Korean violinist Sueye Park's 'Journey Through A Century' occupies pride of place as Recording of the Month in the September issue - featuring music by Reger, Kreisler, Penderecki, Ysaÿe, Prokofiev, Weinberg and others, the album prompted Rob Cowan to assert that 'if this isn’t a potential Gramophone Awardwinner, I don’t know what is.'
Editor's Choices include Camino, Scottish guitarist Sean Shibe's debut recording of Franco-Spanish music on Pentatone; Kirill Gerstein's Mozart collaborations with his former teacher Ferenc Rados on Myrios; and Krzysztof Warlikowski's 'formidable' staging of Strauss's Elektra from last year's Salzburg Festival, with Lithuanian soprano Aušrinė Stundytė delivering a 'towering performance' in the title-role.
Recording of the Month
Journey Through A Century
Sueye Park (violin)
'This is sensational!...at no point in the programme do you feel that the technical and intellectual demands are in any way compromising her interpretations, which are wholly excellent.'
Available format: SACD
Editor's Choices
Haydn 2032, Vol. 10: Les heures du jour
Il Giardino Armonico, Giovanni Antonini
'Fast movements fizz and crackle, with virtuoso sallies from the Giardino Armonico soloists. Bass lines are always vital and animated, with never a hint of auto-chug.'
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
History of the Russian Piano Trio Vol. 4: Arensky and Taneyev
The Brahms Trio
'These three Russian virtuosos present the two trios with equal conviction, summoning up different palettes of colours for some truly high-level music-making.'
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 44.1 kHz, 24 bit)
Mozart: Prussian Quartets
Doric String Quartet
'Their collective tone is both sweet and sinewy, with vibrato used for expressive effect rather than as a default setting. Contrapuntal textures are ideally lucid.'
Available formats: 2 CDs, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
La Clarinette Parisienne
Michael Collins (clarinet), Noriko Ogawa (piano)
'You get a real sense of almost instinctive give and take between Collins and Ogawa here...A most engaging disc, beautifully done.'
Available format: SACD
Mozart: Sonatas for Piano Four Hands KV521 & 497
Ferenc Rados, Kirill Gerstein (piano)
'Some of the most refined and cultured music-making you could wish for, everything about it being suffused with warmth and affection.'
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 192 kHz, 24 bit)
Camino
Sean Shibe (guitar)
'His exquisite sense of space and unfolding invites comparison with late conductor Sergiu Celibidache’s Zen-influenced performance practice.'
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 192 kHz, 24 bit)
Echoes of an Old Hall
Gothic Voices
'Perhaps most unexpectedly of all, the account of Dunstable’s four-voice Veni Sancte Spiritus (one of the best-known, oft-recorded pieces of the 15th century) is unquestionably one of the finest yet made.'
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
Phidylé
Kateřina Knězikova (soprano), Janaček Philharmonic Ostrava, Robert Jindra
'Clearly a singer to watch...It’s an outstanding showcase of her willowy, seductive voice and natural interpretative skill.'
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
John Corigliano: The Ghosts of Versailles
Teresa Perrotta (Marie-Antoinette) Jonathan Bryan (Beaumarchais), Kayla Siembieda (Susanna), Ben Schaefer (Figaro); Orchestre de l'Opera Royal, Joseph Colaneri
'Colaneri’s conducting deserves much of the credit, pointing up the most disruptive harmonies while giving the singers their head in the lyrical ensembles that come to dominate the piece.'
Available formats: 2 CDs + DVD Video + Blu-ray Audio, Download & Streaming (up to 48 kHz, 24 bit)
DVD/Blu-ray of the Month
Strauss: Elektra (DVD)
Aušrinė Stundytė (Elektra), Asmik Grigorian (Chrysothemis), Tanja Ariane Baumgartner (Klytemnaestra), Michael Laurenz (Aegisth), Derek Welton (Orest); Wiener Staatsoper, Franz Welser-Möst, Krzysztof Warlikowski
'The playing, as one might expect, is matchless. Despite its eccentricities, I found the whole thing utterly compelling. Highly recommended.'
Available format: DVD Video
Strauss: Elektra (Blu-ray)
Aušrinė Stundytė (Elektra), Asmik Grigorian (Chrysothemis), Tanja Ariane Baumgartner (Klytemnaestra), Michael Laurenz (Aegisth), Derek Welton (Orest); Wiener Staatsoper, Franz Welser-Möst, Krzysztof Warlikowski
Picture format: 1080i / 16:9
Sound format: PCM Stereo / DTS-HD MA 5.1
Available format: Blu-ray
Reissue/Archive Issue of the Month
Schubert: Song Cycles
Christoph Prégardien (tenor), Andreas Staier, Michael Gees (fortepiano)
'My desert-island choice for a highly cultivated yet quite personal tenor-voice foray into Schubert’s world.'
Available formats: 3 CDs, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
