Welcome to our guide to the best new classical releases this week. We’ve provided links to the albums on Apple Music, so you can dive straight in and enjoy the best new classical albums in great sound, and links to the Gramophone reviews where possible.

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'The Moon & The Forest' marks 10 years of Miloš's relationship with Universal Music (and also 10 years since he won Gramophone's Young Artist of the Year Award) and features two new guitar concertos by Joby Talbot and Howard Shore. Talbot's concerto, Ink Dark Moon, was premiered at the 2018 BBC Proms. Shore's concerto, The Forest, is a departure for the composer whose scores for the Lord of the Rings films earned him two Academy Awards.

This solo album by violinist Alina Ibragimova of Paganini's Caprices is an exciting prospect, her two previous solo albums were JS Bach's Sonatas and Partitas for solo violin, BWV1001-1006, which was both an Editor's Choice and the Top Choice in a Gramophone Collection article dedicated to the Sonatas and Partitas by Duncan Druce in the June 2011 issue, and Ysaÿe's Six Sonatas for solo violin, Op 27, which was our Recording of the Month in July 2015 and was shortlisted for a Gramophone Award (see below for James Ehnes's new account of these sonatas).

'The Harmonious Echo: Songs by Sir Arthur Sullivan' is the second volume of songs by Sullivan from pianist David Owen Norris and singers Mary Bevan, Ben Johnson and Ashley Riches, this time joined by Kitty Whately. As Tim Ashley observed when reviewing the first volume, 'Sullivan’s songs, like so much of his music away from his collaboration with Gilbert, have largely vanished into obscurity, so this excellent set from pianist, composer and presenter David Owen Norris and three fine young British singers offers a much-needed reappraisal.' Read the review of the first volume in Gramophone's Reviews Database.

This album of Ysaÿe's Six Sonatas for Solo Violin, Op 27, is very much a product of lockdown as it was recorded at James Ehnes's home in Florida in June 2020 and produced and engineered by Simon Kiln and Ehnes himself. Those who enjoyed the Gramophone Award Winners Charity Lockdown Gala broadcast in May last year will be familiar with warmly resonant acoustic of Ehnes's home-recording environment, as he gave a wonderful performance of Bach's Sonata in C, BWV1005. 

Here's a substantial feast of Schumann's chamber music from Trio Wanderer, Christophe Gaugué and Catherine Montier: more than two-and-a-half hours of music, including the three piano trios and the Piano Quartet and Quintet as well as the Phantasiestücke in A Minor, Op 88. Fans of Trio Wanderer's Schubert and Haydn piano trio recordings needn't hesitate.

The Listening Room

Gramophone’s The Listening Room is an Apple Music playlist featuring hand-picked selection of the most interesting new classical releases chosen by Editor-in-Chief James Jolly. It’s the essential classical playlist:

Specialist Classical Chart

The Official Specialist Classical Chart Top 20 appears on the Gramophone website and is updated every Friday at 6pm (UK time). It’s a great way of exploring the new classical releases: 

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