Mozart: Arias, Symphony No. 38 (Opus Arte)
(Déjà Review) Excellent performances of these great works [PSh]
Bach JS: Sonatas and Partitas (BIS)
Dazzling virtuosity, sometimes at the expense of the music [ZT]
Beethoven: String Quartets Vol 1 (Chandos)
A very promising beginning to the Doric’s Beethoven cycle, marked by excellent engineering, superb emotion, and precise attention to detail [MZ]
Bruckner: Symphony No 4 (Profil)
A magnificent account of the last version of Bruckner’s most approachable symphony, beautifully played in ideal recorded sound [RMo]
Sacred Treasures of Venice (Hyperion)
A fine young male choir in known and little-known repertoire [GH]
Seither: Lauschgut. Works for (Inside) Piano (Kairos)
Seither’s piano oeuvre is conceptually consistent and superbly executed here, but it’s patently not for everyone [RH]
Tarkiainen: Midnight Sun Variations (Ondine)
A fine survey of Tarkiainen’s recent work, and a great introduction to her attractive sound world [HC]
Jongen: Cello Concerto & Impressions d’Ardennes (Cyprès)
(Déjà Review) Cyprès have done a sterling job kicking over the predictable traces [RB]
The Queen’s Masque (Coviello Classics)
The music can’t fail to entertain, but the performances are not really satisfying [JV]
Center: Instrumental & Chamber Music Vol 3
The final instalment of Christopher Guild’s imaginative survey of Center’s piano music [JF]
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]
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]
Marx: Natur-Trilogie (ASV)
An impressionistic voice soaked in the quintessence of lyrical expression [RB]
Russian Variations (Hyperion)
Well planned and brilliantly executed recital culminates in a superb set of Rachmaninov variations [NB]
Bruckner: Symphony No 9 (Myrios Classics)
A swift, coherent, absorbing onslaught upon Bruckner’s Ninth which carries its own conviction [RMo]
Vecchi: Six-Voice Motets (Dynamic)
Complete motets by a prolific but overlooked Italian renaissance master [GH]
Ponchielli: La Gioconda (Pristine Audio)
A good but not quite superlative recording in enhanced sound [MBu]
Liszt: A Faust Symphony, Les Préludes (St Laurent Studio)
Uncontrived, yet revelatory, interpretations from a neglected podium auteur [NC]
Bach: (RE)inventio (Divine Art)
An interesting exercise, with mostly winning results [DJB]
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]