Gramophone Choices,
Gramophone Editor's Choices - June 2023
Recording of the Month
'Throughout this meticulously plotted alternative perspective on mostly familiar texts, Vox Luminis’s squad of up to 15 voices sing with the utmost sincerity of expression.'
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC, Hi-Res+ FLAC
Editor's Choices
Max Bruch & Florence Price: Violin Concertos
Randall Goosby (violin), Philadelphia Orchestra, Yannick Nézet-Séguin
'There’s an honesty and modesty – about his playing that stands him apart...This playing isn’t dressed to impress but to express.'
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC, Hi-Res+ FLAC
'Intensity, inflection and colour build as the performance proceeds...This is a Fifth that sparkles.'
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC
Der ferne Klang... Orchestral Works & Songs by Franz Schreker
Chen Reiss (soprano), Matthias Goerne (baritone), Konzerthausorchester Berlin, Christoph Eschenbach
'The playing of the Berlin Konzerthaus Orchestra under Christoph Eschenbach is both meticulously prepared and wonderfully idiomatic.'
Available Formats: 2 CDs, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
'In many ways, the highlight of the disc is Helen Grime’s String Quartet No 2. A powerful, compelling and absorbing work played with a combination of grit and polish by the Heath Quartet.'
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
'Chochieva, stylistically convincing in Schumann, here could be taken for a different pianist, so completely does she inhabit Ravel’s sound world...Altogether a terrific programme from a greatly gifted pianist.'
Available Formats: 2 CDs, MP3, FLAC
'The ensemble-singing here is first-rate and gets better as the set progresses...the second disc is a string of bullseyes, poised, assured and habitually immaculate.'
Available Formats: 2 CDs, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
'This is clearly a well-honed performance, strongest in delicate moments....This new release is a happy marriage of musicality and musicology.'
Available Format: SACD
'Authority and intelligence are evident in song choices, sequencing and performance in this somewhat soft-spoken disc that’s surely among their best.'
Available Formats: SACD, MP3, FLAC
Stanford: Requiem
Carolyn Sampson (soprano), Marta Fontanals-Simmons (mezzo-soprano), James Way (tenor), Ross Ramgobin (baritone); City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, University of Birmingham Voices, Martyn Brabbins
'Brabbins, who truly understands the language of this music, judges the tempos and balance of the ensemble with instinctive sensitivity...For anyone interested in British choral music of the period, it is a must!'
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Emilio De' Cavalieri: Rappresentatione di Anima et di Corpo (DVD)
Anett Fritsch, Carlo Vistoli, Cyril Auvity, Daniel Schmutzhard, Georg Nigl, Florian Boesch, Arnold Schoenberg Chor, Il Giardino Armonico, Giovanni Antonini, Robert Carsen
'This Rappresentatione is as entertaining a sermon as you’re ever likely to see. Does it belong in the opera house? Carsen certainly makes a persuasive case.'
Available Format: DVD Video
'The Brahms Concerto is what makes this set quite unmissable. The transfers are excellent.'
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC
Chris O'Reilly - Chief Executive
