Editor's Choice: March 2025 | The best new classical recordings
Friday, February 21, 2025
Featuring outstanding recordings from María Dueñas, Sir Stephen Hough, Alina Ibragimova, Jerusalem Quartet and more
Recording of the month
Paganini 24 Caprices for Solo Violin
María Dueñas vn (DG)
María Dueñas brings imagination, personality and immense virtuosity to Paganini’s Caprices, then offers a fascinating study of the genre through works up to the present day.
Busoni Clarinet Concertino
Oleg Shebeta-Dragan cl Odense Symphony Orchestra / Anna Skryleva (Orchid)
An impressive debut from clarinetist Oleg Shebeta-Dragan, winner of the prestigious Carl Nielsen International Competition.
Hough Piano Concerto
Sir Stephen Hough pf Hallé Orchestra / Sir Mark Elder (Hyperion)
A major new addition from Sir Stephen Hough to his growing list of works – a piano concerto, which he performs with all his customary colour, flair and elegance.
Ravel Daphnis et Chloé
Tenebrae; London Symphony Orchestra / Sir Antonio Pappano (LSO Live)
Sir Antonio Pappano draws textures of great beauty from his London Symphony players, and from the impeccable Tenebrae choir too, in this Ravel masterpiece.
Schumann Three Violin Sonatas
Alina Ibragimova vn Cédric Tiberghien pf (Hyperion)
Alina Ibragimova and Cédric Tiberghien, a partnership that his already delivered so much, offer us Schumann sonatas that feel deeply explored and immaculately prepared.
Shostakovich String Quartets Nos 2, 7 & 10
Jerusalem Quartet (BIS)
The Jerusalem Quartet journey through these great Shostakovich quartets, bringing out all their intensity, power and lyricism, and making them feel vibrantly vivid.
Zorn The Complete String Quartets
JACK Quartet (Tzadik)
Zorn’s quartets keep you gripped by their ability to surprise at every turn, while the JACK Quartet astonish with their complete command of this sometimes visceral, often challenging, always virtuosic music.
Beethoven Piano Sonata No 31 Brahms Piano Sonata No 3
Kate Liu pf (Orchid)
‘Sensationally individualistic’ is the description of critic Peter J Rabinowitz – but sit back and listen to Kate Liu’s enjoyably personal approach to discover a richly rewarding recital.
Elgar The Dream of Gerontius
Sols; Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra / Nicholas Collon (Ondine)
Nicholas Collon conducts a captivating interpretation of Elgar’s deeply spiritual work, always alert to its epic drama, while John Findon is a compelling Gerontius.
‘The Krasiński Codex’
Ensemble Peregrina; Ensemble Dragma / Agnieszka Budzińska‑Bennett (Raumklang)
We told the tale of this recording of a 15th-century Polish manuscript last month – the result is every bit as beautiful as we hoped.
DVD/blu-ray
Grétry La caravane du Caire
Sols; Le Concert Spirituel / Hervé Niquet (Château de Versailles Spectacles)
More brilliantly realised Grétry from Hervé Niquet, this time an opéra-ballet of 1783. It received over 500 performances in its first half-century – now enjoy a modern revival.
Reissue/archive
Debussy La mer
Evgeny Svetlanov (ICA Classics)
A Philharmonia concert from Evgeny Svetlanov just a year before his death and featuring Debussy’s La mer is just one of many riches (and indeed just one of several orchestras) on this release from ICA Classics.
