Raphaël Pichon and his crack ensemble continue their award-winning Bach journey, with other spring stand-outs including the first in a new series of recordings from Anne-Sophie Mutter on Alpha Classics, Holst's The Planets and Bax's Tintagel from Pappano & the LSO on the orchestra's own label, and Mendelssohn's symphonies, Paulus and Elijah from Andris Nelsons and the Gewandhausorchester on Deutsche Grammophon.
JS Bach: Johannes-Passion
Julian Prégardien (Evangelist), Huw Montague Rendall (Jesus), Ying Fang (soprano), Lucile Richardot (mezzo), Laurence Kilsby (tenor), Christian Immler (bass-baritone), Etienne Bazola (baritone); Pygmalion, Raphaël Pichon
Following their acclaimed Mass in B minor (which was named as Recording of the Year at the 2025 Gramophone Awards), Pichon and his ensemble turn to a work which the French conductor says 'altered his life forever at the age of ten'. Their account of the St Matthew Passion in 2022 was praised by BBC Music Magazine for the 'razor-sharp ensemble' and by Gramophone for its 'glowing inner vitality and penetrating observations'.
Released 20th March.
Available formats: 2 CDs, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
Holst: The Planets – Bax: Tintagel
London Symphony Orchestra, Antonio Pappano, Tenebrae
Recorded at the Barbican in September 2024, this performance of The Planets was Pappano's second concert as Chief Conductor of the LSO, and was described by BachTrack as 'an out-of-this-world account that showcased the different sections of his new band as much as any Concerto for Orchestra.' Tintagel was captured three months later, and was hailed by The Guardian as 'orchestral playing in high-definition'.
Released 20th March.
Available formats: SACD, Download & Streaming (up to 192 kHz, 24 bit)
Mendelssohn: Symphonies & Oratorios
Gewandhausorchester, Andris Nelsons
Made in Leipzig between 2021 and 2024, these recordings celebrate the legacy of Nelsons's predecessor Felix Mendelssohn, who served as Director of the Gewandhausorchester from 1835 to 1847; the set includes the first Deutsche Grammophon recording of Paulus, which was premiered the year after Mendelssohn took up the position. Soloists include Elsa Benoit, Golda Schultz, Christiane Karg and Julia Kleiter, with Georg Zeppenfeld taking the title-role in Paulus and Andrè Schuen singing Elijah.
Released 27th March.
Available formats: 7 CDs, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
East Meets West
Anne-Sophie Mutter (violin), Nancy Zhou, Ye-Eun Choi, Muriel Razavi, Pablo Ferrández (cello), Stephanie Gonley (violin); London Symphony Orchestra, Thomas Adès
The German violinist launches her new Alpha Classics series ASM Forte Forward (and celebrates fifty years of her career) with this collection of four works by contemporary composers: Iranian-Dutch composer Aftab Darvishi's Likoo for solo violin, Unsuk Chin's Gran Cadenza for two violins, Jörg Widmann's String Quartet No. 6 'Studie über Beethoven', and Thomas Adès's violin concerto Air-Homage to Sibelius (conducted by the composer).
Released 27th March.
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 192 kHz, 24 bit)
Mahler: Symphony No. 7
Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich, Paavo Järvi
The Estonian conductor observes that 'the Mahler we encounter in the Seventh is more complex, darker and more philosophical than the Mahler we know from his previous works'; his recent recordings of two earlier symphonies with his Swiss orchestra have been applauded for their 'sense of live electric charge' (BBC Music Magazine on No. 5) and 'ripe and vivid' playing (Gramophone on No. 1).
Read James's 2025 interview with Paavo Järvi about his relationship with Mahler's music.
Released 13th March.
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
Puccini: Heroines
Sondra Radvanovsky (soprano), Lyric Opera of Chicago Orchestra, Enrique Mazzola
Released to coincide with her performances as Tosca at the Opéra Bastille, this gallery of Puccini heroines from the American-Canadian soprano runs the gamut from the ingenue Lauretta in Gianni Schicchi to Minnie in La fanciulla del West and the formidable title-role in Turandot (which Radvanovsky sang on Antonio Pappano's award-winning recording of the opera in 2023). Also includes scenes and arias from Le Villi, Edgar, Manon Lescaut, Suor Angelica, La rondine, La bohème, and Madama Butterfly.
