August 2024
Byrd: Anthems, Motets, Services (Alto)
A most enjoyable and nicely varied selection of pieces by Byrd [JQ]
Ravel: Orchestral Works (Danacord)
A stylish and beautifully played collection of Ravel orchestral pieces that started life as piano works [GPJ]
Carmina Burana: Medieval Poems and Songs (Naxos)
Everything is played with a life and energy that left me dancing around the room by the disc’s end [KS]
Baltic Voices 1 (Harmonia Mundi)
Lyrical yet challenging, they welcome the listener with open arms [RB]
Schoenberg & Fauré: Pelléas et Mélisande (Alpha Classics)
Two wonderfully contrasting explorations of Maeterlinck’s play [JF]
Torelli: 12 Concerti da camera (Challenge Classics)
This ensemble could hardly have made a better debut than with this recording of little-known pieces [JV]
Edwin Fischer (piano): Mozart Piano Concertos (APR)
APR’s endeavours are of real value and virtue to the pianophile [SG]
Mahler: Symphony No 2 ‘Resurrection’ (BIS)
A beautifully recorded and performed ‘Resurrection’ Symphony, with a limitation in the chorus [EJW]
Gerhard: Don Quixote and Alegrías (Chandos)
The BBC Philharmonic excels in music by the pre-serial Gerhard at his hard-bitten finest [NC]
Saint-Saëns: Piano Concertos Nos 1-5 (Hyperion)
A credit to this brave and enterprising label. Go on, treat yourself – you won’t regret it [TH]
Harris: Symphonies Nos 7 & 9 (Naxos)
Serious, but highly listenable music from an under-recorded American giant [NH]
Hummel: Music for Flute & Piano Vol. 1 (Da Vinci Classics)
A rewarding conspectus of Hummel’s compositions for flute and piano [GPu]
Charms to Soothe (Azica)
This is a disc for anyone with a taste for beautiful and stimulating music, played with taste and devotion [GF]
Bach: Reconstructed (Audite)
Imaginative recreations of possible Brandenburg Concertos [SB]
Rooted (Chandos)
A truly magical disc with four of the loveliest of trios [SA]
Massenet: Werther (Bru Zane)
A version with a baritone title role, much more than a curiosity [RWe]
R Strauss: Sinfonia Domestica (Arte Nova Classics)
(Déjà Review) Refreshing, highlighting the invention and vivacity [RBr]
Stevenson: Songs (Delphian)
(Déjà Review) Depth and thoughtfulness, amplifying, refracting and complementing the poets’ lines in a way that enriches and moves [JW]
Loeffler: Octet; Debussy: Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune (Delos)
Obligatory for anyone interested in American music at the turn of the twentieth century [WK]
Graun: A Gentle Tenor (Accent)
A valuable contribution to our knowledge of vocal music of the early 18th century [GF]
Verdi: Rigoletto (Warner Classics)
A powerful recording with much to commend it in spite of a few failings among the cast [MP]
Fitkin: Loosening (Signum Classics)
Wonderfully engaging sound world from a master [PRJ]
Mahler: Symphony No.3 (BIS)
If you have been collecting Vänskä’s cycle, you will want this fine account of the Third [JQ]
Vasks: Symphony No.2, Violin Concerto (Ondine )
(Déjà Review) Two rewarding lyrical works [RB]
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