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
Mendelssohn: Symphonies 1 & 4 / Antonello Manacorda
Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy: Symphonies No. 1 op.11 C minor & No. 4 op.90 A major. Kammerakademie Potsdam, Antonello Manacorda. Sony 88985338792
Orchestral Music & Concertos
Prokofjew: Violin Concertos / Vadim Gluzman
Sergej Prokofjew: Violin Concertos No. 1 op.19 D major & No. 2 op.63 G minor, Sonata op.115 D major. Vadim Gluzman, Estonian National Symphony Orchestra, Neeme Järvi. BIS-SACD 2142 (Klassik Center)
Chamber Music
Insights: Asasello Quartett
Arnold Schönberg: Sting Quartets Nos. 1 – 4. Asasello Quartett. 2 CDs, Genuin Gen16429 (Note 1)
Keyboard Music
... For Children / Lars Vogt
Works by Thomas Larcher, Robert Schumann, Béla Bartók. Lars Vogt. CAvi-music 42600 85533107 (harmonia mundi)
Keyboard Music
Frobergers Reisen / Magdalena Hasibeder
Works by Johann Jacob Froberger, Louis Couperin, Luzzasco Luzzaschi, Giovanni Gabrieli, Matthias Weckmann, Alessandro Poglietti, Johann Ulrich Steigleder, Wolfgang Ebner, Johann Caspar Kerll, Michelangelo Rossi, Girolamo Frescobaldi. Magdalena Hasibeder. 2 CDs, Raumklang RK 3503 (harmonia mundi)
Opera
Johann Christoph Pepusch: Venus and Adonis
Venus and Adonis. Ciara Hendrick, Philippa Hyde, Richard Edgar-Wilson, The Harmonious Society of Tickle-Fiddle Gentlemen, Robert Rawson. Ramée RAM 1502 (Outhere/Note 1)
Opera
Édouard Lalo, Arthur Coquard: La Jacquerie
Véronique Gens, Nora Gubisch, Charles Castronovo, Boris Pinkhasovich, Jean-Sebastién Bou, Patrick Bolleire, Enguerrand de Hys, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Patrick Davin. 2 CDs, Singulares ES 1023 (Outhere/Note 1)
Choral Music
Beat Furrer: Works for Choir and Ensemble
Helsinki Chamber Choir, Uusinta Ensemble, Nils Schweckendiek. Toccata Classics TOCC 0360 (Naxos)
Lieder and Vocal Recital
Shakespeare Songs / Ian Bostridge, Antonio Pappano
Lieder by Gerald Finzi, William Byrd, Francis Poulenc, John Wilson, Thomas Morley, Robert Johnson, Joseph Haydn, Roger Quilter, Ivor Gurney, Peter Warlock, Erich Korngold, Benjamin Britten, Michael Tippett, Igor Strawinsky, Franz Schubert. Ian Bostridge, Antonio Pappano, Elizabeth Kenny, Adam Walker, Michael Collins, Lawrence Power. Warner Classics 0190295944735
Early Music
Kerll, Fux: Requiems / Vox Luminis
Johann Caspar Kerll: Missa Pro Defunctis. Johann Joseph Fux: Kaiserrequiem. Vox Luminis, L’Acheron, Scorpio Collectief, Lionel Meunier. Ricercar RIC 368 (Note 1)
Contemporary Classical Music
Chaya Czernowin: The Quiet – Works for Orchestra
Kai Wessel, Stephan Schmidt, Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, SWR Sinfonieorchester Baden-Baden und Freiburg, West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, Philharmonisches Orchester des Staatstheaters Cottbus, Ensemble Nikel, Berner Symphonieorchester, Brad Lubman, Mario Venzago, Evan Christ, Francois-Xavier Roth. Wergo WER 73192 (New Arts International)
Historical Recordings
Schumann: Violin Concertos / Georg Kulenkampff, Saschko Gawriloff
Robert Schumann: Violin Concertos. Georg Kulenkampff, Saschko Gawriloff, Berliner Philharmoniker, Karl Böhm, Westfälisches Sinfonieorchester, Walter Gillessen. Podium Pol-1053 (Klassik Center)
Crossover Productions
Sinikka Langeland: The Magical Forest
Trygve Seim, Arve Henriksen, Anders Jormin, Markku Ounaskari, Trio Mediaeval. ECM 2448 (Universal)
Music Film
Liz Garbus: What Happened, Miss Simone? – Her Story. Her Voice
Nina Simone, Lisa Simone Kelly, James Baldwin, Stokely Carmichael, Walter Cronkite, Stanley Crouch, Gerrit De Bruin, Dick Gregory, Hugh Hefner, Elisabeth Henry-Macari, Martin Luther King, Al Schackman, Attallah Shabazz, Ilyasah Shabazz, Andrew Stroud, Malcolm X. DVD, Eagle Vision EREDV1239 (Universal)
Jazz
Allen Toussaint: American Tunes
Nonesuch 0075597946772 (Warner)
Jazz
Musical Monsters
Don Cherry, John Tchicai, Irène Schweizer, Léon Francioli, Pierre Favre: Musical Monsters. Intakt CD 269 (harmonia mundi)
World Music
Elza Soares: The Woman At The End Of The World
Mais Um Discos 129922 (Indigo)
Traditional Ethnic Music
Kayhan Kalhor: Hawniyaz
Kayhan Kalhor, Aynur, Salman Gambarov, Cemîl Qoçgirî: Hawniyaz. Latitudes HMC905277 (harmonia mundi)
German language Singer/Songwriters
Georg Ringsgwandl: Woanders
Blanko Musik/Capriola 88985355802 (Sony)
Folk and Singer/Songwriters
Anne Mari Kivimäki: Lakkautettu Kylä
Nordic Notes NNO79 (Broken Silence)
Hard and Heavy
Sodom: Decision Day
Steamhammer 0886922706004 (SPV)
Alternative
Wild Beasts: Boy King
Domino WIGCD348 (goodtogo)
Blues and Blues-related
Keb’ Mo’ & Band
That Hot Pink Blues Album – Live 2015. 2 CDs, Kind Of Blue Music CDKOBL41475 (H’Art)
R&B, Soul and Hip-Hop
Anthony Joseph: Caribbean Roots
Heavenly Sweetness HS131VL (Indigo)
Spoken Word
Stephan Göritz: Krieg ist nicht gut für den Frieden
Kabarettisten und der Erste Weltkrieg. Dieter Hildebrandt, Georg Kreisler, Werner Schneyder, Andreas Rebers, Otto Reutter, Richard Huelsenbeck, Saskia Kästner, Isabel Neuenfeldt, Gisela May, Karl Kraus, Volker Kühn. duo-phon-records ISBN 978-3-937127217
Recordings for Children and Youth
Karlheinz Koinegg: Metamorphosen
Erzählt nach den Geschichten des Ovid. Torben Kessler, Irm Hermann, Ernst-August Schepmann, Stefan Kaminski, Henning Nöhren, Andreas Pietschmann. Der Hörverlag ISBN 978-3-8445-2139-9