The Frans Brüggen Project
Lucie Horsch (recorder), Orchestra of the 18th Century
A tribute to early music trailblazer Frans Brüggen, who died ten years ago. Through special permission from his widow, rising-star recorder player Lucie Horsch performs on some of the extraordinary instruments he collected over his lifetime - including some so delicate that she was only allowed two takes!
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
Dvorák: Legends & Rhapsodies
Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, Tomáš Netopil
In his debut on Pentatone, Tomáš Netopil explores works from just before Dvořák's reputation really took off - the vividly-orchestrated Legends and Slavonic Rhapsodies, in which the Czech Philharmonic demonstrates once again why its position as the world's foremost ensemble performing Czech orchestral repertoire remains so well-deserved.
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
Resonance
Matilda Lloyd (trumpet), London Symphony Orchestra, Lee Reynolds
Juxtaposing a sardonic concerto by Weinberg (in which his close relationship with Shostakovich is clearly audible) with the premiere of a proudly tuneful, 'neo-Romantic' work by Christoph Schönberger, Matilda Lloyd's second disc for Chandos shows more of the same qualities that impressed critics in Casta Diva - 'flawless tone, purity of line and dynamic subtlety' (BBC Music Magazine last June).
Available formats: SACD, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
Mozart: Horn Concertos
Alec Frank-Gemmill (horn), Swedish Chamber Orchestra, Nicholas McGegan
At last! After successful recordings of slightly less-heard horn repertoire, Alec Frank-Gemmill turns to the four iconic concertos of Mozart, plus restored missing movements forged in collaboration with Stephen Roberts. Back in 2018, Gramophone observed that 'Virtuosity is consistently placed at the service of expression' - and it's just as true here.
Available format: SACD
Ravel: The Complete Works With Piano
François-Xavier Poizat (piano)
For the 150th birthday of Maurice Ravel, François-Xavier Poizat (probably best-known for his two 'Pianorchestra' albums of transcribed orchestral works presents the culmination of a monumental project he describes as having been twenty years in the making - the complete works of Ravel with piano. Joined by the Philharmonia Orchestra under Simone Menezes, as well as violinist Michael Foyle and mezzo Brenda Poupard, it's a true tour de force.
Available formats: 6 CDs, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
Liszt: Piano Concertos & Totentanz
Yoav Levanon (piano), Luzerner Sinfonieorchester, Michael Sanderling
Another name to watch - Yoav Levanon has been making waves since his late teens, with his 'Monument to Beethoven' in 2022 hailed by Fanfare for its 'completely clear, unblurred passagework, a commanding tone, and remarkable presence'. His latest release features Liszt's two piano concertos, Totentanz and three delightful encores.
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
Vittorio Rieti: Piano Concertos
Alessandro Marangoni (piano), Orazio Sciortino, Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano, Giuseppe Grazioli
Known particularly for his recordings of Rossini's complete piano music (including the delicious Péchés de vieilesse), Marangoni now presents concertos by the Italian-American Vittorio Rieti - a pupil of both Respighi and Casella, whose music often has an easygoing lyricism and at times a hint of Hollywood, rarely betraying any hint of the political and personal traumas the composer underwent. Marangoni is joined by fellow pianist Orazio Sciortino for the first commercial recording of the Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra, with an unmistakable pre-echo of Jaws in its final movement!
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 48 kHz, 24 bit)
Vivaldi: Musica Sacra Per Coro E Orchestra I
Coro E Orchestra Ghislieri, Giulio Prandi
Naive's heroic Vivaldi Edition continues - now moving into its first volume of sacred works for choir and orchestra. Giulio Prandi and his Coro e Orchestra Ghislieri come to the label having previously made four highly successful recordings for Arcana, including one of Rossini's Petite messe solennelle of which the International Classical Music Awards mused that 'perhaps it is only with this recording [...] that we can truly understand the mysteries of the old Rossini, who winks at the opera theatre but from a now distanced perspective.'
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
Vivaldi: Sacro Furore
Carlo Vistoli (countertenor), Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, Georg Kallweit
A collaborator on many of those Prandi recordings, Carlo Vistoli strikes out on his own with a solo album of sacred works interspersed with orchestral pieces. Listen out for him, too, on Warner's upcoming recording of Hasse's astonishing Serpentes ignei in deserto (Fiery Serpents in the Desert), featuring two sopranos and four countertenors as its lineup of soloists.
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
Bach Cantatas
Yu-Wei Hu (flute), Nick Pritchard (tenor), Oxford Bach Soloists, Tom Hammond-Davies
Three of Bach's most iconic cantatas - Ich habe genug, Christ lag in Todesbanden and Ich armer Mensch, ich Sündenknecht - receive delicate performances here from tenor Nick Pritchard and flautist Yu-Wei Hu (presenting Ich habe genug in its rarely-heard version for high voice and flute) and Tom Hammond-Davies's Oxford Bach Soloists, who make their recording debut on Signum.
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
Holst: Sāvitri
Siri Karoline Thornhill (Sāvitri), Tilman Lichdi (Satyavan), Ekkehard Abele (Death), Opera Factory Freiburg, Holst-Sinfonietta, SWR Vokalensemble, Klaus Simon
Recently described by The Guardian as 'making a genuinely thoughtful contribution to this year's celebrations of the 150th anniversary of Holst's birth', this performance of his Mahābhārata-derived opera features soprano Siri Karoline Thornhill in the title role, tenor Tilman Lichdi as her husband Satyavān and bass Ekkehard Abele as Death.
Available format: CD
Bizet: Carmen
Deepa Johnny (Carmen), Stanislas de Barbeyrac (Don José), Nicolas Courjal (Escamillo), Iulia Maria Dan (Micaëla) Orchestre de l'opéra de Rouen Normandie, Chœur Accentus, Ben Glassberg, Romain Gilbert
A reconstruction of a famously vivid staging in 1875, recaptured through access to archive material and restored to life by Romain Gilbert, this is a strong contender for the most Carmen-ish performance out of all the many accounts of Bizet's fiery masterwork.
Available format: Blu-ray + DVD Video
Chopin: Waltz in A Minor “Found in New York”
Lang Lang (piano)
An astonishing rediscovery! Found lurking in a museum and announced in late October this year - hot on the tails of a Mozart rediscovery the preceding month by the Leipzig municipal libraries - this waltz attributed to Chopin has never before been recorded. Lang Lang brings this short but delightful miniature to life, which he describes as evocative of winter in the Polish countryside.
Available format: Download & Streaming (up to 44.1 kHz, 16 bit)
