It’s Beethoven’s 250th birthday year: reviews of four sets of the complete piano concertos from, respectively, Paul Lewis, Stewart Goodyear, Inon Barnatan, and Stephen Hough.
BBC Symphony Orchestra
Classical CD Reviews: Gardner’s Elgar, Francois-Xavier Roth’s Ravel, and Orchestral Music by Ruggles, Stucky, and Harbison
Strong discs from Edward Gardner and the BBC Symphony Orchestra, Francois-Xavier Roth and his Paris-based period-instrument ensemble Les Siècles, and the National Orchestral Institute Philharmonic, an ad-hoc summer orchestra comprised of some of the U.S.’s finest conservatory musicians.
Classical CD Reviews: Hindemith Orchestral Works and Symphonic Psalms
Conductor Marek Janowski’s Hindemith is all vigor and athleticism; Tenebrae’s Symphonic Psalms & Prayers is captivating.
CD Reviews: Ebony Quartet’s “Unheard” and Martyn Brabbins conducts Vaughan Williams
Ebony Quartet serves up a “must-hear” album of music from between the world wars.
Classical Music CD Reviews: Vadym Kholodenko plays Grieg and Saint-Saëns and Javier Perianes plays Grieg
Javier Perianes is a musician of sweeping, Romantic sensibilities, eager to take a stand, and the result is a triumphant recording
Classical CD Reviews: Harmonia Mundi Serves up First-Rate Performances of Schubert and Elgar
Harmonia Mundi has, of late, released a series of excellent Schubert albums.