Amici Voices
Bach: Gottes Zeit is die allerbeste Zeit 'Actus tragicus' BWV 106; Himmelskönig, sei willkommen BWV 182; Komm, Jesu, komm BWV 229
Intimate, impressively precise performances in well-known Bach cantatas and a motet.
Binchois Consort / Andrew Kirkman
Music for Saint Katherine of Alexandria
Intimate, small-group performances of English music honoring a now-little-known saint.
Blue Heron / Scott Metcalfe
Johannes Ockeghem: Complete Songs, Vol. 1
Scott Metcalfe and Blue Heron present the first of a two-volume set of the complete chansons of Renaissance master Johannes Ockeghem.
Boston Camerata / Anne Azéma
Free America!: Early Song of Resistance and Rebellion
Pathbreaking rethinking of the early American repertory by the Boston Camerata.
Boston Modern Orchestra Project / Odyssey Opera Orchestra / Gil Rose
Tobias Picker: Fantastic Mr. Fox
Tobias Picker's comic opera Fantastic Mr. Fox receives a crisp and lively performance by Gil Rose and the Boston Modern Orchestra Project.
Carolyn Sampson / Joseph Middleton
Reason in Madness
Impressively versatile thematic recital by soprano Carolyn Sampson covering English and French songs depicting famous madwomen.
Christian Thielemann / Krassimira Stoyanova / Charles Castronovo / Dresden State Opera Chorus / Marina Prudenskaya / Staatskapelle Dresden / Georg Zeppenfeld
Giuseppe Verdi: Messa da Requiem
Christian Thielemann conducts a well-balanced, intense Verdi Requiem, recorded live in Dresden.
Contrapunctus / Choir of the Queen's College, Oxford / Owen Rees
Taverner: Missa Gloria tibi Trinitas
Unique and vivid performance of this Tudor mass, with separate choirs in the full- and reduced-scoring sections.
Cupertinos / Luís Toscano
Manuel Cardoso: Requiem, Lamentations, Magnificat & Motets
The Requiem and other sacred works of Portuguese composer Manuel Cardoso are performed by the eight-member vocal ensemble, Cupertinos.
Delphine Galou / Ottavio Dantone / Accademia Bizantina
Vivaldi: Musica sacra per alto
One of a pair of strong new albums from Naïve's Vivaldi edition, with unknown sacred arias beautifully sung.
El León de Oro / Peter Phillips
Amarae Morti
Sacred music of the high Renaissance is offered by early music authority Peter Phillips and the 33-voice chamber choir El León de Oro.
Elin Rombo / REBaroque
The Musical Treasures of Leufsta Bruk III
A variety of Baroque vocal and instrumental music from the Leufsta collection at Uppsala University is offered by the period ensemble Rebaroque.
Elysian Singers of London / Sam Laughton
MacMillan: One Equal Music
A strong collection of recent MacMillan works that could work well as an introduction to his music.
Frieder Bernius / Kammerchor Stuttgart / Hofkapelle Stuttgart
Beethoven: Missa Solemnis Op. 123
An exceptional historical-instrument performance of Beethoven's notoriously troublesome late mass.
Gabrieli Consort / Paul McCreesh
Purcell: King Arthur, 1691
Paul McCreesh and the Gabrieli Consort and Players perform Purcell's King Arthur in the edition by McCreesh and Christopher Suckling.
Guy Cutting / Emma Tring / Benjamin Nicholas / Choir of Merton College, Oxford / Oxford Contemporary Sinfonia
Gabriel Jackson: The Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ
A powerful Passion setting, with unusual text interpolations, that is both specific to its place and time, and universal.
Houston Chamber Choir / Robert Simpson / Ken Cowan
Duruflé: Complete Choral Works
Warm, American-flavored Duruflé performances with fine acoustics capturing a remarkable organ.
Ian Bostridge / Thomas Adès
Winterreise
Third time's a charm as Bostridge's third Winterreise has a wonderful detailed, burnished quality.
Ildar Abdrazakov / Yannick Nézet-Séguin / Orchestre Métropolitain de Montréal
Verdi
Beautifully rendered early Verdi arias augur well for Abdrazakov's new tenure at Deutsche Grammophon.
Irina Arkhipova / Dmitri Hvorostovsky / Natalia Dazko / Vitaly Tarashchenko / Vladimir Fedoseyev / Moscow Radio Symphony Orchestra
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: The Queen of Spades
Fine version of the Tchaikovsky opera, featuring a young Dmitri Hvorostovsky.
Jordi Savall / La Capella Reial de Catalunya / Le Concert des Nations
Georg Friderich Händel: Messiah
Savall presents a lean and athletic interpretation of Handel's Messiah with La Capella Reial de Catalunya and Le Concert des Nations.
Julius Drake / Gerald Finley
Schubert: Schwanengesang; Brahms: Vier ernste Gesänge
Gerald Finley and Julius Drake perform a compelling program of Schubert's Schwanengesang and Brahms' Vier ernste Gesänge.
Karine Deshayes / Katherine Watson / Hervé Niquet
L' Opéra des Opéras
An anthology opera, or a collection of tunes, of a sort that the French monarchs might have heard often.
