Jordi Savall is a conductor who has always stood out for forging a career almost unique in its exploration of the meeting point of early music and other cultures, presented in lavish books by his label Alia Vox offering rich context. He's proved equally revelatory in Beethoven. Yet the most recent recording – an Editor’s Choice in June – from his acclaimed orchestra offers something entirely unexpected: the ‘No 0’ D Minor Symphony of Bruckner, and the unfinished by Schumann. (‘Savall gives Schumann’s early symphonic writing a weight, thrust and emotional impact that’s enormously involving,’ wrote Christian Hoskins). True to form, the playing is historically informed, ideas thought-through and presented with fascinating detail. Mendelssohn’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream (12/24) was equally a labour of love, poetry and drama beautifully explored through the music-making – ‘a ravishing palette of orchestral colour’ as Richard Bratby put it – with the added dimension of 24 actors speaking the dialogue, and choruses in English and German. Attention to detail, and dedication to their audiences, are as inspiring as always.

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