Released 27th March.
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
Steve Reich: The Sextets
Colin Currie Group
In advance of the American minimalist's ninetieth birthday this October, the Colin Currie Group (which turns twenty this year) presents four pieces for different instrumental combinations: the Sextet from the mid-1980s, Double Sextet from 2007, Six Marimbas (transcribed from Six Pianos by James Priess), and Dance Patterns from 2002. The composer endorses the recordings here as representing 'an absolutely top level of performance'.
Released 10th April.
Available formats: SACD, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
Mentor: Britten & Oldham
Nick Pritchard (tenor - Serenade), Annemarie Federle (horn), Carolyn Sampson (soprano) et al; London Choral Sinfonia, Michael Waldron
Born in 1926, Arthur Oldham was the only acknowledged private pupil of Benjamin Britten; a brilliant choir-master, he also founded the Edinburgh Festival Chorus and spent seven years as director of the London Symphony Chorus. The album includes the first recording of his large-scale cantata Laudes Creaturarum ('The Canticle of All Creatures') alongside Britten's Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings, and Te Deum in C. Released 3rd April.
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 192 kHz, 24 bit)
Traetta: Ifigenia in Tauride
Rocío Pérez (Ifigenia), Rafal Tomkiewicz (Oreste), Suzanne Jerosme (Pilade), Alasdair Kent (Toante), Karolina Bengtsson (Dori); Les Talens Lyriques, Novo Canto, Christophe Rousset
Premiered at Vienna's Schönbrunn Palace in 1763 (sixteen years before Gluck's famous opera on the same subject): Rousset observes that 'standing at the crossroads of Neapolitan bel canto and Gluck’s dramatic reform, Traetta's vocal writing is never an empty display.' This world premiere recording was made after performances at the Innsbruck Early Music Festival last summer.
Released 20th March.
Available format: Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
If Music...
Jakub Józef Orliński (countertenor), Michał Biel (piano)
Four years on from their mesmerising Polish song recital Farewells, Orliński and Biel reunite for a programme of Baroque songs and arias, with Biel performing on a Steinway grand. The repertoire includes Purcell's 'Fairest Isle', 'Music for a While' and the 'Cold Song' from King Arthur, arias from Handel's Rodelinda, Semele, Agrippina and Serse, and Fux's 'Non t'amo per il ciel' from Il fonte della salute.
Released 27th March.
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
Prokofiev: Piano Concerto No. 3 and solo works
Isata Kanneh-Mason (piano), Philharmonia Orchestra, Ryan Bancroft
Kanneh-Mason made her solo BBC Proms debut with Prokofiev's Piano Concerto No. 3 in 2023, when Classical Source declared that she 'fearlessly navigated Prokofiev’s labyrinthine score, delivering the composer’s most challenging passages with deft precision' and The Guardian observed that 'there was so much to enjoy in her liquid pianism'. The album also includes the March & Scherzo from The Love for Three Oranges, selections from Romeo and Juliet and Cinderella, and the Piano Sonata No. 3.
Released 10th April.
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 48 kHz, 16 bit)
Wagner: Tristan und Isolde
Klaus Florian Vogt (Tristan), Camilla Nylund (Isolde), Tanja Ariane Baumgartner (Brangaene), Martin Gantner (Kurwenal), Georg Zeppenfeld (King Mark); Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden, Christian Thielemann, Marco Arturo Marelli
Filmed in Dresden in 2024, this production marked Vogt's debut as Tristan, which was applauded by Operamagazin for his 'natural phrasing and clear diction'; BachTrack enthused that he and Nylund 'both surpassed all vocal and interpretative expectations, perfectly embracing Thielemann's poetic approach to Wagner's work.'
Available format: Blu-ray
