A bumper concerto playlist this week, with the piano dominating. Thomas Adès’s Piano Concerto is played by Kirill Gerstein and with the composer conducting the Boston Symphony this is a major addition to the repertoire – a bold, dramatic and showy concerto that sounds somehow both Romantic and wonderfully modern.
A more traditional piano concerto comes courtesy of Mozart - his delicious E flat work, K482, with its wonderful finale. Charles Richard-Hamelin is the stylish soloist and Jonathan Cohen draws some flavoursome playing from Les Violons du Roi.
A new violin concerto comes from Loris Tjeknavorian, a prolific conductor when I was first becoming interested in recordings, and clearly also a composer with a distinctive voice, here infused with the atmosphere of Iran where he now lives. And to play it, his highly accomplished son, Emmanuel, who has a slew of awards to his name.
Our current Recording of the Month is Benjamin Grosvenor’s outstanding album of the two Chopin piano concertos with Elim Chan conducting the Royal Scottish National Orchestra. As Harriet Smith wrote ‘On every hearing new details seem to emerge – the most delicate trilling here, a wonderful snippet of clarinet theme there – but always with a sense of storytelling, Chopin’s ever-shifting moods lustrously caught.’ It's a wonderful recording and offers up new perceptions on every listening.
I've pounced on a new recording of songs by Nadia and Lili Boulanger from a French tenor whose voice I adore, Cyrille Dubois. Do explore the remainder of the album; it's terrific. And from another favourite singer, the soprano Carolyn Sampson, I've a trio of Walton songs drawn from Façade, Joseph Middleton the attentive partner at the piano.
Eric Lu, winner of the last Leeds Piano Competition, has just released his first debut solo album - I've included Schumann strange Ghost Variations, the programme's culmination, for this week's playlist.
Another impressive release comes from BIS - the three Grieg violin sonatas with Eldbjørg Hemsing and Simon Trpčeski forming a really impressive musical partnership.
Plus a trio of appealing pre-release tracks ...
Listen on Apple Music

Chopin Piano Concerto No 1

Benjamin Grosvenor; Royal Scottish National Orchestra / Elim Chan (Decca)

L Boulanger Quatre Chants

Cyrille Dubois; Tristan Raës (Aparté)

L Tjeknavorian Violin Concerto

Emmanuel Tjeknavorian; Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra / Ulrich Edelmann (BIS)

Walton Three Songs to Poems (after Façade)

Carolyn Sampson; Joseph Middelton (BIS)

Grieg Violin Sonata No 2 in G, Op 13

Eldbjørg Hemsing; Simon Trpčeski (BIS)

Mozart Piano Concerto No 22 in E flat, K482

Charles Richard-Hamelin; Les Violons du Roi / Jonathan Cohen (Analekta)

Rota The Legend of the Glass Mountain

Alessio Bidoli; Bruno Canino (Decca Italy)

Schumann Theme and Variations in E flat, Ghost Variations

Eric Lu (Warner Classics)

Adès Piano Concerto

Kirill Gerstein; Boston Symphony Orchestra / Thomas Adès (DG)

Beethoven An die ferne Geliebte – 'Nimm sie hin Denn, diese Lieder'

Matthias Goerne; Jan Lisiecki (DG) PRE-RELEASE TRACK

Schubert Fantasy in C, 'Wanderer' – Adagio

Seong-Jin Cho (DG) PRE-RELEASE TRACK

Dvořák Biblical Songs – No 1, 'Oblak a mrákota jest vůkol Něho'

Jan Martiník; Czech Philharmonic Orchestra / Jiří Bělohlávek (Decca) PRE-RELEASE TRACK