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
Michail Jurowski in Gohrisch – Internationale Schostakowitsch Tage
Dmitri Schostakowitsch: Kammersymphonie c-moll op.110a, Aus jiddischer Volkspoesie op.79a; Arvo Pärt: Cantus in memoriam Benjamin Britten; Mieczysław Weinberg: Rhapsodie über moldawische Themen op.47,1. Evelina Dobračeva, Marina Prudenskaya, Vsevolod Grivnov, Staatskapelle Dresden, Michail Jurowski. Berlin Classics 0300935BC (edel)
Orchestral Music & Concertos
Medtner, Rachmaninow / Marc-André Hamelin
Nikolai Medtner: Klavierkonzert Nr. 2 c-moll op.50; Sergej Rachmaninow: Klavierkonzert Nr. 3 d-moll op.30. Marc-André Hamelin, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Vladimir Jurowski. Hyperion CDA68145 (Note 1)
Chamber Music
Chausson, Franck / Salagon Quartet
Ernest Chausson: Concerto for Piano, Violin and String Quartet D-Major op.21; César Franck: Sonata for Piano and Violin A-Major. Isabelle Faust, Alexander Melnikov, Salagon Quartet. Harmonia Mundi HMM 902254 (hm)
Keyboard Music
Volodos play Brahms
Johannes Brahms: Intermezzi op.117 Nr.1-3, Klavierstücke op.118 Nos.1-6, Klavierstücke op.76 Nos.1-4. Arcadi Volodos. Sony 88875130192
Keyboard Music
Mallorca Edition Historical Organs
Works by Antonio Soler, Domenico Scarlatti, José Lidón, Sebastián Aguilera de Heredia, Pablo Bruna. Martin Schmeding. 6 SACD Cybele CYB001404 (Klassik Center)
Opera
Stravaganza d’Amore!
The Birth of Opera at the Medici Court 1589-1608. Works by Lorenzo Allegri, Antonio Brunelli, Giovanni Battista Buonamente, Giulio Caccini, Emilio de Cavalieri, Girolamo Fantini, Marco da Gagliano, Cristofano Malvezzi, Luca Marenzio, Alessandro Orologio, Jacopo Peri, Alessandro Striggio. Pygmalion, Raphaël Pichon. 2 CDs HMM 902286.87 Harmonia Mundi France (hm)
Opera
Bohuslav Martinů: The Greek Passion
Rolf Romei, Dshamilja Kaiser, Markus Butter, Wilfried Zelinka, Manuel von Senden, Tatjana Miyus, Taylan Reinhard u.a. Chor & Extrachor der Oper Graz, Grazer Philharmonisches Orchester, Dirk Kaftan. 2 CDs Oehms OC 967 (Naxos)
Choral Music
Mendelssohn / Frieder Bernius
Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy: Lieder im Freien zu singen. Kammerchor Stuttgart. Frieder Bernius. Carus 83.287 (Note 1)
Lieder and Vocal Recital
Grand Opera / Diana Damrau
Giacomo Meyerbeer: Arias and Scenes from Le Prophète, Robert le Diable, L’Africaine, Les Huguenots, Il Corciato in Egitto, L’Étoile du Nord, Alimelek oder die beiden Kalifen, Le Pardon de Ploërmel, Emma di Resburgo, Ein Feldlager in Schlesien. Diana Damrau, Charles Workman, Laurent Naouri, Kate Aldrich, Joanna Curelaru, Orchester und Chor der Nationaloper Lyon. Emmanuel Villaume. Erato 0190 2958 48996 (Warner)
Early Music
Gloria in Excelsis Deo
Johann Sebastian Bach: Cantatas BWV 30, 69, 191, 232. Hana Blažíková, Robin Blaze, Gerd Türk, Peter Kooij, Bach Collegium Japan, Masaaki Suzuki. Blu-ray BIS-2201 BD (Klassik Center)
Early Music
Jean Guyot: Te Deum Laudamus
Jean Guyot: Te Deum Laudamus, Te Deum Patrem, O florens rosa, Amen dico vobis, Accepit Jesus panem, Prudentis virgines, Omni tempore, Adorna thalamum, Noe noe genuit puerpera, Ave Maria Signum Magnum. Terry Wey, Tore Tom Denys, Achim Schulz, Tim Scott Whitesley, Unfried Staber, David Allsopp, Cinquecento Renaissance Vokal. Hyperion CDA68180 (Note 1)
