Editor's Choice: May 2024 | The best new classical recordings

Friday, April 19, 2024

Featuring outstanding new recordings of Elgar’s The Dream of Gerontius, Chopin’s Études, Bartók’s The Wooden Prince, Mendelssohn’s Symphonies and more

Editor's Choice

In every issue of Gramophone, Editor Martin Cullingford chooses 12 albums (10 new releases, plus one DVD/blu-ray and one archive recommendation) as his Editor's Choice. Below, you will find the albums selected as Editor's Choice in the May 2024 issue, beginning with the Recording of the Month. 

We've included links to the album reviews in Gramophone's Reviews Database, a digital archive of all of our reviews from 1983 to today. To find out more about subscribing to Gramophone and the Reviews Database, please visit: magsubscriptions.com

Recording of the month

Chopin

Chopin Études

Yunchan Lim pf (Decca)

This album of Chopin Études from our cover artist, pianist Yunchan Lim, is a compelling triumph – a truly momentous studio debut from an extraordinary talent.

Read the Gramophone review


Timo Andres

Andres The Blind Banister

Timo Andres pf Metropolis Ensemble / Andrew Cyr (Nonesuch)

Nonesuch here offers us a beautifully recorded introduction to Timo Andres’s pianistic voice – both as the composer and performer.

Read the Gramophone review


Bartók The Wooden Prince

Bartók The Wooden Prince

BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra / Thomas Dausgaard (Onyx)

Conductor Thomas Dausgaard delves into the dark heart of Bartók’s ballet The Wooden Prince – just one part of a rewarding album devoted to the composer’s music.

Read the Gramophone review


Mendelssohn Symphonies

Mendelssohn Symphonies

Zurich Tonhalle Orchestra / Paavo Järvi (Alpha)

A superb Mendelssohn symphony cycle from conductor Paavo Järvi to set against the finest of recent times – rich in tonal weight but wonderfully light in spirit too.

Read the Gramophone review


Chausson Concert Lekeu Violin Sonata

Chausson Concert Lekeu Violin Sonata

Gabriel Le Magadure vn Frank Braley pf Quatuor Agate (Appassionato)

Another success from the Appassionato label – violinist Gabriel Le Magadure, pianist Frank Braley and their quartet colleagues embody the music’s drama.

Read the Gramophone review


‘Treasures’  Trio Lirico

‘Treasures’

Trio Lirico (Audite)

Performances of works by Dohnányi, Ysaÿe and Kodály plus the first recording of Peter Eötvös’s 2020 Trio, a fine tribute to the composer who died in March, are a powerful demonstration of this superb trio’s talent.

Read the Gramophone review


Rachmaninov Works for Two Pianos  Sergei Babayan, Daniil Trifonov

Rachmaninov Works for Two Pianos

Sergei Babayan, Daniil Trifonov pfs (DG)

Truly stylish virtuosity from Sergei Babayan and Daniil Trifonov – vivid, theatrical and highly musical, from a piano partnership well worth hearing.

Read the Gramophone review


Wagner ‘Famous Opera Scenes’  Nikolai Lugansky

Wagner ‘Famous Opera Scenes’

Nikolai Lugansky pf (Harmonia Mundi)

Such is pianist Nikolai Lugansky’s story-telling poetry throughout this album devoted to Wagner transcriptions that we seem to step straight into the sound world of the operas themselves.

Read the Gramophone review


Ysaÿe Solo Violin Sonatas  Sergey Khachatryan

Ysaÿe Solo Violin Sonatas

Sergey Khachatryan vn (Naïve)

A stunning set of Ysaÿe’s solo sonatas from violinist Sergey Khachatryan, whose virtuosity and distinctive voice shine throughout this most fiendish of repertoire.

Read the Gramophone review


Elgar The Dream of Gerontius  Sols; Gabrieli Consort & Players / Paul McCreesh

Elgar The Dream of Gerontius

Sols; Gabrieli Consort & Players / Paul McCreesh (Signum)

A deeply moving journey through Elgar’s religious epic, from a conductor whose admiration of this music is evident in every bar, and a superb soloist in Nicky Spence.

Read the Gramophone review


DVD/blu-ray

Tchaikovsky ‘None but the Lonely Heart’  A film by Christof Loy

Tchaikovsky ‘None but the Lonely Heart’

A film by Christof Loy (Naxos)

Songs of love and loss, loneliness and isolation from a period – the pandemic restrictions – defined by such sentiments.

Read the Gramophone review


Reissue/archive

Haydn Symphonies  L’Estro Armonico / Derek Solomons

Haydn Symphonies

L’Estro Armonico / Derek Solomons (Sony Classical)

A pioneering 1980s series of Haydn symphony recordings – ‘a quiet revolution’ in the interpretation of the composer’s works, as reviewer David Threasher remembers it – gets a welcome reissue.

Read the Gramophone review


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