This month’s selection features letters, stories, travellers and a curious harp
Berg Violin Concerto et al
Gil Shaham (violin), Susanna Phillips (soprano), San Francisco Symphony/ Michael Tilson Thomas
SFS Media 2193600902
Berg’s shimmering, often Mahlerian soundscapes are lovingly rendered by Tilson Thomas. Shaham brings tonal beauty and power to the sublime Concerto, while Phillips’s voice is radiant in the Seven Early Songs. (OC) ★★★★★
Eugene Birman Nostra Culpa Helsinki Chamber Choir
Alba ABCD 500
Birman’s style ranges from haunting and atmospheric to plain brutal, with all manner of whoops and hollers thrown in. It’s superbly sung here but, for many, may prove fairly hard to love. (JP) ★★★★.
Haydn String Quartets, Op. 76 Chiaroscuro Quartet BIS BIS-2358 Following their disc of the first half of Op. 76, the Chiaroscuros return, armed with a perfect sound balance and rich, vibrant textures from each player. (FP) ★★★★★
Humfrey Sacred Choral Music Choir of Her Majesty’s Chapel Royal Delphian DCD34237
A major player in bringing European influences into postrestoration England, Pelham Humfrey deserves a wider audience. These agile and spirited performances do him excellent service. (JP) ★★★★
Pat Metheny Road to the Sun
Jason Vieaux (guitar), LA Guitar Quartet BMG 5053863932
Jazz guitarist Pat Metheny’s first foray into chamber music features dazzling playing from Jason Vieaux and the LA Guitar Quartet who showcase Metheny’s skills in creating finely wrought textures and brilliant tunes. (OC) ★★★★
Sid Richardson Borne by a Wind Da Capo Chamber Players et al
New Focus Recordings FCR 285
A thought-provoking selection of recent works by this Bostonbased composer. Red Wind is the dramatic centrepiece, fusing poetry with an unusual and evocative musical soundscape. (MB) ★★★
Rebecca Saunders
Shadow; Dust; Solitude etc Klangforum Wien Kairos KAI0015098 This is the latest in Klangforum Wien’s lockdown ‘Solo’ series, with works for one performer. Each track – performed by a different instrument – plays with silence and extreme dynamics in a deliciously eerie way. (FP) ★★★★
Jasmin Seidl Repose etc
Jasmin Seidl (piano) Cugate KNT001CD This album makes you feel a little like you’ve stopped to take a breath, the world’s madness falling away. Seidl’s unpretentious solo piano lines feel lived in and somehow nourishing. (MB) ★★★
Weckmann
Complete Organ Works
Leon Berben (organ) Aeolus AE11261
The perfect marriage of instrument and music – Weckmann belongs to the prebach north German school and his colourful music is brought thrillingly to life here on two 17th-century German organs. (OC) ★★★★
1847: Liszt in Istanbul
Works by Liszt, Chopin et al Zeynep Ucbasaran (piano)
Divine Art DDA 25213
Ucbasaran pays tribute to Liszt’s visit to her home country with a programme of pieces he performed during his visit. The playing is tidy and well phrased, if a little ‘sensible’. (FP) ★★★
Adela Works by Rodrigo, Gismonti et al Aleksander D bicz (piano), ukasz Kuropaczewski (guitar) Warner Classics 9029513743
Guitar and piano is a rare combination and some of the arrangements here do sound a little forced. Others, however, are both inventive and attractive. (JP) ★★★
Caprices and Laments
Works by Copland, Nielsen et al Maximiliano Martín (clarinet) et al Delphian DCD34250
There are beautiful moments of light and shade in these sparkling performances by the Tenerife musicians. Martín’s expressive virtuosity is the set’s glowing heart. (MB) ★★★★
Fake Bach Arrangements by Brahms, Gounod et al
Luigi Palombi (piano) Dynamic CDS7891 Piano arrangements of the great man’s work by composers in the late-19th century, some of them deliciously over-the-top. Palombi’s approach is suitably grandiloquent. (JP) ★★★
