Aug. 1, 2019
A couple of sacred choral masterpieces, outstandingly performed, were highlights amongst this past month's reviews. One was Tchaikovsky's Liturgy of St. John Chyrsostrom, sung by the Latvian Radio Choir, and the other was Beethoven's Missa Solemnis, by the Kammerchor Stuttgart. From Bach toccatas to the inspired instruments of Harry Partch, from veteran performers like pianist Philippe Entremont to relative new-comers like soprano Lise Davidsen, the classical realm delivered on multiple fronts in July.
Alamire, David Skinner, Stephen Farr, His Majestys Sagbutts and Cornetts - Hieronymus Praetorius: Motets in 8, 10, 12, 16 & 20 Parts
Miriam Alexandra, Peter Gijsbertsen, Jozef De Beenhouwer - Clara Schumann: Complete Songs
Darrell Ang, Malmö Symphony Orchestra - Kabalevsky: Symphonies Nos. 1 & 2
Apollo5 - O Radiant Dawn
Patrick Ayrton, Thomas Gould, Les Inventions - Some Like It Plucked
Jean-Efflam Bavouzet, Manchester Camerata, Gabor Takacs-Nagy - Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 20, KV 466; Piano Concerto No. 21, KV 467; Overture to Don Giovanni
Paul Beier - John Dowland: What if a day
Frieder Bernius, Kammerchor Stuttgart, Hofkapelle Stuttgart - Beethoven: Missa Solemnis Op. 123
Robert Black - Philip Glass: The Not-Doings of an Insomniac
The Boston Camerata, Anne Azéma - Treasures of Devotion: European Spiritual Song ca. 1500
William Boughton, Markus Stenz - Bernard Rands: Concerto for Piano & Orchestra; Music for Shoko; Canti del Sole
Busch Trio - Dvorák: Piano Trios Op.21 & 26
Cammerata Orchestra, Joaquín Torre - Alfonso Romero Asenjo: Cello Concerto; Concerto for Two Violins; String Symphony
Thomas Dausgaard, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Lund Male Chorus - Sibelius: Kullervo
Lise Davidsen, Philharmonia Orchestra, Esa-Pekka Salonen - Lise Davidsen
Stéphane Degout, Barbara Hannigan, George Benjamin - George Benjamin: Lessons in Love and Violence
Ekaterina Derzhavina - Haydn: Variations & Pieces for Piano
Mark Elder, Halle Orchestra - Wagner: Siegfried
The Elysian Singers, Sam Laughton - MacMillan: One Equal Music
Philippe Entremont - Philippe Entremont plays Beethoven
Mahan Esfahani - Bach: The Toccatas, BWV 910-916
Finzi Quartet, Marcus Farnsworth, Robert Plane, Ruth Bolister - Gerald Finzi: By Footpath and Stile
Renée Fleming - Lieder: Brahms, Schumann, Mahler
David Fung - Mozart: Piano Sonatas No. 5, No. 4, No. 2, No. 17
Gaechinger Cantorey, Hans-Christoph Radermann - Stay, ye angels: J.S. Bach Cantatas
Delphine Galou, Accademia Bizantina, Ottavio Dantone - Vivaldi: Arie e cantate per contralto
Delphine Galou, Accademia Bizantina, Ottavio Dantone - Vivaldi: Musica sacra per alto
John Georgiadis, Czech Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra Pardubice - Contemporaries of the Strauss Family, Vol. 4
Gettysburg College Choir, Robert Natter, Gil Shaham, Orli Shaham - Avner Dorman: Letters from Gettysburg
Goldfield Ensemble - Erika Fox: Paths
Gunter Herbig - Ex Oriente: Music by G.I. Gurdjieff
Fenella Humphreys, Covent Garden Sinfonia, Ben Palmer - Max Richter: The Four Seasons Recomposed
Jerusalem Quartet, Hila Baggio - Yiddish Cabaret: Schulhoff, Korngold, Desyatnikov
Ellen Jewett - Turkish Music for Solo Violin: Saygun, Türkmen, Cetiz
