Le Temps suspendu: Beethoven & Schubert (B Records)
Superlative, daringly innovative accounts of two Romantic chamber music masterpieces [RMo]
Ensemble Astera: Wind Chamber Music (Claves)
Attractive wind chamber music, brilliantly played [GPJ]
Bach’s Roots: Early Influences on the Young Master (Arcana)
An interesting and musically compelling survey of the musical world into which Bach was born [JV]
Mozart: String Quartet & Quintet (Aeon)
This beautifully engineered package is one with which I shall be able to live happily for a long time [DC]
Homs: Music for Chamber Orchestra (Naxos)
(Déjà Review) This offers the best introduction possible to the composer’s personal, endearing sound-world [HC]
Anouar Brahem: After The Last Sky (ECM)
Soothing, hypnotic and very enjoyable [DJB]
Mendelssohn & Reinecke: Music for piano (Da Vinci Classics)
A well-conceived and well played recital that blows the dust off some attractive rarities [RCh]
Brahms: Symphonies 3 and 4 (BIS)
A lovely pairing of Brahms’ last two symphonies, elegantly and fluidly played, in ideal sound [RMo]
Handel and Colonna: Sacred music (Ricercar)
A good case for Colonna and one of the best performances of Handel’s Dixit Dominus [JV]
Walton: Violin Concerto and other orchestral works (Chandos)
A fine choice if one seeks the Violin Concerto and is intrigued by the Suite from Troilus and Cressida [EJW]
Glazunov: Symphonies 1 to 8 (BIS)
Déjà Review) If you like your Glazunov languidly accentuated then this splendidly recorded set from Otaka and the BBC NOW is for you [RB]
Brahms: Violin Concerto & Schumann: Symphony 4 (Avie)
(Déjà Review) A fine advertisement for the quality of playing, and indeed the acoustic, to be heard at The Sage [JWi]
Leoncavallo: Pagliacci (Orfeo)
A mostly memorable night at the opera [RMas]
Pitfield: Orchestral Music (Toccata Classics)
British Pastoralism from 1946 to 1988 – lyricism and (largely) unclouded sunshine [JW]
Janáček: Jenůfa (LSO Live)
Jealousy, pain, loss, stifling shame, ultimate redemption – another episode in the LSO’s Janáček odyssey [PH]
Villa-Lobos: Complete Works for Solo Guitar (BIS)
A vibrant disc – probably the best collection of Villa-Lobos’s music for solo guitar [GPu]
Arianna in Rome (Arcana)
A compelling survey of the art of female singers in Rome in the first half of the 17th century [JV]
Finzi: Orchestral Works (Lyrita)
(Déjà Review) For anyone new to Finzi this disc is an ideal place to start [GH]
Handel: Music for the Chapel Royal (Naxos)
(Déjà Review) The Musicians Extra-ordinary sound like an expert group of specialists [JW]
Zwischen Himmel und Erde (Hänssler Classic)
A compelling lieder recital, cutting edge, joyful and poignant [DHa]
Dring: Complete Works for Oboe (Chandos)
A marvellous collection of works by a highly gifted composer with a sense of fun [PRJ]
Rózsa: Sinfonia Concertante, Cello Rhapsody (Capriccio)
A fine disc all round [WK]
Saariaho: Adriana Mater (Deutsche Grammophon)
A powerful opera in a good performance but with inadequate presentation [SB]
Mozart: Solo, Duo, Trio, Quartet (Harmonia Mundi)
An imaginative program and a definite success [DJB]
