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.
NEW: Long List 2/2024, published on 5th April 2024
Orchestral Music & Concertos
Anton Bruckner: Symphony No. 9 D minor
Lucerne Festival Orchestra, Claudio Abbado. DG 479 3441 (Universal)
Orchestral Music & Concertos
Alisa Weilerstein – Dvořák
Antonín Dvořák: Cello Concerto B minor op. 104, Lasst mich allein op. 82,1, Rondo op. 94, Songs my mother taught me op. 55,4, Silent Woods op. 68,5, Slavic Dance op. 46,8, Goin’ Home. Alisa Weilerstein, Anna Polonsky, Tschechische Philharmonie, Jiri Bélohlávek. Decca 478 5705 (Universal)
Chamber Music
Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy: Complete Works for String Quartet
& Ist es wahr op. 9,1. Fanny Mendelssohn: String Quartet E flat major. Artea Quartet, Badke Quartet, Benyounes Quartet, Castalian Quartet, Cavaleri Quartet, Idomeneo Quartet, Navarra Quartet, Piatti Quartet, Sacconi Quartet, Wu Quartet, Sophie Bevan, Julian Milford. 4 CDs, Champs Hill Records 94824 (Note 1)
Keyboard Music
Schubert: Piano Sonatas / Michael Korstick
Franz Schubert: Piano Sonatas A major D 664, A major D 959 and B flat major D 960, Moments musicaux D 780, Hungarian Melody D 817. Michael Korstick. 2 CDs, cpo 777 766)
Keyboard Music
Adriana Hölszky: wie ein gläsernes Meer, mit Feuer gemischt ...
Adriana Hölszky: »… und ich sah wie ein gläsernes Meer, mit Feuer gemischt …«, »Efeu und Lichtfeld«, »… und wieder Dunkel I«. Dominik Susteck, Sabine Akiko Ahrendt, Jens Brülls. Wergo WER 67892 (NAI)
Opera
Jean-Philippe Rameau: Hippolyte et Aricie
Sarah Connolly, Christiane Karg, Stéphane Degout, Ed Lyon et al., Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, William Christie, Jonathan Kent. 1 Blu-ray / 2 DVD, OpusArte OABD7150D / OA1143D (Naxos)
Opera
Arnold Schönberg: Moses und Aron
Franz Grundheber, Andreas Conrad, SWR Sinfonieorchester Baden-Baden und Freiburg, Sylvain Cambreling. 2 SACD, Hänssler 93.314 (Naxos)
Choral Music
Louis Spohr: Die letzten Dinge
Johanna Winkel, Sophie Harmsen, Andreas Weller, Konstantin Wolff, Kammerchor Stuttgart, Die Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, Frieder Bernius. Carus 83.294/00 (Note 1)
Lieder and Vocal Recital
Nachtviolen
Franz Schubert: 24 Lieder. Christian Gerhaher, Gerold Huber. RCA 888837121729 (Sony)
Early Music
»Amorosi pensieri«. Songs for the Habsburg Court
Works by Philippe de Monte, Jean Guyot, Jacobus Vaet and Jacob Regnart. Cinquecento. Hyperion CDA 68053 (Note 1)
Contemporary Classical Music
Toshio Hosokawa: Quintets & Solos
Mayumi Miyata, Naoko Yoshino, Tosiya Suzuki, Arditti Quartet. Wergo WER 6769 2 (NAI)
Historical Recordings
Ferenc Fricsay. Complete Recordings on Deutsche Grammophon Vol. 1
Orchestral Works. Various Soloists, Berliner Philharmoniker, RSO Berlin. 45 CDs, DG 792 6917 (Universal)
Crossover Productions
Andreas Schaerer & Lucas Niggli: Arcanum
Intakt Records 232/2014 (harmonia mundi)
Music Film
Touching the Sound
The Improbable Journey of Nobuyuki Tsujii. A Film by Peter Rosen. EuroArts BD 2059834 (Naxos)
Music Film
Charles Lloyd: Arrows Into Infinity
A Film by Dorothy Darr and Jeffery Morse. With Charles Lloyd, Keith Jarrett, Herbie Hancock et al. DVD/BD ECM 378 0649 (Universal)
Jazz
Anna Lauvergnac: Coming Back Home
Alessa Records ALR 1032
Jazz
Louis Sclavis Quartet: Silk And Salt Melodies
ECM 2402 3786537 (Universal)
World Music
Redi Hasa & Maria Mazzotta: URA
Finisterre FT 62
Traditional Ethnic Music
Magic Kamancheh
The String Lutes Vol. 1: Asia. Various Artists. 4 CD & DVD, NoEthno GMV037 (Galileo)
German language Singer/Songwriters
Die Grenzgänger: Maikäfer flieg!
Müller-Lüdenscheidt-Verlag (www.musikvonwelt.de)
Folk and Singer/Songwriters
Ganes: Caprize
Blanko Musik 5731384 (Sony)
Pop
Spoon: They Want My Soul
Anti 7377-2 (Indigo)
Independent (until 2014)
FKA Twigs: LP1
Young Turks Recordings YT118 (Indigo)
Nu & Extreme (until 2014)
Shabazz Palaces: Lese Majesty
Sub Pop SP1044 (Cargo)
Blues and Blues-related
Rad Gumbo Meets John Lee Sanders
New Orleans Blues And Zydeco. PAO Records PAOCD 11270
R&B, Soul and Hip-Hop
Dilated Peoples: Directors Of Photography
Rykodisc 26257 01832 (Warner)
Spoken Word
Alfred Döblin: November 1918
A German Revolution. Radio Play by Norbert Schaeffer. Music: Martina Eisenreich. With Laura Maire, August Diehl, Sebastian Rudolph, Imogen Kogge et al. 4 CD, Der Hörverlag ISBN 978-3-8445-1458-2
Recordings for Children and Youth
Martin Baltscheit: Nur 1 Tag
Charly Hübner, Annett Louisan, Martin Baltscheit, André Gatzke. Oetinger audio ISBN 978-3-8373-0764-1