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Recording of the month

Mahler Symphony No 7

Bavarian State Orchestra / Kirill Petrenko

BSO Recordings

A remarkable recording of Mahler’s Seventh Symphony, Kirill Petrenko revealing detail as if new, presenting it with thrilling vividness and weaving it into a performance of stunning impact.

Read the review in Gramophone’s Reviews Database

Brahms Symphony No 3. Serenade No 2

Budapest Festival Orchestra / Iván Fischer

Channel Classics

Iván Fischer leads his players in a richly expressive performance of both Brahms’s Third Symphony and Second Serenade, a beautiful orchestral sound wonderfully caught throughout.

Read the review in Gramophone’s Reviews Database

Shostakovich Symphonies Nos 1, 14 & 15

Boston Symphony Orchestra / Andris Nelsons

DG

Andris Nelson’s cycle reaches a high point, with performances exploring and relishing Shostakovich’s drama and imagination.

Read the review in Gramophone’s Reviews Database

‘Magical Memories’

Tine Thing Helseth tpt Kåre Nordstoga org

LAWO

A programme of evergreen favourites – for trumpeter and audiences alike (though with many discoveries too!) – all played with a joyful sense of evident love for the repertoire.

Read the review in Gramophone’s Reviews Database

‘Roots’

Randall Goosby vn Zhu Wang pf

Decca

An excellent debut from a recent Decca signing – one taught by Itzhak Perlman no less – whose album shines a spotlight on neglected music, some new works, and most of all on a wonderful young violinist.

Read the review in Gramophone’s Reviews Database

JS Bach Six Keyboard Partitas, BWV825‑30

Mahan Esfahani hpd

Hyperion

Mahan Esfahani offers deeply thought-through interpretations presented with compelling conviction – added to that, he’s recorded them on a captivating modern instrument.

Read the review in Gramophone’s Reviews Database

Bull. Byrd ‘The Visionaries of Piano Music’

Kit Armstrong pf

DG

Kit Armstrong brings a personal modern vision to this keyboard music of centuries past, gracing it with a sensitivity and affection that feels entirely of our time.

Read the review in Gramophone’s Reviews Database

Granados Goyescas

Viviana Lasaracina pf

Dynamic

Enrique Granados’s atmospheric masterpiece Goyescas is offered here by Viviana Lasaracina in an entrancing album; she embraces the work’s colours and passion, and brilliantly brings it all to life. 

Read the review in Gramophone’s Reviews Database

‘Summertime’

Isata Kanneh-Mason pf

Decca

Isata Kanneh-Mason follows her debut of Clara Schumann’s music by offering her advocacy to another well-chosen programme, this time of American composers, all played with great warmth. 

Read the review in Gramophone’s Reviews Database

Mouton ‘Ezekiel’s Eagle’

Cappella Pratensis / Stratton Bull

Challenge Classics

Cappella Pratensis prove themselves to be an ensemble of exquisite skill, voices steeped in both artistry and personality, Jean Mouton’s music shaped and sung superbly.

Read the review in Gramophone’s Reviews Database

DVD/blu-ray

Rimsky-Korsakov The Snow Maiden

Sols; Opéra National de Paris / Mikhail Tatarnikov

BelAir Classiques

‘Researched, staged, sung and filmed with true love and commitment’ writes a hugely impressed Marina Frolova‑Walker.

Read the review in Gramophone’s Reviews Database

Reissue/archive

‘English Song Collection’

Naxos

An attractively compiled 25-CD set from Naxos, and one offering immense riches from some of the very finest singers and pianists in this repertoire.

You can read the reviews of all of these albums, and many more, in the August 2021 issue and in Gramophone's Reviews database now. To find out more about subscribing to the magazine and the Reviews Database, please visit: gramophone.co.uk/subscribe