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
Contemporary Classical Music
Christophe Bertrand: »Vertigo«
Complete Instrumental Works. Zafraan Ensemble, KNM Berlin, WDR Sinfonieorchester, GrauSchumacher Piano Duo etc., Premil Petrović, Victor Aviat, Brad Lubman, Peter Rundel, Baldur Brönnimann, Emilio Pomàrico. 3 CDs, bastille musique bm014 (rudi mentaire distribution)
The narrow œuvre of the French composer Christophe Bertrand, who died tragically at an early age, is a discovery. This edition – a bold first recording with carefully chosen interpreters – bears witness to a promising composer who tried to reinterpret various developments in contemporary music. As Bertrand once confessed in an interview, the tense interplay he called his home is a mixture of historical awareness, freedom, and the pressure to innovate. His compositions live from their complex structure, their highly emotional energy, and from a virtuosity coupled with a splendid sonority. For the jury: Nina Polaschegg