Top 5 classical releases to hear this week – featuring Benjamin Grosvenor & Helen Charlston
Friday, May 23, 2025
Today sees the release of albums of Purcell from Helen Charlston, Mendelssohn from Lahav Shani and CPE Bach from Ryo Terakado
If the Fates Allow: music by Purcell and his contemporaries
Helen Charlston mez Sounds Baroque (BIS)
Helen Charlston won a Gramophone Award in 2023 for 'Battle Cry: She Speaks' along with theorbo player Toby Carr, an album of Baroque repertoire (with the addition of a new work by Owain Park) on the Delphian label. 'If the Fates Allow' is Charlston's first solo recital for BIS Records, and finds her accompanied by Sounds Baroque – Jonathan Manson (bass viol), William Carter (theorbo/baroque guitar) and Julian Perkins (harpsichord/organ). Both Charlston and Perkins could be heard on the recording of Weldon's The Judgment of Paris a couple of months ago, and also on the recording of Eccles's Semele with the Academy of Ancient Music that was shortlisted for a Gramophone Award in 2021.
Mendelssohn Symphony No 3, 'Scottish'
Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra / Lahav Shani (Warner Classics)
Lahav Shani and the Rotterdam Philharmonic were mightily impressive in their recording of Bruckner's Seventh Symphony, an Editor's Choice in August 2023, with Richard Osborne writing, 'If blind tastings were as much the thing in the music business as they are in the wine trade, I doubt whether many would guess the identity of the superb Bruckner ensemble Shani has fashioned, along with the sound palette – Rembrandt-like would be a fair description – he and his Rotterdam players have created for this music.' Today sees the release of a new recording of Mendelssohn's Third Symphony, and it will be fascinating to see what colours Shani and his orchestra bring out in this music.
Hommage à Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau
Benjamin Appl bar James Baillieu pf (Alpha)
Baritone Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau was born 100 years ago this year, Benjamin Appl was his last student and this is his tribute to his former teacher. This album traces key moments in Fischer-Dieskau's life, featuring music by Schubert, Schumann, Britten and Barber. In his review, David Patrick Stearns writes, 'As a singer, Appl assumes the role of a biographical tour guide, though not always to his credit. His dignified manner – stately tempos and a cool, antiseptic recording ambience – stands back from the repertoire. Though DFD could pivot from one musical idiom to another with no apparent effort, Appl is not so gifted.'
Don't miss today's episode of the Gramophone Podcast, in which Richard Wigmore discusses Fischer-Dieskau's various recordings of Schubert's Winterreise with James Jolly.
CPE Bach Sonatas for Violin and Harpsichord
Ryo Terakado vn Fabio Bonizzoni hpd (Challenge Classics)
'This is an altogether stunning album' is how Mark Seow's review of this new album from Ryo Terakado and Fabio Bonizzoni begins, which should be enough to convince anyone interested in CPE Bach's music to give this a listen. An Editor's Choice recording in the June issue, and surely a contender when the Gramophone Awards next come around.
Chopin Piano Sonatas Nos 2 & 3. Ballade No 1. Berceuse. Nocturnes
Benjamin Grosvenor pf (Decca)
Benjamin Grosvenor won a Gramophone Award in 2020 for his recording of Chopin's piano concertos with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra and conductor Elim Chan, he also won a Gramophone Award in 2012 for his solo recording of works by Chopin, Liszt and Ravel, so his return to Chopin's music for this new Decca album is an exciting prospect. In his review of this album, however, David Fanning writes, 'I want to avoid the cliché that this is more classical than romantic Chopin, because of its kind the playing is virtually flawless, and I have nothing but praise for the recorded sound. But there needs to be a reason – beyond admiration – to return to a recording, and with this one I am struggling to find it.'
