Editor's Choice recordings – August 2015
Gramophone
Monday, July 20, 2015
Martin Cullingford’s pick of the finest recordings from this month’s reviews
Recording of the Month
Shostakovich Symphony No 10. Lady Macbeth – Passacaglia
Boston Symphony Orchestra / Andris Nelsons
(DG)
'Powerful and beautifully crafted, this recording – the first from the relationship between DG and the Boston Symphony under Nelsons – is a hugely impressive sign of just what this ensemble/maestro partnership may go on to achieve.'
Read the review
Bruckner Symphony No 1
Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra / Jaap van Zweden
(Challenge Classics)
'Van Zweden completes his journey through Bruckner’s symphonies with a richly detailed, passionately played First.'
Read the review
Scriabin Symphonies Nos 1 & 4
Russian National Orchestra / Mikhail Pletnev
(Pentatone)
'The Scriabin centenary offers an excellent chance to reassess his creativity: this is a fine contribution to that endeavour.' Read the review
McGuire Chamber Works
Red Note Ensemble
(Delphian)
'A beguiling, lyrical grace weaves through much of this Scottish composer’s chamber music, and these performances well capture its questing expressiveness.'
Read the review
Stravinsky The Rite of Spring
François-Frédéric Guy, Jean-Efflam Bavouzet pfs
(Chandos)
'Fabulous playing from a pair of completely on-form pianists, which lends The Rite of Spring’s rhythmic themes a quite thrilling intensity.' Read the review
JS Bach ‘Bach in Montecassino’
Luca Guglielmi org
(Vivat)
'A true recognition of Bach’s genius took some time, but these works were circulating shortly after his death and are here wonderfully played on an organ of the era.' Read the review
Beethoven Missa solemnis
Sols; Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra / Bernard Haitink
(BR-Klassik)
'Haitink at 85 makes his first recording of one of music’s choral masterpieces – and what a wonderful performance his wisdom and experience offers.' Read the review
Schoenberg Gurrelieder
Sols; Cologne Gürzenich Orchestra / Markus Stenz
(Hyperion)
'Excellent performances throughout from orchestra, soloists and choruses – rarely have the lush textures of Schoenberg’s late-Romantic cantata sounded this fresh.' Read the review
M Steinberg Passion Week
Cappella Romana / Alexander Lingas
(Cappella Romana)
'A deeply moving, serene performance of the last major sacred work composed in Soviet Russia, one which until recently languished in obscurity.' Read the review
Nielsen Maskarade
Sols; Danish National Symphony Orchestra / Michael Schønwandt
(Dacapo)
'As with Scriabin, Nielsen’s anniversary invites us to reassess the composer with new recordings, in this case a fourth – and successful – outing on disc for Maskarade.' Read the review
DVD/blu-ray
Escaich Claude
Sols; Orchestra of the Opéra de Lyon / Jérémie Rhorer
(Bel Air Classiques)
'A modern opera in a production that doesn’t shy away from the brutality and bleakness of its story and message.' Read the review
Reissue/archive
Anatole Kitain ‘The Complete Columbia Recordings, 1936-39’
Anatole Kitain pf
(APR)
'A chance to discover the elegant playing of this largely forgotten pianist.' Read the review