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
Bacewicz: Symphonies No. 3 & 4
Grażyna Bacewicz: Symphonies No. 3 & 4, Ouverture. BBC Symphony Orchestra, Sakari Oramo. SACD, Chandos CHSA 5316 (Note 1)
Grażyna Bacewicz’s music is gradually attracting more attention in the West: both the German radio station WDR and the UK’s BBC have embarked on rewarding treasure hunts. Bacewicz is probably the most important Polish composer of the last century: a witness to political upheaval, a form-conscious dramatist, and a colourful creator. Sakari Oramo and the BBC Symphony Orchestra illuminate the third and fourth symphonies in an appropriately »furioso« manner, suitably »drammatico«, but never overly theatrical. The playful overture for orchestra is the joy of survival transformed into sound. For the jury: Rainer Wagner
Orchestral Music & Concertos
Rachmaninov: Piano Concerto No. 2
Sergei Rachmaninov: Piano Concerto No. 2 C minor op. 18, Corelli Variations op. 42 and other works. Kirill Gerstein, Berliner Philharmoniker, Kirill Petrenko. SACD, Berliner Philharmoniker Recordings BPHR230469 (direct sales)
Difficult though it is to imagine with a work as frequently performed as the second Rachmaninov concerto, there is truly something new to discover in this recording. It is audibly different from the many that have been released for the »Rachmaninov Year« of 2023. It is elegant and almost light, powerful without being ostentatious or showy, astonishingly bright in its tonal colours, and highly intelligent in its interplay between soloist and orchestra. The two Kirills – Gerstein and Petrenko – confidently refute all prejudices against the composer and his work, which unfortunately still exist. For the jury: Michael Stegemann