’s set of the complete symphonies, which was described as ‘a stimulating, exhilarating experience’ when it first appeared in 2008; the box also includes Yury Martynov’s cycle of the symphonies in Liszt’s transcriptions, Alexei Lubimov’s Moonlight, Waldstein and Tempest Sonatas, and the piano concertos (performed on fortepiano) from Arthur Schoonderwoerd and Cristofori.
Available Format: 17 CDs
Presented in chronological order, the repertoire on this bumper 50-CD anthology ranges from music by the Bach and Gabrieli families to Messiaen, Ponchielli and Pärt, and features instruments from cities including Antwerp, Mantua, Venice, Turin and Leipzig; performers include Massimo Gabba, Emanuelo Cardi and Giovanni Morandi.
Available Format: 50 CDs
The first complete survey of the Dutch composer’s keyboard music by a single performer: Boccaccio (who has done substantial research into authentic fingering and ornamentation practices) plays three Dutch organs dating from Sweelinck’s lifetime, as well as a modern copy of a 1679 harpsichord by the Flemish instrument-maker Jan Couchet.
Available Formats: 6 CDs, MP3, FLAC/ALAC/WAV
