January 2026
Saint-Saëns: Complete Works for Cello and Orchestra (Hänssler Classic)
(Déjà Review) A fruitful emotional encounter with Saint-Saëns [MC]
Pierre-Laurent Aimard – Homage a Messiaen (Deutsche Grammophon)
(Déjà Review) A very special disc indeed [CC]
Wagner’s Lohengrin – a survey of the major recordings
by Ralph Moore
Sibelius: Rakastava
by Alan George
Elgar: The Crown of India (Chandos)
(Déjà Review) At last a version of this legendary work for pleasure, analysis and study [JF]
Dean: Orchestral works (BIS)
(Déjà Review) Excellent performances and superb recording of some of Dean’s most endearing works [HC]
Shor: Cello Concerto and other works (Naxos)
You would be hard-pressed to identify this as contemporary; it is kind to the ear [RB]
Franck & Widor: Works for organ and orchestra (CPO)
An excellent new version of Franck’s Op. 17 [DC]
Bass Clarinet Concertos of the 21st century (Toccata)
The bass clarinet turns out to be a very viable concerto soloist [SB]
Strauss: Eine Alpensinfonie (Ondine)
Good but hardly essential accounts of music for which we already have so many great recordings [RMo]
Puccini: Messa di Gloria (Naxos)
An attractive collection of Puccini’s non-operatic juvenilia, performed in spirited fashion [RMo]
Schwarz: Piano Works Vol. 1 (Danacord)
Rediscovery of elegant, virtuosic piano treasures [JF]
Stöhr: Orchestral Music Vol. 4 (Toccata Classics)
A wonderful blend of flowing melody and an early 20th-century harmonic tinge [EJW]
Smyth: String Trio (Solaire Records)
Cracking performance of a fascinating but neglected work [DC]
Strauss: Don Juan, Ein Heldenleben (OUR Recordings)
An impressive brace of Strauss tone poems of interesting provenance [RMo]
Lopes-Graça: Piano Works (Hyperion)
A subtle folk-inflected collection, not simplistic – impressive [RB]
Liszt: Demonic and Divine (Prima Facie)
Liszt’s Demonic and Divine, uncannily played [JF]
Colors of Bach (Sony Classical)
Re-imaginings of Bach’s immortal melodies in a modern idiom that provide many pleasures [DJB]
Diana Damrau (soprano): Mozart arias (Erato)
(Déjà Review) A bridge too far, too soon [RMo]
Martinů: Orchestral Works (Supraphon)
(Déjà Review) Catching the Martinů sound in full flight [RB]
Debussy & Szymanowski: String Quartets (Alpha Classics)
Outstanding accounts of Debussy’s and Szymanowski’s string quartets [LW]
Shostakovich: Incidental and Film Music (Naxos)
A stream of vivid musical tesellae [RB]
Feliz Navidad! – Mexican Baroque Music for Christmas (cpo)
A fascinating and joyous programme of festive music from 18th century Mexico [CR]
Mozart: L’Enlèvement du sérail (Château de Versailles Spectacles)
A mixed bag of achievements for the first recording in French of Mozart’s singspiel [MP]
