rmo

A more grateful acoustic. a more varied sonic palette and a more propulsive manner incline me to prefer Schaller’s arrangement over Giesen’s [RMo]

Superb engineering and wonderful playing hobbled by Thielemann’s reluctance to sacrifice beauty of sound to emotional release [RMo]

Supposedly hitherto hidden treasures from the vaults turn out to be something of a let-down [RMo]

A crisp, clean realisation of the specific soundworld of Bruckner’s music, culminating in a finale of epic power [RMo]

Lovers of great Lieder singing should have this in their collection [RMo]

Period-style performances of poise and panache on a modern piano [RMo]

A disappointingly bland and flaccid Rite of Spring balanced by a far more compelling Firebird [RMo]

A reissue of an imperishable “classic of the gramophone” – the greatest music of its genre in the best of 60s stereo sound [RMo]

Revitalised sound permits us to re-appreciate the manifest virtues of this recording, despite its flaws [RMo]

Superbly remastered, a second-rank Donizetti opera blighted by Poggi’s unattractive contribution [RMo]

A fine survey of the Lachrimae with rather more verve and better balance than other options [RMo]

A fresh, well-drilled young choir has bitten off more than it can chew here [RMo]

A survey by Ralph Moore

For me, the two outer tracks alone make this anthology of final scenes compulsory [RMo]

Exotically scored but melodically diffuse, this melodrama is given the best possible advocacy [RMo]

Vividly recorded and handsomely played accounts of two great, but challenging, symphonies [RMo]

A wide-ranging, highly individual, often wayward collection of observations from one of opera’s great characters [RMo]

Deeply felt and beautifully played, flawless intonation and ensemble, but inferior balance and sound [RMo]

Aesthetically wholly coherent and technically excellent accounts of the first complete and penultimate of Schubert’s sonatas that do not oust my favourites [RMo]

A highly diverting selection of lighter pieces to celebrate the Brodsky Quartet’s fifty-year anniversary [RMo]

Ideal performances of great works – and a fitting memorial to Lars Vogt [RMo]

Quartet playing of exceptional beauty, homogeneity and musicality [RMo]

Virtuosic pianism somewhat undermined by reticent accompaniment and an unnatural recorded balance [RMo]

A beautifully sung medley of Byrd’s music interspersing the Mass with “sacred songs” [RMo]