As you may know, I don’t do “best-of” lists. I find “best”
too subjective, implying too many things to too many people. Besides, “best”
suggests that I’ve sampled everything available, and even though I review
hundreds of discs a year, I confess I have heard but a fraction of what’s out
there. So I prefer to do “favorites” lists. Here are just a few of the
recordings (listed alphabetically, to be fair) I heard last year that I enjoyed
for their performance and sound. I know I’ve forgotten a few; forgive me. These
stood out, some of them new releases and some of them remasters of old
favorites.
Bach: Suites 1, 2
& 3
Hopkinson Smith, theorbo. Naive.
To read the full review, click here:
Beethoven: Triple Concerto
David Oistrakh, violin; Mstislav Rostropovich, cello;
Sviatoslav Richter, piano; Herbert von Karajan, Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra.
Hi-Q Records.
To read the full review, click here:
D’Indy: Symphony on
a French Mountain Air
Also, Ravel: Piano Concerto in G. Nicole
Henriot-Schweitzer, piano; Charles Munch, Boston Symphony Orchestra. HDTT.
To read the full review, click here:
Dvorak and Suk:
Czech Serenades
Dvorak: Serenade for Strings and Nocturne for Strings;
Suk: Serenade for Strings. Daniel Myssyk, Appassionata Chamber Orchestra.
Fidelio.
To read the full review, click here:
Elgar: Enigma
Variations
Also, Vaughan Williams: The Wasps; Fantasia on Greensleeves.
Michael Stern, Kansas City Symphony. Reference Recordings.
To read the full review, click here:
Gershwin: Rhapsody
in Blue
Uri Caine Ensemble. Winter & Winter
To read the full review, click here:
Handel: Trio
Sonatas, Op. 2
Also, Passacaille. The Brook Street Band. Avie.
To read the full review, click here:
Haydn: String
Quartets
String Quartets Op. 76, No. 1; Op. 20 No. 4; Op. 64 No. 5.
The Endellion String Quartet. Warner Classics.
To read the full review, click here:
Jazz at the
Pawnshop
The Fifth and Ultimate Version. Arne Domnerus and friends.
LIM.
To read the full review, click here:
La Voce del
Violoncello
Solo Works of the First Italian Cellist-Composers. Elinor
Frey, baroque cello; Esteban La Rotta, theorbo and baroque guitar; Susie
Napper, baroque cello. Passacaille Records.
To read the full review, click here:
Mendelssohn: Violin
Concerto
Also, Schumann: Violin Concerto; Beethoven: Romances.
Rachel Barton Pine, violin; Christoph-Mathias Mueller, Gottinger Symphony
Orchestra. Cedille Records.
To read the full review, click here:
Opera Breve
Operatic transcriptions for violin and piano by Falla,
Tchaikovsky, Donizetti, Gluck, Rossini, Strauss, Gershwin, Saint-Saens,
Humperdinck, and Raff. Philippe Quint, violin; Lily Maisky, piano.
Avanticlassic.
To read the full review, click here:
The Rascal and the
Sparrow: Poulenc Meets Piaf
Antonio Pompa-Baldi, piano. Steinway & Sons.
To read the full review, click here:
Rouse: Flute
Concerto
Also, Ibert: Concerto for Flute and Orchestra; Debussy:
Syrinx; Martin: Ballade. Katherine Bryan, flute; Jac van Steen, Royal Scottish
National Orchestra. Linn Records.
To read the full review, click here:
Stravinsky: The
Rite of Spring
Leonard Bernstein, New York Philharmonic. Sony.
To read the full review, click here:
Stravinsky: The
Rite of Spring
Also, Petrouchka. Jon Kimura Parker, solo piano. Jon
Kimura Parker Records.
To read the full review, click here:
Tango Tango
Performed by Viveza. Master Music/JVC.
To read the full review, click here:
Tchaikovsky:
Serenade for Strings
Also, Souvenir de Florence. Pierre Amoyal, Camerata de
Lausanne. Warner Classics.
To read the full review, click here:
JJP
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