Curating the best new classical recordings
There’s always wonderful music to discover, from instrumental to vocal music, new recordings of old favorites, or albums featuring cutting-edge contemporary works. Discover more about each selection below.
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This Land
Lara Downes’s latest album is a deeply personal collection of American music she is subtitling as “A Path to Hope.” An artist renowned for her musical explorations off the beaten path, Downes celebrates the beauty of the American experiment while offering an unflinching acknowledgement of its flaws and failings, ultimately embracing the power of hope and humanity. The centerpiece work ...
Robert & Clara Schumann: Works for Oboe and Piano
One of Britain’s best-known musicians, Nicholas Daniel has premiered hundreds of works for the oboe and made many critically acclaimed recordings. Daniel’s program with pianist Julius Drake features a wide selection of chamber music by Robert Schumann, alongside the Three Romances, Op. 22 by Clara Schumann. At the time these pieces were written, there was a rapidly growing interest in ...
Shostakovich: Symphonies 4, 5 & 6
These performances are CSO music director designate Klaus Mäkelä’s first Shostakovich on record and shows off the Oslo Philharmonic’s pedigree in the music of Shostakovich, one it learned with former chief conductor Mariss Jansons. Jansons studied with Yevgeny Mravinsky, the Principal Conductor of the Leningrad (now St Petersburg) Philharmonic, the man who premiered no fewer than five of Shostakovich’s symphonies. ...
Bruckner & Klose String Quartets
Quatuor Diotima (former ensemble-in-residence at University of Chicago) celebrates the bicentennial anniversary of Anton Bruckner with a recording of his String Quartet in C minor, Rondo in C minor and, new to the library, the Theme with Variations in E-Flat, alongside the String Quartet in E-Flat from his pupil Friedrich Klose. Bruckner wrote these pieces as composition exercises, yet they ...
Carlos Simon: Four Symphonic Works
The gradual rollout of the National Symphony Orchestra’s recordings of symphonic works by Carlos Simon is completed with his Songs of Separation and Wake Up! Concerto for Orchestra. Based on poems of Rumi, Songs of Separation (four) was commissioned by the NSO and features mezzo-soprano J’Nai Bridges. Wake Up! was inspired by the poem “Awake, Asleep” by Nepali poet Rajendra ...
American Road Trip
Violinist Augustin Hadelich and pianist Orion Weiss perform works by a melting pot of American Composers from the 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries drawing on a diversity of idioms, influences, and inspirations. Included are beloved classics like Copland’s “Hoe-down” and Bernstein’s “Somewhere,” as well as modern classics like Adams’s “Road Movies” and Beach’s Romance. New music on the album include ...
Mendelssohn
Isata Kanneh-Mason’s fourth solo album on Decca presents music by both Fanny and Felix Mendelssohn. Most is for solo piano including arrangements of selections from Felix’s Midsummer Night’s Dream, and a pair of Songs without Words; and, new to the library, Fanny’s four movement Easter Sonata. The centerpiece work is Felix’s glittering Piano Concerto No. 1 performed with the London ...
Trace of Time
The throughline of the seven works recorded here are the themes and influences of Argentine Tango, West African drumming, and African American Spirituals. The program features works by Héctor Del Curto, Julia Smith, Jessie Montgomery, Adolphus Hailstork, Astor Piazzolla, and Agustín Bardi. Three of the works were commissioned by Apollo Chamber Players with the request that each composer craft a ...
Something Like This – Emily Granger, Sally Walker
American-Australian harpist Emily Granger made an indelible impression with her solo debut recording, In Transit. She follows up with Something Like This, a beautiful collaboration with flutist Sally Walker, featuring original music for flute and harp alongside adaptations and arrangements for the instrumental combination. Woven among classics by J. S. Bach and Mozart are works by living composers including Australians ...
Rachmaninoff: A Reflection – Yekwon Sunwoo
Pianist Yekwon Sunwoo, the winner of the Van Cliburn Competition in 2017, is returning to the music of Sergei Rachmaninoff with the release of a new album. The recording features repertoire by a composer whose works played a pivotal role in his Van Cliburn victory. Yekwon curated the album to include pieces that best represent the composer’s brilliance. He chose ...
