Lebrecht’s Album of the Week
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
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
Erno von Dohnanyi: My auntie (Capriccio)
Dohnanyi is as multicultural as they come — he must be due a comeback
Alice Sara Ott: Echoes of Life (DG)
Alice Sara Ott gives Frederic Chopin’s preludes a “dazzling” contemporary twist
Shostakovich: Piano concertos 1&2; piano trio 2 (Linn)
This is a recording that encapsulates the other, older side of Europe
Randall Goosby: Roots (Decca)
Goosby has all the technique anyone could need — but he still has a lot to learn about taste and selection