Editor's Choice: January 2025 | The best new classical recordings
Friday, January 3, 2025
Featuring outstanding new recordings of Mozart's Horn Concertos and Piano Concertos, Bach's organ works, Schubert's 'Death and the Maiden' and more
These recordings are Editor Martin Cullingford's selection of the best new releases for January 2025, featuring Carlo Vistoli, Alarm Will Sound, The Brabant Ensemble, Alec Frank-Gemmill, Amanda Forsythe and more. To help you explore further, we've included links to the original Gramophone reviews in our Reviews Database.
To find out more about subscribing to Gramophone and the Reviews Database, please visit: magsubscriptions.com
Recording of the month
Vivaldi ‘Sacro furore’
Carlo Vistoli counterten Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin / Georg Kallweit (Harmonia Mundi)
Countertenor Carlo Vistoli brings expressive poignancy to Vivaldi’s Nisi Dominus and Stabat mater, matched in interpretative elegance by the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin.
Dennehy Land of Winter
Alarm Will Sound / Alan Pierson (Nonesuch)
A beautifully crafted portrait of landscape and seasons from Irish composer Donnacha Dennehy, his sound world compellingly caught by modern music specialists Alarm Will Sound.
Mozart Horn Concertos
Alec Frank-Gemmill hn Swedish Chamber Orchestra / Nicholas McGegan (BIS)
Alec Frank-Gemmill captures with brilliance all the joy and personality of Mozart’s glorious concertos for the horn.
Mozart Piano Concertos Nos 19 & 23
Kristian Bezuidenhout fp Freiburg Baroque Orchestra (Harmonia Mundi)
Kristian Bezuidenhout continues his always-enjoyable survey of Mozart’s music for keyboard with wonderful performances of Piano Concertos Nos 19 and 23.
Schubert String Quartet No 14, ‘Death and the Maiden’
Kuss Quartet (Rubicon)
A vivid performance of Death and the Maiden from the excellent Kuss Quartet, set in the fascinating context of two new commissions responding to Schubert’s chamber-music masterpiece.
JS Bach Eleven Organ Chorales
Masaaki Suzuki org (BIS)
A glorious organ recital from Masaaki Suzuki, continuing his Bach survey, recorded on an instrument (in the Martinikerk, Groningen) perfectly chosen to reflect the dynamic breadth of the pieces.
Telemann Ino
Amanda Forsythe sop Boston Early Music Festival Orchestra / Paul O’Dette, Stephen Stubbs (CPO)
Telemann’s theatricality is wonderfully conveyed by the Boston Early Music Festival Orchestra and soprano Amanda Forsythe.
‘Lucrezia’
Sols; Les Paladins / Jérôme Correas (Aparté)
Four Baroque cantatas from different composers that tackle the story of Lucrezia, brought dramatically to life by some superb singers, plus Les Paladins on fine form under Jérôme Correas.
‘A Monk’s Life’
The Brabant Ensemble / Stephen Rice (Hyperion)
Stephen Rice’s Brabant Ensemble present an engaging programme of music exploring monastic life, including lesser-known composers from the post-Reformation German-speaking world.
‘Voices of Thunder’
Choir of Magdalen College, Oxford / Mark Williams (Coro)
The new Hermann Eule organ of Magdalen College, Oxford is presented in all its glory in music leading up the present day, the choir shining just as gloriously.
DVD/blu-ray
Bizet Carmen
Sols; Opéra de Rouen Normandie / Ben Glassberg (Bru Zane)
Here we encounter Bizet’s Carmen as it might first have been seen, from costumes to staging – a project from the Théâtre des Arts de Rouen.
Reissue/archive
Vaughan Williams The Lark Ascending, etc
Frederick Grinke vn (Albion)
The second recording, well transferred, of RVW’s much-loved The Lark Ascending – a significant release from Albion, a label devoted to the composer’s music.
