Buriedtreasure

Organist and conductor

Anna Lapwood shares three recordings well worth discovering Caroline Shaw Partita for 8 voices Roomful of Teeth

New Amsterdam NWAM050

I came across this when I was hosting a show on local radio. I love the way she plays around with the idea of ‘when does the music start?’. As conductors we’re always nagging our choirs to think about the breath as part of the music, and so I love the fact that she’s actually written that into this piece; you start to hear the breath as being just as important as the musical note itself. Also, overtone singing is not something you would think of as being moving, but the way it’s achieved here always gives me goosebumps.

Lutosławski Concerto for Orchestra Chicago Symphony Orchestra/

Daniel Barenboim Elatus 0927490152 There are pieces that, when you encounter them for the first time, just blow your mind. That happened to me with this when I was in the NYO; I was on celeste and I just remember sitting on stage in the rehearsal and the power of that opening! The whole stage was shaking and I was sitting there grinning like a Cheshire Cat. This recording captures the excitement, energy and clarity really well. When I listen, I get that excitement about music all over again.

Saint-saëns

Danse Macabre (arr. Lemare)

Olivier Latry (organ)erato 9029588850 This is the piece I always use to explain the organ to someone who has never heard it, or who wants to broaden their idea of what the organ is. Olivier Latry is such an exciting player and you hear virtuosity all the way through, but you also hear humour. I always find it really exciting, and the comical side is important, because I think the organ is capable of extreme humour.

Anna Lapwood conducts ‘The Pembroke Carol’, out now on Signum Classics