Gramophone Editor’s Choice: March 2022 | The best new classical recordings
Friday, February 18, 2022
The best new classical recordings reviewed in the March issue of Gramophone, featuring Théotime Langlois de Swarte, Joyce DiDonato, John Eliot Gardiner and more ...
Recording of the month
Leclair. Locatelli. Vivaldi Violin Concertos
Théotime Langlois de Swarte vn Les Ombres
Harmonia Mundi
A name already familiar in this space from a re-creation of a Proust recital (read the review), Théotime Langlois de Swarte’s glorious new album is Baroque music-making at its most beautiful and joyful.
Dohnányi Concertos
Sols; Deutsche Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz / Modestas Pitrėnas
Capriccio
A superbly performed selection of Dohnányi works from players entirely immersed in his musical voice, led by a conductor who inspires them all the way.
Ravel Orchestral Works
Sinfonia of London / John Wilson
Chandos
John Wilson brings his extraordinary ability to find the colour and soul in an orchestral score to bear on Ravel: together with his hand-picked soloists he offers us ravishing riches indeed.
Moeran Chamber Works
Fidelio Trio
Resonus
That Moeran’s music means so much to the players of the Fidelio Trio is clear from the very beginning of this delightful album, the lyrical lines delivered with evident affection, as well as musical excellence.
‘Horn & Piano’
Teunis van der Zwart hn Alexander Melnikov fp
Harmonia Mundi
What a feast of sounds! Teunis van der Zwart’s natural horn and Alexander Melnikov’s fortepiano offer us a captivating and wholly glorious tribute to the 18th-century virtuoso Giovanni Punto.
Bacewicz Piano Works
Peter Jablonski pf
Ondine
Following up his superb Stanchinsky album last year, Peter Jablonski turns his attention to Bacewicz, offering equally fine advocacy to a composer whose music is coming to be much more widely recognised.
‘B-A-C-H’
Simon Johnson org
Chandos
An extraordinary instrument – that of St Paul’s Cathedral, London – in repertoire perfectly chosen to show off its sonic splendour, all performed by an artist of formidable skill and musicality.
JS Bach St John Passion
Sols; Monteverdi Choir; English Baroque Soloists / John Eliot Gardiner
DG
‘An immersive Passion which takes no prisoners’, says Jonathan Freeman‑Attwood of this performance, from one of the foremast Bach conductors of our age.
‘Eden’
Joyce DiDonato mez Il Pomo d’Oro / Maxim Emelyanychev
Erato
An album to focus us on our relationship to nature, delivered with passion by Joyce DiDonato and her colleagues – a powerful example of how music can relate so well to our wider world.
‘Russian Roots’
Katharina Konradi sop Trio Gaspard
Chandos
Kyrgyzstan soprano Katharina Konradi and Trio Gaspard offer us a diverse range of Russian-related works spanning centuries – from Beethoven to Auerbach, via Weinberg – all brilliantly performed.
DVD/blu-ray
Mondonville Titon et l’Aurore
Sols; Les Arts Florissants / William Christie
Naxos
Recorded at the Opéra-Comique last year, although without an audience, this recording of Mondonville’s Titon et l’Aurore is another triumph from William Christie.
Reissue/archive
Beethoven Symphony No 9, ‘Choral’
Sols; Choir and Orchestra of the Bayreuth Festival / Wilhelm Furtwängler
BIS
A historic recording of Wilhelm Furtwängler conducting Beethoven’s Choral Symphony which, writes Rob Cowan, ‘will leave you changed for ever’.
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