Delius: Collection of Rare Historic Recordings (Danacord)
(Déjà Review) Dedicated Delians will need to get this disc of rarities [RB]
Brahms & Mandyczewski: Songs (Alpha Classics)
Mandyczewski’s songs are worth discovering, but Brahms’s have been performed better [ST]
Presumed Beethoven (Arcana)
Six delightful quartets, but who was their composer? [DC]
Toward the Sea: Piazolla, Ogonek & Takemitsu (Orchid Classics)
Some melodious, highly approachable music, and some more wispily amorphous, all beautifully played and recorded [RMo]
Rachmaninoff: The Bells & Symphonic Dances (Pentatone)
Undeniable masterworks, though there are superior recordings [MC]
Handel: Messiah (Harmonia Mundi)
A splendid new recording in an already crowded field [SW]
Clare College Choir: Reaching Farther (Signum Classics)
A fine musical celebration of Clare College’s 700th anniversary [JQ]
Gounod: Faust (Pristine Audio)
A notable document preserving the epitome of French style in sound remarkable for a recording nearly a century old [RMo]
Enescu: Octet & Piano Quintet (Chandos)
I was bowled over by this one [SB]
Chopin: Piano Concertos 1 & 2 (Deutsche Grammophon)
(Déjà Review) A desirable disc that will attract many listeners [MC]
Casella: Symphony 3 & Elegia eroica (Naxos)
(Déjà Review) Probably the strongest and most symphonic symphony written by an Italian [CH]
Handel: Music for the Royal Fireworks & Water Music Suites Nos. 1-3 (Sony Classics)
Malgoire’s second recording of the two famous Handel suites in period style has worn remarkably well [RMo]
Carwithen: Film Music (Dutton Epoch)
(Déjà Review) Some really fine cinema music here high on sumptuous 1950s confidence [RB]
Farrenc: Complete Piano Works Vol. 5 (Grand Piano)
Farrenc’s later piano works in the fifth volume of this excellent survey [RCh]
Bach & Vivaldi: Cello Sonatas (Forgotten Records)
(Déjà Review) Sympathetic, legato-conscious performances [JW]
Brian: Psalm 23, By the Waters of Babylon & Doctor Merryheart (Lyrita)
Brian admirers will have acquired this disc long before reading this review [NB]
Saariaho: Songs (Ondine)
Two very late works and a brief early song cycle by this significant Finnish composer [GH]
Gertrude Meller (piano): British Homochord Piano Solo Recordings (Sakuraphon)
Pianist rescued in brilliant fashion from undeserved obscurity [RCh]
Elgar: The Kingdom (Hallé)
(Déjà Review) Elder and the Hallé offer the pre-eminent digital account of Elgar’s last oratorio [JQ]
Lumbye: Orchestral Music (Naxos)
(Déjà Review) Joins my select list of music for cheering up [BW]
Bortniansky: Creonte (Toccata Classics)
An interesting curiosity uncovered after two centuries. The recording itself is a survivor of the challenges imposed by the war in Ukraine [MP]
Maria Callas Arias Vol 2 (Pristine Audio)
A stunning anthology of Callas at her very best, enhanced by being rendered into Ambient Stereo [RMo]
Mendelssohn: Sacred Works Vol 1 (Naxos)
If this first volume’s small treasures are a sign of what’s to come from Naxos’ complete Mendelssohn Choral Music cycle, we may eagerly await the remainder [SGa]
Jack Hancher (guitar): Muse (Deux-Elles)
Delightful, delicate arrangements for guitar of some very well-known piano works [KT]
