May 2026
Piazzolla: Sinfonía Buenos Aires (Naxos)
(Déjà Review) Freshness, spontaneity matched by committed, idiomatic playing [DM]
Wagner: Der Ring des Nibelungen (C Major)
(Déjà Review) A great success overall and this DVD needs watching just once before you go out and buy the whole thing [DBi]
Vivaldi: L’Olimpiade (1734) (cpo)
One of Vivaldi’s best operas receives a recording which succeeds in most regards [MP]
Schubert: Irrlichter (BIS)
An intrinsically beautiful voice delivers as fine a Schubert recital as we have heard in many a year [RMo]
Brahms: Clarinet Sonata No 1 & Weber: Grand duo concertant for Clarinet & Piano (Nimbus)
A valuable twofer reissues a Jack Brymer recording from 1973 and presents a previously unissued one from nearly twenty years later [JW]
Elgar: From the Archives, Vol 3 (SOMM Ariadne)
Compelling live Elgar from Sir Adrian Boult in SOMM’s essential archive series [DHa]
Madetoja: Complete Works for Strings and Piano (Alba)
Interesting, but his orchestral music is far better [DJB]
Coleridge-Taylor & Dvořák: Violin Concertos (Canary Classics)
A taut, decisive and first-class Coleridge-Taylor Concerto coupled with a very effective Dvořák [JW]
Beethoven: Symphonies 1 & 2 (High Definition Tape Transfers)
Brilliant, driven performances from an orchestra and conductor in top form, in extraordinarily good sound for its vintage [RMo]
Bellini: (Oxford University Press)
Powered by the latest scholarship, a readable and illuminating overview of the career of Vincenzo Bellini [DHa]
Chopin in Vienna: (Azure Sky)
Chopin’s early successes and a rarity in this well-played recital [RCh]
Zelenka: Officium defunctorium & Requiem (Accent)
Everything about this is top notch [DC]
Jascha Heifetz (violin) Walton & Castelnuovo-Tedesco: Violin Concertos (Naxos Historical)
One of the greatest historical bargains that I’ve heard for a long time [BW]
Puccini: Tosca (Naxos)
This latest version of the perennial favourite is dramatically convincing, if not always quite adequate vocally [DJa]
Alexander Malofeev (piano) – Forgotten Melodies (Sony Classical)
Bravura playing of a brilliantly constructed programme compromised by claustrophobic sound [NB]
Kauder: Chamber Music Volume 1 (Toccata Classics)
The string sonatas of an intriguing Viennese figure [JW]
Pärt: Complete Symphonies (Chandos)
Compelling music of surprising variety from a composer many listeners will think they know [WH]
Weinberg: Cello Sonatas (Naxos)
(Déjà Review) Emotional Soviet solo cello [BR]
Stravinsky: Pétrouchka & Le Sacre du Printemps (BIS)
(Déjà Review) Stop press: crusty old cynic declares recording to be ‘near definitive’ [DC]
Pioneering Haydn On Record: Symphony 85
by Christopher Howell
Arriaga: String Quartet No.2
by Alan George
Dallapiccola: Orchestral Works Vol 1 (Chandos)
(Déjà Review) Superb performances and recordings of works from an important decade in Dallapiccola’s composing life [HC]
Baroque German Bass Cantatas (cpo)
(Déjà Review) Cantatas by completely unknown German composers of the early 18th century – music and performances of high quality [JV]
Garro & Guerrero: Choral Music (Delphian)
A fine celebration of Portuguese polyphony [DC]
