January heavyweights include a Chandos collection marking the sixtieth anniversary of Percy Grainger's death, an anthology of repertoire which features in many aspiring pianists' lessons from Christoph Eschenbach, celebrations of Dame Gillian Weir and Hephzibah Menuhin, and Kristian Bezuidenhout's superb survey of Mozart's keyboard works on Harmonia Mundi.
Imants Kalnins: Complete Symphonies & Concertos
Liepaja Symphony Orchestra, Atvars Lakstigala, Maris Sirmais
This 5-CD box features world premiere recordings of the Latvian composer’s Concerto for Orchestra and Symphonies Nos. 1, 2 3 and 6; the accounts of the Oboe Concerto and Symphonies Nos. 5 and 7 were released individually in 2018, and described by MusicWeb International as ‘tonally pleasing music that would appeal to anyone keen to explore new horizons’.
Available Format: 5 CDs
Telemann: The Complete Grand Concertos for Mixed Instruments
La Stagione Frankfurt, Michael Schneider
Reviewing the early volumes of this Telemann series back in 2017, Early Music Today declared that the composer ‘could hardly have wished for more ideal advocates’, whilst Diapason described the Frankfurt ensemble as ‘a battalion of virtuosos who know how to phrase, whisper, and embroider’.
Available Format: 6 CDs
Scimone and his Venetian ensemble embarked on their landmark Albinoni series shortly after joining Erato, at a time when the Italian composer was known almost exclusively for his Adagio; this collection of his complete Albinoni recordings for the label includes Pimpinone and Il nascimento dell’ aurora as well as the Concerti a cinque Opp. 2, 5, 7 9 and 10 and the Trattenimenti da camera Op. 6.
Available Format: 16 CDs
On this lovely (and useful!) 15-CD collection, the German pianist and conductor presents repertoire which many pianists study in the early stages of their training but is seldom commercially recorded or performed by professionals, including miniatures and studies by Czerny, Clementi, Kuhlau, Burgmüller, Diabelli, Dussek and Beyer.
Available Format: 16 CDs
Each instalment of the Dutch fortepianist’s survey of Mozart’s keyboard works (originally released between 2010 and 2016, and recorded on a modern Czech copy of an 1805 Viennese instrument) has met with widespread acclaim; reviewing the first volume, Gramophone observed that ‘these interpretations - excellent to outstanding - are interpretations of today’, whilst BBC Music Magazine described Bezuidenhout as ‘a dazzlingly imaginative, multi-skilled Mozartian’.
Available Format: 9 CDs
This anthology celebrates the Russian Orthodox choral tradition from the baroque period to the present day, including large-scale repertoire staples such as the Rachmaninov Vespers and Tchaikovsky’s Liturgy of St John Chrysostom as well as rarities by composers such as Vasily Titov, Artemy Vedel, Nikolai Karetnikov, and Yan Burakovsky.
Available Formats: 6 CDs, MP3, FLAC/ALAC/WAV
This 7-DVD box comprises the documentaries Satiesfictions - Promenades with Erik Satie, The Unanswered Ives, John Cage - Journeys in Sound, Isang Yun - In Between North and South Korea and The Lost Paradise - Arvo Pärt/Robert Wilson, plus Krzysztof Penderecki’s 80th birthday gala concert from Warsaw and a stage production of Charles Ives’s Universe Incomplete from the Ruhrtriennale 2018.
Available Format: 7 DVD Videos
