GLUCK
Gluck: Iphigénie en Aulide & Iphigénie en Tauride (complete operas recorded in 2011) Netherlands Opera / Véronique Gens / Mireille Delunsch / Les Musiciens du Louvre Grenoble, Marc Minkowski [ Opus Arte DVD / 2 DVD - released 20/Feb/2013 ] GRAMOPHONE AWARD FINALIST 2013: Opera |
MONSIGNY / EDELMANN / J.C. BACH / GLUCK
Rivales Sandrine Piau (soprano) / Véronique Gens (soprano), Le Concert de la Loge, Julien Chauvin [ Alpha Classics / CD - released 8/Apr/2022 ] 'Le Concert de la Loge provides support that is virile and tender, as appropriate. And the two singers are magnificent.' Gramophone Award WINNER 2023 - Voice & Ensemble |
ESA-PEKKA SALONEN
Salonen: Cello Concerto Yo-Yo Ma (cello), Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, Esa-Pekka Salonen [ Sony Classical / CD - released 3/May/2019 ] GRAMOPHONE AWARD NOMINATION 2019 - Contemporary |
HENRY PURCELL
Purcell: Royal Odes Carolyn Sampson (soprano), Iestyn Davies (counter-tenor), Charles Daniels (tenor), Matthew Brook (bass), The King's Consort, Robert King [ Vivat / CD - released 26/Feb/2021 ] GRAMOPHONE Award Nomination 2021 - Choral |
BENJAMIN BRITTEN
Peter Grimes (complete opera filmed on Aldeburgh beach in 2013) Alan Oke, Giselle Allen, David Kempster / Guildhall School of Music & Drama & Britten-Pears Orchestra, Steuart Bedford [ Arthaus DVD / DVD - released 10/Mar/2014 ] GRAMOPHONE MAGAZINE AWARD NOMINATION 2014 |
BENJAMIN BRITTEN
Britten: Cello Symphony, Cello Sonata & Cello Suites Alban Gerhardt (cello) / BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Andrew Manze / Steven Osborne (piano) [ Hyperion / 2 CD - released 1/Feb/2013 ] GRAMOPHONE AWARD FINALIST 2013: Concerto |
FROBERGER / CASPAR / COUPERIN / MUFFAT / etc
Pour passer la Melancolie Andreas Staier (anon. French harpsichord, late 17th century, Joseph Collesse, 1749, restored by Laurent Soumagnac 2000-4) [ Harmonia Mundi / CD - released 20/Feb/2013 ] GRAMOPHONE AWARD WINNER 2013: Baroque Instrumental |
HARRISON BIRTWISTLE
Birtwistle: Angel Fighter / etc Andrew Watts (Angel) & Jeffrey Lloyd-Roberts (Jacob) / BBC Singers & London Sinfonietta, David Atherton [ NMC / CD - released 20/May/2017 ] Gramophone Awards 2016 - Finalist - Contemporary |
VALENTIN SILVESTROV
Silvestrov: Hieroglyphen Der Nacht Anja Lechner (cello) [ ECM / CD - released 1/Oct/2018 ] "Listeners familiar with the benign beauty that imbues much of Silvestrov's sacred choral works will be in for quite a shock. [The Elegie is] brilliantly performed by seasoned Silvestrov cellist Anja Lechner." Gramophone |
GUSTAV MAHLER
Mahler: Symphony No. 4 Anna Lucia Richter (mezzo), Bamberger Symphoniker, Jakub Hrůša [ Accentus Music / CD - released 5/Feb/2021 ] "Moving and beautifully crafted Mahler, the symphony's sweep superbly presented by an ever-impressive conductor and players deeply immersed in its idiom" (Gramophone Editor's Choice April 2021) |
JEAN SIBELIUS
Sibelius: Tapiola / En Saga / Eight Songs Anne Sofie von Otter (mezzo-soprano) / Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Hannu Lintu (conductor) [ Ondine SACD / Hybrid SACD - released 24/Aug/2017 ] "Lintu's Tapiola does indeed settle into one of the finest performances on record, reconciling the obvious with the mysterious...Again, [En Saga] is a superb performance: rich down below, perky up top, full of delectable solos" Gramophone |
HARRISON BIRTWISTLE
Complete String Quartets Arditti Quartet [ Aeon / CD - released 10/May/2012 ] GRAMOPHONE AWARD FINALIST 2013: Chamber |
SERGEI RACHMANINOV
Rachmaninov: Dissonance Asmik Grigorian (soprano), Lukas Geniušas (piano) [ Alpha Classics / CD - released 8/Apr/2022 ] "Grigorian is utterly compelling throughout. Even on disc, without the visuals, you can hear how Grigorian lives and breathes each song...Pianist Lukas Geniušas is an equal partner dramatically." Gramophone Award WINNER 2022 - Song |
JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH
J.S. Bach: St Matthew Passion Benjamin Bruns, Christian Immler, Carolyn Sampson, Damien Guillon, etc / Bach Collegium Japan chorus & orchestra / Masaaki Suzuki [ BIS SACD / 2 Hybrid SACD - released 7/Feb/2020 ] "The musicians convey it with infectious zeal...Generic early music politesse is relegated to the shadows" Gramophone Awards 2020 WINNER - Choral |
RICHARD STRAUSS / WOLF
10 Lieder Barbara Bonney (soprano) Geoffrey Parsons (piano) [ Deutsche Gramophone Australian Eloquence / CD - released 25/May/2005 ] "A really lovely recital (MusicWeb July 2005) |
SCHOENBERG / BERG / WEBERN / ZEMLINSKY
Vienna - Fin de Siècle Barbara Hannigan (soprano), Reinbert De Leeuw (piano) [ Alpha Classics / CD - released 20/Jun/2019 ] GRAMOPHONE AWARD NOMINATION 2019 - Solo Vocal |
DAVID MATTHEWS
Matthews: A Vision of the Sea BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, Jac van Steen [ Signum / CD - released 22/Jan/2021 ] "The world of nature is never far away in Matthews's music, and two other recent orchestral works bear witness to his delight in contexts where haunting fragments of birdsong can emerge." Gramophone Editor's Choice March 2021 |
SIR ARTHUR BLISS
Bliss: Morning Heroes / Hymn to Apollo Samuel West (orator) / BBC Symphony Chorus and Orchestra, Sir Andrew Davis [ Chandos Classics SACD / Hybrid SACD - released 16/Oct/2015 ] "This is a splendid disc. The performance standard is extremely high and Ralph Couzens' engineering is excellent. Similarly excellent are the notes by Andrew Burn. Bliss devotees should acquire this as a matter of urgency" (Recording of the Month MW |
DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH
Shostakovich: Quartet No. 3 / Piano Quintet Belcea Quartet, Piotr Anderszewski (piano) [ Alpha Classics / CD - released 20/Apr/2018 ] GRAMOPHONE AWARD NOMINATION 2019 - Chamber |
J. S. BACH
Bach: The Complete Works for Keyboard, Vol. 7 Orgelbüchlein, Bwv 599-644 (with Choir) Benjamin Alard (harpsichord & clavichord), Ensemble Vocal Bergamasque, Marine Fribourg, Maîtrise Notre-Dame de Paris [ Harmonia Mundi / 2 CD - released 14/Oct/2022 ] 'The effect, both individually and collectively, is stunning.' Gramophone Award Finalist 2023 - Instrumental |