Editor's Choice: September 2024 | The best new classical albums
Friday, August 9, 2024
This month's selection includes ‘The Kurt Weill Album’ from Berlin Konzerthaus Orchestra and Joana Mallwitz
In every issue of Gramophone, Editor Martin Cullingford chooses 12 albums (10 new releases, plus one DVD/blu-ray and one archive recommendation) as his Editor's Choice. Below, you will find the albums selected as Editor's Choice in the September 2024 issue, beginning with the Recording of the Month.
Members of the Gramophone Full Club and Gramophone Digital Club can access our Reviews Database, a digital archive of all of our reviews from 1983 to today, with all of the new issue's reviews available on the day of publication. To find out more about subscribing to Gramophone and the Reviews Database, please visit: magsubscriptions.com
Recording of the month
‘The Kurt Weill Album’
Berlin Konzerthaus Orchestra / Joana Mallwitz (DG)
This album of works by Kurt Weill, including his two symphonies, showcases performances of enormous, insight and affection – a triumphant DG debut for Joana Mallwitz.
Brahms Four Symphonies
Chamber Orchestra of Europe / Yannick Nézet‑Séguin (DG)
Thoughtful yet spontaneous-sounding interpretations of Brahms’s symphonies from the COE under Yannick Nézet-Séguin, rich in detail throughout.
Bruckner Symphony No 4, ‘Romantic’
Philharmonie Festiva / Gerd Schaller (Profil)
A superb contribution to Bruckner’s bicentenary year from Gerd Schaller, a performance of the composer’s Symphony No 4 that is full of poetry and a powerful sense of journey.
Gipps ‘Piper of Dreams’
Juliana Koch ob Michael McHale pf (Chandos)
Ruth Gipps’s music is wonderfully brought to life here by oboist Juliana Koch and colleagues, in an excellent addition to Chandos’s committment to the 20th-century English composer’s works.
M Berkeley ‘Collaborations’
Various artists (Orchid)
A wonderful showcase of composer Michael Berkeley’s music – and one displaying its rich variety – from a series of superb soloists who all capture its communicative style brilliantly.
‘Harmonies of Devotion’
Contrapunctus / Owen Rees (Signum)
A fascinating historical collection and connection – an Italian Baroque programme of music acquired in 18th-century London, explored with great skill by Contrapunctus.
‘Queen of Hearts’
The Gesualdo Six / Owain Park (Hyperion)
A beautifully crafted programme of works linked to the Virgin Mary and to 16th-century Queens, as well as music from our own day, all performed with The Gesualdo Six’s customary virtuosity and beauty.
Janáček The Excursions of Mr Brouček
Sols; Prague National Theatre Orchestra / Jaroslav Kyzlink (Supraphon)
A fine new recording of this ever-intriguing work now added to the catalogue, Jaroslav Kyzlink conducting with great insight.
Meyerbeer Le prophète
Sols; London Symphony Orchestra / Sir Mark Elder (LSO Live)
Sir Mark Elder conducts a leading cast and the LSO on location at Aix-en-Provence; this excellent revival of Meyerbeer’s opera is now being offered to audiences at home.
‘Aigul’
Aigul Akhmetshina mez Royal Philharmonic Orchestra / Daniele Rustioni (Decca)
Mezzo Aigul Akhmetshina has attracted high acclaim in such a short time, not least in the role of Carmen – and this debut recital album demonstrates exactly why.
Video
R Strauss Der Rosenkavalier
Sols; Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra / Herbert von Karajan (DG Stage+)
The pick from a wide-ranging and rewarding focus on the music-making of Herbert von Karajan from DG Stage+.
Reissue/archive
Olga Samaroff. Frank La Forge ‘The Complete Recordings’
Olga Samaroff, Frank La Forge pf (APR)
Olga Samaroff and Frank La Forge – almost exact contemporaries and leading pianists of the acoustic recording era – are explored in another valuable APR set.
All of these recordings, and many more, are reviewed in the September 2024 issue of Gramophone. You can also read the reviews of these recordings in Gramophone's Reviews Database - an archive of reviews stretching back to 1983, which subscribers to the Full Club and Digital Club can explore. To find out more about our subscription offers, please visit: magsubscriptions.com
