Review
Bach: Keyboard Concertos (Decca)
(Déjà Review) Life-enhancing fun, and breathtakingly and movingly beautiful [DC]
Bridge: Piano Music – Volume 3 (SOMM Recordings)
(Déjà Review) A worthy part of what is a major, important project in British recorded music [JF][RB]
Mozart: Symphonies (Warner Classics)
Luxuriant, emotionally stirring renditions of Mozart’s final six symphonies [DF]
Chee & Ballard: Indigenous American Piano Music (Navona Records)
One of the most original piano albums I’ve heard this year: engaging, cantabile works, beautifully played. [ACG]
Mendelssohn: Symphonies 3 and 4 (Deutsche Grammophon)
Exuberant, big-boned, Romantic readings, far from the light classicality of other interpreters [RMo]
Rosa Franziska Maier (guitar) Scenes of Reverie (Genuin)
A seductive programme skilfully executed [ZT]
Biber & Aufschnaiter: Choral Music (Accent)
Superb performances of three musical treasures from Austria’s musical heritage [JV]
Schmid: Chamber Music (cpo)
(Déjà Review) Perhaps Schmid is due a revival for its melodic fluency and formal coherency, if slightly lacking in invention and adventure. Worth a listen though [GD]
Telemann: Matthäus Passion (Christophorus)
(Déjà Review) A creditable, persuasive yet less than perfect recording of Telemann’s 1730 Matthew Passion [MS]
Bruckner: Symphony No.9 (Hänssler Profil)
A swift, driven, thrilling and cohesive live performance of Schaller’s completion of Bruckner’s Ninth Symphony [RMo]
Rossini: Il barbiere di Siviglia (Pristine Audio)
A classic Barber returns to the catalogue in better sound than ever [ST]
Steiger: String quartets (Kairos)
Political music that turns its gaze inward [DHa]
Felix & Fanny Mendelssohn: Complete String Quartets (cpo)
An unusually comprehensive and rewarding set of Mendelssohn string quartets [SB]
Beach: Piano Works Vol. 3 (Guild)
(Déjà Review) One of the very best piano recordings I’ve heard [DM]
Berlioz: La Damnation de Faust (Challenge Classics)
(Déjà Review) A stunningly vivid live recording of what must have been an electrifying evening at the Concertgebouw [DC]
Organ Music from the Low Countries (Ricercar)
Foccroulle pairs a thorough knowledge of the 17C organ landscape with an engaging style of playing [JV]
Ries: Piano Sonatas & Sonatinas, Vol 5 (Naxos)
(Déjà Review) The finest possible tribute to Ries’s piano sonatas [Byz]
Grieg: Violin Sonatas (Dynamic)
(Déjà Review) It is hard to imagine a performance that Grieg himself would have liked more than this one [Byz]
Beck: Symphonies (cpo)
Riveting accounts of dramatic early Classical symphonies [CRo]
Beamish: House of Wonders (Delphian)
A rare glimpse of the personal inspiration behind works by and for one of our leading composers [GH]
Garrop: Piano Concerto (Cedille)
An impressive recording of a dramatic, modern yet approachable piano concerto [EJW]
Saxophobia: Celebrating the Sax Craze of the 1920s (Chandos)
Hugely entertaining, backed up by phenomenal technique and rigorous research [NB]
Mahler: Symphony 8 (Naxos)
A mandatory purchase for anyone interested in superb Mahler and even better sound [DM]
Reichenauer: Concertos (Supraphon)
Baroque enthusiasts will love this: was Reichenauer the Vivaldi of Prague? [BR]
