Editor's Choice: January 2024 | The best new classical recordings
Wednesday, January 3, 2024
Introducing outstanding new recordings of Saint-Saëns' Cello Concerto No 1, CPE Bach's Six Hamburg Symphonies, Beethoven's Violin Concerto and more
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 January 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
Saint-Saëns Cello Concerto No 1 and sonatas by Franck and Poulenc
Bruno Philippe vc Tanguy de Williencourt pf Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra / Christoph Eschenbach
Harmonia Mundi
Bruno Philippe, one of his generation’s most compelling cellists, returns with familiar musical partners to offer us an album of real intelligence, lyricism and elegance.
CPE Bach Six Hamburg Symphonies
Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century / Alexander Janiczek vn
Glossa
A reminder of how imaginative CPE Bach’s music can be – a spirit that conductor Alexander Janiczek and his musicians pick up and run with!
Beethoven Violin Concerto. ‘Kreutzer’ Sonata
Double Sens / Nemanja Radulović vn
Warner Classics
Nemanja Radulovic´ brings real character to his reading of the Beethoven Violin Concerto and has nothing to fear from a catalogue packed with famed accounts.
Bruckner Symphony No 5
ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra / Markus Poschner
Capriccio
As one of our interviewees in this month’s special Bruckner feature, it’s wonderful to be able to welcome Markus Poschner’s superb new recording of Symphony No 5.
Jarrell Orchestral Works
Orchestre National des Pays de la Loire / Pascal Rophé
BIS
Michael Jarrell’s fascinating sound world is well caught in this wonderfully performed recording, soloists, conductor Pascal Rophé and BIS alike offering excellent advocacy.
Beethoven Violin Sonatas Nos 3, 7 & 8
Antje Weithaas vn Dénes Várjon pf
AVI-Music
Antje Weithaas and Dénes Várjon are back with a second volume of Beethoven sonatas, and it’s one that finds them exploring his music with genuine insight, bringing rich rewards.
‘A Celebration’
Thomas Trotter org
Regent
There’s so much to celebrate here – a well-chosen programme of delights, Birmingham Town Hall’s superb instrument, and most of all a soloist in Thomas Trotter of virtuosic brilliance.
Pepusch Chandos Anthems
The Harmonious Society of Tickle-Fiddle Gentlemen / Robert Rawson
Accent
A contemporary of Handel, who also had links to Cannons, the Duke of Chandos’s estate, is presented with passion and joy.
Weelkes ‘Gentleman Extraordinary’
Resurgam / Mark Duley
Resonus
The 400th anniversary of Thomas Weelkes’s death last year may not have got the same attention as that of Byrd’s, but this album offers a suitably fine tribute to his varied and imaginative music.
‘Operette’
Diana Damrau sop Munich Radio Orchestra / Ernst Theis
Erato
‘I wonder if I’ve already found my record of the year?’ writes Richard Bratby. Bold words indeed for a January review, and what better encouragement to listen to it?
DVD/blu-ray
Delibes Lakmé
Sols; Pygmalion / Raphaël Pichon
Naxos
Conductor Raphaël Pichon, soprano Sabine Devieilhe – and that’s just the start of an impressive list of creative collaborators, making this Lakmé a thrilling watch.
Reissue/archive
Bloch. Shostakovich Piano Quintets
Quintetto Chigiano
Pristine Classical
Works by Ernest Bloch, recorded by Quintetto Chigiano for Decca in 1951, and expertly transferred by Pristine – ‘an essential addition to your library’, writes Rob Cowan in this month’s Replay.
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