Glass-bach Dresden
Works by JS Bach & Philip Glass Mark Steinbach (organ)
Orange Mountain Music OMM0150 Composers separated by centuries unite to mesmerising effect through the 1755 organ of Dresden’s St Trinitatis Cathedral, gorgeously recorded. (MB) ★★★★
Immersion Works by Nyman, Einaudi et al Angèle Dubeau (violin), La Pietà Analekta AN28749
Dubeau and her all-female orchestra La Pièta wrap us in a warm blanket with this album of lesser-known film soundtracks, plus post-classical and minimalist works – all in sumptuous arrangements. Beautifully recorded. (OC) ★★★★
Letters from Quarantine
Works by Escher, Tomasi et al
Rui Travasso (clarinet)
Odradek ODRCD411
Seeing as this was recorded at home, it’s a beautifully distinct ‘live’ sound – every breath accounted for. Travasso showcases the versatility of the clarinet in a contrasting selection. (MB) ★★★
Nordic Choral Music
Works by Nørgård, Gjeilo et al Dortmund Choral Academy Youth Concert Choir et al Hänssler HC20064 Beautifully performed, often folk-inspired works by Mäntyjärvi, Nørgård, Sandström, Rautavaara et al, testament to choral music’s place at the heart of Nordic culture. (OC) ★★★★
Piano Protagonists Works by Chopin, Rimsky-korsakov et al Orion Weiss (piano) Bridge BRIDGE 9547 Orion Weiss performs three very different Romantic works for piano and orchestra by Korngold, Chopin and Rimskykorsakov. Thoroughly entertaining. (FP) ★★★★
Piazzolla Stories Works by Piazzolla, Ginastera et al
Lucienne Renaudin Vary (trumpet), Monte Carlo Philharmonic/goetzel Warner Classics 9029515563
Renaudin Vary’s trumpet is the rich and chocolately centre of an eclectic and satisfying disc, celebrating Piazzolla and the music that inspired him. (MB) ★★★★
Reflections Works by Debussy etc Víkingur Ólafsson (piano) DG 483 9222 The pianist’s latest release is a mix of pieces recorded in home sessions and ‘reworks’ of his recordings by other artists. The result is an eclectic playlist-style album, full of surprises (FP) ★★★
Teach me! – The Students of Nadia Boulanger Works by Copland et al Boulanger Trio Berlin Classics 0301656BC A tribute to the legendary pedagogue who taught everyone from Piazzolla and Françaix to Copland and Quincy Jones, all of whose music is heard here. Fine performances, full of spirit. (OC) ★★★★
This Curious Harp
Works by Harty, Bantock et al Eleanor Hudson (harp) MPR MPR110 This is a lovely recital of works for harp that have largely eluded the recording studio before. All have their attractions, and the Bantock and Burgon pieces are totally absorbing. ( JP) ★★★★
Three Perspectives Works by Higdon, Locklair and Rorem Pangaea Chamber Players
Navona NV6279
Three composers respond to or inspire visual art with these works for cello, piano and flute. It’s jagged edges and curved lines make for an engaging showcase. (MB) ★★★★
Trombone Travels, Vol. 2
Works by Elgar, Stanford et al Matthew Gee (trombone), Christopher Glynn (piano) Naxos 8.579080
After Schubert’s Winterreise in Vol. 1, Gee and Glynn explore three other great song cycles, this time from early-20th-century Britain. The lines are long and sustained, the tone wonderfully controlled. (FP) ★★★
Vivaldi Sleep
Works by David Gordon et al Orchestra of the Swan
Signum Classics SIGCD839 Intoxicatingly beautiful in parts, this album involves a range of musicians in lockdown being asked to extemporise on the second movement of Vivaldi’s Autumn. Some meet the challenge more successfully than others. (JP) ★★★ Reviewers: Michael Beek (MB),
Oliver Condy (OC), Freya Parr (FP), Jeremy Pound (JP)