Jun. 1, 2020
As many of us are starting to emerge from lockdown, small gatherings are being allowed. While it might be hard for some of the musicians to remain the required 6 feet apart, we found several musical choices this past month that fit the requirements of cautious social interaction. Obviously, Bach's solo Cello Suites are an excellent place to start, recently recorded by Alisa Weilerstein. Trevor Pinnock performs on harpsichord with the first volume of Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier, and there is solo piano music by Thomas Adès and César Franck. Several recitals -- featuring songs by Rachmaninov, songs transcribed for viola, and more -- would also work. We also sampled chamber versions of a few of Beethoven's symphonies and Holst's Cloud Messenger, although those begin to stretch the guidelines of authorities, but listening to any of these choices on your own is always welcome.
Bach Choir, BBC Concert Orchestra, David Hill - Howells: Missa Sabrinensis
Fabrice Bollon, Philharmonisches Orchester Freiburg - Magnard: Orchestral Works
Han Chen - Thomas Adès: Works for Solo Piano
Compagnia di Punto - Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 1-3 (Arrangements by Ries & Ebers)
Francesco Corti, Il Pomo d'Oro - Bach: Harpsichord Concertos
Ensemble Orchestral Contemporain, Daniel Kawka - Pierre Boulez: Le Marteau sans Maître; Philippe Manoury: B-Partita
Arthur Fagen, ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra - Morton Gould: Symphonettes Nos. 2-4; Spirituals for Orchestra
Véronique Gens, I Giardini - Nuits
Jonathan Griffith, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra - Messiah … Refreshed!
Antonio Chen Guang - Bach, Brahms, Berg
Stephen Hough, Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Hannu Lintu - Beethoven: The Piano Concertos
Paavo Järvi, NHK Symphony Orchestra Tokyo - Gustav Mahler: Symphony No. 6 "Tragic"
Choir of King's College London, Strand Ensemble, Joseph Fort - Holst: The Cloud Messenger (Chamber Version)
Cecile Licad, South Denmark Philharmonic, Gerard Salonga - Anthology of American Piano Music, Vol. 4: George Gershwin
Christian Lindberg, Arctic Philharmonic - Leonard Bernstein: Symphonies 1 & 2 - Jeremiah, The Age of Anxiety
Nikolai Lugansky - César Franck: Preludes, Fugues & Chorals
La Maitrise Notre-Dame de Paris - Notre-Dame: Cathédrale d'Émotions
Denis Matsuev - Shostakovich, Schnittke, Lutoslawski
Paul McCreesh, Gabrieli Consort & Players - Purcell: The Fairy Queen, 1692
Michael McHale, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, John Wilson - Sir Richard Rodney Bennett, Vol. 4
Caroline Mutel, Karine Deshayes - François Couperin: Leçons de Ténèbres, Paris, 1714
Nash Ensemble - Clara Schumann: Piano Trio; Fanny Mendelssohn: Piano Trios; String Quartet
David Nebel, Kristjan Järvi - Igor Stravinsky, Philip Glass: Violin Concertos
Tomás Netopil, Essener Philharmoniker - Carl Maria von Weber: Der Freischütz
Roger Norrington, Radio-Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart des SWR - Ludwig van Beethoven: Complete Symphonies
Norwegian Soloists' Choir, Norwegian Radio Orchestra, Grete Pedersen - Luciano Berio: Coro; Cries of London
Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, Nicholas McGegan, Anne Sofie von Otter - PBO & Caroline Shaw
Trevor Pinnock - J.S. Bach: The Well-Tempered Clavier 1
Anna Prohaska, Julius Drake - Paradise Lost
Charles Richard-Hamelin, Les Violons du Roy, Jonathan Cohen- Mozart: Concertos pour Piano Nos. 22 & 24
Natalya Romaniw, Lada Valesová - Arion: Voyage of a Slavic Soul
Maxim Rysanov, Sinfonietta Riga - Peteris Vasks: Viola Concerto; String Symphony 'Voices'
Lan Shui, Singapore Symphony Orchestra - Richard Strauss: Rosenkavalier Suite; Tod und Verklärung; Macbeth
Lori Sims, Andrew Rathbun, Jeremy Siskind - Impressions of Debussy
Julia Sitkovetsky, Roger Vignoles - Rachmaninov: Songs
Sitkovetsky Trio - Beethoven: Piano Trios Vol. 1 - Op. 1/3 & Op. 70/2
Dima Slobodeniouk. Lahti Symphony Orchestra - Prokofiev: Suites from the Gambler & the Tale of the Stone Flower
Annika Socolofsky, John Daugherty, Dogs of Desire, David Alan Miller - Michael Daugherty: This Land Sings
Karim Sulayman, Yi-heng Yang - Where Only Stars Can Hear Us: Schubert Songs
Tenebrae, Nigel Short - Couperin: Leçons de Ténèbres; Gesualdo: Tenebrae Responsories for Maundy Thursday
Christian Thielemann, Camilla Nylund, Stephen Gould - Richard Strauss: Die Frau ohne Schatten
Tippett Quartet - Górecki: String Quartet No. 3 '…Songs are Sung'
Various Artists - Mark Abel: The Cave of Wondrous Voice
Various Artists - New Chamber Works: Anna Meredith, Alexander Goehr, Colin Matthews
Voces8 - After Silence: III. Redemption
Vox Clamantis, Jaan-Eik Tulve - Cyrillus Kreek: The Suspended Harp of Babel
Yuja Wang, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Gustavo Dudamel - John Adams: Must the Devil Have All the Good Tunes?
