Aga Mikolaj sings Strauss & Mozart: Songs (cpo)
(Déjà Review) Mikolaj certainly deserves to be heard alongside the greats [Byz]
Andrei Gavrilov (piano): Complete Warner Classics Recordings (Warner Classics)
Gavrilov’s ups and downs charted in his EMI (now Warner) legacy [JW]
Biber: Harmonia artificioso-ariosa (Accent)
The scordatura tuning takes some time to adjust to, but Biber’s wonderful invention makes it well worth the effort [DJB]
Sebastian Berner (trumpet): French Trumpet Concertos (Channel Classics)
Berner stands in the elite tradition of an André or an Aubier [RB]
French Orchestral Favourites (Chandos)
70 minutes of bon-bons beautifully played and well contrasted [RMo]
Chopin: Piano Concertos No 1 & 2 (MDG)
A welcome reissue of Zacharias’s poetic Chopin concertos [ST]
Rudolf Kempe conducts Dvorak & Strauss (ICA Classics)
Some superb performances directed by a conductor of the highest calibre, performing live and at the peak of his abilities [RMay]
Spanish Works for String Orchestra (Nimbus)
A well worked programme; not to be overlooked in the welter of releases and re-releases that continue to saturate the market [JW]
Arnold Mendelssohn: Violin Concerto & Symphony 2 (cpo)
Full-lipped and high-tensile writing [RB]
Castelnuovo-Tedesco: Piano Quintets (Naxos)
Refreshing and enjoyable piano quintets in an accessible idiom [SB]
Káťa Kabanová and The Cunning Little Vixen: Janáček’s new lease of life (Moravské Zemské Muzeum)
The first two great operas from Janáček’s final decade explored with generosity and detail [JW]
Mival: Orchestral works (Signum Classics)
Notable additions to the catalogue of British orchestral works [JQ]
Le Coeur et la Raison (Alpha Classics)
Interesting and musically compelling survey of French music from around 1700 [JV]
Sir Thomas Beecham: The Great Communicator (Warner Classics)
(Déjà Review) An excellent insight into the human relationships and stories behind some of the great symphonic and vocal music on record [DBe]
My Fayre Ladye – Tudor Songs & Chant (Nimbus)
(Déjà Review) This fine disc has worn very well [JW]
Aitchison: Piano Quintets (Métier)
Two recent, uncompromising piano quintets [RB]
Tye: Peterhouse Mass (Hyperion)
Exemplary performances of sacred Latin works, some reconstructed, by a composer who is still a rather mysterious figure in Renaissance music [GH]
Woodgates: The System Made Me Do It (Delphian)
A somewhat enigmatic release that raises more questions than it answers [PRJ]
Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherazade (SOMM Recordings)
A live Beecham Scheherazade that generates the heat and drive sometimes missing from his commercial recording [JW]
American Tapestry: Calidore String Quartet (Signum Classics)
A well-planned, enjoyable selection of American string quartets [LW]
López-Gavilán: Orchestral Music (Reference Recordings)
Sit back and enjoy a plenipotentiary’s sound-picture [RB]
Beethoven & Brahms: Orchestral Music
Old-fashioned, perhaps, but big, bold and sometimes surprisingly effective accounts [RMay]
Holst: The Planets (LSO Live)
A Planets that just about justifies itself thanks to Pappano’s colourful theatricality [ST]
Schubert: Piano Music (Pentatone)
A marvellous rendition of Schubert’s final sonata [ST]