King's College Choir of Cambridge / Stephen Cleobury
Evensong Live 2019: Anthems and Canticles
Lush collection of English Romantic works lightened by Renaissance and contemporary pieces.
Kyle Stegall / Eric Zivian
Myrtle & Rose: Songs by Clara and Robert Schumann
A wonderful sleeper of a Schumann recording, with the real star a 1841 Viennese piano by Franz Rausch.
La Tempête / Simon-Pierre Bestion
Monteverdi: Vespro
Highly unorthodox Monteverdi Vespers that will be thrilling for all but traditionalists.
Latvian Radio Choir / Sigvards Klava
Tchaikovsky: Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom; Nine Sacred Choruses
Splendid performances of Tchaikovsky's relatively rare sacred music, in a spirit the composer would have loved.
Le Nuove Musiche / Krijn Koetsveld
Arvo Pärt: Magnificat; Stabat Mater
Superb Arvo Pärt performances from a small Renaissance-oriented vocal group.
Magnificat
Heinrich Schütz: Cantiones sacrae
Gorgeous, emotionally intense renditions of Schütz's small-scale motets.
Mariana Flores / Hopkinson Smith
Dowland: Whose Heavenly Touch
For this 2019 Naïve album, Mariana Flores and Hopkinson Smith explore the full range of emotions in John Dowland's lute songs.
Mary Bevan / Lucy Crowe / Bridget Cunningham / London Early Opera
Handel's Queens: Cuzzoni & Faustina
The Baroque opera stars Faustina Bordoni and Francesca Cuzzoni are celebrated on this Signum Classics album of arias by Handel and others.
Mary Bevan / Roderick Williams / Jack Liebeck / William Vann
Time and Space: Songs by Holst and Vaughan Williams
A delightful song recital with obscurities from both composers, capturing their mutual influence.
Matthias Goerne / Christiane Karg / Daniel Harding / Swedish Radio Choir / Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra
Brahms: Ein deutsches Requiem
Daniel Harding leads the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra and Chorus in a traditional reading of Brahms' Ein deutsches Requiem.
Matthias Goerne / Leif Ove Andsnes
Robert Schumann: Liederkreis Op. 24; Kerner-Lieder
Superb Schumann from a vocalist at the very top of his powers.
Michael Spyres / John Nelson
Hector Berlioz: Requiem (Grand Messe des Morts)
John Nelson leads combined choirs and the Philharmonia Orchestra in a resonant performance of Berlioz's Grande Messe des morts.
Odyssean Ensemble
William Byrd: The Great Service & Anthems
Vocally gorgeous rendering of a rarely heard piece of English-language music by Byrd.
ORA Singers / Suzi Digby
Desires: A Song of Songs collection
An impressive realization of an original idea on the part of this hot British choir.
Orlando Consort
Machaut: The Single Rose
The Orlando Consort continues its Machaut Edition with vocal music influenced by the medieval allegory Le Roman de la Rose.
Paul O'Dette / Stephen Stubbs / Boston Early Music Festival Chamber Ensemble / Boston Early Music Festival Vocal Ensemble
Marc-Antoine Charpentier: Les Plaisirs de Versailles; Les Arts Florissants
The Boston Early Music Festival adds to its growing discography of operas by the French Baroque composer Marc-Antoine Charpentier.
Philippe Jaroussky
Ombra mai fu: Francesco Cavalli Opera Arias
Famed countertenor Jaroussky ventures into new territory with a survey of middle 17th century composer Cavalli.
Romain Bockler / Dulces Exuviae / Bor Zuljan
Josquin: Adieu mes Amours
Chansons of loss and regret by Josquin des Prez are presented in Renaissance style by the baritone and lute duo Dulces Exuviae.
Sandrine Piau / Julien Chauvin
Si j'ai Aimé
Sublime recording from Piau of French mélodies, familiar and new, with period instruments.
St. John's College Choir, Cambridge / Andrew Nethsingha
Magnificat
Unusually deep treatment of music from the core of the English collegiate tradition, with gorgeous sound from Signum.
St. John's College Choir, Cambridge / Andrew Nethsingha
Locus Iste
Fine release from the Choir of St. John's College, showcasing its richness and diversity of repertory at its best.
Susan Bickley / Claire Booth / Andrew Matthews-Owen
Debussy, Fauré, Satie & Dove: Songs and Vexations
Fine performances that pair works by Debussy, Fauré, and Satie with a modern work.
The Gentlemen of HM Chapel Royal Hampton Court Palace / Carl Jackson
Thomas Tallis: Gentlemen of the Chapel Royal
The choir of Hampton Court Palace returns with music by one of its former members.
The Gesualdo Six / Owain Park
Christmas
The fast-rising vocal sextet the Gesualdo Six present an original and gorgeous holiday album.
The Tallis Scholars / Peter Phillips
Josquin: Missa Mater Patris; Bauldeweyn: Missa Da pacem
Gorgeous performances of a Josquin mass of disputed authenticity and one by the little-known Noel Bauldeweyn.
Trinity College Choir, Cambridge / Stephen Layton
Finzi: Choral Works
A superb collection of Finzi's choral music, beautifully sung and beautifully structured.
Vox Luminis / Lionel Meunier
Bach: Kantaten
Warm, sensuous readings of cantatas by pre-Sebastian members of the Bach family bring alive their influence.
