Verdi: Falstaff (Urania)
Though Sir Geraint Evans is rather gruff and dry-toned, this lavishly cast recording is worth anyone’s money [GF]
Hjellemo: Orchestral Works (Sterling)
Don’t miss this disc if you are well disposed to tonally pleasing late Romantic music [SG]
Baquedano: Music for the Cathedral of Santiago (Lauda)
Texts set with expressivity and emotion [GH]
Price: Songs of the Oak (Naxos)
Collectors of Florence Price’s music need not hesitate in acquiring this disc [LW]
Honegger: Symphony 2 (Forgotten Records)
A great Janáček champion conducts Honegger and Martinů in an obscure Polish recording [JW]
Bacewicz: Symphonies (cpo)
Rigour and rhythmic drive somewhat leavened by folkloric elements [JW]
The Canticle of the Sun (Regent)
An interesting programme, impressively performed [JQ]
Bruckner: Symphony 8 (Tobu Recordings)
A wholly viable interpretation of indestructible integrity [RMo]
Dracula – Bite Size (Cuillin Sound Music)
A famous tale told with stylish and compelling atmosphere [DC]
Schütz: David & Salomon (harmonia mundi)
An interesting production that is marred by some serious issues [JV]
Sibelius: The Tempest (Naxos)
Kamu has the measure of Sibelius’s complete Tempest music [LW]
Schulhoff: Shapeshifter (Delos)
Praiseworthy performances of fascinating repertoire [MC]
Debussy/Ravel: String Quartets (Forgotten Records)
The Loewenguth Quartet’s stereo Debussy-Ravel coupling reissued in fine transfers [JW]
Verdi: Aida (Pristine Audio)
Pristine’s typically successful remastering into Ambient Stereo helps appreciate afresh the virtues of this classic recording [RMo]
Santoro: Symphonies (Naxos)
A superb second instalment of the Santoro cycle, and a good introduction to his music [HC]
Bacewicz: Violinissimo (Acte Préalable)
A feast of varied music for violin(s) [GPu]
Jonathan Tetelman (tenor) Arias (Deutsche Grammophon)
Tetelman will win many new admirers with this outstanding debut album [MC]
Bach: Cantatas for Bass (Harmonia Mundi)
Anyone wanting a HIP recording of these deservedly popular cantatas need search no further [GF]
One Hundred Years of British Song Vol. 3 (SOMM)
Exemplary singing and sensitive accompaniment in a fascinating song recital [JF]
Malipiero: String Quartets (Dynamic)
A welcome reissue of Malipiero’s compact cycle [JW]
Veggio, Ridio, Bertoldo: Complete Organ Music (Brilliant Classics)
Scandali could not have made a better choice than the oldest of the two organs in San Petronio [JV]
Wagner: Der Ring des Nibelungen (Naxos)
An innovative and at times challenging production, with high calibre singing and playing [RWe]
Rossini: Il barbiere di Siviglia (Pristine Audio)
Pristine delivers this classic Barbiere in an airy and better-balanced revision, free of hiss and noise [MZ]