Editor's Choices include a 'sublime and reflective' account of Steve Reich's Music for 18 Musicians from the Colin Currie Group and Synergy Vocals, a 'compelling and beautiful' recording of Vaughan Williams's Job from the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and Andrew Manze, and 'masterly and moving' Schubert from young Turkish pianist Can Çakmur.
Recording of the Month
Ysaÿe: Six Sonatas for solo violin Op. 27
Hilary Hahn (violin)
'Her rich, pulsing tone, her technical mastery, her unabashed confidence, her imagination and her ability to present the music as freshminted...inclines me towards her recording as the finest currently available.'
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Editor's Choices
Bruckner: Symphony No. 7
Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, Lahav Shani
'This is as fine a recorded account of Bruckner’s Seventh Symphony as I’ve heard for some time, both in terms of Lahav Shani’s conception of the music and its realisation on the orchestra.'
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res+ FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Rachmaninoff: Symphonies Nos. 2, 3 & Isle of the Dead
The Philadelphia Orchestra, Yannick Nézet-Séguin
'Nézet-Séguin’s extraordinary belief and patience and passion delivers something quite special. Like Previn’s LSO account, there’s just something about it. An authenticity. An in-the-moment spontaneity.'
Available Formats: 2 CDs, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Pierre Sancan: A Musical Tribute
Jean-Efflam Bavouzet (piano), Adam Walker (flute), BBC Philharmonic, Yan Pascal Tortelier
'This tribute led by one of his many distinguished pupils, Jean-Efflam Bavouzet, and Yan Pascal Tortelier, who fell under Sancan’s influence at the Paris Conservatoire, is as authentic as it is valuable and rewarding.'
Available Formats: CD, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Vaughan Williams: Job, Old King Cole & The Running Set
Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Andrew Manze
'Scrupulously prepared and boasting some superbly coordinated, infectiously dedicated playing from the RLPO, it’s a thoroughly absorbing interpretation [of Job]...Overall, this is unquestionably a very fine achievement.'
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Steve Reich: Music For 18 Musicians
Colin Currie Group, Synergy Vocals
'The character and timbral quality of each individual group is...introduced from the beginning – a quite radical departure from previous recordings, which have tended to emphasise a homogeneous sound quality.'
Available Formats: SACD, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Ligeti: Complete Piano Études
Han Chen (piano)
'It’s no surprise that he surmounts the sophisticated rhythmic challenges of Ligeti’s Études to a T, while infusing them with plenty of tonal allure and personality.'
Available Formats: CD, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Schubert + Schoenberg
Can Çakmur (piano)
'I am happy to report that it more than fulfils the highest expectations...This very distinguished recording should not be missed by anyone interested in fine piano-playing and heartfelt poetic utterance.'
Available Format: SACD
Missa Fors Seulement & Secular Songs
The Choir of Sidney Sussex College Cambridge, David Skinner
'This [college choir] has a clarity and cohesion of which many a professional ensemble would be proud. Under David Skinner’s directorship they shape lines with elegance and purpose, allowing Vinders’s complex textures to come across very legibly.'
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Ravel: L'heure Espagnole & Boléro
Isabelle Druet (Concepción), Julien Behr (Gonzalve), Loïc Félix (Torquemada), Thomas Dolié (Ramiro), Jean Teitgen (Don Iñigo Gomez); Les Siècles, François-Xavier Roth
'As in previous releases, the orchestral playing is exquisite, the strings silky, woodwinds perfumed, the trumpets (1930s Selmers) sweetly tangy, the trombones suggestively louche.'
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
DVD/Blu-ray of the Month
'Sardelli (wielding an authentically Lullian staff for certain movements) propels a crisp account – the festival orchestra’s first with period instruments. The many dances show off a wonderful variety of instrumental colours.'
Available Format: DVD Video
Reissue/Archive Issue of the Month
Stimme der Liebe: Songs by Franz Schubert
Ian Partridge (tenor), Jennifer Partridge (piano)
'Both singer and pianist refined the art of simplicity...A more subtle virtue is the Partridges’ sensitivity to Schubert’s art of the unexpected.'
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
