Aug. 3, 2021
The typical concerto places a soloist in the spotlight, supported by -- or contrasted by -- a group of instrumentalists ranging from a chamber orchestra to full symphonic orchestra. There were many new concerto and concerto-esque recordings reviewed this past month. Bomsori's Violin on Stage contains many familiar works for violin and orchestra. Martynas Levickis (pictured above) recorded Piazzolla's Aconcagua concerto for accordion, which is not often heard. Pekka Kuusisto gives us a new violin concerto by American composer Nico Muhly. There was also a voice plus orchestra album from Varduhi Abrahamyan and one featuring Schnittke's Choir Concerto. Vivaldi and Mozart round out these new concerto releases.
Varduhi Abrahamyan - Rhapsody
Daniel Barenboim, Martha Argerich - Claude Debussy
Isabel Bayrakdarian - Armenian Songs for Children
Alasdair Beatson - Aus Wien
Boris Begelman, Concerto Italiano, Rinaldo Alessandrini - Concerti per Violino IX ‘Le nuove vie’
Sebastian Bohren, Chaarts Chamber Artists, Gábor Takács-Nagy - Mozart: Violin Concertos Nos. 3 & 5; Symphony No. 29
Bomsori, NFM Wroclaw Philharmonic, Gianandrea Guerrero - Violin on Stage
Brodsky Quartet - Homage to Bach: The Solo Violin Sonatas
Joseph Colaneri, Orchestre de l'Opéra royal de Versailles - The Ghosts of Versailles: An opera by John Corigliano
Lise Davidsen, Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, Edward Gardner - Sibelius: Luonnotar; Tapiola; Spring Song
Doric String Quartet - Mozart: String Quartets, Vol. 1 - Prussian Quartets
Ensemble Organum, Marcel Pérès - In Memoria Eterna: A Spiritual Vigil for the New Century
Christoph Eschenbach, Konzerthausorchester Berlin - Weber
Mahan Esfahani - Bach: The Six Partitas, BWV 825-830
Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir, Kaspars Putniņš - Alfred Schnittke: Choir Concerto; Three Sacred Hymns; Arvo Pärt: Seven Magnificat-Antiphons
Iván Fischer, Budapest Festival Orchestra - Brahms: Symphony No. 3; Serenade No. 2
Randall Goosby - Roots
Gothic Voices - Echoes of an Old Hall
Chelsea Guo - Chopin: In My Voice
Matt Haimovitz - Primavera I: The Wind
Kenneth Hamilton - Romantic Piano Encores
Franz Hauk, Julia Sophie Wagner, Daniel Ochoa - Johann Simon Mayr: Elena
Jean-François Heisser, Jean-Frédéric Neuburger, Serge Lemouton - Stockhausen: Mantra
Tine Thing Helseth, Kåre Nordstoga - Magical Memories for Trumpet and Organ
Heinz Holliger, Kammerorchester Basel - Schubert: Symphony No. 7 "Unfinished"; Franz Schuberts Begräbniß-Feyer; R. Moser: Echoraum zu Franz Schuberts Begräbniß-Feyer
C.E. Jones - J.S. Bach: The Goldberg Variations
Kenneth Kiesler, Nicholas Phan, Amy I-Lin Cheng - Vítězslava Kaprálová: Waving Farewell; Prélude de Noël; Military Sinfonietta; Sad Evening; etc.
Vadym Kholodenko - Kholodenko plays Tchaikovsky: Piano Sonatas Opp. 37 & 80
Pekka Kuusisto, Norwegian Chamber Orchestra - First Light: Muhly & Glass
Olivier Latry - Liszt: Inspirations
Martynas Levickis, Mikroorkéstra, Lithuanian National Symphony Orchestra, Modestas Pitrenas - Astor Piazzolla: Aconcagua; Las Cuatro Estaciones Porteñas
Yo-Yo Ma, Emanuel Ax - Hope Amid Tears: Beethoven Cello Sonatas
Antonello Manacorda, Kammerakademie Potsdam - Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy: Symphonies Nos. 1-5
Marc Mauillon, Angélique Mauillon, Myriam Rignol - Je m'abandonne à vous
Ikuyo Nakamichi - Debussy: Préludes I; Images I & II; L'Isle Joyeuse
Andris Nelsons, Boston Symphony Orchestra - Dmitri Shostakovich: Symphonies Nos. 1, 14 & 15; Chamber Symphony in C minor
Indre Petrauskaite - Mozart: Solo Piano Works
Christophe Rousset, Chœur de Chambre de Namur, Les Talens Lyriques - Jean-Baptiste Lully: Ballet royal de la Naissance de Vénus
Jordi Savall, La Capella Reial de Catalunya, Hespèrion XXI - Tomás Luis de Victoria: Passion - Officium Hebdomadae Sanctae
Schola Cantorum of the Cardinal Vaughan Memorial School, Scott Price, Iestyn Evans - Great Is the Lord
Seraphic Fire, Patrick Dupre Quigley - Hildegard von Bingen: Ordo Virtutum
Caroline Shaw, So Percussion - Let the Soil Play Its Simple Part
Les Siècles, François-Xavier Roth - Stravinsky: Ballets Russes
The Sixteen, Harry Christophers - Henry Purcell: Royal Welcome Songs from King Charles II, Vol. 4
Marc Soustrot, Malmö Symphony Orchestra - Saint-Saëns: Complete Symphonies
Synergy Vocals - John Luther Adams: Arctic Dreams
Tippett Quartet - Penderecki: Complete Music for String Quartet; String Trio
Thomas Trotter - Duruflé: Complete Organ Works
Various Artists - Kalevi Aho: Solo, Vol. 1
Verona Quartet - Diffusion
Andrew von Oeyen - Bach, Beethoven
Mark Wigglesworth - Shostakovich: The Symphonies
Debbie Wiseman, Helen Mirren, Damian Lewis - The Music of Kings & Queens