Editor's Choices include an 'altogether stunning' set of sonatas by CPE Bach from Japanese violinist Ryo Terakado and Fabio Bonizzoni on Challenge Classics, 'dazzling and playful' Shostakovich from Yuja Wang, the Boston Symphony and Andris Nelsons on Deutsche Grammophon, and a 'very individual' Brahms Lieder recital from Christian Gerhaher and Gerold Huber on Sony.
Recording of the Month
Strauss: Salome
Malin Byström (Salome), Johan Reuter (Jochanaan), Katarina Dalayman (Herodias), Gerhard Siegel (Herodes), Bror Magnus Tødenes (Narraboth), Hanna Hipp (Herodias's Page); Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, Edward Gardner
'Edward Gardner conducts the opera in one long paragraph, and the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra play sumptuously for him. There is so much to admire...This is a most distinguished issue.'
Available formats: 2 SACDs, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
Editor's Choices
Forgotten Symphonies
Le Concert des Nations, Jordi Savall
'With a performance even finer than that of the Bruckner, Savall gives Schumann’s early symphonic writing a weight, thrust and emotional impact that’s enormously involving, making it seem hardly inferior to the four symphonies that would follow.'
Available format: Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
Shostakovich & Britten
Sheku Kanneh-Mason (cello), Sinfonia of London, John Wilson, Isata Kanneh-Mason (piano)
'The uniqueness of the present coupling is hardly the least of its assets. With sound of unfailing definition and focus, it demonstrably takes Kanneh-Mason’s standing on to a whole new level.'
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
Shostakovich: The Piano Concertos; Solo Works
Yuja Wang (piano), Thomas Rolfs (trumpet), Boston Symphony Orchestra, Andris Nelsons
'A genuine collaborative spirit presides over these Shostakovich concerto performances, not to mention the dazzling execution and playful characterisation one expects from this particular piano soloist.'
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
CPE Bach: Sonatas for Violin and Harpsichord
Ryo Terakado (violin), Fabio Bonizzoni (harpsichord)
'This is an altogether stunning album...The sense of space the duo give each other is mesmeric; Terakado and Bonizzoni answer each other with poise and attentiveness, yet their phrases are held together with a shared sense of breath and bloom.'
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
Dvořák & Price: Piano Quintets
Takács Quartet, Marc-André Hamelin (piano)
'There’s Mendelssohnian feather-lightness in the outer sections of the Scherzo, while the central Poco tranquillo Trio section is another example of breathtaking raptness...With recorded sound that’s at once detailed and atmospheric, this new Hyperion release is pure pleasure in every respect.'
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 192 kHz, 24 bit)
Scriabin: Vers La Flamme
Yevgeny Sudbin (piano)
'One thing that stands out [in the Fourth Sonata] and throughout the programme is the quasi-improvisatory quality Sudbin brings to proceedings, as if a fabulously endowed spirit were ad-libbing at the keyboard, going wherever his feverish imagination took him.'
Available format: SACD
Brahms: Lieder Album
Christian Gerhaher (baritone), Gerold Huber (piano)
'As so often, they cast a very individual spell over the music, their interpretative approach – introspective but alert, melancholy, often exquisite in its detail and delicacy – drawing all the songs together so that they come across as a coherent whole.'
Available format: CD
Elgar: The Kingdom
Francesca Chiejina (soprano), Dame Sarah Connolly (mezzo), Benjamin Hulett (tenor), Ashley Riches (bass-baritone); London Mozart Players, Crouch End Festival Chorus, David Temple
'Not the least of its virtues is the sterling contribution of the Crouch End Festival Chorus, whose members (one fleeting moment of strain aside) respond with a full-throated ardour and watchful sensitivity that stir the emotions to the manner born.'
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
Vox Feminae
Les Kapsber'girls
'A dazzling spectrum of string-playing, all topped by sparkling singing. It’s a clever programme too...every piece is engaging and exciting, making for a high-energy, sonically delightful album that is best heard in two or three sittings.'
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
The Guarneri Quartet: The Complete RCA Album Collection
Guarneri Quartet
'If you want to jump straight in to sample the Guarneri at their best, go straight to Dvořák’s String Quartet in C, Op 61, the opening minute or two, music where the mood shifts virtually by the second and these superb players don’t miss a trick...I’d rate this as a high‑ranking addition to available box‑sets of chamber music. I loved it.'
Available format: 49 CDs
