Crossing Borders (Signum Classics)
A nice mixture of familiar and little-known pieces in top-class performances [JV]
Arvo Pärt: …Lente (Berlin Classics)
Meltingly affecting, make sure you have a fresh spiritual mop and bucket to hand for this recording [DC]
Shor: Composer’s Notebook 4 (Naxos)
For the most part Alexey Shor’s music lacks individuality [GPu]
Mitra Kotte (piano) Herstory (Genuin)
One of the most enjoyable recitals I have heard this year, let alone one featuring just female composers [RCh]
Shostakovich: Piano Quintet & Trio (Erato)
(Déjà Review) Top-notch Shostakovich [DC]
Grechaninov: Passion Week (Chandos)
(Déjà Review) A recording of spectacular range and refinement and singing of the highest calibre [DM]
Tchaikovsky: Symphony 6 & Khachaturian: Violin Concerto (Gramola)
Worth your while for one piece — not the one you’d expect [SV]
Cilea: Gloria (Naxos)
An unjustly neglected opera by the composer of Adriana Lecouvreur and L’Arlesiana [WK]
Beethoven: Piano Sonatas (Deutsche Grammophon)
Richter in his prime in Beethoven from the archives of Deutsche Grammophon [PH]
Bruckner: Symphony 8 (Pristine Audio)
A classic performance in improved sound [MBu]
L Anderson: Orchestral Music Vol. 3 (Naxos)
(Déjà Review) Leroy Anderson hits in uninhibited performances full of joie de vivre [IL]
Bach: Fugues arranged for String Quartet (Deutsche Grammophon)
(Déjà Review) Gorgeous playing, wonderful music, but more of a supplement than a Bach staple [DC]
Verdi: Il trovatore (Pristine Audio)
This fast and furious performance of Il trovatore will please some more than others [PT]
Gassmann: Gli Uccellatori (Dynamic)
A pleasant diversion which does not engage one’s deeper emotions [MP]
Bacewicz: Orchestral Works Vol. 2 (Chandos)
Volume 2 reaffirms all the qualities of its predecessor [NB]
Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique; Ravel: La valse (Decca)
Mäkelä disappoints in French music [LD]
Grieg: Lyrical Travels (Simax Classics)
(Déjà Review) A fresh and thought-provoking approach to these well-known but often castigated pieces [GF]
Berg: String Quartet, Lyric Suite; Wolf: Italian Serenade (Naxos)
(Déjà Review) Interpretative stature and technical prowess [CC]
Shostakovich: String Quartets, Vol 4 (Brilliant Classics)
Seriously impressive Shostakovich from Quartetto Noûs [AG]
Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No 3 (Decca)
Lim’s superb musicianship and technical brilliance do not quite match the magic of the Horowitz-Ormandy live performance [RMo]
Bliss: Cello Concerto (Onyx)
The first recording of the Bliss concerto in thirty years is a stunning account [PH]
Klaus Tennstedt (conductor): Live – Vol 6 (Doremi)
Masterful Beethoven from a great interpreter [LD]
Grieg: Orchestrated Piano Pieces (Naxos)
(Déjà Review) Piano works by Grieg in orchestral garb by some important colleagues superbly played [GF]
Benda: Six Violin Sonatas (cpo)
(Déjà Review) The first recording ever entirely devoted to the technically demanding and musically enthralling violin sonatas by Franz Benda [JV]
