Handel: Messiah
Ana Vieira Leite (soprano), Sarah Connolly (mezzo), Andrew Staples (tenor), William Thomas (bass), English Baroque Soloists, Monteverdi Choir, Christophe Rousset
Harmonia Mundi and the Monteverdi Choir & Orchestras launch a new long-term partnership with this live recording of Messiah, captured during last year's European tour - reviewing the London concert, The Arts Desk noted that they made the work feel 'as fresh as if it had been written yesterday' and The Telegraph highlighted the 'surpassingly vivid' choral singing', describing the overall impact as 'revelatory'. The next instalment in the series will be Theodora, to be recorded this month with Swiss soprano Marie Lys in the title-role, Iestyn Davies as Didymus, and Alice Coote as Irene.
Available formats: 2 CDs, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
The Deeps Have Music
Beth Taylor (mezzo), Hamish Brown (piano)
Currently making waves as Bradamante in the Royal Opera's Alcina, the superb mezzo soloist on Rattle's Mahler 2 makes her recital debut on Linn with a programme centring on Elgar's Sea Pictures (with the composer's own piano score subtly enriched by Brown). The programme also includes sea-themed songs by Hedwige Chrétien, Ethel Smyth, Alma Mahler, Hamilton Harty and Schubert, plus the world premiere recording of Cameron Biles-Liddell's The Breakers (composed especially for this album).
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 192 kHz, 24 bit)
Granville Bantock: Orchestral Works
BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Rumon Gamba
A friend of Sibelius, Havergal Brian and Elgar (whom he succeeded as Peyton Professor of Music at the University of Birmingham), Bantock drew great inspiration from Wagner, Greek tragedy, and the music of the Hebrides. Completed in 1913, his vividly programmatic Hebridean Symphony opens this programme of his orchestral works; it's followed by his Prelude to Euripides's 'The Bacchae' (written just after the outbreak of World War Two) and the much earlier English Scenes for small orchestra.
Available formats: SACD, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
Mahler: Symphony No. 2 'Auferstehungssinfonie'
Louise Alder (soprano), Beth Taylor (mezzo), Symphonieorchester und Chor des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Sir Simon Rattle
Following Rattle's widely acclaimed live recordings of Symphonies Nos. 6. 7 and 9 from Munich, BR Klassik present an account of the 'Resurrection' Symphony which was broadcast from the Isarphilharmonie this March: SeenAndHeardInternational described the concert as 'one of those rare evenings that deepens understanding of a work one thought one already knew'. Previous instalments in the series have been welcomed for Rattle's 'peerless attention to detail' (BBC Music Magazine on No. 7), the 'extraordinary artistry' of the Munich players (Gramophone on No. 6), and lack of 'fussiness or pedantry' (Fanfare on No. 9).
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
Melcher Melchers: Piano Concertos
Peter Jablonski (piano), Gävle Symphony Orchestra, Christian Reif
Born in Stockholm in 1882, Melchers moved to Paris in his mid-twenties, where his social circle included Picasso, Matisse (who painted him), Trotsky and members of Les Six. Returning to Sweden after the War, he continued to promote French music and to compose when his teaching duties at the Royal Conservatory would allow. The two piano concertos here date from 1923 and 1931 respectively; the second was written for the Dutch pianist Henriette Hartog, whom he married in 1921.
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
Beethoven: The Complete String Quartets Vol. III
Ariel Quartet
The first volume of the US-based quartet's Beethoven cycle was described by Gramophone as 'up there with the best in precision, polish and corporate virtuosity' on the evidence of the first volume, whilst the second received four stars in BBC Music Magazine: reviewer Suzanne Rolt noted that 'their still youthful energy, allied with technical brilliance, brings excitement to the whirlwinds of turbulence and rapidly shifting emotions throughout, and makes for thrilling listening'. This final instalment comprises the five late quartets; a box-set is planned for release next March to mark the bicentenary of the composer's death.
Available formats: 3 CDs, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
Schönberg: Piano Works
Pierre-Laurent Aimard (piano)
The French pianist makes his debut on Alpha Classics with repertoire which has been close to his heart since his student days - after winning the Olivier Messiaen Competition in 1973, Aimard performed the Op. 11 pieces live on French television. Reviewing his live performance of this programme in Paris in 2024, BachTrack reflected that 'gave us Schoenberg with an edge, as befits the rhythmic impetus he brings to Messiaen and Ligeti, but was also willing to hold back, sinking into the expressive depths of near-silence.'
Available formats: CD, Download & Streaming (up to 96 kHz, 24 bit)
Bach: The Well-Tempered Clavier Book I
Minsoo Sohn (piano)
The Korean-American pianist's first recording for Hyperion is a tribute to his late teacher Russell Sherman, who died in 2023: Sherman's widow bequeathed his annotated scores to Sohn, who based his interpretation here on the markings. Sohn's early career successes included First Prize at the Honens International Piano Competition in 2006; two years later he sustained a serious wrist injury which necessitated a long break from the platform whilst he rebuilt his technique. A distinguished teacher, his students include Van Cliburn Competition-winner Yunchan Lim.
Available formats: 2 CDs, Download & Streaming (up to 48 kHz, 16 bit)
Palestrina: Song of Songs
The Sixteen, Harry Christophers
Dedicated to Pope Gregory XIII and composed in 1584, the 29 pieces which make up Palestrina's Canticum Canticorum sit at the intersection of sacred and secular music, fusing elements of the motet and the madrigal. Selections from the collection have been threaded through The Sixteen's acclaimed Palestrina series - reviewing the third volume back in 2013, International Record Review opined that 'it is in the Song of Songs we find The Sixteen and Christophers at their most subtly beguiling' - and now the complete set is presented as a standalone album.
Available formats: 2 CDs, Download & Streaming (up to 44.1 kHz, 16 bit)
Steven Isserlis plays the Marquis de Corberon
Steven Isserlis (cello)
On loan to Isserlis since 2009, Stradivarius's 'Marquis de Corberon' cello celebrates its 300th birthday this year; the instrument is named after aristocrat and soldier Pierre Philibert Bourrée, a keen amateur cellist who died in the French Revolution, and was bequeathed to the Royal Academy of Music in 1960. This collection brings together ten albums which Isserlis recorded on the instrument, including the Beethoven sonatas with Robert Levin, Boccherini - Music of the Angels, A Golden Cello Decade, 1878-1888, and Tavener - No longer mourn for me.
Available format: 10 CDs
