Arensky: Symphony 1 (Chandos)
Varied, energetic, colourful music by a composer who never found a distinctive, individual voice before his premature death [RMo]
Liszt: Phantasmagoria (Naïve)
A Liszt recital that oozes personality [RCh]
Sohal: The Wanderer, Asht Prahar (Heritage)
An essential issue of two of Sohal’s orchestral compositions [DHa]
Röntgen: Cello Concertos (Etcetera)
This is a fine addition to the Röntgen discography – a fringe enthusiasm that encourages affection [JW]
Mozart: Die Zauberflöte (Deutsche Grammophon)
A well-chosen selection from an already much-praised Flute [DM]
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]
Ensemble Astera: Wind Chamber Music (Claves)
Attractive wind chamber music, brilliantly played [GPJ]
Le Temps suspendu: Beethoven & Schubert (B Records)
Superlative, daringly innovative accounts of two Romantic chamber music masterpieces [RMo]
John Neumeier’s The Glass Menagerie (C Major)
An intriguing narrative ballet from John Neumeier [RMay]
Flury: Orchestral Music Vol. 4 (Toccata Classics)
Flury’s mature orchestral works, well performed, recorded and documented [EJW]
Homs: Music for Chamber Orchestra (Naxos)
(Déjà Review) This offers the best introduction possible to the composer’s personal, endearing sound-world [HC]
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]
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]
Handel and Colonna: Sacred music (Ricercar)
A good case for Colonna and one of the best performances of Handel’s Dixit Dominus [JV]
Brahms: Symphonies 3 and 4 (BIS)
A lovely pairing of Brahms’ last two symphonies, elegantly and fluidly played, in ideal sound [RMo]
Mendelssohn & Reinecke: Music for piano (Da Vinci Classics)
A well-conceived and well played recital that blows the dust off some attractive rarities [RCh]
Anouar Brahem: After The Last Sky (ECM)
Soothing, hypnotic and very enjoyable [DJB]
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]
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]
Arianna in Rome (Arcana)
A compelling survey of the art of female singers in Rome in the first half of the 17th century [JV]
Villa-Lobos: Complete Works for Solo Guitar (BIS)
A vibrant disc – probably the best collection of Villa-Lobos’s music for solo guitar [GPu]
Janáček: Jenůfa (LSO Live)
Jealousy, pain, loss, stifling shame, ultimate redemption – another episode in the LSO’s Janáček odyssey [PH]
Pitfield: Orchestral Music (Toccata Classics)
British Pastoralism from 1946 to 1988 – lyricism and (largely) unclouded sunshine [JW]
Leoncavallo: Pagliacci (Orfeo)
A mostly memorable night at the opera [RMas]
