Sardone: Reimagining Aria (Digressione)
Instrumental finesse in Baroque arias reimagined as composed jazz vehicles [JW]
Verdi: Messa da Requiem (RCA)
A great soprano soloist and a fine choir and orchestra, very well directed, still cannot save this account from mediocrity [RMo]
Mozart and his Europe (Genuin)
A beautiful tone and natural, unmannered playing and flexibility of phrasing [RCh]
Bach: The Well-Tempered Clavier Books I & II (Dynamic)
For a satisfying harpsichord version of these glorious works, this new release will offer rewards aplenty [SG]
Bloch: String Quartets (Pristine Audio)
A classic set of these twentieth century masterpiece returns [SB]
Enescu: The Three Piano Suites (Avie)
(Déjà Review) Absorbing music, outstandingly recorded [CW]
Korngold: The Adventures of Robin Hood (Marco Polo)
(Déjà Review) A thorough restoration performed with ‘great-hearted’ elan and thumpingly well recorded [RB]
Respighi: Roman Trilogy (Ondine)
An outstanding performance and recording of these orchestral showpieces [EJW]
Britten: A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Opus Arte)
A superior reissue of Peter Hall’s other superlative Britten production from Glyndebourne [PCG]
Tchaikovsky: Serenade for Strings (Brilliant Classics)
A pleasing compilation of some of Tchaikovsky’s most beguiling string music featuring two premieres [RMo]
Wilhelm Backhaus (piano) The Complete Acoustic and Selected Electric Recordings (APR)
Backhaus’s earliest recordings reappear, in largely pre-existing restorations, to renewed triumph [JW]
Campra: Messe de Requiem, Rameau: In convertendo, Mondonville: In exitu Israel (Erato)
All three works have been recorded before, but this disc is a good competition [JV]
Bach, MacMillan: Motets & Sacred Songs (Signum Classics)
A very rewarding disc [JQ]
Ravel: Sonatas & Trio (Erato)
(Déjà Review) A winning combination of youth and musical insight; a treat indeed [CC]
Mills R: Concertos for Strings (ABC Classics)
(Déjà Review) Superb performances of these fine, though still too little known, works [HC]
Cavalli: Il Xerse (Dynamic)
A welcome release, but with one important shortcoming [MP]
Smyth: Der Wald (Resonus)
The first recording of Ethel Smyth’s Der Wald is severely underwhelming [JW]
Mahler: Symphony No.2 (Philharmonia Records)
Not the most “dangerous” or consistently inspired interpretation but so much of it exhibits elegance, beauty and restraint [RMo]
Liszt: Années de Pèlerinage (cpo)
A generous collection of Liszt’s piano works, superbly performed, in acceptable sound [RWe]
Infinite Voyage (Alpha Classics)
A fine send off for the Emerson Quartet at the top of their game [DMD]
Shura Cherkassky (piano) Complete Recordings (APR)
Astonishing playing from a giant of the piano world [RCh]
Grieg: Piano Concerto & Peer Gynt (Deutsch Grammophon)
(Déjà Review) This issue is going to be very hard to beat and it brings the bonus of the less familiar music [GPJ]
Doráti: Orchestral Works (BIS)
(Déjà Review) Two harmonically astringent potently imaginative works coupled with a bright and light-on-the-toes serenade [RB]
Liszt: Salon and Stage (Prima Facie)
This wonderful recital shows the amazing breadth of Liszt’s response to the composers who wrote for stages both grand and intimate [RCh]
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