Quarterly Critic’s Choice
The best and most interesting new releases of the previous three months are awarded a place on the Quarterly Critic’s Choice. Evaluation criteria are artistic quality, repertoire value, presentation, and sound quality. From 2014 onward, the Long Lists are stored directly with each Quarterly Critic’s Choice.
Orchestral Music & Concertos
Lutoslawski: The Symphonies
Witold Lutoslawski: Fanfare for Los Angeles Philharmonic. Symphonies Nos. 1-4. Los Angeles Philharmonic, Esa-Pekka Salonen. 2 CD. Sony 88765440832
Chamber Music
Carl Maria von Weber: Six Sonatas
for Piano & Violin op. 10, Piano Quartet op. 8. Isabelle Faust, Alexander Melnikov, Boris Faust, Wolfgang Emanuel Schmidt. harmonia mundi HMC 902108
Keyboard Music
Götterdämmerung. Wagner Transcriptions
for two pianos by Alfred Pringsheim, Claude Debussy, Paul Dukas and Max Reger. Piano Duo Yaara Tal & Andreas Groethuysen. Sony 88765441592
Keyboard Music
The Genius of Cavaillé-Coll
Michel Bouvard, Gerard Brooks, Ronald Ebrecht, Jean-Pierre Griveau, Olivier Latry, Eric Lebrun, Kurt Lueders, Thomas Monnet, David Noël-Hudson, Pierre Pincemaille, Daniel Roth, Carolyn Shuster Fournier. 3 DVD, 2 CD. Fugue State Films 2305043 (Naxos)
Opera
Richard Wagner: Die Walküre
Nina Stemme, Anja Kampe, Jonas Kaufmann, René Pape, Mikhail Petrenko et al., Mariinsky Orchestra, Valery Gergiev. 4 SACD. Mariinsky MAR 0527 (Note 1)
Choral Music
Benjamin Britten: The Sacred Choral Music
Choir of New College Oxford, Edward Higginbottom. 2 CDs. Novum NCR 1386 (harmonia mundi)
Lieder and Vocal Recital
Poèmes – Debussy
Claude Debussy: Cinq poèmes de Charles Baudelaire, Trois poèmes de Stéphane Mallarmé, Deux Romances, Fêtes Galantes, Le promenoir des deux amants, Nuit d’étoiles, Fleur des blés. Stella Doufexis, Daniel Heide. Berlin Classics 0300524 BC (edel)
Early Music
Carlo Gesualdo: Sesto Libro di Madrigali 1611
La Compagnia del Madrigale. Glossa GCD 922811 (Note 1)
Contemporary Classical Music
Michael Reudenbach: Szenes, Stills
Works 1991-2009. 2 CD. Edition RZ ed. RZ 10021-22 (Eigenvertrieb)
Historical Recordings
Legendary Van Cliburn: Complete Album Collection
Philadelphia Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Eugene Ormandy, Fritz Reiner et al. 28 CD, 1 DVD. RCA Red Seal 88765407232 (Sony)
Crossover Productions
KAMINSKI ON AIR: Der Ring des Nibelungen
Author & Direction: Stefan Kaminski after Richard Wagner. With Stefan Kaminski, Stefan Brandenburg, Sebastian Hilken, Hella von Ploetz, Natascha Zickerick. 4 DVD. DIE THEATER EDITION 10137 (harmonia mundi)
Film Music
John Williams: Lincoln
Original Motion Picture Soundtrack. Chicago Symphony Orchestra & Chorus, John Williams. Sony 88725446852
Music Film
Maestro Or Mephisto: The Real Georg Solti
A film by Andy King-Dabbs. Plácido Domingo, Angela Gheorghiu, Kiri Te Kanawa, Valery Gergiev, Murray Perahia et al. Arthaus Musik 101662 (Naxos)
Music Film
Dino Saluzzi, Anja Lechner: El Encuentro
A film by Norbert Wiedmer & Enrique Ros. Tigran Mansurian, George Gruntz, Felix Saluzzi et al. ECM DVD 5051 (Universal)
Jazz
Tobias Becker Bigband: Life Stream
Neuklang NCD 4068 (New Arts International)
Jazz
Peter Brötzmann’s Long Story Short
Peter Brötzmann et al. 5 CD. Trost TR 112
World Music
Ana Moura: Desfado
Universal 0602537228584
Traditional Ethnic Music
Various Artists: South India
Music of the Nilgiri Hills. Ocora Radio France OCR 560250/51 (harmonia mundi)
German language Singer/Songwriters
Manfred Maurenbrecher: no go
Reptiphon 06686 (Broken Silence)
Folk and Singer/Songwriters
Richard Thompson: Electric
Proper Records PRPCDX 108 (Rough Trade)
Pop
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds: Push The Sky Away
Bad Seed BS 001 CD (Rough Trade)
Independent (until 2014)
Rhye: Woman
Island 0602537169528 (Universal)
Nu & Extreme (until 2014)
Metaboman: Ja/Noe
Musik Krause MKCD/LP 005 (Kompakt)
Blues and Blues-related
Robben Ford: Bringing It Back Home
Provogue PRD 7388 2 (Rough Trade)
R&B, Soul and Hip-Hop
Bilal: A Love Surreal
bbe 312392 (Alive)
Spoken Word
Oskar Pastior: Lesen gehn ...
Poems, read and partial commented by Oskar Pastior, Urs Allemann, Oswald Egger, Péter Esterházy, Michael Krüger, Michael Lentz, Herta Müller, Ulf Stolterfoht and Ernest Wichner. 2 CD. Hörbuch Hamburg ISBN 978-3-89903-380-9
Recordings for Children and Youth
Robert Louis Stevenson: Die Schatzinsel
Georg Eilert, Andreas von der Meden, Uwe Friedrichsen, Joseph Offenbach et al. 2 CD. Sauerländer audio ISBN 978-3-411-81213-4