THOMAS ADES
Ades: The Exterminating Angel (complete opera recorded in 2017) Metropolitan Opera / Audrey Luna, Amanda Echalaz, Sally Matthews, Sophie Bevan, Alice Coote, Christine Rice, Iestyn Davies / Thomas Ades (cond) [ Erato DVD / DVD - released 20/Feb/2019 ] GRAMOPHONE AWARD NOMINATION 2019 TOP THREE - Contemporary |
J. S. BACH
Bach: Goldberg Variations Beatrice Rana (piano) [ Warner Classics / CD - released 1/Mar/2017 ] "Her detailing is one of the aspects that makes this performance so compelling, be it the bringing out of a new line in the repeat, subtle changes in phrasing, a touch of pedal - examples are to be found in every single variation." Gramophone |
JOHN BLOW
Blow: Symphony Anthems Choir of New College Oxford & St James' Baroque (on period instruments) [ Novum / CD - released 20/Mar/2017 ] "All the works are given splendid performances which not only remind us that there is more to Blow than merely being Purcell's mentor but also confirm that New College's famous choir is in very good hands." Gramophone Award Nomination 2017 |
JEAN GUYOT
Guyot: Te Deum laudamus & other sacred music Cinquecento [ Hyperion / CD - released 28/Apr/2017 ] "the five adult men of Cinquecento - here joined by the countertenor David Allsopp - are, as always, absolutely flawless in the performance of this music. Even by the best standards of today their ensemble, balance and intonation are beyond reproach" |
THOMAS ADES / ER NORGARD / HANS ABRAHAMSEN
Ades: Arcadiana / Norgard: Quartetto Breve / Abrahamsen: 10 Preludes The Danish String Quartet [ ECM New Series / CD - released 15/Apr/2016 ] "The Danish are remarkable, as ever - capable of intense blend, extreme dynamic variation (in which they seem glued together), perfect intonation even on harmonics, and constant vitality and flow" Gramophone Award Nomination 2017 - Chamber |
FRANZ SCHUBERT / JEAN SIBELIUS
Schubert: String Quartet No 14 'Death and the Maiden' / Sibelius: String Quarte 'Intimate Voice' Ehnes Quartet [ Onyx Classics / CD - released 9/May/2017 ] "I never would have thought of putting these two works together, but in this group's hands it has resulted in something wonderful." Gramophone Magazine, Editor's Choice, January 2017 |
ERNST KRENEK
Krenek: Reisebuch aus den österreichischen Alpen (with Zemlinsky - songs) Florian Boesch (baritone) & Roger Vignoles (piano) [ Hyperion / CD - released 1/Sep/2016 ] "The emotional ambivalences are finely projected, as sadness, dismay and anger are repeatedly undercut by self-deprecating wit and humour" Gramophone Awards 2017 Nomination - Solo Vocal |
GUILLAUME de MACHAUT
Machaut: Messe de Nostre Dame Graindelavoix, Bjorn Schmelzer [ Glossa / CD - released 20/Jul/2016 ] "... compelling, because of the beauty of the voices and the evident care that has been lavished on so many details; provocative, because so many of those details will surprise, startle and perhaps infuriate." Gramophone Award Nomination 2017 |
JOSEF HAYDN
Project Haydn 2032 - Vol. 4 'Il distratto' Il Giardino Armonico, Giovanni Antonini [ Alpha / CD - released 8/Aug/2017 ] "The orchestral playing is breathtaking in its accuracy -the sort of Haydn playing you dream of…this may well become the period-instrument Haydn cycle by which all others are measured." Gramophone Award WINNER 2017 - Orchestral |
LAURENCE CRANE
Crane: 6 Trios, 2 Solos and 1 Quintet Ives Ensemble [ Nimbus Alliance / CD - released 1/Sep/2017 ] "the very familiarity of this material playing games with tonal memory as chords are placed in unlikely juxtapositions" Gramophone Award Nomination 2017 - Contemporary |
J. S. BACH
