Editor's Choice: June 2023 | The best new classical recordings
Friday, May 12, 2023
Vox Luminis's 'Ein Deutsches Barockrequiem', Randall Goosby plays Bruch and Price concertos, Rafael Payare conducts Mahler's Symphony No 5, Carolyn Sampson sings Schubert
Recording of the month
Ein Deutsches Barockrequiem
Vox Luminis / Lionel Meunier
Ricercar
The new project from Vox Luminis (Recording of the Year winners in 2012) takes the texts used by Johannes Brahms in A German Requiem as the inspiration for a new Baroque journey.
Bruch. Price Violin Concertos
Randall Goosby vn Philadelphia Orchestra / Yannick Nézet‑Séguin
Decca Classics
Randall Goosby follows his 2021 debut ‘Roots’ with this impressive advocacy for Florence Price’s two violin concertos, alongside the more familiar one by Bruch.
Mahler Symphony No 5
Montreal Symphony Orchestra / Rafael Payare
Pentatone
Rafael Payare and his Montreal Symphony players offer a reading of Mahler’s Fifth of intensity and rich orchestral exploration, a real marker in their ongoing partnership.
Schreker Orchestral Works
Berlin Konzerthaus Orchestra / Christoph Eschenbach
DG
A ‘meticulously prepared and wonderfully idiomatic’ survey of Schreker works spanning the composer’s career, thoroughly recommended by critic Christian Hoskins.
Grime. Newland. Turnage ‘Bracing Change 2’
Bozzini, Heath & Piatti Quartets
NMC
The NMC label offers us another superb insight into contemporary quartet-writing – three composers, three ensembles, and three compelling performances.
‘Im Freien’
Zlata Chochieva pf
Naïve
Zlata Chochieva beautifully inhabits these composer’s very different sound worlds – including superb interpretations of Schumann’s Waldszenen and Ravel’s Miroirs – with pianism of elegance, insight and virtuosity.
Byrd 1589 – Songs of Sundrie Natures
Alamire; Fretwork / David Skinner
Inventa
Byrd’s complete Songs of Sundrie Natures of 1589 in hugely impressive performances by Alamire and David Skinner, joined by Fretwork – a superb Byrd anniversary release.
Obrecht Missa Maria zart
Cappella Pratensis / Stratton Bull
Challenge Classics
We delved into the story behind this recording – and indeed the work itself, a Renaissance masterpiece of remarkable length – last month; the result is just as wonderful as we hoped.
Schubert ‘Elysium’
Carolyn Sampson sop Joseph Middleton pf
BIS
Soprano Carolyn Sampson, pianist Joseph Middleton, Schubert songs: this album may be self-recommending on those facts alone, and to hear it is indeed to experience exquisite music-making.
Stanford Requiem
Sols; City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra / Martyn Brabbins
Hyperion
In this outstanding performance of a rarely heard choral work by Stanford, Martyn Brabbins guides the musicians with sensitivity and affection in a beautifully judged account.
DVD/blu-ray
Cavalieri Rappresentatione di Anima, et di Corpo
Sols; Il Giardino Armonico / Giovanni Antonini
Naxos
Director Robert Carsen brings Cavalieri’s work to life; conductor Giovanni Antonini draws out the score’s texture and colours.
Reissue/archive
Victor Schiøler ‘The Great Danish Pianist, Vol 6’
Danacord
Danish pianist Victor Schiøler’s performance of Brahms’s B flat major Concerto is a highlight here: ‘a massive performance, wild, reckless but also considered where needs be’, writes an impressed Rob Cowan.
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