Vestiva lux FHR137

Vestiva – Embellishing 16th & 17th Century Music (First Hand Records)

A fine demonstration of some of the main aspects of performance practice in music of the late Renaissance and early Baroque [JV]

Strauss concertos ORC100261

Strauss: Horn & Oboe Concertos (Orchid Classics)

Fine performances for the most part, but the documentation is problematic [LW]

Brahms sym1 8557428

Brahms: Symphony No. 1 (Naxos)

Alsop’s Brahms series has gotten off to an excellent start [PCW]

Mozart Masses v1 Poppen Naxos 8.574270

Mozart: Complete Masses Vol 1 (Naxos)

Auspicious beginning to a series of Mozart’s Masses [DF]

Mahler Symph 8 Vanska BIS 2496SACD

Mahler: Symphony No 8 (BIS)

Vänskä’s performance of Symphony of a Thousand; a rave review [EJW]

Henze Raft of Medusa Capriccio C5482

Henze: The Raft of the Medusa (Capriccio)

An impressive account of this once notorious work [SB]

Lusitano Impero Portugese Baroque Passacaille PAS1127

Lusitano Impero – Portugese Baroque music (Passacaille)

This disc documents the strong Italian influence on the Portuguese late Baroque [JV]

Bacewicz Orchestral works v1 Oramo Chandos CHSA5316SACD

Bacewicz: Symphonies Nos 3 & 4 (Chandos)

This SACD presents music, in fine performances, that is well worth getting to know [JQ]

Jenkins Armed Man Signum SIGCD779

Jenkins: The Armed Man (Signum Classics)

An arrangement for smaller forces that still makes as much impact [DJB]

Schumann Grieg PCs Leonskaja Warner 5419783783

Schumann and Grieg: Piano Concertos (Warner Classics)

Fine performances, but do we really need any more? [MBu]

RStrauss Ariadne Auf Naxos Sinopoli DG 4713232

R Strauss: Ariadne auf Naxos (Deutsche Grammophon)

(Déjà Review) A reminder of all the strengths of this cruelly-underrated conductor/composer. Certainly, this is a major addition to the Strauss discography [CC]

A te Puccini Gheorghiu Signum SIGCD780

Angela Gheorghiu: A Te, Puccini (Signum Classics)

Not my cup of tea – in spite of some sensitive, nuanced singing, Gheorghiu’s vibrato is now too much to stomach [GF]

The Young Malcolm Frager Parnassus PACD96090

Malcolm Frager (piano) – The Young Malcolm Frager (Parnassus)

Pianism of the highest calibre [SG]

American and English Orchestral Music (Claves)

A fascinating juxtaposition of the familiar and the unfamiliar [PJ]

Suder: Dona Nobis Pacem, Symphonic Music II (Hänssler Classic)

Committed performances of two mid-twentieth-century German works [WK]

Mahler pioneers 50222

Mahler Pioneers (SOMM)

This release will be of great interest to all Mahler devotees [JQ]

Gershwin porgy 4785785

Gershwin: Porgy and Bess (Decca)

This remains a powerful experience 49 years after its initial release [MP]

Lalo orchestral Chandos

Lalo: Orchestral Works (Chandos)

A typical Järvi performance for good or ill [NB]

biber violin ecm

Biber: Violin Sonatas (ECM)

(Déjà Review) I’ve been returning to this superb disc again and again over the past few weeks [GS]

Stravinsky Rite hdtt

Stravinsky: Rite of Spring (High Definition Tape Transfers)

If you want to hear Stravinsky conduct his own most famous work in what is by far the best sound to date, this is it [RMo]

scarlatti sonatas navona

D Scarlatti: Sonatas (Navona)

Metz’s playing has admirable directness of approach, but the lovely Clementi square piano is a revelation [MG]

Shostakovich Symph 2-3-12-13 BSO Nelsons DG 4864965

Shostakovich: Symphonies (Deutsche Grammophon)

The final instalment in Andris Nelsons’ Shostakovich symphony cycle [JQ]

bach goldberg dynamic

Bach: Goldberg Variations (Dynamic)

Bach, beautifully embroidered [PJ]

schoch core es-dur

Andre Schoch (trumpet) Core (Es-Dur)

Readings that don’t match up with the best, and an ungenerous runtime [DJB]