Gramophone Choices,
Gramophone Editor's Choices - November 2023
Editor's Choices include an 'urgently recommendable' recording of Weinberg's Concertinos and Symphony No. 7 from the Jewish Chamber Orchestra Munich and Daniel Grossmann on Onyx, an authentic and evocative account of Respighi's Roman Trilogy from the Orchestra Sinfonica di Torino della RAI and Robert Trevino on Ondine, and 'poised, polished performances' of sacred work by Ludwig Daser from the Vienna-based vocal ensemble Cinquecento on Hyperion.
Recording of the Month
Offenbach: La princesse de Trébizonde
Anne-Catherine Gillet (Zanetta), Virginie Verrez (Le Prince Raphael), Antoinette Dennefeld (Régina), Josh Lovell (Le Prince Casimir); London Philharmonic Orchestra, Opera Rara Chorus, Paul Daniel
'The orchestra slips easily between pastel delicacy and breezy panache, the chorus is up-front, crisp and bright and the whole thing has an immediacy that Daniel suggests is an attempt to recreate the acoustic of the Bouffes-Parisiens.'
Available Formats: 2 CDs, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Editor's Choices
Brahms: Double Concerto, Viotti: Violin Concerto No. 22 & Dvořák: Silent Woods
Christian Tetzlaff (violin), Tanja Tetzlaff (cello), Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Paavo Järvi
'The dedication on this album reads ‘In Memoriam Lars Vogt’ – and that gives it a special resonance...Terrific disc, then, and the best kind of tribute from three exceptional musicians to one of their own.'
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
'I can’t think of a lovelier, better-sounding account of this music even if the airiness, civility and control may not always convey the impetuosity of a composer in his twenties. Recommended.'
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
'Wilson aims to unite the Apollonian and Dionysian, as perspicacious about matters of sonority and articulation as Roth while operating at higher emotional voltage...No coupling but for my money this is the finest recorded Daphnis for a generation.'
Available Formats: SACD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
'For the RAI National Symphony Orchestra these images, these evocations, are just that little bit closer to home emotionally speaking. It’s something we can feel rather than hear. There’s an ‘authenticity’ about their playing.'
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Weinberg: Concertinos & Symphony No. 7
Wen-Sinn Yang (cello), Tassilo Probst (violin), Jewish Chamber Orchestra Munich, Daniel Grossmann
'Grossmann and his players get unerringly to the emotional heart of the matter...In short, this is a fabulous disc, which immediately joins my shortlist of most urgently recommendable Weinberg recordings.'
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Beethoven: Piano Trios, Vol. 2
Alexander Sitkovetsky (violin), Isang Enders (cello), Wu Qian (piano)
'Few could fail to be moved by the Sitkovetsky Trio’s tenderness and concentrated intensity...For poetry, colouristic imagination and, not least, an infectious sense of shared enjoyment, these performances can hold their own against any rivals.'
Available Formats: SACD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Hommage
Sergio Tiempo (piano), Martha Argerich (piano), Nelson Freire (piano), Karin Lechner, Alan Weiss
'Hommage, in which he is joined by the six most significant musicians in his life, is a triumph on at least two levels: the performances themselves, and the kind of mixed-genre programme I wish more musicians would offer us...I hope you enjoy it all as much as I did.'
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
'There is much to praise in these poised, polished performances, hieratic in the Mass and more intimate where the music permits it (the beginning of the ‘Qui tollis’ is lovely in a way that recalls Lassus).'
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
'Every moment of this issue is absolutely gorgeous in sound and thoroughly controlled...And the three instrumentalists play with just the right combination of invention and deference throughout...a wonderfully rounded and satisfying disc, one to treasure.
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC, Hi-Res+ FLAC
DVD/Blu-ray of the Month
Schreker: Der Schatzgräber (Blu-ray)
Elisabet Strid (Els), Daniel Johansson (Elis), Michael Laurenz (Der Narr), Thomas Johannes Mayer (Der Vogt), Tuomas Pursio (Der König), Doke Pauwels (Die Königin); Deutsche Oper Berlin Chorus and Orchestra, Christof Loy, Marc Albrecht
'The work’s remarkable melodic beauty, luminous scoring and emotional intensity are vintage Schreker...This is the first recording of Der Schatzgräber to receive a commercial release in video format and I cannot recommend it too highly.'
Available Format: Blu-ray
Reissue/Archive Issue of the Month
'APR’s is the most comprehensive single collection and has, by a country mile, the best annotation, booklet (Jonathan Summers) and transfers (Seth B Winner)...evidence, if it were needed, of a keyboard charmer par excellence and one of the greatest pianists of the 20th century.'
Available Formats: 3 CDs, MP3, FLAC
Chris O'Reilly - Chief Executive
