August 2025
Musica Degenerata (Tactus)
An album which celebrates survival and remembers some composers who cruelly died before their time [GPu]
Boito: Nerone (Naxos)
An intriguing rarity, mostly adequately sung but musically very patchy and dramatically incoherent [RMo]
A Busch: Piano Music (cpo)
Late romantic music from this legendary violinist including a concerto that deserves attention [RCh]
Handel: Water Music and Music for the Royal Fireworks (Erato)
(Déjà Review) Clarity of texture is here combined with freshness of projection and immediacy of recording [MG]
Suppé: Die Schöne Galathée (Capriccio)
(Déjà Review) Pleasantly lyrical and pure-toned [RW]
Rachmaninoff: String Quartet No. 1
by Alan George
Gurney: Ludlow and Teme
by Alan George
Beethoven: Symphony No.6
by Alan George
The Phoenix Opera Company
by Philip Harrison
Novák: String Quartets (Supraphon)
Vítězslav Novák’s string quartets presented with thoughtful care [JW]
Furtwängler: Symphony 2 (Chandos)
A problematic work emerges in a new light [RMay]
Jackson: Choral works (Resonus Classics)
An excellent disc of choral and organ music by Gabriel Jackson [JQ]
Beach: Orchestral Works (Solo Musica)
This album confirms that Amy Beach is a composer of real note [MC]
Handel: Dettingen Te Deum (Hyperion)
(Déjà Review) Superb … all the commitment and excitement imaginable [LW]
Dohnányi: Violin Concertos (Naxos)
(Déjà Review) Outstanding music … hits all the required emotional stops [WK]
Silvestrov: Violin Concerto, Symphony No.8 (Naxos)
These first recordings are to be welcomed [SB]
Maria Callas (soprano): Arias Volume 1 (Pristine Audio)
Once again, Pristine breathes new life into two established and indispensable recital classics [RMo]
D Scarlatti: Keyboard Sonatas (Harmonia Mundi)
The most satisfying Scarlatti collection I’ve heard [DJB]
British Music for Strings IV (cpo)
Light suites and chamber-scaled orchestral pieces by amiable British composers [JW]
Verdi: I Vespri Siciliani (Dynamic)
(Déjà Review) A generally well sung performance in the composer’s home town should be watched by opera producers as well as Verdi lovers [RJF]
Schmitt: Orchestral Music (Hyperion)
(Déjà Review) A most auspicious debut on CD for the partnership of Thierry Fischer and the BBC NOW [JQ]
Smirnov & Firsova: Chamber Works (Our Recordings)
Atmospheric, accessible music by two contemporary Russian composers [KT]
Saariaho: Complete Works for Piano and Harpsichord (Ondine)
Odds and ends for Saariaho completists [SB]
Salieri: Cublai, Gran Kan De’ Tartari (Aparté)
The buffa side of Italian Opera in the heyday of Vienna’s pre-eminence [PH]
