Feb. 4, 2020
This month we began reviewing the first of many recordings that are being released in honor of the 250th birthday of Ludwig van Beethoven, which is generally celebrated on December 16. These include a box set of the piano concertos performed by Mari Kodama and conducted by her husband Kent Nagano, and a reconstruction of Beethoven's opera Leonore led by René Jacobs. There was also new music performed by the San Francisco Girls Chorus and by the String Orchestra of Brooklyn, plus re-discovered music composed by Leopold Kozeluch and Johannes Lupi, among others.
Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, Justin Doyle, RIAS Kammerchor - Haydn: Missa Cellensis
Roberto Alagna - Caruso 1873
Alison Balsom, Balsom Ensemble - Royal Fireworks
Cecilia Bartoli, Il Giardino Armonico, Giovanni Antonini - Farinelli
Jonathan Biss - Beethoven: Piano Sonatas, Vol. 9
Martyn Brabbins, BBC Symphony Orchestra - Vaughan Williams: Symphony No. 3 'Pastoral'; Symphony No. 4; Saraband 'Helen'
Gautier Capuçon, Yuja Wang - Franck, Chopin
Adrian Chandler, La Serenissima - The Godfather: Masters of the German & Italian Baroque
Dale Warland Singers, Dale Warland - Hodie!
Dennis Russell Davies, Frankfurter Opern und Museumsorchester - Peter Eötvös: Tri sestry
Kati Debretzeni, English Baroque Soloists, John Eliot Gardiner - Bach: Violin Concertos
Joyce DiDonato, Michael Spyres, John Nelson - Berlioz: La Damnation de Faust
Stéphanie d'Oustrac, Thibaut Roussel, Tanguy de Williencourt - Une Soirée Chez Berlioz
Cyrille Dubois, Tristan Raës - Liszt: O lieb!
Gustavo Dudamel, Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra - Andrew Norman: Sustain
James Ehnes, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Andrew Manze - Vaughan Williams: The Lark Ascending; Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis
Ensemble El Sol, Chloé Sévère - Reinas: Airs en espagnol à la cour de Louis XIII
Mark Fitz-Gerald, Deutsche Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz - Shostakovich: The Bedbug; Love and Hate
Gothic Voices - Nowell synge we both al and som
Bernard Haitink, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra - Beethoven: Symphony No. 9
Philippe Herreweghe, Antwerp Symphony Orchestra - Robert Schumann: Symphonies Nos. 2 & 4
Stephen Hough - Brahms: The Final Piano Pieces
René Jacobs, Freiburger Barockorchester - Beethoven: Leonore
Marek Janowski, WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln - Beethoven: Symphonies 5 & 6
Vladimir Jurowski, State Academic Symphony Orchestra of Russia 'Evgeny Svetlanov' - Tchaikovsky: The Nutcracker
Choir of King's College London, Joseph Fort - Advent Carols
Kitgut Quartet - ’Tis Too Late to be Wise
Mari Kodama, Kent Nagano - Beethoven: Piano Concerts 0-5
Piers Lane, Goldner String Quartet - Bartók, Korngold: Piano Quintets
London Choral Sinfonia, Michael Waldron - O Holy Night
Vincenzo Maltempo - Scriabin: Complete Piano Sonatas
Jun Märkl, Malmö Symphony Orchestra - Saint-Saëns: Ascanio - Ballet
Joseph Moog - Between Heaven & Hell: Liszt
Roger Muraro, Gulbenkian Orchestra, Benjamin Shwartz - Vasco Mendonça: Step Right Up
Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Philadelphia Orchestra - Mahler: Symphony No. 8
Gianandrea Noseda, London Symphony Orchestra - Shostakovich: Symphony No. 4
Jakub Józef Orliński - Facce d'Amore
Les Pages de Centre du Musique Baroque de Versailles, Gaétan Jarry - Noëls Baroques à Versailles
Stephen Rice, Brabant Ensemble - Johannes Lupi: Motets; Te Deum; Lupus Hellinck: Missa Surrexit pastor
André Rieu - Happy Days
San Francisco Girls Chorus, The Knights - My Outstretched Hand
Howard Shelley - The Romantic Piano Concerto, Vol. 80: Dupont, Benoit
Marek Štilec, Simona Eisinger, Filip Dvořák - Leopold Kozeluch: Joseph der Menschheit Segen
Marek Stilec, Czech Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra - Leopold Kozeluch: Symphonies, Vol. 3
String Orchestra of Brooklyn - Afterimage
Iyad Sughayer - Khachaturian: Piano Works
Swedish Chamber Choir, Simon Phipps - Like to the Lark
The Telling - The Secret Life of Carols: 800 Years of Christmas Music
Nayden Todorov, Rousse Philharmonic Orchestra - Vladigerov: Bulgarian Suite; Seven Symphonic Bulgarian Dances; Vardar Rhapsody
Van Baerle Trio - Ludwig van Beethoven: Complete Piano Trios, Vol. 4
Dominique Vellard, Ensemble Gilles Binchois - Messes de Barcelone et d'Apt
Charles Wetherbee, David Korevaar - Juon: Violin Sonatas Nos. 1-3
Wolf Trap Opera, Inscape Chamber Orchestra - Philip Glass: The Fall of the House of Usher
Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, Justin Doyle, RIAS Kammerchor - Haydn: Missa Cellensis
Roberto Alagna - Caruso 1873
Alison Balsom, Balsom Ensemble - Royal Fireworks
Cecilia Bartoli, Il Giardino Armonico, Giovanni Antonini - Farinelli
Jonathan Biss - Beethoven: Piano Sonatas, Vol. 9
Martyn Brabbins, BBC Symphony Orchestra - Vaughan Williams: Symphony No. 3 'Pastoral'; Symphony No. 4; Saraband 'Helen'
Gautier Capuçon, Yuja Wang - Franck, Chopin
Adrian Chandler, La Serenissima - The Godfather: Masters of the German & Italian Baroque
Dale Warland Singers, Dale Warland - Hodie!
