Classical Music
Nino Rota: Chamber music (Alpha)
Norman Lebrecht gifts five stars for this “astonishing” revival of work from the late, great film composer, Nino Rota
The King’s Alchemist (Willowhayne Records)
This collection of British music is what they should be playing over the speakers at Heathrow Airport
Beethoven/Schnittke: Violin concertos (BIS)
This fabulous interpretation of the Beethoven concerto is one of the records of the year
Vitezlava Kapralova: Waving Farewell (Naxos)
The performances recorded here by the University of Michigan Symphony Orchestra speak directly to some of our present confusions
Zemlinsky/Schreker: Orchestral works (Onyx)
This album by the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic and their departing conductor Vasily Petrenko is demonstrably irresistible
Peteris Vasks: Musica serena (BR Klassik)
Vasks writes long, slow, contemplative works with a strong feeling for lakes, forests and landscape
Dreams of a New Day: Songs by Black Composers (Cedille)
There is a wealth of diverse talent out there — all we have to do is listen
Prokofiev 6th/Miaskovsky 27th symphonies (LAWO Classics)
‘There is beauty and darkness and fear, to be sure, but I hear no agenda beyond a search for musical expression’
Resch/Beethoven: String quartets (Genuin)
The Frankfurt-based Aris Quartet play Beethoven with sweeping flair and something close to insouciance
Johanna Martzy/Michael Mann (DG Eloquence)
The fruits of Michael Mann’s musical career is neither one thing nor another; trapped between Weimar modernism and American consumerism