PER NORGÅRD
Norgard: Whirl's World / Spell / Babettes Gaestebud Suite / Trio Breve Ensemble MidtVest [ Dacapo / CD - released 1/Aug/2019 ] "Different facets-or rather, perhaps, a broad portrait-of this Danish composer's beguiling music, performed with passion and complete affinity with his sound world by Ensemble MidtVest" (Shortlisted - Chamber Gramophone Awards 2020) |
GABRIEL FAURE
Faure: Quintets with Piano Eric Le Sage (piano) / Quatuor Ébène [ Alpha Classics / CD - released 20/Mar/2013 ] GRAMOPHONE AWARD FINALIST 2013: Chamber |
GABRIELI / BENDINELLI / etc
A New Venetian Coronation, 1595 Gabrieli Consort and Players, Paul McCreesh [ Signum Records / CD - released 20/Aug/2012 ] GRAMOPHONE AWARD WINNER 2013: Early Music |
GUSTAV MAHLER
Mahler: Symphony No. 9 BLU-RAY Gewandhaus Orchestra Leipzig, Riccardo Chailly [ Accentus Music Blu-ray / Blu-ray Disc - released 29/Sep/2014 ] 'This Leipzig Ninth is Chailly off the leash, liberating the music in a way that is impassioned, positive, fitfully fractured and often ethereal.' (Gramophone Award Nomination 2015 - Orchestral) |
ARNOLD SCHOENBERG
Schoenberg: String Quartets Nos 1 & 3 Gringolts Quartet [ BIS SACD / CD - released 1/Apr/2022 ] "Like the other release in this series, this is an essential purchase. As before this BIS SACD is beautifully recorded by Swiss Radio, well presented and with scholarly notes. Very highly recommended." MusicWeb recommended June 2022 |
LUDWIG van BEETHOVEN
Beethoven: Symphonies 1 - 9 [Complete 1963 recordings on CD & Blu-ray audio] Gundula Janowitz, Hilde Rassel Majdan, Waldemar Kmentt, Walter Berry / Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra / Herbert von Karajan [ Deutsche Gramophone / 6 CD/Blu-ray Disc - released 9/Jul/2022 ] The classic recording of the complete Beethoven symphonies conducted by master Karajan with the addition of a Blu-ray audio of all the symphonies plus rehearsals. |
RALPH VAUGHAN WILLIAMS
Vaughan Williams: Symphony No 1 'A Sea Symphony' Katherine Broderick (soprano) Roderick Williams (baritone) / Halle Choir, Youth Choir & Orchestra, Sir Mark Elder [ Halle / CD - released 6/Nov/2015 ] "The superbly honed choral and orchestral contribution surely testifies to many hours of painstaking preparation." (Gramophone Award Nomination 2016 - Orchestral) |
J. S. BACH
Bach: Mass in B minor Hannah Morrison (sop) Meg Bragle (alto) Esther Brazil (mezzo) Peter Davoren (ten) Alex Ashworth (bass) / English Baroque Soloists, John Eliot Gardiner [ Soli Deo Gloria / 2 CD - released 22/Dec/2015 ] "Thirty years since his pioneering first version, Gardiner returns to re-record the mighty Mass in B minor; the impressive result draws on all his great knowledge and experience of Bach's music." Gramophone Award Nomination 2016 - Baroque Vocal |
HENRY PURCELL / JOHN BLOW
Purcell/Blow: Elegy - Countertenor duets by Purcell & Blow Iestyn Davies, James Hall (countertenors) The King's Consort, Robert King [ Vivat / CD - released 27/Sep/2019 ] "This is surely one of the best countertenor performances on disc…This whole disc is a trove of bittersweet delights." Shortlisted - Recital Gramophone Awards 2020 |
CHRISTOPH WILLIBALD GLUCK
Gluck: Orfeo ed Euridice Iestyn Davies, Sophie Bevan, Rebecca Bottone / La Nuova Musica, Davis Bates [ Pentatone / CD - released 4/Oct/2019 ] "High praise, then, for David Bates and his ensemble." Gramophone Awards 2020 Short List - Opera |
