The releases that most impressed our reviewers this month cover the gamut of genres. The youngest winner to date of the Van Cliburn Competition, Yunchan Lim, gives Chopin’s etudes a youthful freshness in his Decca debut recording. An all-star cast is featured in a live recording from the debut run of the opera The Hours, based on the novel and film of the same name, composed by Kevin Puts (pictured). Trio Rigamonti makes the case for Clara Schumann’s and Rebecca Clarke’s piano trios as standard repertoire. Yannick Nézet-Séguin has a long history with L’orchestre Metropolitain de Montréal, and they deliver strong results in Symphonies No. 2 and 5 by Jean Sibelius. So much good music, so many good performances.
Kate Aldrich, Julien Dran, Kazuki Yamada – Camille Saint-Saëns: Déjanire
Alkemie – Love to My Liking
Marin Alsop, ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra – John Adams: City Noir; Fearful Symmetries; Lola Montez Does the Spider Dance
Les Arts Florissants, Paul Agnew, Benjamin Alard – J.S. Bach: A Life in Music, Vol. 1 – Early Cantatas
Avalon String Quartet – Price, Sowerby: Music for String Quartet
Bethlehem Bach Choir, Christopher Jackson – Mendelssohn-Bach: Matthäus-Passion
Fabio Biondi – Roman: Assaggi per violino solo
Sebastian Bohren, Münchener Kammerorchester, Sergej Bolkhovets – In Evening Light: Vasks, Schubert
Mario Brunello – Mieczyslaw Weinberg: The Four Sonatas for Solo Cello
Philip Chiu – Voyages
Thomas Dausgaard, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra – Bartók: The Wooden Prince (Final Version); Divertimento; Romanian Folk Dances
Colin Davis, Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks – Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique
Eugenio Della Chiara – Cassadó, Mompou: Complete Solo Guitar Works
Sophie Dervaux, La Folia Barockorchester – Vivaldi: Bassoon Concertos
Feico Deutekom – Glass: Etudes for Piano
Joyce DiDonato, Renée Fleming, Kelli O’Hara, Metropolitan Opera Orchestra Yannick Nézet-Séguin – Kevin Puts: The Hours
I Disinvolti, Massimo Lombardi – Vulnerasti cor meum: Motets from the Song of Songs
Gülru Ensari, Herbert Schuch – Eternity
Ensemble Molière – The King’s Playlist
JoAnn Falletta. Bella Hristova. Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra – Echoes of Eastern Europe
Luka Faulisi – Vivaldi: The Four Seasons
Isabelle Faust, Jakub Hrůša, Alexander Melnikov, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra – Benjamin Britten: Violin Concerto; Chamber Works
Iván Fischer, Budapest Festival Orchestra – Beethoven: Symphony No. 3 ‘Eroica’; Coriolan Overture
Elīna Garanča – When Night Falls
Véronique Gens, Münchner Runfunkorchester, Hervé Niquet – Paysage
Giuseppe Grazioli, Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano – Franco Alfano: Suite romantica; Una danza
Hauser – Classic II
Tine Thing Helseth, tenThing Brass Ensemble – She Composes Like a Man
Eldbjørg Hemsing, Wu Wei, Andris Poga – Rolf Wallin: Five Seasons; Whirld; Stride; Spirit
Vladimir Jurowski, London Philharmonic Orchestra & Choir – Jurowski conducts Stravinsky, Vol. 3 – Pulcinella, Symphony in C, Requiem Canticles, etc.
Leonidas Kavakos, The Apollon Ensemble – Bach: Violin Concertos
Sergey Khachatryan – Ysaye: VI Sonatas
Ben Kim, Royal Concertgebouw Chamber Orchestra – Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: The First Vienna Concertos
Abner Landim, Goiás Philharmonic Orchestra, Neil Thomson – Guerra-Peixe: A Retirada da Laguna; Concertino; Museu da Inconfidência
Piers Lane – Russian Variations
Patrick Langot. Orchestre de Lutetia. Alejandro Sandler. Alexis Cardenas – Alas
Inkyoung Lee – Schubert: His Last Sonatas D959 & D960
El Leon de Oro, Peter Phillips – George de la Hèle: Missa Praeter Rerum Seriem
Yunchan Lim – Chopin: Études
Cristian Măcelaru, Orchestre National de France – Georges Enescu: Symphonies 1-3; Romanian Rhapsodies 1 & 2
Nicholas McGegan, Cantata Collective – Bach: Mass in B Minor
Matteo Mela, Lorenzo Micheli – Scarlatti: 12 Sonatas
Metropolis Ensemble, Andrew Cyr – Timo Andres: The Blind Banister
Dorothee Mields, G.A.P. Ensemble – J.S. Bach & D. Shostakovich: Salvation
Adrienn Miksch, János Bándi, Ferenc Szecsödi – Brahms: Hungarian Dances and the Hungarian Tradition
Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Orchestre Métropolitain de Montréal – Sibelius 2 & 5
Nois – Kinds of Nois
Gianandrea Noseda, London Symphony Orchestra – Prokofiev: Symphony No. 5
Simon Rattle, Elizabeth Watts, Alice Coote, London Symphony Orchestra – Britten: Spring Symphony; Sinfonia da Requiem; Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra
Ricercar Consort, Philippe Pierlot – Heinrich Schütz: Da Pacem
François-Xavier Roth, Gürzenich-Orchester Köln – Bruckner 9
Abel Sánchez-Aguilera – Sorabji: Toccata Terza
Jordi Savall, Diego Fernández Magdaleno – Mirrors of Time
Golda Schultz, Kammerakademie Potsdam, Antonello Manacorda – Mozart, You Drive Me Crazy!
Gerard Schwarz, Kansas City Lyric Opera Chorus & Orchestra – Paul Moravec/Mark Campbell: The Shining
Lauren Scott – Sea of Stars
Choir of St. Mary’s Cathedral – Stainer: The Crucifixion
Trio Rigamonti – Clara Schumann, Rebecca Clarke: Piano Trios
Ailish Tynan, Kathryn Rudge, Roderick Williams, Christopher Glynn – Schumann in English, Vol. 1
Various Artists – Bruckner from the Archives, Vol. 1
Vox Luminis, Freiburger Barockorchester, Lionel Meunier – Himmelfahrt: Bach, Telemann
Adam Walker, Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, Edward Gardner – Nielsen: Flute Concerto; Symphony No. 3 “Sinfonia Espansiva”; Pan and Syrinx
John Wilson, Sinfonia of London – Bacewicz: Concerto for String Orchestra; Enescu: Octet for String Orchestra; Ysaÿe: Harmonies du soir
WindSync – WindSync plays Miguel del Aguila: Music for Winds
Yundi – Mozart: The Sonata Project – Salzburg
Cecilia Zilliacus, Kati Raitinen, Bengt Forsberg, Peter Friis Johansson – Marcelle de Manziarly: Chamber Works
