Lebrecht’s Album of the Week

Emily D’angelo: A n ar gei a (DG)

This debut album is a treat for the senses and a tonic for tired tastes

Shani Diluka: The Proust Album (Warner)

His concerto is a rag-and-bone man’s barrow trundling down a Haussmann boulevard

The Polish Volin, Vol. 2 (Chandos)

The atmosphere is so thick you’d need a charcuterie knife to cut it

Round Midnight: Dutilleux, Merlin, Schoenberg (Erato)

This is razzle-dazzle entertainment; keep it by your bedside

Beethoven, Birtwistle: A bag of bagatelles (Wergo)

Those who listen to music with an open mind are going to have a ball with this

Renée Fleming: Voice of Nature, The Anthropocene (Decca)

Beauty released by the singer’s larynx is met by plodding fingers on a monochrome keyboard

Piazzolla Cien Anos (Century Records)

Astor Piazzolla is so intimately identified with Buenos Aires that his wider relevance is often missed

Solem Quartet: The Four Quarters (Orchid)

The Solem Quartet are my frontrunners for the best new talent in 2021

Paderewski & Stojowski: Violin Sonatas (CPO)

I would happily subscribe to an emergent series of forgotten Polish treasures if the quality remained this high

Nikolai Kapustin: 4th piano concerto (Capriccio)

Listening to Kapustin in 2021 is an act of nostalgia, a gesture of defiance to the dictates of fashion