Editor's Choice: January 2024 | The best new classical recordings

Wednesday, January 3, 2024

Introducing outstanding new recordings of Saint-Saëns' Cello Concerto No 1, CPE Bach's Six Hamburg Symphonies, Beethoven's Violin Concerto and more

In every issue of Gramophone, Editor Martin Cullingford chooses 12 albums (10 new releases, plus one DVD/blu-ray and one archive recommendation) as his Editor's Choice. Below, you will find the albums selected as Editor's Choice in the January 2024 issue, beginning with the Recording of the Month. 

We've included links to the album reviews in Gramophone's Reviews Database, a digital archive of all of our reviews from 1983 to today. To find out more about subscribing to Gramophone and the Reviews Database, please visit: magsubscriptions.com

Recording of the month

Saint-Saëns Cello Concerto No 1 and sonatas by Franck and Poulenc

Saint-Saëns Cello Concerto No 1 and sonatas by Franck and Poulenc

Bruno Philippe vc Tanguy de Williencourt pf Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra / Christoph Eschenbach

Harmonia Mundi

Bruno Philippe, one of his generation’s most compelling cellists, returns with familiar musical partners to offer us an album of real intelligence, lyricism and elegance.

Read the Gramophone review


CPE Bach Six Hamburg Symphonies

CPE Bach Six Hamburg Symphonies

Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century / Alexander Janiczek vn

Glossa

A reminder of how imaginative CPE Bach’s music can be – a spirit that conductor Alexander Janiczek and his musicians pick up and run with!

Read the Gramophone review


Beethoven Violin Concerto. ‘Kreutzer’ Sonata  Double Sens / Nemanja Radulović

Beethoven Violin Concerto. ‘Kreutzer’ Sonata

Double Sens / Nemanja Radulović vn

Warner Classics

Nemanja Radulovic´ brings real character to his reading of the Beethoven Violin Concerto and has nothing to fear from a catalogue packed with famed accounts.

Read the Gramophone review


Bruckner Symphony No 5  ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra / Markus Poschner

Bruckner Symphony No 5

ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra / Markus Poschner

Capriccio

As one of our interviewees in this month’s special Bruckner feature, it’s wonderful to be able to welcome Markus Poschner’s superb new recording of Symphony No 5.

Read the Gramophone review


Jarrell Orchestral Works  Orchestre National des Pays de la Loire / Pascal Rophé

Jarrell Orchestral Works

Orchestre National des Pays de la Loire / Pascal Rophé 

BIS

Michael Jarrell’s fascinating sound world is well caught in this wonderfully performed recording, soloists, conductor Pascal Rophé and BIS alike offering excellent advocacy.

Read the Gramophone review


Beethoven

Beethoven Violin Sonatas Nos 3, 7 & 8

Antje Weithaas vn Dénes Várjon pf

AVI-Music

Antje Weithaas and Dénes Várjon are back with a second volume of Beethoven sonatas, and it’s one that finds them exploring his music with genuine insight, bringing rich rewards.

Read the Gramophone review


thomas trotter

‘A Celebration’

Thomas Trotter org

Regent

There’s so much to celebrate here – a well-chosen programme of delights, Birmingham Town Hall’s superb instrument, and most of all a soloist in Thomas Trotter of virtuosic brilliance.

Read the Gramophone review


Pepusch Chandos Anthems  The Harmonious Society of Tickle-Fiddle Gentlemen / Robert Rawson

Pepusch Chandos Anthems

The Harmonious Society of Tickle-Fiddle Gentlemen / Robert Rawson

Accent

A contemporary of Handel, who also had links to Cannons, the Duke of Chandos’s estate, is presented with passion and joy.

Read the Gramophone review


Weelkes ‘Gentleman Extraordinary’  Resurgam / Mark Duley

Weelkes ‘Gentleman Extraordinary’

Resurgam / Mark Duley

Resonus

The 400th anniversary of Thomas Weelkes’s death last year may not have got the same attention as that of Byrd’s, but this album offers a suitably fine tribute to his varied and imaginative music.

Read the Gramophone review


‘Operette’  Diana Damrau sop Munich Radio Orchestra / Ernst Theis

‘Operette’

Diana Damrau sop Munich Radio Orchestra / Ernst Theis

Erato

‘I wonder if I’ve already found my record of the year?’ writes Richard Bratby. Bold words indeed for a January review, and what better encouragement to listen to it?

Read the Gramophone review


DVD/blu-ray

Delibes Lakmé  Sols; Pygmalion / Raphaël Pichon

Delibes Lakmé

Sols; Pygmalion / Raphaël Pichon

Naxos

Conductor Raphaël Pichon, soprano Sabine Devieilhe – and that’s just the start of an impressive list of creative collaborators, making this Lakmé a thrilling watch.

Read the Gramophone review


Reissue/archive

Bloch. Shostakovich Piano Quintets  Quintetto Chigiano

Bloch. Shostakovich Piano Quintets

Quintetto Chigiano

Pristine Classical

Works by Ernest Bloch, recorded by Quintetto Chigiano for Decca in 1951, and expertly transferred by Pristine – ‘an essential addition to your library’, writes Rob Cowan in this month’s Replay.


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