Gramophone Choices,
Gramophone Editor's Choices - January 2025
Editor's Choices includes 'expressive and dynamic' Mozart concertos from horn-player Alec Frank-Gemmill and the Swedish Chamber Orchestra, 'flawless and meticulous' Bach from Masaaki Suzuki (both on BIS), a 'superb programme' exploring post-Reformation monastic life from The Brabant Ensemble and Stephen Rice on Hyperion, and a reconstruction of the original 1875 Opéra-Comique staging of Bizet's Carmen from Rouen (conducted by Ben Glassberg, with Omani-born mezzo Deepa Johnny in the title-role).
Recording of the Month
'In short, I think it’s safe to conclude that another new countertenor superstar has arrived, and he’s found just the right ensemble to work with.'
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV
Editor's Choices
'Land of Winter offers further proof, if it were required, that Dennehy is Ireland’s most significant composer to have emerged since Gerald Barry.'
Available Formats: MP3, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV
'His virtuosity is remarkable, not only in terms of surmounting the technical challenges that Mozart threw at his favourite horn player, Joseph Leutgeb, but also for the expressive and dynamic range of his playing.'
Available Formats: SACD, MP3, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV
Mozart: Piano Concertos K. 459 & 488
Freiburger Barockorchester, Kristian Bezuidenhout (fortepiano/conductor)
'The Freiburg players and Bezuidenhout seem bent on outdoing themselves and the result is as close to an ideal performance [of K488] as I have experienced in a long life of listening to Mozart.'
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV
Schubert: String Quartet No. 14 'Death & the Maiden' (and works by Andre & Schiphorst)
Kuss Quartett, Maurice Steger (recorder)
'It’s not often that you get a chamber disc over which gripping, cumulative storytelling and bringing the repertoire forwards are favoured so entirely over playlist hits. This is how to programme Schubert, and flip me, it’s powerful.'
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV
Masaaki Suzuki Plays Bach Organ Works, Vol. 6
Masaaki Suzuki (Arp Schnitger Organ of Martinikerk, Groningen)
'As one might expect, the playing is flawless and meticulous without sounding contrived or sterile...A triumph of audio engineering, first-class playing and highly recommended.'
Available Formats: SACD, MP3, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV
Telemann: Ino - Opera Arias for Soprano
Amanda Forsythe (soprano), Boston Early Music Festival Orchestra, Paul O'Dette
'Amanda Forsythe and the orchestra of the Boston Early Music Festival conjure exceptional stylish elegance and theatrical vitality in the flowing sequence of orchestrally accompanied recitatives, ariosos, dances and arias.'
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV
Lucrezia
Sandrine Piau, Amel Brahim-Djelloul (sopranos), Karine Deshayes, Lucile Richardot (mezzos), Les Paladins, Jérôme Corréas
'Piau is at her piercingly emotive best in Montéclair’s inventively fluid recitatives...Lucile Richardot’s flexibility of dynamism and immersion in the character’s predicament, vulnerability and courage are enthralling.'
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV
'This is a superb programme mining a rich vein of post-Reformation music from German-speaking countries, all sung with the characteristic silvery tone of The Brabant Ensemble.'
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res+ FLAC/ALAC/WAV
'The installation of a new pipe organ, like any long-awaited new arrival, is always best marked with some kind of celebratory fanfare such as this splendid, generously filled disc...Another triumph for the Magdalen musicians and an equally enjoyable experience from both choral and organ points of view.'
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res+ FLAC/ALAC/WAV
DVD/Blu-ray of the Month
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, Chœur d’enfants de la Maîtrise du Conservatoire de Rouen, Ben Glassberg, Romain Gilbert
'If nothing else, this video reminds us that opera in the 19th century was a visual spectacle, and that spectacle wasn’t some sort of vulgar concession to the demands of idle entertainment.'
Available Format: Blu-ray + DVD Video
Reissue/Archive Issue of the Month
Ralph Vaughan Williams: The Grinke Legacy
Frederick Grinke (violin), Boyd Neel Orchestra, Louis Boyd Neel, Arthur Benjamin, Michael Mullinar (piano)
'Grinke, a seasoned chamber player, turns in a perfect performance [of The Lark Ascending], his tone warmly attractive but his approach suitably laid back...With excellent transfers and comprehensive notes by Grames, I would rate this as a significant reissue.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC/ALAC/WAV
Chris O'Reilly - Chief Executive
