Recording of the month

‘French Duets’

Steven Osborne, Paul Lewis pf

Hyperion

Two of today’s most compelling soloists unite for this beautiful recital – from radiancy in Ravel to playfulness in Poulenc, via some sublime Debussy, this album is sheer joy from beginning to end.

Read the review in Gramophone's Reviews Database

Beethoven Triple Concerto. Symphony No 2

Isabelle Faust vn Jean‑Guihen Queyras vc Alexander Melnikov pf Freiburg Baroque Orchestra / Pablo Heras‑Casado

Harmonia Mundi

Collaborative music at its most brilliant.

Read the review in Gramophone's Reviews Database

Elgar Violin Concerto. Violin Sonata

Renaud Capuçon vn Stephen Hough pf London Symphony Orchestra / Simon Rattle

Erato

Refined and emotive Elgar from a violinist who deeply understands this music’s heart.

Read the review in Gramophone's Reviews Database

Mahler Symphony No 4

Anna Lucia Richter sop Bamberg Symphony Orchestra / Jakub Hrůša

Accentus

Moving and beautifully crafted Mahler, the symphony’s sweep superbly presented by an ever-impressive conductor and players deeply immersed in its idiom.

Read the review in Gramophone's Reviews Database

‘Occurrence’

Iceland Symphony Orchestra / Daníel Bjarnason

Sono Luminus

The Iceland Symphony Orchestra’s three-disc survey of new music linked to its homeland concludes, exploring landscape and soundscape with extraordinary imagination.

Read the review in Gramophone's Reviews Database

Ligeti Études

Danny Driver pf

Hyperion

Danny Driver’s fascinating reflections in the last issue on Ligeti’s Études perfectly paved the way for hearing the recording, and it’s one that brilliantly grasps and then conveys all the music’s inventiveness and virtuosity.

Read the review in Gramophone's Reviews Database

‘(Re)Creations’

Zlata Chochieva pf

Accentus

Zlata Chochieva follows her recent splendid albums of Chopin and Rachmaninov with something as intriguing as it is compelling: transcriptions that reveal both the form and a formidable pianist at their very best. 

Read the review in Gramophone's Reviews Database

Gesualdo Madrigals, Books 3 & 4

Les Arts Florissants / Paul Agnew

Harmonia Mundi

Les Arts Florissants follow the Award-winning initial instalment in their series of Gesualdo madrigals with a new volume that proves equally as intense in its intimacy and artistry.

Read the review in Gramophone's Reviews Database

Eccles Semele

Sols; Academy of Ancient Music / Julian Perkins

AAM Records

Remarkably, John Eccles’s final opera lay unperformed until 1964, and only now gets its second recording – but what entrancing and engaging advocacy it here receives.

Read the review in Gramophone's Reviews Database

Lise Davidsen Arias and Songs

Lise Davidsen sop London Philharmonic Orchestra / Sir Mark Elder

Decca

Few young artists have generated such a buzz as our cover artist, and her hugely impressive new album reveals exactly why. 

Read the review in Gramophone's Reviews Database

DVD/blu-ray

Donizetti Pietro il Grande, kzar delle Russie

Sols; Orchestra Gli Originali / Rinaldo Alessandrini

Dynamic

This, the opera’s first DVD release, taken from the festival devoted to the composer, comes well recommended by Tim Ashley. 

Read the review in Gramophone's Reviews Database

Reissue/archive

Kancheli ‘The Legacy’

Tbilisi Symphony Orchestra / Djansug Kakhidze

Cugate

A very valuable – and outstandingly performed – collection of Kancheli’s symphonic music from a conductor, Djansug Kakhidze, who collaborated closely with the composer throughout his career. 

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