Below is a list of all classical CD titles released in the last 120 days.
THE COUPERIN FAMILY
Couperin Dynasty Michael Borgstede, Yago Mahúgo, Massimo Berghella (harpsichords) Simone Pierini (fortepiano) [ Brilliant Classics / 19 CD Box Set - released 5/Jan/2024 ] Admiration for the French composer, harpsichordist and organist, Louis Couperin continues to grow steadily today, but it was not so during his lifetime. The first important edition of his work in modern times catalogues 129 pieces as authentic. |
LUDWIG PHILIPP SCHARWENKA
Scharwenka: Works For Violin & Piano Amalia Hall (violin), Christopher Park (piano) [ Atoll Records / CD - released 12/Jan/2024 ] Amalia Hall describes this music as lush, emotional, intimate, dramatic. Full of changing colours and flexibility. Evocative and gorgeous. Noted by The Strad for her "blazing insight and dazzling virtuosity", New Zealand violinist Amalia Hall... |
PROKOFIEV / SAIDAMINOVA / RAVEL
Shadows of My Ancestors Behzod Abduraimov (piano) [ Alpha / CD - released 12/Jan/2024 ] "Throughout this release, one consistently gets caught up in Abduraimov's gorgeous and focused sonority, his rock-solid rhythm." Gramophone Recording of the Month February 2024 |
NOEL COWARD & OTHERS
A Most Marvellous Party with Noel Coward and Friends Mary Bevan (soprano) Nicky Spence (tenor) Joseph Middleton (piano) [ Signum / CD - released 12/Jan/2024 ] "Mary Bevan, Nicky Spence and Joseph Middleton are the architects of this musical treasure, and with their sensitive impulse they imprint strength and passion in these songs of great intensity and melodic sense." - Sonograma magazine |
STRAUSS FAMILY / ZIEHRER / HELLMESBERGER / LUMBYE / BRUCKNER
New Year's Concert 2024 Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, Christian Thielemann [ Sony / 2 CD - released 12/Jan/2024 ] The New Year's Concert live from Vienna is one of the world's most famous and spectacular classical music events. It will be broadcast on TV and radio and reaches over 90 countries around the world with more than 40 million viewers. The live... |
W. A. MOZART
Mozart: Paris & Haffner Symphonies / Oboe Concerto Xenia Loffler (oboe), Akademie Fur Alte Musik Berlin, Bernhard Forck [ Pentatone / CD - released 17/Jan/2024 ] "The Akademie's great clarity in this recording gives a frequently exhilarating sense of the finesse in Mozart's musical architecture." BBC Orchestral Choice December 2023 |
IGOR STRAVINSKY / BELLA BARTOK / BOHUSLAV MARTINU
Stravinsky: Violin Concerto (with works by Bartók & Martinů) Frank Peter Zimmermann (violin) / Bamberger Symphoniker, Jakub Hrůša [ BIS SACD / Hybrid SACD - released 19/Jan/2024 ] "With Jakub Hrůša and his super-attentive Bamberg orchestra, Frank Peter Zimmermann trumps the self-confident projection of his younger self." Gramophone |
JOHN ADAMS
Adams: Piano Music (LP) Jeroen van Veen (piano) [ Brilliant Classics / LP - released 19/Jan/2024 ] The LP version of a highly successful CD issue of the complete piano music by John Adams (born 1947). "Minimalism, but not as you know it", thus described The Guardian the John Adams' music. John Adams is active in almost every musical genre,... |
W. A. MOZART
Mozart: Overtures Kölner Akademie, Michael Alexander Willens [ BIS SACD / Hybrid SACD - released 19/Jan/2024 ] "The Kölner Akademie is in period instrument guise, and the sound is of ten suitably thrilling and zippy" BBC Music |
FRANZ SCHUBERT
The Best of Schubert (LP) Royal Concertgebouw, Nikolaus Harnoncourt / Elisabeth Leonskaja (piano) / Alban Berg Quartet / Barbara Bonney (sop) / Alexandre Tharaud (piano) [ Warner Classics / LP - released 19/Jan/2024 ] This collection of some of Schubert's greatest masterpieces features performances by first-class musicians including Elisabeth Leonskaja, Barbara Bonney, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Alexandre Tharaud, Alban Berg Quartett, Gautier Capuçon, Renaud Capuçon,... |
