Editor's Choices include a 'terrific' unaccompanied recital of Telemann, Bach, Britten and Shaw from viola-player Timothy Ridout on Harmonia Mundi, 'razor-sharp' Walton from John Wilson and Sinfonia of London (with leader Charlie Lovell-Jones stepping into the spotlight for the Violin Concerto) on Chandos, and the final volume of The Orlando Consort's venerable Machaut survey on Hyperion.
Recording of the Month
Puccini: Tosca
Eleonora Buratto (Tosca), Jonathan Tetelman (Cavaradossi), Ludovic Tézier (Scarpia), Giorgi Manoshvili (Angelotti), Davide Giangregorio (Sagristano), Matteo Macchioni (Spoletta), Nicolò Ceriani (Sciarrone); Orchestra e Coro dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Daniel Harding
'Harding’s reading tends towards the symphonic rather than theatrical, the rich Santa Cecilia strings nicely heavy on the carbs, with imposing heavyweight brass...this new account boasts the finest Tosca cast of the digital era and is a recording I’ll be returning to often in years to come.'
Available formats: 2 CDs, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
Editor's Choices
Liszt - Rachmaninoff: Dies Irae
Dmitry Masleev (piano), Svetlanov Symphony Orchestra
'Overall, his approach may strike some as a degree cooler and more clinical than usual. But the combination of clarity and sensitive interplay with the orchestra makes it anything but routine.'
Available format: Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
Walton: Violin Concerto, Symphonic Suite from 'Troilus and Cressida', Portsmouth Point
Charlie Lovell-Jones (violin), Sinfonia of London, John Wilson
'Wilson was made for Walton and the orchestral writing has rarely been captured with such razor-sharp edge cheek-by-jowl with transparent radiance.'
Available formats: SACD, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
Telemann - Bach - Britten - Shaw
Timothy Ridout (viola)
'This is yet another terrific release from Ridout, who again plays a 16th-century Peregrino di Zanetto with all the soul and panache of an Old Master.'
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 192 kHz, 24 bit)
Machaut: A Lover's Death
The Orlando Consort
'The Orlando Consort’s complete songs of Machaut is concluded...all 11 albums with the same four singers, all beautifully controlled, all perfectly balanced and paced, and – perhaps most important of all – entirely without eccentricities.'
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 192 kHz, 24 bit)
Twilight: Schumann Songs
Ian Bostridge (tenor), Saskia Giorgini (piano)
'Literary meaning isn’t ignored; he just knows when the music carries the moment with his expansive upper range and a depth of tone in his lower range...In Bostridge’s vast discography, this is one of his best.'
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 192 kHz, 24 bit)
Lieder
Fatma Said (soprano), Malcolm Martineau (piano), Joseph Middleton (piano), Huw Montague Rendall (baritone), Sabine Meyer (clarinet), Anneleen Lenaerts (harp), Quatuor Arod
'She’s a natural in the repertoire, with impeccable German (picked up in German kindergarten and school in Cairo and then from living in Berlin for her studies) and an instinctive knack for the idiom.'
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
George
Sonya Yoncheva (soprano), Olga Zado (piano), with Maria Viotti (mezzo)
'Yoncheva sounds sumptuous, with that hint of metal or even almost of acid in the tone that can be so appealingly and tellingly expressive... it’s a fine album and a fascinating achievement.'
Available format: Download & Streaming (up to 192 kHz, 24 bit)
Georges Bizet: Djamileh, Vasco de Gama and other works
Mélissa Petit (soprano), Isabelle Druet (mezzo), Cyrille Dubois (tenor), Thomas Dolié (baritone), Les Siècles, François-Xavier Roth, Orchestre national de Metz Grand Est, David Reiland et al
'It all adds up to an outstanding, engrossing set, in short, that adds immeasurably to our understanding of Bizet and his world.'
Available formats: 4 CDs + Book, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
Weinberg: The Passenger
Amanda Majeski (Marta), Daveda Karanas (Lisa), Nikolai Schukoff (Walter), Gyula Orendt/Stephen Waarts (Tadeusz); Orquesta del Teatro Real de Madrid, Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla
'Gražinytė-Tyla has an in-depth understanding of Weinberg’s music and creates a very powerful interpretation, leading a huge ensemble with a very strong cast...Before you listen to this recording, please be advised: it will batter your heart.'
Available format: Download & Streaming (up to 48 kHz, 24 bit)
Reissue/Archive Issue of the Month
Heifetz: ‘live’ recordings
Jascha Heifetz (violin), The Telephone Hour Orchestra and Chorus, Emanuel Bay, Jack Benny, Donald Voorhees
'Aside from much else to tug at the heart‑strings there’s the humour, Heifetz a real sport rehearsing Mairzy Doats or taking part in a skit with Jack Benny...The audience’s laughing response says it all. A gift of a disc.'
Available format: CD