Alisa Weilerstein - Bach
Wet Ink - Alex Mincek: Glossolalia; Sam Pluta: Lines on Black
Tabea Zimmermann, Javier Perianes - Cantilena
Bach Choir, BBC Concert Orchestra, David Hill - Howells: Missa Sabrinensis
Fabrice Bollon, Philharmonisches Orchester Freiburg - Magnard: Orchestral Works
Han Chen - Thomas Adès: Works for Solo Piano
Compagnia di Punto - Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 1-3 (Arrangements by Ries & Ebers)
Francesco Corti, Il Pomo d'Oro - Bach: Harpsichord Concertos
Ensemble Orchestral Contemporain, Daniel Kawka - Pierre Boulez: Le Marteau sans Maître; Philippe Manoury: B-Partita
Arthur Fagen, ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra - Morton Gould: Symphonettes Nos. 2-4; Spirituals for Orchestra
Véronique Gens, I Giardini - Nuits
Jonathan Griffith, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra - Messiah … Refreshed!
Antonio Chen Guang - Bach, Brahms, Berg
Stephen Hough, Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Hannu Lintu - Beethoven: The Piano Concertos
Paavo Järvi, NHK Symphony Orchestra Tokyo - Gustav Mahler: Symphony No. 6 "Tragic"
Choir of King's College London, Strand Ensemble, Joseph Fort - Holst: The Cloud Messenger (Chamber Version)
Cecile Licad, South Denmark Philharmonic, Gerard Salonga - Anthology of American Piano Music, Vol. 4: George Gershwin
Christian Lindberg, Arctic Philharmonic - Leonard Bernstein: Symphonies 1 & 2 - Jeremiah, The Age of Anxiety
Nikolai Lugansky - César Franck: Preludes, Fugues & Chorals
La Maitrise Notre-Dame de Paris - Notre-Dame: Cathédrale d'Émotions
Denis Matsuev - Shostakovich, Schnittke, Lutoslawski
Paul McCreesh, Gabrieli Consort & Players - Purcell: The Fairy Queen, 1692
Michael McHale, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, John Wilson - Sir Richard Rodney Bennett, Vol. 4
Caroline Mutel, Karine Deshayes - François Couperin: Leçons de Ténèbres, Paris, 1714
Nash Ensemble - Clara Schumann: Piano Trio; Fanny Mendelssohn: Piano Trios; String Quartet
David Nebel, Kristjan Järvi - Igor Stravinsky, Philip Glass: Violin Concertos
Tomás Netopil, Essener Philharmoniker - Carl Maria von Weber: Der Freischütz
Roger Norrington, Radio-Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart des SWR - Ludwig van Beethoven: Complete Symphonies
Norwegian Soloists' Choir, Norwegian Radio Orchestra, Grete Pedersen - Luciano Berio: Coro; Cries of London
Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, Nicholas McGegan, Anne Sofie von Otter - PBO & Caroline Shaw
Trevor Pinnock - J.S. Bach: The Well-Tempered Clavier 1
Anna Prohaska, Julius Drake - Paradise Lost
Charles Richard-Hamelin, Les Violons du Roy, Jonathan Cohen- Mozart: Concertos pour Piano Nos. 22 & 24
Natalya Romaniw, Lada Valesová - Arion: Voyage of a Slavic Soul
Maxim Rysanov, Sinfonietta Riga - Peteris Vasks: Viola Concerto; String Symphony 'Voices'
Lan Shui, Singapore Symphony Orchestra - Richard Strauss: Rosenkavalier Suite; Tod und Verklärung; Macbeth
Lori Sims, Andrew Rathbun, Jeremy Siskind - Impressions of Debussy
Julia Sitkovetsky, Roger Vignoles - Rachmaninov: Songs
Sitkovetsky Trio - Beethoven: Piano Trios Vol. 1 - Op. 1/3 & Op. 70/2
Dima Slobodeniouk. Lahti Symphony Orchestra - Prokofiev: Suites from the Gambler & the Tale of the Stone Flower
Annika Socolofsky, John Daugherty, Dogs of Desire, David Alan Miller - Michael Daugherty: This Land Sings
Karim Sulayman, Yi-heng Yang - Where Only Stars Can Hear Us: Schubert Songs
Tenebrae, Nigel Short - Couperin: Leçons de Ténèbres; Gesualdo: Tenebrae Responsories for Maundy Thursday
Christian Thielemann, Camilla Nylund, Stephen Gould - Richard Strauss: Die Frau ohne Schatten
Tippett Quartet - Górecki: String Quartet No. 3 '…Songs are Sung'
Various Artists - Mark Abel: The Cave of Wondrous Voice
Various Artists - New Chamber Works: Anna Meredith, Alexander Goehr, Colin Matthews
Voces8 - After Silence: III. Redemption
Vox Clamantis, Jaan-Eik Tulve - Cyrillus Kreek: The Suspended Harp of Babel
Yuja Wang, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Gustavo Dudamel - John Adams: Must the Devil Have All the Good Tunes?
Alisa Weilerstein - Bach
Wet Ink - Alex Mincek: Glossolalia; Sam Pluta: Lines on Black
Tabea Zimmermann, Javier Perianes - Cantilena