Superbudget £5.99 or less 
Budget £6-7.99 
Medium £8-10.99 
Full price £11+ 
Download
RECORDINGS
OF THE MONTH
RECORDING OF THE MONTH Wilhelm
Friedemann BACH (1710 - 1784) Cantatas 1 
Dorothee Mields (soprano) Gerhild Romberger (alto) Georg Poplutz (tenor)
Klaus Mertens (bass) Bachchor Mainz L’arpa festante/Ralf Otto rec. 2010
CARUS
83.362 [69:01]
[MS]
Four
of W.F. Bach's Halle cantatas given splendid world premičre recordings
by a top team.
RECORDING
OF THE MONTH Johannes BRAHMS
(1833-1897)
Handel Variations, Two Rhapsodies, Piano Pieces
Murray Perahia (piano) rec. 2010
SONY CLASSICAL 88679 79469 2 [78:44]
[DC]
Do
you really need to ask if this is any good?
RECORDING
OF THE MONTH Erik CHISHOLM
(1904-1965) The Forsaken Mermaid, The Hoodie Craw
Murray
McLachlan and Graham Scott (pianos) rec. 2009
ECT RECORDS ECT 2010.1 [62:36]
[JF]
Stunning
music, stunningly played.
RECORDING
OF THE MONTH Frédéric
CHOPIN (1810-1849) A Century of Romantic Chopin
rec.
1895-2003
MARSTON 54001-2 [4 CDs: 319:07]
[JW]
Belongs
on the shelves of every piano collector, and anyone seriously interested
in Chopin interpretation on disc.
RECORDING
OF THE MONTH Paul DESENNE (b.1959)
Jaguar Songs
Nancy Green (cello) rec. 2008
CELLO CLASSICS CC1026 [55:00]
[WH]
Fascinating
music for cellos, brilliantly played, challenging and deeply rewarding.
RECORDING
OF THE MONTH Frédéric
d'ERLANGER (1868-1943) Violin Concerto, Poëme Frederic
CLIFFE (1857-1931) Violin Concerto
Philippe Graffin (violin), BBC Ntl O Wales/David Lloyd-Jones rec. 2010
HYPERION
CDA67838 [69:45] [RB]
Delightful,
exciting and often touching concertos presented with total conviction
and every appearance of unfaltering technique.
RECORDING
OF THE MONTH Franz
LISZT (1811-1886) Piano Sonata, Aprčs une Lecture
de Dante, Hungarian Rhapsodies 12 & 13
Mykola Suk (piano) rec. 2004-08
MUSIC AND ARTS CD-1234 [79:15]
[JW]
One
of the most compelling and amazing performances of the Sonata imaginable.
Tremendous.
RECORDING
OF THE MONTH Wolfgang Amadeus MOZART
(1756-1791) Violin Concertos 3 & 5, Sinfonia Concertante
Richard Tognetti (violin & leader) Christopher Moore (viola) Australian
CO rec. 2009
BIS-SACD-1754 [79:52] 
[DC]
Mozart
brought to life …extremely communicative.
RECORDING
OF THE MONTH Hans
OTTE (1926-2007) Das Buch der Klänge
Ralph van Raat (piano) rec. 2009
NAXOS 8.572444 [67:24]
[DC]
An
open door into magical worlds.
RECORDING
OF THE MONTH Ottorino RESPIGHI
(1879-1936) Fontane
di Roma, Pini di Roma, Feste Romane
Săo Paolo SO/John Neschling rec. 2008
BIS-SACD-1720
[63:41]
[DC]
Bravo!
RECORDING
OF THE MONTH Franz
SCHUBERT (1797-1828) Piano Duets
Paul Lewis, Steven Osborne (piano) rec. 2010
HYPERION CDA67665 [76:06]
[DC]
A
perfect partnering: Schubert in all his brilliance and emotive power.
RECORDING
OF THE MONTH Jukka TIENSUU
(b. 1948) Vie Missa, False Memories I-III
Kari Kriikku (clarinet) Helsinki PO/John Storgĺrds rec. 2009/10
ONDINE ODE 1166-2 [64:34]
[HC]
A
most desirable addition to Tiensuu’s discography … magnificent.
RECORDING
OF THE MONTH Antonio VIVALDI
(1678-1741)
L'Estro Armonico Concertos
Mercury Baroque/Antoine Plante rec.2010
MERCURY BAROQUE/HPR 84501 38529 [66:14]
[DB]
Eight
concertos from Vivaldi's great L'Estro Armonico, performed as well as
it is possible to imagine and excellently recorded.
RECORDING
OF THE MONTH Hugo
WOLF (1860-1903) Mörike-Lieder
Wolfgang
Holzmair (baritone) Imogen Cooper (piano)
WIGMORE HALL LIVE WHLIVE0029 [73:25]
[CC]
Magnificently
focused, with little or no sense of strain … seemingly infinite sensitivity.
