Bach JS: Sonatas and Partitas (BIS)
Dazzling virtuosity, sometimes at the expense of the music [ZT]
Jongen: Cello Concerto & Impressions d’Ardennes (Cyprès)
(Déjà Review) Cyprès have done a sterling job kicking over the predictable traces [RB]
Bizet: L’Arlésienne Complete stage music (SOMM Recordings)
Bizet’s L’Arlésienne returns to its original theatrical roots, and the revelation is enchanting in the hands of Plasson [PCG]
Bruckner: Symphony 7 (Capriccio)
A patchy account, hobbled by a particularly egregious bit of tinkering with the codas of the first movement and the finale [RMo]
Center: Instrumental & Chamber Music Vol 3
The final instalment of Christopher Guild’s imaginative survey of Center’s piano music [JF]
The Queen’s Masque (Coviello Classics)
The music can’t fail to entertain, but the performances are not really satisfying [JV]
Marx: Natur-Trilogie (ASV)
An impressionistic voice soaked in the quintessence of lyrical expression [RB]
Bach: (RE)inventio (Divine Art)
An interesting exercise, with mostly winning results [DJB]
Liszt: A Faust Symphony, Les Préludes (St Laurent Studio)
Uncontrived, yet revelatory, interpretations from a neglected podium auteur [NC]
Ponchielli: La Gioconda (Pristine Audio)
A good but not quite superlative recording in enhanced sound [MBu]
Vecchi: Six-Voice Motets (Dynamic)
Complete motets by a prolific but overlooked Italian renaissance master [GH]
Bruckner: Symphony No 9 (Myrios Classics)
A swift, coherent, absorbing onslaught upon Bruckner’s Ninth which carries its own conviction [RMo]
Russian Variations (Hyperion)
Well planned and brilliantly executed recital culminates in a superb set of Rachmaninov variations [NB]
Yoshimatsu: Symphony No 4, Trombone Concerto (Chandos)
(Déjà Review) Much of this music is delightful, particularly the symphony, where Yoshimatsu wears his heart unselfconsciously on his sleeve. The BBC Philharmonic plays beautifully with Ian Bousfield a fine soloist in the concerto [CT]
Wallen: The Girl in My Alphabet (Avie)
(Déjà Review) Wallen is a brashly creative, open-minded composer striding with confident abandon from jazz, to Tippett, to spirituals, to Schoenberg, to Mediterranean mystery [RB]
Toscanini: The 1939 Beethoven Cycle (Pristine Audio)
One of the finest Beethoven Symphony cycles in the best remasterings [DF]
Mozart: Così fan tutte (Deutsche Grammophon)
Despite cuts and a less than perfect ensemble, the sense of being a part of an exciting occasion is boldly realized here [MP]
Sibelius: Symphonies (Brilliant Classics)
A fine set but compromised by comparatively lacklustre Second and Seventh Symphonies [RMo]
Yixiang Hou (piano) Carnival (KNS Classical)
Worthy performances in an unusual and intriguing programme [RCh]
D Johnson: Preludes & Fugues (Divine Art)
Another major contribution to Scottish classical music [JF]
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