Latvian Radio Choir, Sigvards Klava - Tchaikovsky: Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom; Nine Sacred Choruses
Leonore Piano Trio, Rachel Roberts - Parry: Piano Trio No. 2; Piano Quartet
Gunar Letzbor, Erich Traxler - Mozart: Mannheim 1778
Valentina Lisitsa - Tchaikovsky: The Complete Solo Piano Works
Choir of Magdalen College, Oxford. Mark Williams - Pillar of the Cloud: Five Centuries of Oxford Anthems
Ludovic Morlot, Seattle Symphony - John Luther Adams: Become Desert
Susan Narucki - Edge of Silence: Works for Voice by György Kurtág
David Owen Norris, Katy Bircher, Caroline Balding, Andrew Skidmore - Jupiter Project: Mozart, Hummel, Cramer, Clementi
O/Modernt, Hugo Ticciati - From the Ground Up: The Chaconne
Sakari Oramo, BBC Symphony Orchestra - Sibelius: Lemminkäinen Suite; Spring Song; Suite from Belshazzar's Feast
Partch - Partch: Sonata Dementia
Luciano Pavarotti - Pavarotti: The Greatest Hits
Jessica Pratt, Carmela Remigio, Riccardo Frizza- Donizetti: Il Castello di Kenilworth
Christophe ROusset, Les Talens Lyriques - Antonio Salieri: Tarare
Howard Shelley, London Mozart Players - Classical Piano Concerto, Vol. 6: Johann Baptist Cramer
Changyong Shin - Beethoven, Liszt, Chopin
Siggi String Quartet - South of the Circle
Philippe Sly, Le Chimera Project - Schubert: Winterreise
Nicky Spence, Julius Drake - Janácek: The Diary of One Who Disappeared; Moravian Folksongs; Ríkadla
Masaaki Suzuki - Bach: English Suites
Dina Ugorskaja, Brandenburger Symphoniker, Peter Gülke - Brahms: Piano Concerto No. 1 Op. 15; Intermezzi Op. 117
Various Artists - Do You Believe in Heather?: Chamber Music by Ståle Kleiberg
Various Artists - Elgar from America, Vol. 1: Enigma Variations; Cello Concerto; Falstaff
Vox Luminis, Lionel Meunier - Bach: Kantaten
Peter Whelan, Irish Baroque Orchestra - Welcome Home, Mr Dubourg
Roderick Williams, Iain Burnside - Schubert: Die schöne Müllerin
Alamire, David Skinner, Stephen Farr, His Majestys Sagbutts and Cornetts - Hieronymus Praetorius: Motets in 8, 10, 12, 16 & 20 Parts
Miriam Alexandra, Peter Gijsbertsen, Jozef De Beenhouwer - Clara Schumann: Complete Songs
Darrell Ang, Malmö Symphony Orchestra - Kabalevsky: Symphonies Nos. 1 & 2
Apollo5 - O Radiant Dawn
Patrick Ayrton, Thomas Gould, Les Inventions - Some Like It Plucked
Jean-Efflam Bavouzet, Manchester Camerata, Gabor Takacs-Nagy - Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 20, KV 466; Piano Concerto No. 21, KV 467; Overture to Don Giovanni
Paul Beier - John Dowland: What if a day
Frieder Bernius, Kammerchor Stuttgart, Hofkapelle Stuttgart - Beethoven: Missa Solemnis Op. 123
Robert Black - Philip Glass: The Not-Doings of an Insomniac
The Boston Camerata, Anne Azéma - Treasures of Devotion: European Spiritual Song ca. 1500
William Boughton, Markus Stenz - Bernard Rands: Concerto for Piano & Orchestra; Music for Shoko; Canti del Sole
Busch Trio - Dvorák: Piano Trios Op.21 & 26
Cammerata Orchestra, Joaquín Torre - Alfonso Romero Asenjo: Cello Concerto; Concerto for Two Violins; String Symphony
Thomas Dausgaard, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Lund Male Chorus - Sibelius: Kullervo
Lise Davidsen, Philharmonia Orchestra, Esa-Pekka Salonen - Lise Davidsen
Stéphane Degout, Barbara Hannigan, George Benjamin - George Benjamin: Lessons in Love and Violence