BRIAN ELIAS / CAROLINE SHAW / JOHN TAVENER / ERROLLYN WALLEN / MAURICE RAVEL / GUSTAV MAHLER / etc
End of My Days Ruby Hughes (soprano) / Manchester Collective [ BIS SACD / Hybrid SACD - released 19/Jan/2024 ] "Imaginative, sensitive programming has been a constant feature of Ruby Hughes's collaborations; and this latest with the perennially adventurous Manchester Collective is no exception...A disc to concentrate the mind and enfold the soul." Choral & So |
FELIX MENDELSSOHN / WIDMANN / HOLLIGER / COLL / RIHM
Sol Gabetta - Mendelssohn Sol Gabetta (cello), Bertrand Chamayou (piano) [ Sony Classics / 2 CD - released 19/Jan/2024 ] "We're privileged with a fine tribute not only to Mendelssohn and those inspired by his example, but to two exceptional players on top form." Gramophone Editor's Choice February 2024 |
JOACHIM RAFF
Raff: Complete Piano Works Tra Nguyen [ Grand Piano / 6 CD Box Set - released 19/Jan/2024 ] "excellent Nguyen playing with intelligence and devotion - especially the ambitious Grande Sonate." BBC Music (Vol 5) |
GIYA KANCHELI
Kancheli: Themes From the Songbook Vida Mikneviciute (soprano), Magdalena Ceple (cello), Andrei Pushkarev (vibraphone), Kremerata Baltica, Gidon Kremer [ ECM New Series / 2 CD - released 19/Jan/2024 ] "Gidon Kremer has perhaps never before revealed himself as intimately and as existentially focused as on this recording", observes Wolfgang Sandner in his liner note accompanying the Latvian violinist's album Songs of Fate. Together with his... |
MENDELSSOHN / BEETHOVEN / SPOHR / SCHUBERT / BERWALD / BORODIN / etc
Wiener Oktett - The Decca Recordings Wiener Oktett [Vienna Octet] [ Decca Eloquence / 27 CD Box Set - released 19/Jan/2024 ] The sweet, silvery tone of the Wiener Oktett and the easy give-and-go of its phrasing helped establish it as one of the most distinguished of Viennese chamber ensembles. Its sound was that of the sublime Vienna Philharmonic in microcosm and the group... |
WITOLD LUTOSLAWSKI
Lutoslawski: Concerto for Orchestra / Partita for Violin and Orchestra / Novelette Christian Tetzlaff (violin) / Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra Nicholas Collon [ Ondine / CD - released 26/Jan/2024 ] "This compelling release from conductor Nicholas Collon and the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra makes clear the evolutionary exuberance of Lutosławski's creative development." Five Stars BBC Music January 2024 Orchestral Choice |
VARIOUS COMPOSERS
Edward Power Biggs plays Historic Organs of Europe E. Power Biggs (organ) [ Sony Classical / 6 CD Box Set - released 26/Jan/2024 ] The legendary English organist E. Power Biggs became a household name when his Sunday morning CBS broadcasts introduced radio listeners all over North America to the sound of historic pipe organs and the classical organ repertoire from every... |
ENRIQUE GRANADOS
Granados: Goyescas - El Pelele Javier Perianes (piano) [ Harmonia Mundi / CD - released 26/Jan/2024 ] "Perianes lets several of the numbers start with a slow burn, and he gives plenty of space in which the ornamentation can flower." BBC Music Instrumental Release of the Month Jan 24 |
KRZYSZTOF PENDERECKI
Penderecki: Sacred Choral Works Latvian Radio Choir, Sigvards Klava [ Ondine / CD - released 26/Jan/2024 ] "These utterly fearless unaccompanied singers bring precision to the most complex textures while retaining a palpable grasp of the music's emotional heart, imbuing it with an engaging sense of wonder." Five Stars BBC Music Recording of the Month |
Various Composers
Lys (LP) Mari Samuelsen (violin) [ Deusche Grammophon / CD - released 26/Jan/2024 ] Inspired by light in all its forms, Samuelsen's latest album features 14 works by female composers, from Hildegard of Bingen to Beyoncé. All are new commissions or arrangements, ambient and glowing, without an ugly bump or crevice in sight. |