As you know, each month we review a variety of music from different eras, countries, and genres. This month, many of the best releases were instrumental music, although there were several great vocal releases also. Organist and choral conductor Anna Lapwood released her sophomore solo album to well-deserved acclaim. Between Breaths by award-winning ensemble Third Coast Percussion (pictured) gathered a few new, inventive compositions. The well-loved Goldberg Variations were recorded by pianist Víkingur Ólafsson and re-imagined by Chad Kelly for violinist Rachel Podger and her chamber orchestra Brecon Baroque. There were also albums of French and Spanish music for piano trio by Trio Metral and the Hermitage Piano Trio respectively. So many choices!
Marco Albonetti, Roma Sinfonietta, Paolo Silvestri – Postcards from Italy: Italian Music for Film
Benjamin Appl, Münchner Rundfunksorchester, Oscar Jockel – Schubert: Lieder with Orchestra
Tony Arnold, William Sharp, Seth Knopp – Eric Nathan: Some Favored Nook
Les Arts Florissants, Paul Agnew – Schütz: Italian Madrigals
Sonya Bach – Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition; Pictures from Crimea; Night on Bald Mountain; etc.
Jean-Efflam Bavouzet, Manchester Camerata, Gabor Takács-Nagy – Mozart: Piano Concertos, Vol. 8
BBC Singers, Martyn Brabbins – John Pickard: Mass in Troubled Times
Beth & Flo, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Paul Bateman – Oliver Davis: Blue
Kristian Bezuidenhout, Freiburger Barockorchester – Mozart: Piano Concertos K. 238 & 503
Ian Bostridge, Jennifer France, James Atkinson, Wonsick Oh, Aron Goldin – Homelands
Brabant Ensemble, Stephen Rice – Guerrero: Ecce sacerdos magnus
Renaud Capuçon, Lausanne Chamber Orchestra – Mozart: The Violin Concertos
Julie Cherrier-Hoffmann, La Fenice Theater Orchestra, Frédéric Chaslin – Poulenc: La Voix humaine; Fiançailles pour rire
Cinquecento – Ludwig Daser: Missa Pater noster & other works
Conspirare, Miró Quartet, Craig Hella Johnson – House of Belonging
Johan Dalene, Christian Ihle Hadland – Stained Glass
Sébastien Daucé, Ensemble Correspondances – Marc-Antoine Charpentier: Messe de Minuit; In Nativitatem Domini Canticum
Cyrille Dubois, Purcell Choir, Orfeo Orchestra, Gyorgy Vashegyi – Jouissons de nos beaux ans!
Dunedin Consort, John Butt – Mozart: Mass in C minor; C.P.E. Bach: Heilig ist Gott
Mahan Esfahani – Bach: The French Suites, BWV 812-817
Mathilde Etienne, Emilianó Gonzalez Toro, I Gemelli – Claudio Monteverdi: Il Ritorno d’Ulisse in Patria
I Fagiolini, Robert Hollingworth – Orazio Benevoli: Mass for Four Choirs – Missa Tu es Petrus
Isabelle Faust – Solo
Ádám Fischer, Danish Chamber Orchestra – Haydn: Late Symphonies, Vol. 2 – Nos. 96 ‘The Miracle’, 97 and 98
Julia Fischer, Martin Helmchen – Franz Schubert: Complete Works for Violin and Piano
Ophélie Gaillard, Sandrine Piau, Marina Viotti, Pulcinella Orchestra – Napoli!
Elīna Garanča, Wiener Philharmoniker, Yannick Nézet-Séguin – Sommernachtskonzert 2023
Kellen Gray, Royal Scottish National Orchestra – African American Voices II
Daniel Grossmann, Jewish Chamber Orchestra Munich – Weinberg
Franz Hauk, Ketevan Chuntishvili, Yeree Suh, Concerto de Bassus – Antonio Sacchini: L’abbandono delle ricchezze di S. Filippo Neri
Dietrich Henschel, Sarah Wegener, ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra, Cornelius Meister – Hans Werner Henze: Das Floß der Medusa
Hermitage Piano Trio – Spanish Impressions
Hertfordshire Chorus, David Temple, Rufus Frowde – Nova! Nova! Joy to the World!
