By Women: Piano works by Armenian women composers (AGBU)
Arzruni introduces us to a world of powerful, delightful and thoroughly musical compositions [SA]
Paganini: Violin Concerto No 2 & 24 Caprices (Rhine Classics)
An exciting discovery [SG]
Boult and the BBC Symphony – The Pre-war Recordings Vol. 2 (Pristine Audio)
A sequence of overtures demonstrates the versatility and virtuosity of Boult’s pre-war BBC Symphony [JW]
Galilei: Lute Suites (Acis)
Little-known early baroque lute music played with distinction and style [GH]
Martial Singher (baritone) French Opera Arias (Pristine Audio)
(Déjà Review) I defy anyone to play these tracks through once and not do so immediately again [ED]
Buxtehude: Cantatas (Carus)
(Déjà Review) Diligently, impressively and with consistent success this company is building up a portfolio of very fine discs [JW]
Magdalena Kožená (mezzo-soprano) Czech Songs (Pentatone)
Recommended with all possible enthusiasm [GF]
Beethoven: Symphony No 3; Schubert: Symphony No 9 (ICA Classics)
Boult in spirited form in his twilight years: no let-up in authority from the doyen of British conductors [JW]
Fernández: Symphonies Nos 1 and 2 (Naxos)
Another impressive Latin-American composer, presented in compelling performances [NB]
Lloyd: A Symphonic Mass, A Litany (Lyrita)
If you like the music of George Lloyd, get these fine recordings, especially if you only know his orchestral music [JQ]
Mahler: Symphony No.3 (BIS)
An excellent account, superb sound, but an emotionally cool finale [RMo]
Bach: The Bach Cantata Pilgrimage, Volume 23 (Soli Deo Gloria)
(Déjà Review) This is another absorbing and splendidly performed release in this very important series [JQ]
Brahms: Symphony No 1; Haydn: The Creation (And God created man…In native worth), L’Isola Disabitata (Guild)
(Déjà Review) Barbirolli’s 1954 Proms performance of the Brahms C minor is a lithe, vital and convincing document [JW]
Stanford: Cushendall, Irish Song Cycles (SOMM)
Containing a number of recorded premieres, this is an attractive selection of some of Stanford’s many Irish songs [JQ]
Mozart: Orchestral Works (Dynamic)
A wonderfully played and very varied Mozart programme in extraordinarily vivid sound [RMo]
Échos de la terre (Cyprès)
A very successful album of elemental contemporary music [MBu]
Capriciosi affetti – Venetian Sonata of the Sixteen Hundreds (Stradivarius)
The programme is not very adventurous, but the performances are well worth hearing [JV]
Bowen & Clarke: Viola Sonatas (Alba)
Engineering sabotages decent enough performances of two British viola sonatas [JW]
Wagner: Parsifal (Opus Arte)
(Déjà Review) If you come to terms with some controversial aspects, you could be watching one of the finest all-round operatic performances you will ever see [JL]
Berkeley: Symphonies Nos 1 & 2 (Lyrita)
(Déjà Review) Great to have this landmark recording issued on CD [JF]
Prokofiev & Rachmaninov: Piano Concertos (Mercury)
A wonderful, spellbinding disc; legendary recordings of legendary performances of the two concertos [PSe]
Debussy: Le Martyre de Saint Sébastien (SWR Classic)
A problematic version of a problematic work, but Debussyians should investigate [SB]
Cantabile: Anthems for Viola (Delphian)
Two fine artists in a fascinating and wide-ranging programme [WH]
Schubert: String Quartets (Hyperion)
Vehement, concentrated playing of the highest quality in an attractive pairing [RMo]