Gramophone Choices,
Gramophone Editor's Choices - February 2024
Reviewer Jed Distler praised the 'abundance of colour and poetry characterising Abduraimov’s stunning artistry', declaring that 'it takes only a handful of bars into Romeo and Juliet’s opening ‘Folk Dance’ to recognise that we are listening to a pianist who simply transcends his instrument.'
Recording of the Month
'Throughout this release, one consistently gets caught up in Abduraimov’s gorgeous and focused sonority, his rock-solid rhythm, his boundless portfolio of shadings and nuances, plus a specificity of articulation that conveys a sense of air between the notes and the utmost in characterisation.'
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Editor's Choices
Berlin 1923: Beethoven & Schulhoff Piano Concertos
Herbert Schuch (piano), WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne, Tung-Chieh Chuang
'I’m happy to report that this Beethoven performance is a delight overall. Schuch comes across as a sparkling raconteur, one who knows how to make his storytelling especially vivid, whether he’s pellucidly articulating a florid passage or sculpting a melody.'
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
'Avital’s seemingly effortless virtuosity and quasi-improvisatory flights in this audibly genial collaboration will send you on your way rejoicing.'
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
'All told, it’s a most rewarding programme that gathers together an unusual array of ear-catching pieces in performances that present the music in its best possible light.'
Available Formats: 2 CDs, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC, Hi-Res+ FLAC
Handel for Trumpet
Jonathan Freeman-Attwood (trumpet), Anna Szałucka (piano), Tom Freeman-Attwood (trumpet)
'The finished results feel like some of the most intrepidly complete transformations this pair have yet come up with...In a nutshell, brave, bonkers and brilliantly executed.'
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC, Hi-Res+ FLAC
'We’re privileged with a fine tribute not only to Mendelssohn and those inspired by his example, but to two exceptional players on top form.'
Available Formats: 2 CDs, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
'Urioste’s beautiful playing and her enviable gift for spinning a long melody seamlessly, coupled with Poster’s keyboard dexterity – he plays a Steinway D Concert Grand – are both well served by the Chandos engineers.'
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
'The level of detail is apt to leave you speechless. For most pianists, attaining that kind of exactitude requires a Faustian bargain in which the soul of the music (if not of the performer) is sacrificed. Not so here.'
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
'The result really is something special, a performance of growing intensity and concentration, which gradually exerted an iron grip on me as listener – right up until a deeply moving ‘Der Leiermann’.'
Available Formats: MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Louise Bertin: Fausto
Karine Deshayes (Fausto), Karina Gauvin (Margarita), Ante Jerkunica (Mefistofele), Nico Darmanin (Valentino), Marie Gautrot (Catarina); Les Talens Lyriques, Flemish Radio Choir, Christophe Rousset
'The performance is a knockout. Rousset conducts with blazing conviction, admirably sustaining the high emotional pitch without once tipping towards melodrama... It’s a terrific set and a major rediscovery.'
Available Formats: 2 CDs + Book, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
DVD of the Month
Monteverdi: L'incoronazione di Poppea
Elsa Benoit (Poppea), Jake Arditti (Nerone), Ambroisine Bré (Ottavia), Iestyn Davies (Ottone), Alex Rosen (Seneca), Stuart Jackson (Arnalta); Cappella Mediterranea, Leonardo García Alarcón
'Leonardo García Alarcón and Cappella Mediterranea are experts at this repertoire and play with skill, commitment, energy and some innovative continuo devices to reflect, emphasise and punctuate the singers...I found this a Poppea worthy of its creators’ eternally modern genius.'
Available Format: Blu-ray + DVD Video
Reissue/Archive Issue of the Month
'Being the first-class concertmaster he was, Krebbers’s quiet brand of intensity, relatively quick vibrato and unfailing musicianship could adapt to any number of contrasting maestros, much as he does throughout this set.'
Available Format: 15 CDs
Chris O'Reilly - Chief Executive
