In an interview with Mark Seow (which sits at the heart of the March issue), Kuusisto reflects that the album 'became something that I think is rather lovely: the gesture of using whatever was going on back then to make something that sounds beautiful.'
Recording of the Month
Willows
Pekka Kuusisto (violin), Sam Amidon, Norwegian Chamber Orchestra
'Honestly, what an album. And to be clear, I haven't fallen for this Lark because it's boldly, intelligently new-minted -although it is. I've fallen for it because it's mesmerisingly, shatteringly powerful and beautiful.'
Available Formats: Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Editor's Choices
Dvořák: Cello Concerto
Raphaël Jouan (cello), Orchestre national de Metz Grand Est, David Reiland
'I'm sure it isn't my imagination that the defining quality of this performance of the great Dvořák Cello Concerto is one of collective warmth and familiarity. It feels personal.'
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Allan Pettersson: Symphonies Nos. 3 & 8
Norrköping Symphony Orchestra, Christian Lindberg
'In terms of orchestral virtuosity, I would aver that this is the finest, most confidently played version yet...Interpretatively, what Lindberg - now the most experienced Pettersson conductor of them all - does so well is to let the music flow, and at pace when needed.'
Available Format: SACD
Beethoven: Violin Sonatas Nos. 5 ‘Spring’, 9 ‘Kreutzer’ & 3
Alena Baeva (violin), Vadym Kholodenko (piano)
'Tempos never linger, contributing to a mesmerically shaded reading: vernal this Spring may be but the listener is ever aware of the likelihood of a sudden storm that blows away as swiftly as it arrived.'
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Frank Martin: Chamber Music
Utrecht String Quartet, Ilona Timchenko (piano)
'The performance [of the Quartet] by the Utrecht Quartet is wonderfully accomplished, and especially moving in the third-movement Larghetto...this is a valuable and distinguished addition to the Martin discography.'
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Rachmaninoff: Morceaux de Fantaisie & Morceaux de Salon
Boris Giltburg (piano)
'What we get here, for the most part, is slightly introverted playing that gives preference to the lyrical over the rhythmic, the gracious over the rambunctious, the tender over the inflamed.'
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res+ FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Forgotten Melodies
Alexander Malofeev (piano)
'For all of Malofeev's outsize dynamics, bombdropping bass accents and pulverising chords, he never bangs...Needless to say, an auspicious debut.'
Available Formats: 2 CDs, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Elgar: The Dream of Gerontius
David Butt Philip (Gerontius), Karen Cargill (Angel), Roland Wood (Priest/Angel of the Agony); Huddersfield Choral Society, Orchestra of Opera North, Martyn Brabbins
'The combination of clarity and balance of this Hyperion recording, revealing details one often bypasses or simply does not hear...along with the vibrant choral dimension, is a very persuasive aspect.'
Available Formats: 2 CDs, Hi-Res+ FLAC/ALAC/WAV, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Josquin: Missa L’ami Baudichon - Motets milanais
Cut Circle, Jesse Rodin
'At its best, the solo voices and the whipsmart direction of Cut Circle are nothing short of marvellous. The Vultum tuum cycle has the finest singing in this repertory that I've heard in a while...It makes you feel more intelligent for having heard it.'
Available Formats: CD, Hi-Res FLAC/ALAC/WAV, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
Amidst the Shades
Ruby Hughes (soprano), Jonas Nordberg (lute), Mime Yamahiro Brinkmann (viola da gamba)
'Shorn of three voices, Dowland's four-part lute songs grow rather than shrink in dramatic stature...Such are the riches of this extraordinary album that one would happily linger amidst such shades for all eternity.'
Available Format: SACD
Reissue/Archive Issue of the Month
Radu Lupu: The Unreleased Recordings
Decca Masters and Radio Tapes 1970-2002
'The very qualities that limited his discography - doubt, self-criticism, an acute fear of exposure - are precisely those that give these recordings their emotional charge. Heard now, they do not feel provisional or accidental but compelling and necessary.'
Available Formats: 6 CDs, FLAC/ALAC/WAV, MP3
