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
Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy: Symphoniey Nos. 4 & 5
Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy: Symphonien Nr. 4 A-Dur op. 90 »Italienische« & Nr. 5 d-moll op. 107 »Reformation«. NDR Radiophilharmonie, Andrew Manze. Pentatone PTC 5186 611 (Naxos)
Orchestral Music & Concertos
Piotr Anderszewski – Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Klavierkonzerte Nr. 25 C-Dur KV 503 & Nr. 27 B-Dur KV 595. Piotr Anderszewski, Chamber Orchestra of Europe. Warner Classics 019029 572 4221 (Warner)
Chamber Music
Mysteries – Simon Höfele
Works for trumpet solo, with piano or percussion by György Ligeti, André Jolivet, Toshio Hosokawa, Iain Hamilton, Tōru Takemitsu and HK Gruber. Simon Höfele, Eriko Takezawa, Kai Strobel. Genuin GEN 18499 (Note 1)
Keyboard Music
Strawinsky: Le Sacre du printemps – Hamelin / Andsnes
Igor Strawinsky: Le Sacre du printemps; Concerto for two pianos, Madrid, Tango, Circus Polka. Marc-André Hamelin, Leif Ove Andsnes. Hyperion CDA 68189 (Note 1)
Keyboard Music
Charles-Marie Widor: Complete Organ Symphonies
Winfried Lichtscheidel. Ambiente Audio ACD-2035 (Medienvertrieb Heinzelmann)
Opera
Nicola Antonio Porpora: Germanico in Germania
Max Emanuel Cencic, Mary-Ellen Nesi, Dilyara Idrisova, Hasnaa Bennani, Julia Lezhneva, Juan Sancho, Capella Cracoviensis, Jan Tomasz Adamus. Decca 483 1523 (Universal)
Opera
Jules Massenet: Werther
uan Diego Flórez, Anna Stéphany, Mélissa Petit, Audun Iversen, Cheyne Davidson, Martin Zysset, Kinderchor, SoprAlti der Oper Zürich, Statistenverein am Opernhaus Zürich, Philharmonia Zürich, Cornelius Meister, Tatjana Gürbaca. DVD, accentus music ACC 20427 (Naxos)
Choral Music
Larmes de Résurrection
Heinrich Schütz: Historia der Auferstehung Jesu Christi SWV 50, Johann Hermann Schein: Israelis Brünnlein. La Tempête, Simon-Pierre Bestion. Alpha 394 (Outhere Music/Note 1)
Lieder and Vocal Recital
Georg Friedrich Händel: Arien
Franco Fagioli, Il Pomo d’Oro, Zefira Valova. Deutsche Grammophon 479 7541 (Universal)
Early Music
French Sonatas for Harpsichord and Violin
Works by Jean-Joseph Cassanéa de Mondonville, Louis-Gabriel Guillemain, Claude Balbastre, Jacques Duphly, Michel Corrette, Luc Marchand and Charles-Francois Clément. Johannes Pramsohler, Philippe Grisvard. 2 CDs Audax Records ADX 13710 (harmonia mundi)
Contemporary Classical Music
Xiaoyong Chen: Imaginative Reflections
Ensemble Les Amis Shanghai. Col legno WWE 1CD 20438 (harmonia mundi)
Historical Recordings
Richter In The 1940s
The Earliest Live Performances of Svjatoslav Richter. Works by Johann Sebastian Bach, Ludwig van Beethoven, Robert Schumann, Fritz Kreisler, Sergej Rachmaninov and Franz Liszt. 2 CDs, Parnassus PACD 96059/60 (Note 1)
Crossover Productions
Laurie Anderson & Kronos Quartet: Landfall
Nonesuch 7559-79338-9 (Warner)
Film Music
Alexandre Desplat: The Shape of Water
Original Motion Picture Soundtrack. Renée Fleming, Madeleine Peyroux, Carmen Miranda, Caterina Valente, Silvio Francesco, Andy Williams, Glenn Miller & His Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, Alexandre Desplat. Decca 6712461 (Universal)
Music Film
In Rehearsal
Works by Johann Sebastian Bach, Béla Bartók, Claude Debussy, Joseph Haydn, Sergej Prokofief and Richard Strauss. John Eliot Gardiner, Valéry Gergiev, Mariss Jansons, Zubin Mehta, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Christoph von Dohnányi. Blu-ray, EuroArts 2082334 (Warner)
Music Film
Chasing Trane
The John Coltrane Documentary. Direction: John Scheinfeld. DVD & Blu-ray, UMG 06025 5798683 (Universal)
Jazz
Ron Halldorson: Happy Talk
Ron Halldorson RHHT2017 (Direct Sales)
Jazz
David Murray feat. Saul Williams: blues for memo
Motéma MTM 256 (Rough Trade)
This album won in the jury Jazz II as well as in the Jury R&B, Soul, HipHop.
World Music
Monsieur Doumani: Angathin
Monsieur Doumani MD0003 (Direct Sales)
Traditional Ethnic Music
Efrén López, Stelios Petrakis, Bijan Chemirani: Taos
Buda Musique 860300 (Membran)
German language Singer/Songwriters
Bastian Bandt: Alle Monde
Raumer Records RR 20717 (Peter Talmann Musikverlag)
Folk and Singer/Songwriters
The Fugitives: The Promise Of Strangers
Westpark Music WP 87366
Pop
Tocotronic: Die Unendlichkeit
Vertigo/Capitol 0602567131113 (Universal)
Rock
Brandi Carlile: By The Way, I Forgive You
Elektra Records 7567-86591-8 (Warner)
Club and Dance
Hieroglyphic Being: The Red Notes
Soul Jazz Records SJRCD394 (Indigo)
Electronic and Experimental
1954: A Part Of Me
LP, Project Mooncircle PMC 165
Blues and Blues-related
Beth Hart & Joe Bonamassa: Black Coffee
Mascot PRD 75442 (Rough Trade)
Spoken Word
Conrad Ferdinand Meyer: Die Gedichte
Frank Arnold, Christian Brückner, Martina Gedeck, Ulrike Hübschmann, Stefan Kaminski, Burghart Klaußner, Dörte Lyssewski, Dagmar Manzel, Paul Matić, Peter Matić, Ulrich Matthes, Birgit Minichmayr, Thomas Sarbacher, Viola Sauer, Joachim Schönfeld, Schulz-Berlinghoff, Martin Seifert, Gerd Wameling. Sinus Sin1025 ISBN 978-3-9057-2175-1 (Sinus Verlag)
Recordings for Children and Youth
Judith Burger: Gertrude grenzenlos
Natalia Belitski. Sauerländer Audio ISBN 978-3-8398-4911-8 (Argon Verlag)