Napoli! – Ophélie Gaillard, Pulcinella Orchestra
Continuing her exploration of the cello repertoire, Ophélie Gaillard takes us on a fascinating tour of Baroque Naples. With Napoli!, we dive into the atmosphere of the Mediterranean city, as it takes us in search of some of its emblematic figures. We meet virtuoso cellists Fiorenza, Lanzetti, and Francischello, the composers Durante, Leo, the Spaniard Ortiz, and Corselli, and even, ...
Mozart: Piano Sonatas – Angela Hewitt
Mozart Piano Sonatas K. 310-311 and 330-333 make up the second installment of Angela Hewitt’s chronological survey. These works date from Mozart’s twenties and include his first masterpieces in the genre (K. 331, with its famous Alla turca finale, for example). This is repertoire which calls for—and here receives—unfailingly immaculate pianism, and the perfectly judged performances in this set are ...
Handel: Israel in Egypt – Apollo’s Fire
Apollo’s Fire’s founder and director Jeannette Sorrell’s new adaptation of Handel’s Israel in Egypt “gives the work a compelling dramatic arc” (Seen and Heard International), that is “presented with a sense of theatre as Handel intended…scintillating and superb” (Cleveland Classical). Sorrell and her acclaimed Baroque orchestra add to their distinguished Avie discography – which includes Handel’s Dixit Dominus and Messiah ...
Miloš Karadaglić: Baroque
Miloš Karadaglić – the superstar musician who has led today’s classical guitar revival – begins a new era in his exceptional career with a debut album for Sony Classical. Titled simply “Baroque,” the album presents his carefully curated selection of Baroque works especially transcribed and arranged for the guitar, both solo and in collaboration with Jonathan Cohen and his ensemble ...
Julien Martineau: O Sole Mio
Mandolinist Julien Martineau’s latest album, O Sole Mio, fulfills his dream of recording concertos by Antonio Vivaldi, Johann Nepomuk Hummel, and Raffaele Calace with the Toulouse Capitole National Orchestra under conductor Wilson Ng. In addition to performing works with orchestra, Martineau collaborates with baritone Florian Sempey, guitarists Éric Franceries and Philippe Mouratoglou, double bassist Yann Dubost, and mandolinist Anna Schivazappa ...
Ola Gjeilo: Dreamweaver
Norwegian composer and pianist Ola Gjeilo releases his latest choral album, Dreamweaver, via Decca Classics, featuring several world premiere recordings. Gjeilo is one of the most frequently performed composers in the world, his previous albums having garnered over 170 million streams, and with his recent solo piano releases, his global streams have surpassed 230 million. This album marks Gjeilo’s first venture into ...
Schubert: The Complete Impromptus – Gerardo Teissonnière
Following his acclaimed solo debut album of the late sonatas of Beethoven, pianist Gerardo Teissonnière brings his “crystalline sound, formidable technique, and exquisite musical taste” (Cleveland Classical) to the complete Impromptus of Schubert, out on the Steinway & Sons label. Schubert’s Impromptus, D 899 and D 935, comprise two sets of four pieces each written in the last year and a ...
Kaleidoscope: Paul Huang, Helen Huang
Kaleidoscope is the solo debut recording by violinist Paul Huang. A recipient of both the Avery Fisher Career Grant and the Lincoln Center Award for Emerging Artists, Huang plays on the legendary 1742 “ex-Wieniawski” Guarneri del Gesù on extended loan through the Stradivari Society of Chicago. The instrument has not been performed on a commercial recording in more than two ...
Agave: In Her Hands
Following Agave’s Grammy-nominated success with American Originals: A New World, A New Canon, the ensemble offers another powerful recording of music by underrepresented composers: In Her Hands. Acclaimed soprano Michele Kennedy joins Agave for her solo recording debut in a celebration of music by women from throughout history. The works range from an emotionally-charged lament by Baroque virtuosa Barbara Strozzi ...
Plínio Fernandes: Bacheando
Acclaimed Brazilian virtuoso guitarist Plínio Fernandes debuts his sophomore recording, Bacheando, via Decca Gold. The album sees Fernandes pay tribute to centuries of artistry by exploring the enduring genius of J.S. Bach, the vibrant musical culture of Brazil, and all the richness in between. Fernandes embarks on a captivating exploration of his favorite composer’s legacy on Bacheando. A dynamic inheritor of ...