ARNOLD SCHOENBERG
Schoenberg: Violin concerto / Verklärte Nacht [Transfigured Night] Isabelle Faust (violin) / Daniel Harding, Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, A. Tamestit & J-G. Queyras [ Harmonia Mundi / CD - released 28/Feb/2020 ] "Faust brings a fabulous range of colour and expressive nuance to this music, and Daniel Harding matches her understanding in the way he teases out the wiry orchestral textures around her violin lines." The Guardian Five Stars |
EUGENE YSAŸE
Ysaye: Sonatas For Solo Violin, Op.27 James Ehnes (violin) [ Onyx / CD - released 26/Mar/2021 ] 'Ehnes's 'centrist' approach keeps your attention focused on the music, leaving you to marvel at his technique only after you've stopped listening.' Gramophone Award WINNER 2022 - Instrumental |
DVORAK / SCHUMANN
Piano Quintets Jonathan Biss (piano) / Elias String Quartet [ Onyx / CD - released 20/Dec/2012 ] GRAMOPHONE AWARD FINALIST 2013: Chamber |
GEORG FRIDERIC HANDEL
Handel: Agrippina (complete opera) Joyce DiDonato, Elsa Benoit, Biagio Pizzuti, Franco Fagioli, Andrea Mastroni, Jakub Józef Orliński / l Pomo d'Oro, Maxim Emelyanychev [ Erato Classics / 3 CD - released 31/Jan/2020 ] "With DiDonato nonpareil in the title-role and a uniformly strong cast, this now becomes a first choice for Handel's Venetian masterpiece." Gramophone Awards 2020 WINNER - Opera |
GEORGES BIZET
Bizet: Les Pêcheurs de Perles (The Pearl Fishers) [complete opera] Julie Fuchs, Cyrille Dubois, Florian Sempey, Luc Bertin-Hugaul / Orchestre National de Lille, Alexandre Bloch [ Pentatone SACD / 2 Hybrid SACD - released 1/Nov/2012 ] Les Pêcheurs de Perles is best known for its glorious duet, but Georges Bizet's opera has much more to offer. This live recording more than ever brings out the brilliance of this oriental story about love, duty and friendship. In the last 150 years,... |
HAYDN / HANDEL / SCARLATTI
L'Arianna Kate Lindsey (mezzo-soprano) / Arcangelo, Jonathan Cohen [ Alpha Classics / CD - released 24/Jan/2020 ] "what really make the project spark...The playing of Arcangelo under Jonathan Cohen is typically high-quality, and often heartbreakingly attendant to the drama." Gramophone Awards 2020 - Short List - Recital |
STANFORD / PARRY
I was glad: Sacred Music by Stanford & Parry The King's Consort & Choir of The King's Consort, Robert King [ Vivat / CD - released 20/Feb/2013 ] GRAMOPHONE AWARD FINALIST 2013: Choral |
KAROL SZYMANOWSKI
Szymanowski: Piano Works Krystian Zimerman (piano) [ Deutsche Grammophon / CD - released 14/Oct/2022 ] "Zimerman has all the quick-wittedness and nimbleness called for, not to mention power and agility." Gramophone Award WINNER 2023 - Piano |
PAUL HINDEMITH
Hindemith: Wind Sonatas Les Vents Français [Emmanuel Pahud (flute) Paul Meyer (clarinet) Francois Leleux (oboe) Gilbert Audin (bassoon) Radovan Vlatković (horn)] [ Warner Classics / CD - released 2/Apr/2021 ] 'With top-notch sound, Les Vents Français, with Le Sage's masterly accompaniments, are the pick of the crop: Vive Les Vents' Hindemith!' Gramophone Editor's Choice June 2021 |
JOSEF HAYDN
Haydn: String Quartets, Op. 33 Nos. 1-6 (complete) [2 CDs] The London Haydn Quartet [ Hyperion / 2 CD - released 1/Jun/2013 ] GRAMOPHONE MAGAZINE AWARD NOMINATION 2014 |