Bach: St Matthew Passion, BWV244 James Gilchrist, Stephan Loges, Hannah Morrison, Zoë Brookshaw, Charlotte Ashley, Reginald Mobley / Monteverdi Choir, Sir John Eliot Gardiner [ Soli Deo Gloria / 2 CD - released 24/Feb/2017 ] "..a thoughtfully moulded, expertly executed and deeply committed reading, so honestly communicative of its intent and so free of self-conscious monumentalism, sententiousness or melodramatics...one of his finest achievements." Gramophone |
CHERUBINI / PLANTADE
Cherubini & Plantade: Requiems pour Louis XVI et Marie-Antoinette Le Concert Spirituel, Hervé Niquet [ Alpha / CD - released 17/Aug/2017 ] "Niquet brings fresh artistry and specifically French authority honed over decades with Le Concert Spirituel to both works. For me, this is a prize-winning disc" Gramophone Award Nomination 2017 - Choral |
CLAUDIO MONTEVERDI
Monteverdi: Madrigali Volume 3: Venezia Les Arts Florissants, Paul Agnew [ Harmonia Mundi Les Arts Florissants Editions / CD - released 15/Jun/2017 ] "The vivid atmosphere of Agnew's performance is palpable and, as so often in these discs, his text-driven subtlety wins over." Gramophone Award Nomination 2017 - Baroque Vocal |
LENNOX & MICHAEL BERKELEY
Stabat Mater: Sacred Choral Music by Lennox & Michael Berkeley The Marian Consort, Berkeley Ensemble, David Wordsworth [ Delphian / CD - released 22/Jul/2016 ] "The Marian Consort's background in early music pays dividends in their superb precision of pitch, impeccable rhythmic placing and beautiful diction.the lush harmonies that open [Judica me] are sumptuously delivered and beautifully recorded" Gramopho |
ROBERT SCHUMANN
Schumann: Dichterliebe & Selected Songs Mauro Peter (tenor), Helmut Deutsch (piano) [ Sony Classical / CD - released 26/Aug/2017 ] "Mauro Peter has the kind of Dichterliebe voice I hear in my mind's ear: fresh, youthful, evenly produced, with mellifluousness balanced by a touch of metal." Gramophone Award Nomination 2017 - Solo Vocal |
THOMAS ADES
Ades: The Exterminating Angel (complete opera recorded in 2017) BLU-RAY Metropolitan Opera / Audrey Luna, Amanda Echalaz, Sally Matthews, Sophie Bevan, Alice Coote, Christine Rice, Iestyn Davies / Thomas Ades (cond) [ Erato Blu-ray / Blu-ray - released 20/Feb/2019 ] GRAMOPHONE AWARD NOMINATION 2019 - Contemporary |
ALESSANDRO SCARLATTI
Scarlatti, (A): Missa defunctorum Odhecaton, Paolo Da Col [ Arcana / CD - released 22/Feb/2017 ] "The interweaving voices produce an attractive juxtaposition of density and transparency. Texts are declaimed crisply yet sensitively, melismatic vowels possess compassionate luminosity" Gramophone Awardc Nomination 2017 |
SERGEI RACHMANINOFF
Rachmaninoff: Vespers (All-Night Vigil, Op. 37) Ory Brown mezzo (soprano) & David Vanderwal (tenor) / Saint Thomas Choir of Men and Boys, Fifth Avenue, New York (choir); John Scott [ Resonus Classics / CD - released 1/Jul/2016 ] "It is a magnificent rendition, showing just how this masterpiece has been convincingly absorbed into the wider choral tradition, and I recommend it very highly indeed.' - Gramophone Award Nomination 2017 - Choral |
GRAZYNA BACEWICZ
Bacewitz: String Quartets Silesian Quartet [ Chandos / 2 CD - released 15/Jul/2016 ] "These seven works, composed between 1938 and 1965, add up to a compelling portrait of a powerfully original creative spirit...the whole group seem to understand this life-affirming music from the inside." Gramophone Award WINNER 2017 - Chamber |
GIACHES DE WERT
Giaches de Wert: Divine Theatre - Sacred Motets Stile Antico [ Harmonia Mundi SACD / Hybrid SACD - released 1/Mar/2017 ] "It is a testament to Werts's emotional immediacy that this album is one of their (Stile Antico's) most engaging recording; polyphony to grab one's attention rather than to carpet a devotional daydream" Gramophone Award Nomination 2017 - Early Music |