Editor's Choice recordings – July 2016
Gramophone
Friday, June 17, 2016
Martin Cullingford’s pick of the finest recordings from this month’s reviews
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Recording of the month
‘Dedication’
Piano Works by Liszt, Schumann and Chopin
Nicholas Angelich pf
Erato
Both as soloist and with colleagues, Nicholas Angelich has been building up a richly rewarding discography: it continues here, including a compelling exploration of Liszt’s huge Sonata.
Read the review | Download from Qobuz
Nørgård Symphonies Nos 2 & 6
Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra / John Storgårds
Dacapo
Both this and the disc of Nos 4 and 5 from the same forces are well worth hearing this month; here, in Nos 2 and 6, we really encounter some fabulous music-making.
Read the review | Download from Qobuz
Brahms Clarinet Quintet Bruce Gumboots
Julian Bliss cl Carducci Quartet
Signum
Julian Bliss is alert and alive to the power of dance in an engaging new work for clarinet; he and the Carducci Quartet are equally united in the Brahms.
Chopin Preludes Beethoven Bagatelles
Cristian Budu pf
Claves
In both the Chopin Preludes and the Beethoven Op 33 Bagatelles, Cristian Budu – a winner of the Clara Haskil competition – proves himself a master of the miniature in an impressive debut disc.
Read the review | Download from Qobuz
Lawes Complete Music for Solo Lyra Viol
Richard Boothby lyra viol
Harmonia Mundi
A beautifully played programme of solo lyra viol music from Richard Boothby, one of today’s leading performers of the instrument and its repertoire, makes for a recital of real intimacy.
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Dufay ‘Les Messes à teneur’
Cut CIrcle / Jesse Rodin
Musique en Wallonie
Some very fine performances of these significant works from Dufay’s last two decades: eight singers, all on impeccable form, make for a lively, intimate and focused experience.
Read the review | Download from Qobuz
Harvey Choral Works
Choir of St John’s College, Cambridge / Andrew Nethsingha
St John’s/Signum
St John’s, Cambridge – a choral institution with a proud recording heritage – launch their new label with this superbly prepared and performed disc of Jonathan Harvey works.
Read the review | Download from Qobuz
Reger Drei Motetten
SWR Vocal Ensemble, Stuttgart / Frieder Bernius
Carus
Reger advocates are determined to use the composer’s anniversary year to highlight the diversity and beauty of his music; this disc is a superb contribution to that end.
Schubert Lieder
Benjamin Appl ten Graham Johnson pf
Wigmore Hall Live
A praised debut on Champs Hill, now signed to Sony – but in between comes this impressive Wigmore Hall recital, marking out Benjamin Appl as a baritone thoroughly worth watching.
A Scarlatti La gloria di Primavera
Sols; Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra / Nicholas McGegan
Philharmonia Baroque
Nicholas McGegan is an excellent guide to this paean on a prince’s birth; his players and singers are excellent throughout this work by the elder Scarlatti.
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DVD/blu-ray
Puccini La rondine
Sols incl Alieva & Castronovo; Deutsche Oper Berlin / Roberto Rizzi Brignoli
Delos
One of Puccini’s less celebrated operas, La rondine is here given a stylish production – directed by tenor Rolando Villazón no less – to try to win over the work’s critics.
Reissue/archive
Nielsen Symphony No 5 Mahler Symphony No 7
Hallé; BBC Northern SO / John Barbirolli
Barbirolli Society
Some ‘truly remarkable music-making’, as critic Rob Cowan puts it in Replay, from Barbirolli in Mahler and Nielsen.
