The BBC Music Magazine team reviews a varied selection of 25 new recordings

Lisa Bielawa Vireo

Various Artists

Orange Mountain Music OMM7017

Ever wondered what an opera written for TV and online would be like? This CD & DVD package brings together the 12 episodes of Bielawa’s unusual project, involving more than 350 musicians. Intriguing.

(RF) ★★★★

Richard Blackford Kalon

Albion Quartet et al

Signum Classics SIGCD568

Blackford’s meditation on beauty is both sophisticated and appealing and is thrillingly performed. But beware: the CD is only 24 minutes long. (OC) ★★★★

Wolfram Buchenberg

Choral Works

Cantabile Regensburg Carus 83.504 This selection of contemporary choral works is rich and shimmering, exploring different soundworlds in each track. A little too bass-heavy in parts, but overall a varied and rewarding disc. (FP) ★★★★

Berlioz Symphonie fantastique etc Vienna Symphony et al

Wiener Symphoniker WS 020

Fabulous live recording of Berlioz’s symphony and its sequel work,

Lélio. Captivating performances from orchestra, soloists and narrator under conductor Philippe Jordan. (MB) ★★★★

Czerny Piano Music Vol. 1

Jingshu Zhao (piano) Toccata TOCC 0020 Czerny’s links to Beethoven and Liszt are clear, but it would be unfair to make comparisons. Still, the music is fun and engaging and Zhao’s terrific playing places it in a fine light. (OC) ★★★ Philip Glass

A Descent into the Maelstrom Arctic Philharmonic

Orange Mountain Music 0140

An impressive orchestral makeover for what was an obscure 1986 theatre score. Swirling, evocative and overflowing with drama, kudos must go to arranger Alexander Waaktaar. (MB) ★★★★

Handel Utrecht Te Deum; Jubilate Gaechinger Cantorey Carus 83.310 Handel’s music connected to the Treaty of Utrecht bursts with fiery energy and imagination. Orchestra and choir fizz in the Te Deum and Birthday Ode but the soloists aren’t quite on the same exalted level. (OC) ★★★

Holliger • Kurtág

Chamber Works and Songs

Heinz Holliger (oboe) et al ECM 4818265 A lot of concentration is required to take in this programme of spartan, potent oboe works by Holliger and Kurtág. But there are real musical rewards, and it’s beautifully produced. (RF) ★★★

Gregory Hutter Choral Works Philovox Ensemble et al Naxos 8.559868 Pleasant, if not hugely inventive, settings of English and US poets such as Blake and Whitman. Enjoyable performances, despite one or two ropey entries from the sopranos. (JP) ★★★

Airat Ichmouratov

Orchestral Works

Elvira Mishbakhova (viola);

Belarussian State Chamber Orchestra Chandos CHAN 20141

Filmic, feisty, flamboyant and, admittedly, occasionally a little frothy, Ichmouratov’s orchestral music is rarely dull. It benefits here from characterful performances. (JP) ★★★★ Langgaard • Lassen • Scharwenka Violin Concertos

Linus Roth (violin) et al

Hyperion CDA68268

The D major Concerto by Lassen is the real find here, gorgeously melodious and full of unexpected twists and turns. Roth is on fine form. (JP) ★★★★

Jonathan Leshnoff

Orchestral Works

Nashville Symphony Orchestra et al Naxos 8.559809

For all its grand gestures, Leshnoff’s Fourth Symphony trundles along with little sense of direction. His lively Guitar Concerto is a more engaging, if hardly original, affair. (JP) ★★★

Machaut The Single Rose

The Orlando Consort

Hyperion CDA68277

That evergreen theme of courtly love inspires in Machaut extraordinary harmonies and beautiful, primitive counterpoint. The singers combine pin-sharp tuning and gentle phrasing in this seductive collection. (OC) ★★★★

Schneider Symphony No. 16 etc Anhaltische Philharmonie Dessau CPO 555 1802

A contemporary of Beethoven, Friedrich Schneider’s soundworld is not a million miles away from the great man’s. He is on frisky form in his 16th Symphony, nimbly played here. (JP) ★★★★

Schubert Piano Sonatas Vol. 5 Vladimir Feltsman (piano)

Nimbus NI 6384

Feltsman is a versatile pianist, and his Schubert has a superb sense of melodic line. There’s a welcome stridency, too, which could have been softened with a less treble-heavy sound. (OC) ★★★ Shostakovich • Waxman

Violin Concerto No. 1 etc

Moné Hattori (violin) et al

ICA Classics ICAC 5156

An impressive debut disc previously only released in Japan. The young violinist delivers a beyondher-years Shostakovich and dazzles in the Waxman. (MB) ★★★★

2019 Sommernachtskonzert Works by Gershwin, Barber et al Vienna Philharmonic et al

Sony Classical 19075943542

A glossy programme of American classics from this year’s Summer Night Concert. Plenty of fireworks and a wild Rhapsody in Blue from Yuja Wang. (MB) ★★★★

Alma! Works by Bacewicz et al Deutsche Strecherphilharmonie

Genuin GEN 19667

Step into a gorgeous string orchestra world. Rarer, colourful complete works by Suk and Bacewicz appear alongside Mahler’s Adagietto and Elgar’s Nimrod. Plus a premiere, Yinon’s Vivid. (RF) ★★★★

The Art of the Modern Trumpet Works by Enescu, Ligeti et al Huw Morgan (trumpet) et al

Naxos 8.573995

A set of technically skilled performances paying tribute to trumpet repertoire written in the last century. The brilliant brashness of the Maxwell Davies opening sonata is a highlight. (FP) ★★★

Clarinet Trios Works by Schumann, Bruch and Mozart

Oslo Philharmonic Chamber Group Lawo Classics LWC1172

From the skittlesinspired Mozart Kegelstatt Trio to Schumann’s fairytale Märchenerzählungen, this is an attractively-played disc of chamber works. (RF) ★★★

Cobbett’s Legacy…

Works by Hurlstone, Knussen et al Berkeley Ensemble Resonus RES10243 The enterprising Berkeley Ensemble has set up ‘The New Cobbett Prize for Chamber Music’, inspired by Walter Wilson Cobbett’s early 20th-century original. Here are the first fruits, in meticulous performances. (RF) ★★★★

Elusive Affinity

Works by Vivaldi, JS Bach et al Anna Gourari (piano) ECM 4818131 Bookended by Bach arrangements, this album of solo piano works explores musical connections through history. The overwhelming echo in the recording creates a shimmering effect, overriding some of the purity required. (FP) ★★

The Guitar Works by Jobim et al Rupert Boyd (guitar)

Sono Luminus DSL-92231

The sheer versatility of this instrument comes to the fore in a really eclectic selection, which traverses centuries of music from Bach to The Beatles in a sunny 60 minutes. (MB) ★★★

Russian Masquerade

Works by Prokofiev, Scriabin et al Ostrobothnian Chamber Orchestra

BIS BIS-2365

A mix of works for string orchestra and arrangements originally written for piano, delivered with a clean sound. The sound could be brighter and the attack more exciting, but it’s a pleasant enough listen. (FP) ★★★

Solo pour la flûte traversière Works by JS Bach, Weiss et al Barthold Kuijken (transverse flute) Accent ACC 24359

Minimal editing has been done on this selection of Baroque flute music played on period instruments. Breathiness and lapses in pitch are left in, but don’t distract from a pleasant overall sound. (FP) ★★★ Reviewers: Michael Beek (MB),

Oliver Condy (OC), Rebecca Franks (RF),

Freya Parr (FP), Jeremy Pound ( JP)