Domingo Hindoyan, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic – Verismo: Preludi e Intermezzi
Paul Huang, Helen Huang – Kaleidoscope
invoke – Evolve & Travel
Jasper String Quartet – Insects & Machines: Quartets of Vivian Fung
Zubin Kanga – Zubin Kanga: Cyborg Pianist
Miloš Karadaglić – Baroque
YuEun Kim, Mina Gajic, Coleman Itzko – Sonic Alchemy
The King’s Singers – Wonderland
Magdalena Kozená, Czech Philharmonic, Simon Rattle – Folk Songs
Kronos Quartet – Michael Gordon: Campaign Songs
Joelle Lamarre, Gwendolyn Brown, International Contemporary Ensemble – George Lewis: Afterword, An Opera in Two Acts
Anna Lapwood – Luna
Delyana Lazarova, Hallé Orchestra- Dobrinka Tabakova: Orpheus’ Comet; Concerto for Viola and Strings; Earth Suite; Concerto for Cello and Strings
Bruce Levingston – Without Words
Bruce Liu – Waves: Music by Rameau, Ravel, Alkan
Sofya Melikyan – Présence lointaine
Andris Nelsons, Boston Symphony Orchestra – Dmitri Shostakovich: Symhonies Nos. 2, 3, 12 & 13
La Néréide – Luzzaschi: Il concerto segreto
Víkingur Ólafsson – Bach: Goldberg Variations
Jakub Józef Orlinski – Beyond
Steven Osborne – Debussy: Études; Pour le Piano; Étude retrouvée; Berceuse Héroïque; La plus que lente
Ewa Poblocka – Bach: Das Wohltemperierte Klavier II
Rachel Podger, Chad Kelly, Brecon Baroque – Bach: Goldberg Variations Reimagined
Awadagin Pratt, Roomful of Teeth, A Far Cry – Stillpoint
Simon Rattle, Sinfonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks – Wagner: Siegfried
Sophie Rosa, Ian Buckle – Closing Statements: Schumann, Schoenberg, Silvestrov
Choir of Royal Holloway, University of London; Ola Gjeilo – Ola Gjeilo: Dreamweaver
Wolfgang Sawallisch, Bayerisches Staatsorchester – Mendelssohn: Elias
Mark Simpson, Quatuor Diotima – Thomas Adès: Alchymia
Soloists of the Ensemble InterContemporain – Thomas Simaku: Solo
Jeannette Sorrell, Apollo’s Fire – Handel: Israel in Egypt
John Storgårds, BBC Philharmonic – Weinberg: Dawn; Symphony No. 12
John Storgårds, Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra – Per Nørgård: Symphony No. 8; 3 Nocturnal Movements; Lysning
Sybarite5 – Collective Wisdom
Nikolaj Szeps-Znaider, Orchestre National de Lyon – Aux Étoiles: French Symphonic Poems
The Tallis Scholars, Peter Phillips – John Sheppard: Missa Cantate
Justin Taylor – Bach & l’Italie
Tenebrae, Nigel Short – Bach, MacMillan: Motets & Sacred Songs
Jonathan Tetelman – The Great Puccini
Christian Tetzlaff, Tanja Tetzlaff, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Paavo Järvi – Brahms: Double Concerto, Op. 102; Viotti: Violin Concerto No. 22; Dvorák: Silent Woods
Alexandre Tharaud, Orchestre National de France, Louis Langrée – Ravel: Piano Concertos
Third Coast Percussion – Between Breaths
Trio Metral – Chausson, Ravel: Piano Trios
Voce, New England’s Chamber Choir; Mark Singleton; Stephen Scarlato – Patrick Hawes: The Nativity
Martin Wåhlberg, Orkester Nord – Duni: Les deux chasseurs; Le peintre
Washington Bach Consort, Dana Marsh – Myths Contested
Antoni Wit, Norrköping Symphony Orchestra – Penderecki: Symphony No. 6 ‘Chinese Songs’; Trumpet Concertino; Concerto doppio
Austin Wulliman – News from Utopia
