Top Classical Picks for 2010

Drawn from the reviews written for AllMusic in 2010, this substantial and varied list presents the classical albums that won top marks from the staff. It's as eclectic as the tastes of the editors and writers who contributed, and reflects the ever-increasing diversity of the field of classical music. Click the links below to read the reviews and find out more information about these exceptional CDs.

Mike D. Brownell
Patrick Cohen, piano - Boccherini: Piano Quintets
Torleif Thedéen, cello - Brahms: Cello Sonatas
Mark Albrecht, conductor - Dukas: L'apprenti sorcier; Ravel: Ma mère l'oye; Koechlin: Les Bandar-Log
B'Rock - Handel: Concerti grossi; Ouvertures
Vadim Gluzman, violin - Korngold & Dvarionas: Violin Concertos
Pierre Boulez, conductor - Mahler: Des Knaben Wunderhorn; Adagio from Symphony No. 10
Paul Watkins, cello - Martinu: Cello Sonatas Nos. 1-3; Variations on a Theme of Rossini; Variations on a Slovak Theme
Renoir Quartet - Miaskovsky: String Quartets Nos. 1 & 13
Duo Amadè - Mozart: Duo Sonatas, Vol. 2
Leonard Slatkin, conductor - Rachmaninov: Symphony No. 2
Jaap van Zweden, conductor - Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring; Apollon Musagète
Alexis Kossenko, conductor - Telemann: Ouverture & Concerti

Patsy Morita
Pascal Rogé, piano - Poètes du Piano
Vassily Primakov, piano - Mozart: Piano Concertos, Vol. 1
Prazák Quartet - Schumann: String Quartet, Op. 41/1; Piano Quintet, Op. 44
Duo DS - Joaquín Turina: Das Gesamtwerk für Violine und Klavier
Nina Schumann & Luis Magalhães, pianos - Two Pianists
Joanne Polk, piano - Joanne Polk Plays Fanny Mendelssohn
Jerry Wong, piano - Prokofiev: Sonata No. 8; Four Pieces; Visions Fugitives
Pierre-Laurent Aimard, piano - Ravel: The Piano Concertos; Miroirs
Paul Lewis, piano - Beethoven: Complete Piano Concertos
Alain Planès, piano - Janácek: Piano Works

Blair Sanderson
Rachel Podger, violin - Bach: Violin Concertos
Zoltán Kocsis, conductor - Bartók: Music for Strings, Percussion & Celesta; Divertimento; Hungarian Sketches
Tokyo String Quartet - Beethoven: The Late String Quartets
Marek Janowski , conductor - Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique; Le Roi Lear
Simone Young, conductor - Brahms: Symphony No. 1 in C minor
Paavo Järvi, conductor - Bruckner: Symphony No. 9 in D minor
Cédric Tiberghien, piano - Chopin: Mazurkas; Polonaise-Fantaisie; Scherzo & Nocturne
Mark Albrecht, conductor - Korngold: Symphony in F sharp, Op. 40; Much Ado About Nothing, Op. 11
Jonathan Nott, conductor - Mahler: Symphony No. 2
Julia Fischer, violin - Paganini: 24 Caprices
Anthony Marwood, violin - Stravinsky: Complete Music for Violin & Piano
Stefan Blunier, conductor - Schmidt: Symphony No. 4; Intermezzo from "Notre Dame"
Nicolae Moldoveanu, conductor - Tchaikovsky: Swan Lake

James Manheim
Liza Ferschtman, violin - Works for violin solo by J.S. Bach & Ysaÿe
Masaaki Suzuki, organ - Masaaki Suzuki plays Buxtehude
Berolina Trio - Beethoven: Concerto for Violin, Cello & Piano, Op.56; The Creatures of Prometheus
Binchois Consort - Dufay and the Court of Savoy
Daedalus String Quartet - Haydn: Six Quartets, Op. 20
Trio Goya - The Heart of Invention: Piano Trios by Haydn
Gidon Kremer, violin - De Profundis
Dimitri Ashkenazy, clarinet - Mozart: Clarinet Concerto; Quintet for piano and winds
Imogen Cooper, piano - Mozart: Piano Concertos Nos. 18 & 22
Akademie für alte Musik, Berlin - Pergolesi: Stabat Mater
Jordi Savall, conductor - El Nuevo Mundo: Folías Criollas
Bertrand Cuiller - Scarlatti, Soler: Sonatas per cimbalo & Fandango
Nicolau de Figueiredo, harpsichord - Antonio Soler: Harpsichord Sonatas

Stephen Eddins
Various Artists - Adès: Tevot; Violin Concerto
Karina Gauvin, soprano - Britten: Les Illuminations
María Guinand, conductor - Golijov: La Pasión según San Marcos
Leonardo García Alarcón, conductor - Handel: Judas Maccabaeus
Valery Gergiev, conductor - Shchedrin: The Enchanted Wanderer
Kent Nagano, conductor - Saariaho: L’Amour de loin
Daniel Reuss, conductor - Martin: Golgotha
Hetna Regitze Bruun, mezzo-soprano - Messiaen: Trois Mélodies; Harawi
Claudio Cavina, countertenor - Claudio Monteverdi: Il Nerone, ossia L'incoronazione di Poppea
René Jacobs, conductor - Mozart: Die Zauberflöte
Various Artists - Pärt: Tabula Rasa (Special Edition with Book) (Deluxe)
Maya Beiser, cello - Provenance
Patricia Petibon, soprano - Rosso: Italian Baroque Arias
Kai Schumacher, piano - Rzewski: The People United Will Never Be Defeated
Jonas Kaufmann, tenor - Schubert: Die schöne Müllerin
Claude Helffer, piano - Xenakis: Chamber Music
Various Artists - Browning: Venus Notorious