Ekaterina Derzhavina - Haydn: Variations & Pieces for Piano
Mark Elder, Halle Orchestra - Wagner: Siegfried
The Elysian Singers, Sam Laughton - MacMillan: One Equal Music
Philippe Entremont - Philippe Entremont plays Beethoven
Mahan Esfahani - Bach: The Toccatas, BWV 910-916
Finzi Quartet, Marcus Farnsworth, Robert Plane, Ruth Bolister - Gerald Finzi: By Footpath and Stile
Renée Fleming - Lieder: Brahms, Schumann, Mahler
David Fung - Mozart: Piano Sonatas No. 5, No. 4, No. 2, No. 17
Gaechinger Cantorey, Hans-Christoph Radermann - Stay, ye angels: J.S. Bach Cantatas
Delphine Galou, Accademia Bizantina, Ottavio Dantone - Vivaldi: Arie e cantate per contralto
Delphine Galou, Accademia Bizantina, Ottavio Dantone - Vivaldi: Musica sacra per alto
John Georgiadis, Czech Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra Pardubice - Contemporaries of the Strauss Family, Vol. 4
Gettysburg College Choir, Robert Natter, Gil Shaham, Orli Shaham - Avner Dorman: Letters from Gettysburg
Goldfield Ensemble - Erika Fox: Paths
Gunter Herbig - Ex Oriente: Music by G.I. Gurdjieff
Fenella Humphreys, Covent Garden Sinfonia, Ben Palmer - Max Richter: The Four Seasons Recomposed
Jerusalem Quartet, Hila Baggio - Yiddish Cabaret: Schulhoff, Korngold, Desyatnikov
Ellen Jewett - Turkish Music for Solo Violin: Saygun, Türkmen, Cetiz
Latvian Radio Choir, Sigvards Klava - Tchaikovsky: Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom; Nine Sacred Choruses
Leonore Piano Trio, Rachel Roberts - Parry: Piano Trio No. 2; Piano Quartet
Gunar Letzbor, Erich Traxler - Mozart: Mannheim 1778
Valentina Lisitsa - Tchaikovsky: The Complete Solo Piano Works
Choir of Magdalen College, Oxford. Mark Williams - Pillar of the Cloud: Five Centuries of Oxford Anthems
Ludovic Morlot, Seattle Symphony - John Luther Adams: Become Desert
Susan Narucki - Edge of Silence: Works for Voice by György Kurtág
David Owen Norris, Katy Bircher, Caroline Balding, Andrew Skidmore - Jupiter Project: Mozart, Hummel, Cramer, Clementi
O/Modernt, Hugo Ticciati - From the Ground Up: The Chaconne
Sakari Oramo, BBC Symphony Orchestra - Sibelius: Lemminkäinen Suite; Spring Song; Suite from Belshazzar's Feast
Partch - Partch: Sonata Dementia
Luciano Pavarotti - Pavarotti: The Greatest Hits
Jessica Pratt, Carmela Remigio, Riccardo Frizza- Donizetti: Il Castello di Kenilworth
Christophe ROusset, Les Talens Lyriques - Antonio Salieri: Tarare
Howard Shelley, London Mozart Players - Classical Piano Concerto, Vol. 6: Johann Baptist Cramer
Changyong Shin - Beethoven, Liszt, Chopin
Siggi String Quartet - South of the Circle
Philippe Sly, Le Chimera Project - Schubert: Winterreise
Nicky Spence, Julius Drake - Janácek: The Diary of One Who Disappeared; Moravian Folksongs; Ríkadla
Masaaki Suzuki - Bach: English Suites
Dina Ugorskaja, Brandenburger Symphoniker, Peter Gülke - Brahms: Piano Concerto No. 1 Op. 15; Intermezzi Op. 117
Various Artists - Do You Believe in Heather?: Chamber Music by Ståle Kleiberg
Various Artists - Elgar from America, Vol. 1: Enigma Variations; Cello Concerto; Falstaff
Vox Luminis, Lionel Meunier - Bach: Kantaten
Peter Whelan, Irish Baroque Orchestra - Welcome Home, Mr Dubourg
Roderick Williams, Iain Burnside - Schubert: Die schöne Müllerin