Gramophone Choices,
Gramophone Editor's Choices - November 2024
Among the Editor's Choices, Vladimir Jurowski and the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra present an account of Bruckner's Symphony No. 7 that lets the light shine through the windows of what are often described as his 'cathedrals of sound', Hanni Liang explores piano works by Smyth, Wallen, Alberga, Beamish and Chen Yi 陈怡, and the ever-impressive Tallis Scholars recreate equally imposing sonic structures to those of Bruckner in their gorgeous recording of four large-scale votive antiphons by Robert Fayrfax.
Recording of the Month
Ravel: The Complete Works With Piano
François-Xavier Poizat (piano), Philharmonia Orchestra, Simone Menezes
'What a stunning collection this is! His keyboard artistry embodies all the best qualities characterising Ravel’s greatest interpreters...No Ravel lover should miss this important release.'
Available Formats: 6 CDs, MP3, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV
Editor's Choices
'This recording of the Seventh presents a performance that is deeply considered and unusually persuasive. One of the highlights of the performance is the transparent and expressive playing of the orchestra.'
Available Formats: MP3, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV
'A dream team in the making, I suspect. Capuçon and Pappano may be collaborating here for the first time but it’s a meeting of musical minds and sensibilities for sure.'
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV
'Their album’s greatest worth isn’t its comprehensiveness but the playing itself...I can’t see anyone bettering this any time soon.'
Available Formats: 2 CDs, MP3, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV
'He invites us to listen again and again, deepening the game each time. Beghin’s playing is tensile, rubato and pacing beautifully controlled, like the string of a kite.'
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV
'Kantorow’s playing can be torrential but it’s never reckless; his sound can be full but his playing is often laced with delicacy; and because of his uncanny ability to balance inner lines, he manages to untangle Brahms’s thickest passages.'
Available Formats: SACD (ECOPAK), MP3, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV
'The pianist does full justice to the five women whose works on this disc add up to one of the most unhackneyed, unpredictable, well-constructed, musically diverse and interpretatively gratifying piano releases I’ve encountered.'
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV
'These are probably among the world’s best singers for this kind of music; and they now have enormous resources of experience. As always, The Tallis Scholars run effortlessly like a Rolls-Royce; and everything seems unchallengeably in place.'
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res+ FLAC/ALAC/WAV
'Montague Rendall’s characterisations are consistently focused and tellingly insightful throughout...It’s a superb recital and a most distinguished debut, and I cannot recommend it too highly.'
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV
Rameau: Les Boréades
Sabine Devieilhe (Alphise), Reinoud Van Mechelen (Abaris), Benedikt Kristjánsson (Calisis), Thomas Dolié (Borée), Philippe Estèphe (Borilée), Tassis Christoyannis (Adamus/Apollon), Gwendoline Blondeel (Sémire/Nymphe/L'Amour/Polymnie); Orfeo Orchestra, Purcell Choir, György Vashegyi
'In all respects, Vashegyi’s marvellous take on Les Boréades confirms how far Rameau’s art and ideas developed across his 30-year operatic career.'
Available Formats: 2 CDs, MP3, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV
DVD/Blu-ray of the Month
Johann Strauss: Die Fledermaus (Blu-ray)
Diana Damrau (Rosalinde), Georg Nigl (Eisenstein), Katharina Konradi (Adele), Andrew Watts (Orlofsky), Sean Panikkar (Alfred), Markus Brück (Dr Falke) Bayerische Staatsoper, Vladimir Jurowski, Barrie Kosky
'Right from the off, it just feels right. Kosky is in his element. Whatever your views on his approach to mainstream repertoire, few living directors have thought more carefully about Central European operetta, or done more to inject it with new life.'
Available Format: Blu-ray
Archive Issue of the Month
'It tells us things about Brendel’s artistry that scarcely any other recording does. More importantly, it tells us things about Busoni that I seriously doubt can be accessed from any other source.'
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC/ALAC/WAV
Chris O'Reilly - Chief Executive
