September 2025
Mahler: Symphony No. 7 (RCA)
Revelatory, but not without its flaws [DM]
Kabalevsky: Complete Piano Preludes (Naxos)
Minor masterworks all-too-rarely performed [BR]
Poulenc plays Poulenc and Satie (SOMM Ariadne)
Entirely delightful music in engaging, expert performances [JQ]
Itzhak Perlman: The Warner Classics Edition (Warner Classics)
Perlman’s 70th Birthday Box reissued in miniaturised form but with the addition of an extra disc, in time to celebrate his 80th birthday [JW]
Cowie: Because They Have Songs (Métier)
Africa’s birds, reimagined in sound [JF]
Kabeláč: Symphony No. 2 (Capriccio)
Interesting, but not enthralling [DJB]
Haydn: Favourite Symphonies (Warner Classics)
(Déjà Review) Partnership of conductor and orchestra at something like its best [JW]
Caldara: Sonate a Violoncello solo col basso (Tactus)
(Déjà Review) A chance to enjoy some of Caldara’s rare instrumental music [GPu]
Puts: Orchestral Music (Delos)
Sophisticated, emotional, beautifully crafted and a delight from first to last [DJB]
Weir & Beach: Choral works (Hyperion)
Fine performances of two highly contrasted choral works [JQ]
Music from the Peterhouse partbooks (Naxos)
Music from the Peterhouse partbooks [SB]
Pierre Monteux: A 150th Anniversary Tribute (SOMM Ariadne)
A fine anniversary tribute to ‘Le Maître’
Handel: Il trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno (Hyperion)
(Déjà Review) A fine recording of a remarkable and fascinating masterpiece from Handel’s years in Italy [GPu]
Fasch: Orchestral Music (Chandos)
(Déjà Review) Creativity and originality … first recordings of three works by Fasch [JV]
Haydn: Piano Sonatas Vol. 2 (Hyperion)
(Déjà Review) Some of the finest performances of Haydn sonatas I have heard [MC]
Ginastera: Complete String Quartets (Naxos)
(Déjà Review) Jaw-dropping prowess revealing masterpieces of the quartet literature [NB]
Kenneth MacMillan (choreographer) Celebrated (Opus Arte)
Three one-act ballets in very fine performances [RMay]
A Prayer for Deliverance (Signum Classics)
An outstanding disc [JQ]
Catherine Collard (piano): En Concert 1969-1972 (Solstice)
Vivid playing by a pianist who passed too soon [RCh]
Bruckner: Symphony No.8 (Profil)
A thoroughly invigorating, newly conceived approach to this greatest of symphonies [RMo]
Elgar: Symphony No 1, In the South (ESO Records)
Accounts of two of Elgar’s greatest orchestral scores which are well worth hearing [JQ]
Shostakovich: Symphonies 1 & 3 (Chandos)
Storgårds jumps to the beginning in his survey of Shostakovich symphonies – with mixed results [PH]
Ravel: L’Enfant et les sortilèges & L’heure Espagnole (Deutsche Grammophon)
A sparkling pair of Ravel’s contrasting operas, justifying their status as “gramophone classics” [RMo]
Mozart: Requiem (Reference Recordings)
A thoughtful and different presentation of Mozart’s Requiem Mass [LD]
