Classical CDs | The Arts Desk

Classical CDs: Bounce, bluster and Blätter

Challenging and multi-layered: oboist and composer Heinz Holliger

CLASSICAL CDS Choral music for Easter, plus contemporary opera and Swiss orchestral delights

Choral music for Easter, plus contemporary opera and Swiss orchestral delights

JS Bach: Magnificat, CPE Bach: Magnificat Gaechinger Cantorey/Hans-Christoph Rademann (Accentus Music)

Classical CDs: Escalators, dead leaves and a sixth-century bard

Dialogue and confrontation from horn player Ben Goldscheider

CLASSICAL CDS Welsh song, 21st century chamber music and some masterful brass playing

Welsh song, 21st century chamber music and some masterful brass playing

Eric Nathan: Missing Words (New Focus Recordings)

Classical CDs: Typewriters, cityscapes and sonic resources

CLASSICAL CDS Light music classics, new repertoire for solo clarinet and a pair of lockdown albums

Light music classics, new repertoire for solo clarinet and a a pair of lockdown albums

Leroy Anderson: Complete Orchestral Works BBC Concert Orchestra/Leonard Slatkin (Naxos)

Classical CDs: Sonnets, wolves and creation myths

Rich resonance and musical pleasure from Jean-Pierre Armengaud

20th and 21st century piano music, plus Finnish rarities and a pair of downsized symphonies

Beethoven for Three – Symphonies 2 and 5 Emanuel Ax, Leonidas Kavakos, Yo Yo Ma (Sony)

Classical CDs: Pealing bells, abandoned ballrooms and abrasive brass

Robert Trevino and the Basque National Orchestra

CLASSICAL CDS Obscure Americana unearthed, plus Baroque keyboard music & a visit to the gallery

Obscure Americana unearthed, plus Baroque keyboard music and a visit to the gallery

Americascapes – music by Loeffler, Ruggles, Hanson and Cowell Basque National Orchestra/Robert Trevino (Ondine)

Classical CDs: Two clarinets and stereo snare drums

CLASSICAL CDS Solo wind music, Baroque concerti grossi and a radiant French ballet score

Two discs of solo wind music, Baroque concerti grossi and a radiant French ballet score

Handel Tasmania Handel: Six Concerti Grossi Van Diemen’s Band/Martin Gester (BIS)

Classical CDs: Violins, timpani thwacks and a symphony of iron and steel

CLASSICAL CDS Violins, timpani thwacks and a symphony of iron and steel

A birthday tribute for celebrated violinist Gidon Kremer, plus symphonies, operetta and a great 20th century piano concerto

Gidon Kremer: The Warner Collection (Warner Classics)

Best of 2021: Classical CDs

BEST OF 2021: CLASSICAL CDS Ten of the year's best releases, plus a bonus Christmas disc

Ten of the year's best releases, plus a bonus Christmas disc

There’s still so much good music being recorded and released; classical CD shops may be thin on the ground but the CDs themselves are still very much available. I’ll stream or download if forced to, but the appearance and feel of the physical product is part of the pleasure of listening, and listening through a pair of decent speakers will always trump a FLAC or an mp3. So these are all physical artefacts, things you can handle, read and pass on. My initial shortlist was voluminous but I’ve managed to whittle it down.

Classical CDs: Christmas 2021, Part 2

CLASSICAL CDS: CHRISTMAS 2021, PART 2 Five more succulent yuletide treats

Five more succulent yuletide treats

Charpentier Noel Charpentier: Un Oratorio De Noël Les Arts Florissants/William Christie (Harmonia Mundi)

Classical CDs: Christmas 2021, Part 1

12th century jazz: Camila Parias, Anne Azéma and Deborah Rentz-Moore of the Boston Camerata

Six seasonal treats, with more to follow next week

Michael Praetorius: Es is ein Ros Dresdner Kammerchor/Hans-Christoph Rademann (Accentus)

Subscribe to Classical CDs

Search form