The Memory Garden – Guitar Music from England (Deux-Elles)
A great programme of solo guitar music by English composers, played with a special sensitivity and depth [KT]
Mozart: Requiem (Harmonia Mundi)
Pichon’s inventive programming and superb musicianship make this recording stand out in a crowded field [SSc]
Lloyd: Works for Brass (Lyrita)
A super disc [JQ]
Hynninen: Ratsut (Alba)
Colourful extended harp fare from Finland, a slightly underwhelming follow-up to Hynninen’s marvellous Otilia album [RHa]
Young: Nosferatu – A Symphony of Horror (Warner Classics)
A brand-new score for a creepy classic silent movie that really pulls out all the stops [PH]
Doráti: Piano Concerto; Seiber: Suites (Hänssler Classic)
An all-Hungarian disc of real pleasures – Doráti’s approachable Concerto and Seiber’s orchestral music in splendid performances [JW]
Martinů: The Six Symphonies (BIS)
(Déjà Review) A well documented, brilliantly recorded, excellently played and broadly sympathetic set of readings [JW]
Mussorgsky: Symphonic Transcriptions (Naxos)
(Déjà Review) Whatever superlatives you hear about this disc I urge you to believe them [MC]
Vaughan Williams: Carols from Herefordshire (Albion Records)
Vaughan-Williams’s two versions of carols collected in Herefordshire in the early twentieth century [GH]
Tippett: Piano Concerto & Symphony No 2 (LPO)
British works you should know from a conductor establishing a reputation as a master of the genre [PH]
Rarities of Piano Music at Schloss vor Husum 2023 (Danacord)
Treats galore in this annual release that never disappoints [RCh]
Aleksandra Kurzak (soprano): Falcon (Aparté)
Aleksandra Kurzak is in striking form with an album of arias sung by legendary French soprano Cornélie Falcon [MC]
Encircling: Works for Viola (Acis)
A viola-fanciers’ delight with a well-balanced recital offering two sonatas and two smaller, but compelling, pieces [JW]
Campkin: I Saw Eternity (Convivium Records)
An enjoyable disc of choral music by an English composer of whom we will surely hear more [GPu]
Telemann: Don Quixote Suite (Naxos)
(Déjà Review) Pure delight, this. Buy it [KS] – Thoroughly enjoyable fare. This is a most approachable coupling. [CC]
Riisager: Ballet Music (Dacapo)
(Déjà Review) Brilliantly orchestrated and balanced – moving forward in a blizzard of detail; the very antithesis of drab [RB]
Raff: Samson (Schweizer Fonogramm)
An operatic discovery which delivers a musical and dramatic feast despite some deeply flawed vocal performances [MP]
Rameau: The Sound of Light (Sony Classical)
Put aside preconceptions of “authenticity” and enjoy this for what it is – a celebration of some of Rameau’s most appealing music [RMo]
Fritz Kreisler (violin/piano) American Portrait (Rhine Classics)
Of limited interest to Kreisler collectors [SG]
Crumb: Complete Crumb Edition Vol 21 (Bridge Records)
An important document of Crumb’s artistic journey in spectacular sound [MBu]
Kolisch Quartet: Mozart, Schubert & Schumann (Biddulph)
Fine transfers of the Kolisch Quartet’s 1930s discography [JW]
Thomazeau/Baudimant: Errer (Claves)
Smoothly arranged, expertly performed, yet utterly saccharine, stumbling awkwardly into New Age territory [RHa]
Hoffmann: Chamber Music (cpo)
Be surprised by the restraint and elegance of Hoffmann’s chamber music [DS]
Mozart: Fantasias & Sonatas (Apex)
Absolutely first-rate Mozart keyboard playing [PSh]
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