‘These are performances so special that I feel a changed man from listening to them,’ wrote Gramophone's Mark Seow in his review of Théotime Langlois de Swarte's recording of concertos by Vivaldi, Locatelli and Leclair, our Recording of the Month in March 2022. Today, Langlois de Swarte returns to Vivaldi with a recording of The Four Seasons with Le Consort.

This new album is actually more of a natural successor to last year's collaboration between the same ensemble and soloist, 'Concerti per una vita', which also included 'Summer' from The Four Seasons. Seow was wasn't quite so full of praise for that album – 'Langlois de Swarte is consistently colourful and capricious: ornamentation feels occasionally battered blue rather than soulful, and certain textbook Vivaldi passages could do with a simpler rhetorical stance' – but this new account of the evergreen Four Seasons is sure to be worth spending time with. The album also includes an arrangement of Gregorio Lambranzi's Danze da Nuova e curiosa scuola de' balli teatrali and a cameo appearance by soprano Julie Roset for Vivaldi's lovely Nulla in mundo pax sincera.

Another new account of The Four Seasons is also released today, with Michael Morpurgo as narrator, violinist Daniel Pioro and the Manchester Camerata on Platoon. Read our interview with Morpurgo and Pioro to find out more.

Today also sees the release of the first of two albums for DG dedicated to the piano works of Maurice Ravel by Seong-Jin Cho to mark the 150th anniversary of the composer's birth. This first album includes all of the solo piano works while the second album, featuring the piano concertos with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and conductor Andris Nelsons, will be released on February 21. 

Those looking for a good recording against which to compare this new release should consider Bertrand Chamayou's account of Ravel's solo works for piano which originally appeared in 2016 and which is being reissued as a 3-LP set by Warner Classics on January 24. It was an Editor's Choice in March 2016 and shortlisted for a Gramophone Award, with Patrick Rucker writing: 'Chamayou brings everything home in a way that is deeply personal, vivid, unique. No one who loves French music or exquisite piano-playing will want to miss this.'

Seong-Jin Cho discusses his new album with Editor-in-Chief James Jolly on the Gramophone Podcast this week:

The Recording of the Month in last year's September issue was 'The Kurt Weill Album' by conductor Joana Mallwitz with the Konzerthausorchester Berlin for DG and it featured Weill's The Seven Deadly Sins along with the first two symphonies. Now, from LSO Live, we have a new live account of The Seven Deadly Sins (plus various short works by Weill) from Sir Simon Rattle with the LSO and soloists including Magdalena Kožená, Andrew Staples, Alessandro Fisher, Ross Ramgobin and Florian Boesch.

This is Rattle's second recording of The Seven Deadly Sins, the first – with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra – was reviewed by Edward Greenfield back in April 1983, and he said, 'If I had to choose just one record of Weill's music, then this would be it.' That recording featured Rattle's then-wife Elise Ross alongside Anthony Rolfe Johnson, Michael Rippon, John Tomlinson and Ian Caley.

Palestrina Year is off to a very strong start. Last week we welcomed 'Palestrina Revealed - Byrd, White, Mundy' from the Choir of Clare College, Cambridge and Graham Ross, and today sees the release of 'The Golden Renaissance: Palestrina' from Stile Antico on Decca Classics. Stile Antico's new album has the famous Missa Papae Marcelli as its spine with various motets interspersed. We will publish an in-depth article about this recording, including interviews with the performers themselves, in the February issue and on this website next Friday – so don't miss it. 

Last week on the Gramophone Podcast Martin Cullingford spoke to organist and pianist James McVinnie about his new album 'Dreamcatcher', which features a beautiful series of works by contemporary composers including Nico Muhly, John Adams, Giles Swayne, Gabriella Smith, Meredith Monk and others, all based around ideas of imagining – be that to do with memory, architecture, musical form or social justice. The album is released today, and you can enjoy the podcast episode below. And don't forget to subscribe for free to the Gramophone Podcast on your podcast platform of choice. We have new episodes every Friday and it's the perfect way to explore the most interesting new classical recordings.