Editor's Choice: September 2023 | The best new classical recordings

Monday, August 7, 2023

A new recording of Tchaikovsky's Symphony No 5 from the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and Manfred Honeck is our Recording of the Month

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 September 2023 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

tchaikovsky

Tchaikovsky Symphony No 5 Schulhoff Five Pieces 

Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra / Manfred Honeck

Reference Recordings 

I’ve come to expect excellence, in thrilling sound, from all new albums by Manfred Honeck and the Pittsburgh SO – this Tchaikovsky and Schulhoff recording is no exception.

Read the Gramophone review


walton 

Walton Violin Concerto Respighi Violin Sonata

Liya Petrova vn Adam Laloum pf Royal Philharmonic Orchestra / Duncan Ward

Mirare

A lyrical coupling of Walton and Respighi further adds to this violinist’s reputation.

Read the Gramophone review


Schmittbaur Symphonies

Schmittbaur Symphonies

L’Arte del Mondo / Werner Ehrhardt 

DHM 

New music to me, but what a glorious discovery – the 18th-century composer Schmittbaur couldn’t ask for better advocacy than from Werner Ehrhardt and L’Arte del Mondo. 

Read the Gramophone review


Mozart Violin Sonatas

Mozart Violin Sonatas

Renaud Capuçon vn Kit Armstrong pf

DG 

A very stylish album this, Renaud Capuc¸on and Kit Armstrong clearly relishing Mozart’s music and conveying their own joy in completely compelling performances.

Read the Gramophone review


‘Mythes’

‘Mythes’

James Ehnes vn Andrew Armstrong pf

Onyx 

No stranger to this page, violinist James Ehnes together with pianist Andrew Armstrong here offer us an intriguing programme as musically wide-ranging as it is beautifully performed and recorded. 

Read the Gramophone review


voyager

‘Voyager’ 

Munich Opera Horns 

BSO Recordings 

The in-house label of the Bayerisches Staatsorchester has not rested on its laurels (three Gramophone Awards in its inaugural year), but continues to expand and explore; this album from the Munich Opera Horns is captivating.

Read the Gramophone review


Liszt Études d’exécution transcendante

Liszt Études d’exécution transcendante 

Yunchan Lim pf

Steinway & Sons 

Nobody who watched Yunchan Lim win the Van Cliburn competition will forget his awe-inspiring playing – this recording of the 12 Transcendental Studies is remarkable. 

Read the Gramophone review


‘The Verbier Festival Debut Recital 2008’

‘The Verbier Festival Debut Recital 2008’ 

Yuja Wang pf

DG 

With her 2008 Verbier Festival debut, aged just 21, this month’s cover star Yuja Wang truly made a mark – now available as a DG online album, it really is a recital to remember.

Read the Gramophone review


Liszt Orchestral Songs

Liszt Orchestral Songs 

Sols incl Thomas Hampson bar Vienna Academy Orchestra / Martin Haselböck

Aparté 

These orchestral versions of Liszt’s songs – including arrangements of Schubert – make for a fascinating, even revelatory, release.

Read the Gramophone review


Saariaho Choral Works

Saariaho Choral Works 

Helsinki Chamber Choir / Nils Schweckendiek 

BIS 

With the recent death of Kaija Saariaho the modern music world lost an inspirational and ever-inventive figure – this album of her vocal pieces makes for a poignant tribute. 

Read the Gramophone review


DVD/Blu-ray

‘Bach’s Missing Pages – An Expanded Orgelbüchlein’ 

Sietze de Vries org

Fugue State Films 

Fugue State Films is developing a library of organ documentaries and performances of immense interest, enjoyment and value. 

Read the Gramophone review


Reissue/archive

CPE Bach

CPE Bach ‘Württemberg’ Sonatas 

Keith Jarrett pf

ECM New Series 

Dating from 1994 (and never issued before), Keith Jarrett, who recorded music by JS Bach around the same time, also turned his attention and brilliant playing to music by Carl Philipp Emanuel, with wonderful results. 

Read the Gramophone review


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