Contemporary Classical Music
Milica Djordjević
Milica Djordjević: Death of the Star-Knower, Phosphorescene, ... würde man denken: Sterne, how to evade?, Do You Know How to Bark?, Manje te u majke groze, faíl. Arditti Quartet, Truike van der Poel, Christine Chapman, Hannah Weirich, Marco Blaauw, Bruce Collings, Florentin Ginot, Peter Veale, Teodoro Anzellotti, Ensemble musikFabrik. Johannes Schöllhorn. Wergo 64222 Deutscher Musikrat edition zeitgenössische Musik (Naxos)
Historical Recordings
Karl Böhm – The Early Years 1935-1949
Works by Ludwig van Beethoven, Johannes Brahms, Anton Bruckner, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Franz Schubert, Robert Schumann, Johann Strauss, Richard Strauss, Max Reger, Richard Wagner and Carl Maria von Weber. With Kirsten Flagstadt, Christel Goltz, Elisabeth Höngen, Esther Rethy, Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Margarete Teschemacher, Eugen Fuchs, Josef Hermann, Hans Hermann Nissen, Set Svanholm, Edwin Fischer, Walter Gieseking, Wilhelm Backhaus, Willi Boskovsky, Wolfgang Schneiderhan, Wiener Philharmoniker, Berliner Philharmoniker, Philharmonie Orchestra, Karl Böhm. 19 CDs Warner Classics 0190 2958 86721
Crossover Productions
Masaa
Outspoken. Traumton 4647 (Indigo)
Film Music
Hanns Eisler
Hanns Eisler: »Hangmen also die!«, »The 400 Million«, »The Grapes of Wrath«. Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin, Johannes Kalitzke. Capriccio C5289 (Naxos)
Music Film
Kraftwerk: 12345678. 3-D Der Katalog
Ralf Hütter, Henning Schmitz, Fritz Hilpert, Falk Grieffenhagen. DVD + Blu-ray KlingKlang Musikfilm / Parlaphone 0190295924928 (Warner)
Jazz
Benny Green
Happiness! Live at Kuumbwa. Sunnyside SSC1485 (Delta Music)
Jazz
Bill Frisell, Thomas Morgan
Small Town. ECM 2525 (Universal)
World Music
Juana Molina
Halo. crammed discs cram 275 CD 142762 (Indigo)
Traditional Ethnic Music
Shamans Of The Blind Country
Shamans Of The Blind Country – Schamanen im Blinden Land. Michael Oppitz. 5 DVDs, 2 CDs, Arthaus Musik 109294 (Naxos)
German language Singer/Songwriters
Die Grenzgänger
Brot & Rosen. Müller-Lüdenscheidt Verlag MLCD_22 (www.musikvonwelt.de / Broken Silence)
Folk and Singer/Songwriters
Tim Grimm And The Family Band
A Stranger In This Time. Cavalier Recordings. CR 255619 (Fenn)
Pop
Spoon
Hot Thoughts. Matador/Beggars Group 140842 (Indigo)
Hard and Heavy
Avatarium
Hurricanes And Halos. Nuclear Blast NB 3909-0 (Warner)
Alternative
Feist
Pleasure. Polydor 602557-397826 (Universal)
Club and Dance
GAS
Narkopop. Kompakt CD 136 (Rough Trade)
Blues and Blues-related
Kai Strauss
Getting Personal. Continental Blue Heaven CBHCD 2030 (H’Art)
R&B, Soul and Hip-Hop
Kendrick Lamar
Damn. Interscope (Universal)
Spoken Word
Walter Benjamin: Deutsche Menschen
Eine Folge von Briefen. Christian Brückner. 3 CDs, Edition Parlando ISBN 978-3-941004-94-8 (Argon)
Recordings for Children and Youth
D!e GÄNG
Käptn Peng, Johnny Strange, Sissi Perlinger. Ben Pavlidis. Oetinger audio ISBN 13 426017378-8334