credit: Marco Borggreve
Jun. 3, 2025
This year being the 150th anniversary of Maurice Ravel's birth, we are seeing more recordings of his music, such as Jean-Efflam Bavouzet's excellent, new traversal of the solo piano works. Yet there are other noteworthy releases to hear too, including Prokofiev's string quartets by the Quatuor Danel (pictured), who previously successfully covered the Shostakovich cycle; the cohesive blending of classical music and spirituals by harpist Ashley Jackson on Take Me to the Water; and Beatrice Rana's return to the music of Bach with four keyboard concertos.
Esther Abrami - Women
Thomas Adès, London Philharmonic Orchestra - Thomas Adès: Luxury Suite from Powder Her Face; Five Spells from the Tempest; Inferno Suite
John Andrews, BBC Concert Orchestra - Errollyn Wallen: Orchestral Works
Leif Ove Andsnes, Norwegian Soloists' Choir, Grete Pedersen - Franz Liszt: Via Crucis & Solo Piano Works
Arcadia Quartet - Weinberg, Vol. 5: String Quartets Nos 3, 9, and 14; Improvisation and Romance
Ariel Quartet - Beethoven: The Complete String Quartets, Vol. 1
Bach Collegium San Diego, Ruben Valenzuela - A Sonic Youth
Jean-Efflam Bavouzet - Ravel: Complete Works for Solo Piano
Bevan Family Consort- Attende Domine: Music for Lent & Passiontide
Martyn Brabbins, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, BBC Singers - Michael Tippett: New Year
Martyn Brabbins, English National Opera Orchestra & Chorus - Havergal Brain: Agamemnon; Sinfonia tragica; Symphony No. 12
Eleonora Buratto, Coro e Orchestra del Teatro Carlo Felice di Genova, Sesto Quatrini - Indomita
Sarah Cahill, Regina Myers - D. Riley Nicholson: UP
Costantino Catena, Giulio Arnofi, Accademia d'Archi Arrigoni - Antonio Salieri: Piano Concertos
David Childs, Black Dyke Band, Nicholas Childs - Virtuoso: Music for Euphonium and Brass Band
Dmytro Choni - Pilgrimage
Aaron Copland, London Symphony Orchestra - Aaron Copland: Symphony No. 3; Statements for Orchestra; Billy the Kid Ballet Suite
The Crossing, Donald Nally - David Lang: Poor Hymnal
Lise Davidsen, Stanislas de Barbeyrac, Gerald Finley, Edward Gardner - Wagner: Der Fliegende Holländer
Matthew de Lacey Davidson - The Graceful Ghost: Contemporary Piano Rags 1960-2021
Nathan Davis, Sylvia Milo - Earthworks
Dudok Quartet- Tchaikovsky: String Quartets, Vol. 2
James Ehnes, Canada's National Arts Centre Orchestra - J.S. Bach: The Complete Violin Concertos
Malena Ernman, Christina Pluhar, L'Arpeggiata - Terra Mater
Margaret Fingerhut - Ukraine: A Piano Portrait
Pierre Fouchenneret, I Giardini - Le Temps des Lilas
Zlatomir Fung - Fantasies
Daniel Grimwood - Schumann: Carnaval; Liszt: Sonat
Hyperion Trio - Christian Sinding: Piano Trios Opp. 23, 64 & 87; Six Pieces for Cello and Piano Op. 66
Yasunori Imamura - Bach: Cello Suites, Vol. 1 - Nos. 1, 4 and 5
Ashley Jackson - Take Me to the Water
Lura Johnson - The Art of Prelude and Fugue: J.S. Bach, Shostakovich
Carla Kihlstedt, Present Music - 26 Little Deaths
Yo-Yo Ma, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Andris Nelsons - Shostakovich: The Cello Concertos
Malcolm Martineau- The Complete Songs of Ravel
Anton Mejias - The Art of Memory: Bach - Well-Tempered Claiver II; Lasser - Preludes
Anne Akiko Meyers, Albany Symphony, David Alan Miller - Michael Daugherty: Blue Electra; Last Dance at the Surf; To the New World
Monteverdi Choir, Jonathan Sells - Bruckner & Gesualdo: Motets
Justin Murphy-Mancini - Organ Music in New England: Cultivating a Living Tradition
Thomas Newman - Of Mice and Men: Music from the Original Ballet
Gianandrea Noseda, London Symphony Orchestra- Shostakovich: Symphony No. 11 'The Year 1905'
Kun-Woo Paik - Mozart: Piano Works 3
Present Music - Raven Chacon: Voiceless Mass
Quatuor Danel - Prokofiev: String Quartets
Quatuor Diotima - Boulez: Livre pour Quatuor [2023 Recording]
Quiet Music Ensemble, Jack Adler-McKean - Martin Iddon: Hesperides
Beatrice Rana, Amsterdam Sinfonietta - Bach: Keyboard Concertos BWV 1052, 1053, 1054, 1056
Lucile Richardot, Anne de Fornel - Liza Lehmann: Songs - A Brilliant Destiny
Martin Rummel, Philippe Raskin - Shostakovich & Prokofiev: Cello Sonatas
Stephen Salters, Donald Berman, David Zobel - Elena Ruehr: Songs for Stephen
The Sixteen, Harry Christophers - Angel of Peace
Giovanni Sollima, Il Pomo d'Oro, Federico Guglielmo - Giovanni Sollima: Al-Bunduqiyya - The Lost Concerto
Thomas Søndergård, Royal Scottish National Orchestra - Bacewicz, Lutoslawski, Szymanowski
Michael Spyres, Carlo Rizzi - Donizetti: Songs, Vol. 3
Tamara Stefanovich - Organised Delirium
Third Coast Percussion - Standard Stoppages
Richard Tognetti, Australian Chamber Orchestra - Tchaikovsky: Serenade; Andante Cantabile; Shostakovich: Chamber Symphony
Trio Con Brio Copenhagen - Harmonie du soir: Ravel & Schubert
Voices of Hope, Mark Edwards, Will Todd - Will Todd: All Will Be Well
Chu-Yu Yang, Eric McElroy - An English Pastoral
Jing Yang - Perfect Happiness: Piano Music of Nils Vigeland
Rachel Yonan, Kwan Yi - Kiss on Wood
Krystian Zimerman, Maria Nowak, Katarzyna Budnik, Yuya Okamoto - Johannes Brahms: Piano Quartets Nos. 2 & 3