A very special disc.
RECORDING
OF THE MONTH
Come Away, Death
Wolfgang PLAGGE (b.1960) Södergran-sanger
Maja Solveig Kjelstrup RATKJE (b.1973)
HVIL Modest MUSSORGSKY (1839-1881)
Songs and Dances of Death
Marianne Beate Kielland (mezzo) Sergej Osadchuk (piano) rec. 2009
2L 2L064SACD
[63:32] [OL]
This
disc gave me one of the strongest musical experiences I have ever had.
RECORDING
OF THE MONTH Festival
Music from the Düben Collection
Göteborg Baroque/Magnus Kjellson rec. 2009
FOOTPRINT FRCD 053 [68:14]
[JV]
This
programme of music from the Düben Collection is given spirited
performances by Göteborg Baroque.
RECORDING
OF THE MONTH
Flights of Fantasy -
Early Italian Chamber Music
Irish Baroque Orch. Chamber Soloists/Monica Huggett, rec. 2009
AVIE AV2202 [78:56]
[JV]
The
Italian composers of the 17th century let their fantasy fly, and so
do Monica Huggett and her colleagues.
RECORDING
OF THE MONTH Lettere
Amorose
Magdalena Kožená (mezzo) Private Musicke/Pierre Pitzl, rec. 2009
DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON 477 8764 [61:33]
[GF]
Kožená
and Private Musicke convey their love for this music in readings filled
to the brim with feeling and passion.
RECORDING
OF THE MONTH North
German Organ Music Vol. 1 Music by Tunder, Peter Hasse,
Buxtehude, Schiefferdecker, Bach & Bruhns
Martin Rost (organ) rec. 2010
MUSIKPRODUKTION DABRINGHAUS UND GRIMM MDG 320 1624-2 [65:52]
[JV]
An
impressive portrait of one of Europe's most glorious historical organs.
RECORDING
OF THE MONTH Organ
Fireworks Vol. 14
Christopher Herrick (Melbourne Town Hall grand organ) rec. 2009
HYPERION CDA67758 [72:16]
[BW]
Another
very successful fireworks display.
BARGAINS
OF THE MONTH
BARGAIN
OF THE MONTH Johannes BRAHMS
(1833-1897)
String Quintets 1 & 2
Raphael Ens rec. 1995
HYPERION HELIOS CDH55369 [58:07]
[LW]
The
best option for these quintets.
BARGAIN
OF THE MONTH Percy GRAINGER
(1882-1961)
Jungle Book
John-Mark Ainsley (tenor) David Wilson-Johnson (baritone) Polyphony
and Polyphony O/Stephen Layton rec. 1996
HYPERION HELIOS CDH55433 [73:56]
[RB]
Generous
timing, discoveries, Delian gauzy harmonies, tangy instrumentation,
sentimentality, aureate vocal light, succinct and touching settings.
BARGAIN
OF THE MONTH Vitezlav
NOVÁK (1870-1949) Piano Music
Radoslav Kvapil (piano) rec. 2010
ALTO ALC 1113 [76:18]
[RB]
Miraculously
sure-footed and full of insight. Kvapil is a virtuoso of dexterity,
mood and narrative.
BARGAIN
OF THE MONTH John RUTTER
(b.1945) The Original Carols from Clare
Clare College Singers & O/John Rutter rec. 1966/8
EMI CLASSICS 9469472 [43:48 + 44:26]
[BBr]
These
disks are a joy.
BARGAIN
OF THE MONTH
Ralph
Vaughan WILLIAMS (1872-1958) On Wenlock Edge Peter
Warlock (1894-1930) The Curlew
James Griffett (tenor) Haffner String Qt rec. 1973
REGIS RRC 1316 [64:47]
[RB]
Classic
and very individual recordings of English song. Do not be put off by
their nearly forty year old analogue origins.
BARGAIN
OF THE MONTH Heinz
Holliger Edition
Full contents listed at end of review Rec. 1966-1991
BRILLIANT CLASSICS 94054 [10 CDs: 537:32]
[JS]
An
unmissable bargain.
BARGAIN
OF THE MONTH Popular Trumpet
Concertos
Maurice Murphy (trumpet) Consort of London/Robert Haydon Clark
REGIS RRC 1325 [55:16]
[BBr]
This
is without peer.
Click
for alphabetical listings by composer:
[Part
1 New] [Part
2 A-B] [Part 3 C-L]
[Part 4 M-R] [Part
5 S-Z]
[Part 6 Misc A-L] [Part
7 Misc M-Z]
[last 5 days] [Recommended
recordings]
EXPLORE
MUSICWEB INTERNATIONAL 
