Editor's Choice: February 2025 | The best new classical recordings
Friday, January 24, 2025
Featuring outstanding recordings from Sir Simon Rattle, Paavo Järvi, Patricia Kopatchinskaja, Calidore Quartet, The Nash Ensemble and more
Recording of the Month
Mahler Symphony No 7
Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra / Sir Simon Rattle (BR Klassik)
Sir Simon Rattle conveys an instinctive understanding of both the detail and the dramatic journey – a compelling edition to a superb Mahler symphony series.
Haydn Symphonies Nos 94, 95, 98 & 99
The Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen / Paavo Järvi (RCA Red Seal)
There’s such a joyful, elegant naturalness to this latest edition to Paavo Järvi’s survey of Haydn’s ‘London’ Symphonies, his long‑time Bremen colleagues on top form.
Smetana Orchestral Works
Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra / Petr Popelka (Supraphon)
From the well-known Má vlast to lesser-known works, this is a rewarding in-depth exploration of Smetana’s orchestral music from Petr Popelka and his Prague players.
‘Exile’
Patricia Kopatchinskaja vn Thomas Kaufmann vc Camerata Bern (Alpha)
A characteristically intriguing and engaging programme from Patricia Kopatchinskaja – including some discoveries – performed with the violinist’s usual intensity.
Bartók. Ligeti String Quartets
Marmen Quartet (BIS)
A superb album from the Award-winning Marmen Quartet, their cohesion of vision and vibrant virtuosity on stunning display in this collection of Hungarian works from Bartók and Ligeti.
Beethoven String Quartets, Op 18
Calidore Quartet (Signum)
The Calidore Quartet have drawn plaudits throughout this Beethoven cycle – the middle quartets a Recording of the Month – and this early set is a wonderful journey’s end (or, rather, beginning).
Debussy Chamber Works
The Nash Ensemble (Hyperion)
A gorgeous immersion in Debussy’s music from the excellent players that comprise the Nash Ensemble – in fact it’s just as much an immersion in their chamber music-making brilliance.
‘Italophilia’
The Counterpoints (Challenge Classics)
Music-making of absolute grace and individuality runs throughout this exquisite album from Early Music collective The Counterpoints, which explores the influence of Italy on London musical life of the 17th and 18th centuries.
Franck. Tournemire ‘L’Orgue Spirituel’
Peter Stevens org (Ad Fontes)
A recital rich in instrumental colour and atmosphere from Peter Stevens which powerfully evokes the spiritual air of Westminster Cathedral, on whose Grand Organ it was recorded.
‘Seelentrost’
Isabel Schicketanz sop (Perfect Noise)
A wonderful debut solo recital album from soprano Isabel Schicketanz, which explores early Baroque music about the soul, whether at times of distress, loneliness or loss, and all delivered with captivating intimacy.
DVD/video
Mozart Mitridate, re di Ponto
Sols; Les Musiciens du Louvre / Marc Minkowski (C Major Entertainment)
Mozart’s youthful opera, Mitridate, re di Ponto, written when he was just 14, here receives, as Richard Wigmore welcomes it, a ‘handsomely stylised production’.
Reissue/archive
Bruckner Symphony No 5, etc
Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra / Christoph von Dohnányi (Somm)
Somm’s ‘Bruckner from the Archives’ series continues to impress with a Fifth Symphony from Christoph von Dohnányi and the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra.
