The best choral recordings of 2022: Editor's Choice

Wednesday, December 14, 2022

Featuring outstanding albums from The Sixteen, The Marian Consort, The Choir of St John’s College, Cambridge and more

In every issue of Gramophone Editor Martin Cullingford selects 10 of the new releases reviewed as 'Editor's Choice', with one 'Recording of the Month'. Here are all of the choral and vocal ensemble recordings chosen for these accolades in 2022.

We have included links to the original albums reviews in Gramophone's Reviews Database, which subscribers can have full access to. To find out more about subscribing, please visit magsubscriptions.com

Cristo Missa Salve regina. Motets 

Cupertinos / Luís Toscana 

Hyperion 

Gramophone Early Music Award-winners in 2019, Luís Toscano’s Cupertinos offer us a beautiful recording of Marian works by Renaissance Portuguese composer Pedro de Cristo. 

Read the Gramophone review


Byrd Psalmes, Songs and Sonnets

The Sixteen / Harry Christophers

Coro

As we look ahead to Byrd’s 400th anniversary next year, here’s a wonderful recording of his last full publication, a mixture of styles from psalms to madrigals, gloriously performed by The Sixteen.

Read the Gramophone review


‘The Psalms’

The Choir of St John’s College, Cambridge / Andrew Nethsingha

Signum

‘Psalm-singing informs everything else we do,’ says Andrew Nethsinga; this beautifully sung recording from St John’s takes us into that powerful and poetic heart of choral life.

Read the Gramophone review


Lusitano Motets

The Marian Consort / Rory McCleery

Linn

Vicente Lusitano – a rare, and probably the first, example of a mixed-race Renaissance composer – is given hugely impressive and inspiring advocacy here, his music revealed for its variety and beauty.

Read the Gramophone review


Senfl Choral Works

Singer Pur; Ensemble Leones

Oehms

Singer Pur offer us a vivid and characterful programme of works by Ludwig Senfl, drawing on the Swiss Renaissance composer’s sacred and secular music for a highly engaging album.

Read the Gramophone review


‘A Meditation’

The Sixteen / Harry Christophers

Coro

A programme of music old and new built around the Meditations of John Henry Newman, and performed with customary power and precision by the ever-impressive Harry Christophers and The Sixteen.

Read the Gramophone review


Champion Missa de Sancta Maria Magdalena

Cappella Pratensis / Stratton Bull

Challenge Classics

A fascinating exploration of performance practice and the role of improvisation in early music, but most important of all, the resulting recording is strikingly splendid.

Read the Gramophone review


‘An Old Belief’

The Sixteen / Harry Christophers

Coro

A hugely varied programme musically and powerfully united thematically, this album shows the impeccable approach to interpretation Harry Christophers and The Sixteen bring to everything they perform.

Read the Gramophone review


R Clarke ‘Sempiternam’

State Choir Latvija / Māris Sirmais

Métier

This, the second release by the Métier label devoted to the music of Rhona Clarke, perfectly pairs the composer’s choral music with the superb State Choir Latvija’s richly resonant sound.

Read the Gramophone review


Nesbit Sacred Choral Music

The Choir of King’s College London / Joseph Fort

Delphian

Edward Nesbit’s music entrances with a distinctive voice that pairs a mysterious melodic beauty, superbly sung by Ruby Hughes, with a beautifully crafted texture.

Read the Gramophone review

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