Gramophone Editor’s Choice: July 2021
Friday, June 11, 2021
Editor Martin Cullingford introduces outstanding new recordings of Brahms’s Piano Concertos, Bach’s Orchestral Suites, Mozart’s Serenades, Duruflé’s Organ Works and more
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Recording of the Month
Brahms Piano Concertos
Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment / András Schiff pf
ECM New Series
These beautiful period-instrument performances, directed by András Schiff from a restored 1859 Blüthner, bring a compelling freshness to Brahms’s much-loved piano concertos.
Read the review in Gramophone’s Reviews Database
JS Bach Orchestral Suites
Concerto Copenhagen / Lars Ulrik Mortensen
CPO
Prepare to dance, reviewer Mark Seow suggests of Concerto Copenhagen and Lars Ulrik Mortensen’s album of Bach suites – a brilliant example of this wonderful group at its best.
Read the review in Gramophone’s Reviews Database
Schreker Der Geburtstag der Infantin Zemlinsky Die Seejungfrau
RLPO / Vasily Petrenko
Onyx
Vasily Petrenko and his superb Merseyside musicians reveal their rich rapport once again in two orchestral works of lush late Romanticism.
Read the review in Gramophone’s Reviews Database
Barber. Beach. Price ‘American Quintets’
Kaleidoscope Chamber Collective
Chandos
A splendid debut from the Kaleidoscope Chamber Collective of a fascinating programme, including the premiere recording of Florence Price’s Quintet.
Read the review in Gramophone’s Reviews Database
Mozart Serenades Nos 10 & 11
Sols of the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin
Harmonia Mundi
Another new recording of the Gran Partita, and like all the best takes on this masterpiece it absolutely delights; period-performance Mozart at its most engaging.
Read the review in Gramophone’s Reviews Database
Duruflé Complete Organ Works
Thomas Trotter org
King’s College
A riveting journey through Duruflé’s complete organ music from the ever-brilliant Thomas Trotter, who draws the most beautiful colours from the recently restored King’s College, Cambridge organ.
Read the review in Gramophone’s Reviews Database
Vladigerov Piano Works
Nadejda Vlaeva pf
Hyperion
The richly Romantic sound-world of 20th-century Bulgarian composer Pancho Vladigerov is brought to entrancing life by Nadejda Vlaeva on this splendid new addition to Hyperion’s catalogue.
Read the review in Gramophone’s Reviews Database
‘Melancholy Grace’
Jean Rondeau hpd
Erato
This is an entrancing offering from harpsichordist Jean Rondeau, one of at times almost otherworldly intensity as he takes us on a Europe-wide exploration of music of the most reflective nature.
Read the review in Gramophone’s Reviews Database
‘Tiranno’
Kate Lindsey mez Arcangelo / Jonathan Cohen
Alpha
Power, its corruption and corrosiveness, is the subject of this exquisite album from mezzo Kate Lindsey, joined by the brilliantly attentive artistry of Jonathan Cohen and Arcangelo.
Read the review in Gramophone’s Reviews Database
Handel Rodelinda
Sols; The English Concert / Harry Bicket
Linn
A superb soloist line-up and perfect shaping of the drama by the conductor Harry Bicket makes for a new top recommendation of Handel’s Rodelinda for reviewer Richard Wigmore.
Read the review in Gramophone’s Reviews Database
DVD/blu-ray
Handel Ariodante
Sols incl Cecilia Bartoli; Les Musiciens du Prince – Monaco / Gianluca Capuano
C Major Entertainment
The music-making couldn’t be more highly praised by Richard Lawrence in this ‘compulsively watchable’ Salzburg staging.
Read the review in Gramophone’s Reviews Database
Reissue/archive
Coates. Coward. Elgar. Purcell Orchestral Works
Coates, Corbett, Sargent
Decca Eloquence
A wonderfully attractive double album of British works from Eloquence, full of music and music-making that’s both affectionate and engaging. An excellent addition to the label’s superb catalogue.
All of these albums and many more are reviewed in the July 2021 issue of Gramophone. Subscribe today