Recommended

Ligeti String Quartets Quatuor Diotima Pentatone PTC5187061

Ligeti: String Quartets (Pentatone)

Hats off! A Recording of the Year! [DMD]

rieti piano grand piano

Rieti: Complete Piano Works Vol. 1 (Grand Piano)

I look forward to more of this outstanding composer [SA]

strauss lieder choir rondeau

R Strauss: Letzte Lieder (Rondeau Production)

Strauss songs transfigured in breathtakingly beautiful performances [NB]

Brahms, Ligeti & Sierra: Horn Trios (IBS Classical)

Two old horn trios and one new – terrific performances and a flawless programme [LW]

Chopin: Piano Sonatas (Deutsche Grammophon)

Performances of authority and distinction [SG]

Bruckner: Symphonies 3 & 6 (Unitel Editions)

Today’s pre-eminent Bruckner conductor conducts the essential Bruckner orchestra in superb live accounts of two of the more elusive symphonies [RWe]

medtner storms ang

Medtner: Storms and Idylls (Private release)

More magical subtleties from Ang [DMD]

tchaikovsky grieg quartets forgotten

Tchaikovsky & Grieg: String Quartets (Forgotten Records)

A historic recording by a great Armenian string quartet recommended to all chamber music lovers [GT]

prokofiev cleveland

Prokofiev: Symphony No.5 (The Cleveland Orchestra Recordings)

The Cleveland Orchestra stakes a claim to be currently the best in the world [DMD]

Lynch: Light Darkness (Pilfink Records)

An immensely satisfying exploration of dream, darkness and light [JF]

podger tutta channel

Rachel Podger (violin): Tutta sola (Channel Classics)

Quite exceptional performances of rarely heard pre-Bach Baroque solo violin works [PB]

schumann symphonies bis

Schumann: Symphonies (BIS)

A comprehensive survey stunningly played and beautifully recorded [NB]

Claudio Arrau (piano) The Complete Warner Classics Recordings (Warner Classics)

Aristocratic, authoritative and poetic performances [SG]

Dove: In Exile (Lyrita)

Music and performance can be recommended without reservation [JQ]

Dukas: Complete Piano Music (Piano Classics)

Maltempo captures the romantic sweep of the music and its nuances wonderfully well [JF]

hildegard chants signum

Hildegard of Bingen: Sacred Chants (Signum Classics)

This disc goes straight to my list of recordings of the year [JV]

shostakovich berliner

Shostakovich: Symphonies 8-10 (Berliner Philharmoniker Recordings)

Bravo, bravo, and thrice bravo; Kirill Petrenko’s Shostakovich sweeps the board [DM]

schubert trios ondine

Schubert: Piano Trios (Ondine)

Ideal performances of great works – and a fitting memorial to Lars Vogt [RMo]

van Helmont Leçons de Ténèbres Ricercar RIC454

van Helmont: Leçons de Ténèbres (Ricercar)

Van Helmont’s Leçons fully deserve to be recorded, and Scherzi Musicali has done a great job of performing them [JV]

Ténèbres et Abysse (Château de Versailles Spectacles)

Excellent and often exciting performances of partly little-known music [JV]

Bruckner: Symphony No 8 (Capriccio)

Anyone wanting to hear the original version of Bruckner’s monumental Eighth Symphony given the best possible advocacy need look no further [RMo]

Janácek, Brahms, Bartók: Violin Sonatas (Alpha Classics)

Two firecracker performers strike a storm of sparks off one another [DMD]

strings chandos

Music for Strings (Chandos)

An absolutely outstanding disc containing some of the best of English string music [EJW]

The Monteverdi Organ (Brilliant Classics)

Groundbreaking from the perspective of performance practice [JV]