Dennis Russell Davies, Frankfurter Opern und Museumsorchester - Peter Eötvös: Tri sestry
Kati Debretzeni, English Baroque Soloists, John Eliot Gardiner - Bach: Violin Concertos
Joyce DiDonato, Michael Spyres, John Nelson - Berlioz: La Damnation de Faust
Stéphanie d'Oustrac, Thibaut Roussel, Tanguy de Williencourt - Une Soirée Chez Berlioz
Cyrille Dubois, Tristan Raës - Liszt: O lieb!
Gustavo Dudamel, Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra - Andrew Norman: Sustain
James Ehnes, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Andrew Manze - Vaughan Williams: The Lark Ascending; Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis
Ensemble El Sol, Chloé Sévère - Reinas: Airs en espagnol à la cour de Louis XIII
Mark Fitz-Gerald, Deutsche Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz - Shostakovich: The Bedbug; Love and Hate
Gothic Voices - Nowell synge we both al and som
Bernard Haitink, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra - Beethoven: Symphony No. 9
Philippe Herreweghe, Antwerp Symphony Orchestra - Robert Schumann: Symphonies Nos. 2 & 4
Stephen Hough - Brahms: The Final Piano Pieces
René Jacobs, Freiburger Barockorchester - Beethoven: Leonore
Marek Janowski, WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln - Beethoven: Symphonies 5 & 6
Vladimir Jurowski, State Academic Symphony Orchestra of Russia 'Evgeny Svetlanov' - Tchaikovsky: The Nutcracker
Choir of King's College London, Joseph Fort - Advent Carols
Kitgut Quartet - ’Tis Too Late to be Wise
Mari Kodama, Kent Nagano - Beethoven: Piano Concerts 0-5
Piers Lane, Goldner String Quartet - Bartók, Korngold: Piano Quintets
London Choral Sinfonia, Michael Waldron - O Holy Night
Vincenzo Maltempo - Scriabin: Complete Piano Sonatas
Jun Märkl, Malmö Symphony Orchestra - Saint-Saëns: Ascanio - Ballet
Joseph Moog - Between Heaven & Hell: Liszt
Roger Muraro, Gulbenkian Orchestra, Benjamin Shwartz - Vasco Mendonça: Step Right Up
Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Philadelphia Orchestra - Mahler: Symphony No. 8
Gianandrea Noseda, London Symphony Orchestra - Shostakovich: Symphony No. 4
Jakub Józef Orliński - Facce d'Amore
Les Pages de Centre du Musique Baroque de Versailles, Gaétan Jarry - Noëls Baroques à Versailles
Stephen Rice, Brabant Ensemble - Johannes Lupi: Motets; Te Deum; Lupus Hellinck: Missa Surrexit pastor
André Rieu - Happy Days
San Francisco Girls Chorus, The Knights - My Outstretched Hand
Howard Shelley - The Romantic Piano Concerto, Vol. 80: Dupont, Benoit
Marek Štilec, Simona Eisinger, Filip Dvořák - Leopold Kozeluch: Joseph der Menschheit Segen
Marek Stilec, Czech Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra - Leopold Kozeluch: Symphonies, Vol. 3
String Orchestra of Brooklyn - Afterimage
Iyad Sughayer - Khachaturian: Piano Works
Swedish Chamber Choir, Simon Phipps - Like to the Lark
The Telling - The Secret Life of Carols: 800 Years of Christmas Music
Nayden Todorov, Rousse Philharmonic Orchestra - Vladigerov: Bulgarian Suite; Seven Symphonic Bulgarian Dances; Vardar Rhapsody
Van Baerle Trio - Ludwig van Beethoven: Complete Piano Trios, Vol. 4
Dominique Vellard, Ensemble Gilles Binchois - Messes de Barcelone et d'Apt
Charles Wetherbee, David Korevaar - Juon: Violin Sonatas Nos. 1-3
Wolf Trap Opera, Inscape Chamber Orchestra - Philip Glass: The Fall of the House of Usher