GYORGY KURTAG
Kurtag: Zwiegesprache Heinz Holliger (oboe/cor anglais/piano), Marie-Lise Schüpbach (cor anglais/oboe), Ernesto Molinari (bass clarinet/ contrabass clarinet), Sarah Wegener [ ECM New Series / CD - released 19/Jul/2019 ] explores his interpretative gifts as a performer rather than his full range as a composer, its focus on the dialogues between his own music and that of György Kurtág makes for a beautifully rounded double portrait - Gramophone Awards 2020 Short List |
CAVALLI / BONONCINI / HANDEL / MATTEIS / SCARLATTI / HASSE / etc
Jakub Józef Orliński - Facce d'Amore Jakub Józef Orliński (countertenor) / Il pomo d'oro, Maxim Emelyanchev [ Erato Classics / CD - released 8/Nov/2019 ] Gramophone Awards 2020 Shortlisted - Recital International Opera Awards 2021 - Winner (Solo recital) |
LUDWIG van BEETHOVEN
Beethoven Violin Sonatas Op. 12 James Ehnes (violin), Andrew Armstrong (piano) [ Onyx / CD - released 8/Nov/2019 ] Editor's Choice Gramophone December 2019 |
CARLO GESUALDO
Gesualdo: Madrigali, books 1 & 2 Les Arts Florissants, Paul Agnew [ Harmonia Mundi / 2 CD - released 7/Feb/2020 ] "The sheer inquisitive delight that these singers bring to Gesualdo's extraordinary world indicates a very exciting series ahead" Gramophone Awards 2020 WINNER - Early Music |
HECTOR BERLIOZ
Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique / Les Francs-juges Overture, Op. 3 Les Siècles, François-Xavier Roth [ Harmonia Mundi / CD - released 7/Feb/2020 ] "Roth seems to have an emotional hotline to Berlioz, alive to every twist and turn of the composer's fevered passions." Gramophone Awards 2020 Short List - Orchestral |
FRANCISCO de PENALOSA
Peñalosa: Lamentationes New York Polyphony [ BIS SACD / Hybrid SACD - released 6/Sep/2019 ] "It's wonderful to hear more music from Francisco de Peñalosa, and particularly pleasing that it comes on this stylish release from New York Polyphony complete with superb booklet notes by Ivan Moody" Gramophone Awards 2020 Short List - Early Music |
LUDWIG van BEETHOVEN
Beethoven: Symphony No. 5 MusicAeterna, Teodor Currentzis [ Sony Classical / CD - released 12/Jun/2020 ] "In this most celebrated of symphonies the players sound at times as though they might explode with excitement." BBC Music Orchestral recording of the Month July 2020 |
JOHANNES BRAHMS
Brahms: The Final Piano Pieces Stephen Hough (piano) [ Hyperion / CD - released 31/Jan/2020 ] "'One of the finest accounts of Brahms's late piano works on record, one that stands head and shoulders above most contenders in an ever-growing catalogue." Gramophone Awards 2020 Short List - Instrumental |
SIR CHARLES HUBERT H. PARRY
Parry: Judith, or The Regeneration of Manasseh (complete oratorio recorded in 2019) Toby Spence, Kathryn Rudge, Sarah Fox, Henry Waddington / London Mozart Players, William Vann [ Chandos SACD / 2 Hybrid SACD - released 20/Mar/2020 ] "Conductor William Vann, who avoids any suggestion of bombast or sentimentality, and builds Parry's great paragraphs so eloquently and with such assurance that you'd think he'd been conducting this music all his life" Gramophone Award 2020 Short List |