Gramophone Choices,
Gramophone Editor's Choices - May 2022
Mitsuko Uchida's 'breathtakingly extravagant' account of Beethoven's Diabelli Variations on Decca (the Japanese pianist's first recording in six years) takes the laurels this month, with David Fanning noting that 'everything that is special in [her] playing is closely allied to the markings in the score, as it is, too, to the broader underlying architecture'.
Indeed, it's a rich month for solo keyboard recitals across the board, with Francesco Corti's Handel Suites on Arcana, Stephen Hough's Schubert sonatas on Hyperion, Klára Würtz's Goldberg Variations on Piano Classics, and the sixth volume of Benjamin Alard's JS Bach series on Harmonia Mundi all featuring among the Editor's Choices...
Recording of the Month
'If her performance comes across as a breathtakingly extravagant display of intellect and imagination, that’s because this is what Beethoven’s music is.'
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC, Hi-Res+ FLAC
Editor's Choices
Mozart Momentum - 1786
Leif Ove Andsnes (piano) Mahler Chamber Orchestra, with Christiane Karg (soprano), Matthew Truscott (violin), Joel Hunter (viola), Frank-Michael Guthmann (cello)
'Time and again Andsnes had me reaching for the score to confirm things I’d never noticed before...some of the finest Mozart-playing on the planet.'
Available Formats: 2 CDs, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Johann Sebastian Bach: The Complete Works For Keyboard, Vol. 6
Benjamin Alard (harpsichord/clavichord)
'I keep returning to Alard’s drop-dead gorgeous chorale prelude Wer nur den lieben Gott lässt walten. How he makes that clavichord sing!'
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
'Cards on the table, what Würtz’s Goldbergs offer is calm appreciation of the music’s manifold beauties.'
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC
'He shows a fantastic brilliance of hand...Bravura stuff from a harpsichord magician.'
Available Formats: 2 CDs, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
'It is his noble humility in the face of greatness and beauty that makes these among the most touching Schubert performances I have ever experienced.'
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC, Hi-Res+ FLAC
'Teaming up well with the State Choir Latvija, Clarke here stakes a claim as a significant composer of choral music.'
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
'Perhaps it’s the way Drone Mass confounds expectations in unpredictable ways that will remain its most important legacy.'
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Edward Nesbit: Sacred Choral Music
Ruby Hughes (soprano), Joshua Simões (organ), The Choir of King’s College London, Joseph Fort
'This is one of the most interesting recordings of contemporary choral writing I have heard in some time...The singing throughout is magnificent, controlled but glowingly rich in sonority.'
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Vaughan Williams: On Wenlock Edge, Four Hymns & The House of Life
Nicky Spence (tenor), Julius Drake (piano), Timothy Ridout (viola) Piatti Quartet
'a performance of On Wenlock Edge which, in its thrilling assurance, strength of imagination and rapt instinct, inclines me to rank it alongside the very finest I know.'
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
DVD/Blu-ray of the Month
Zandonai: Francesca da Rimini (DVD)
Sara Jakubiak (Francesca), Jonathan Tetelman (Paolo), Ivan Inverardi (Giovanni), Charles Workman (Malatestino dall’Occhio); Deutsche Oper Berlin, Carlo Rizzi, Christof Loy
'Rizzi forges an extraordinary unity from an astonishingly beautiful if eclectic score...The whole thing is, I think, a great achievement. Do watch it.'
Available Format: DVD Video
Chris O'Reilly - Chief Executive
