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.
Orchestral Music & Concertos
Sergei Rachmaninov: Symphonies Nos. 1-3
& The Isle of the Dead, Capriccio Bohémien. WDR Symphony Orchestra, Cristian Măcelaru. 3 CDs, Linn CKD 778 (Naxos)
It is rare to hear Rachmaninoff’s orchestral in concert; in view of this new recording, unjustly so. Romanian conductor Cristian Măcelaru has long been an expert in his field. He guides us through Rachmaninoff’s symphonic cosmos without kitsch or embellishment. Despite this, his phrasing is sensitive, his rubati generous; his musicians deliver fine articulation and wonderful timbres. The WDR Symphony Orchestra is in top form and produces a multifaceted, rich orchestral sound, supported by excellent recording technology. For the jury: Peter Stieber
Orchestral Music & Concertos
Recorder Concertos from Sanssouci
Works by Johann Joachim Quantz, Franz Benda, Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, Carl Heinrich Graun. Isaac Makhdoomi, Ensemble Piccante. Prospero PROSP0112 (Note 1)
The performance instruction »Arioso e mesto« means »singing and sad«. However, when the movement of the same name from Quantz’s flute concerto (here transcribed for recorder) is played with what seems like one infinitely long breath, another interpretation of the phrase comes to mind: airy melancholy. At the end of this beautiful lament, soloist Isaac Makhdoomi improvises for a few seconds so idiomatically and expressively that you immediately feel that within this music, composed for the flute 275 years ago, a living heart still beats in 2025. Add to this highly virtuosic passages and a sense of blind trust between ensemble and soloist, and the outcome is one filled with splendour. For the jury: Jörg Lengersdorf
Chamber Music
Timothy Ridout – Solo Viola
Georg Philipp Telemann, Johann Sebastian Bach, Benjamin Britten, Caroline Shaw: Works for Solo Viola. Timothy Ridout. harmonia mundi HMM 902750
Timothy Ridout brings the viola out of the shadow of its capricious little sister, the violin. In order to do so, he plays transcriptions for the viola Bach’s Partita in D minor and Telemann’s fantasies, both originally composed for the violin. Here, as with original viola works by Benjamin Britten and Caroline Shaw, Ridout engages in a dialogue with himself, calls out into the room, hears his echo and gives the answer. The voices pursue, circle and swirl around each other – you hardly know where to listen first. To achieve such listening bliss, all it takes is a viola. And a master of the instrument. Like Timothy Ridout. For the jury: Susanne Stähr
Chamber Music
Discovering Roslavets
Vol. 1: Silver Night – Dmitri Shostakovich: Piano Trio No. 1 op. 8, Mélanie Bonis: Soir, Nikolaj Roslavets: Piano Trio No. 3, Arnold Schönberg: Transfigured Night op. 4. Brackman Trio. Challenge Classics CC720009# (Bertus)
Attentive, precise, expressive – the Dutch Brackman Trio achieves superlatives in every respect. Sounds that fade away to nothing, hot-headed exuberance, everything played as if the ink were still wet on the page – it’s all there on this album. In truth, even today, Nikolai Roslavets’s music is a discovery. His trio from 1925, in which late Romantic gestures dissolve into post-tonal self-sufficiency, is a perfect piece to combine with the work of 17-year-old Shostakovich and 25-year-old Schoenberg; the latter’s »Verklärte Nacht« (Transfigured Night, 1899) also conjours a night of starlit enchantment in the piano trio version played so sensitively here. For the jury: Volker Hagedorn
Keyboard Music
Sergei Rachmaninov: Piano Sonatas Nos. 1 & 2
Sergei Rachmaninov: Piano Sonatas No. 1 op. 28 & No. 2 op. 36, The Isle of the Dead op. 29 (arr. by G. Kirkor/B. Giltburg). Boris Giltburg. Naxos 8.574601
Boris Giltburg has already demonstrated his affinity for Sergei Rachmaninoff’s music on several occasions. With this new recording, he presents the two sharply contrasting piano sonatas, along with his own arrangement of the symphonic poem »The Isle of the Dead«. Giltburg remains true to himself and his high standards in the best way possible. With characteristic modesty, he avoids any hint of virtuosity for its own sake. In the sonatas, he ventures cautiously into melancholic territory without ever slipping into kitsch, leaving room for nuance. Rachmaninoff’s nervousness, especially in the outer movements, is also aptly expressed. For the jury: Christoph Vratz
Keyboard Music
Flemish Organ Heritage
Organ works by André De Vaere, Edgar Tinel, Joseph Callaerts, Hermann Roelstraete, Flor Peeters, Camil Van Hulse. Ignace Michiels. Passacaille PAS 1119 (Note 1)
Many musical treasures lie undiscovered in the junkyard of music history. Ignace Michiels, titular organist at Bruges Cathedral, has now rummaged through the Flemish section and unearthed names such as Callaerts, De Vaere, Tinel, Peeters, Van Hulse and Roelstraete, most of whom are completely unknown in Germany. This is highly commendable in its own right. Michiels also proves himself to be an accomplished player with a fiery temperament and musical sensitivity. The resultand album is utterly outstanding. These thrilling rarities could not have been disinterred in a more fitting manner. For the jury: Guido Krawinkel
Opera
José de Nebra: Venus y Adonis
Paola Valentina Molinari, Natalie Pérez, Jone Martínez, Ana Vieira Leite, Judit Subirana, Margherita Maria Sala, Los Elementos, Alberto Miguélez Rouco. 2 CDs, Aparté AP373 (harmonia mundi/Bertus)
This double album is like a grab bag. Reach in, and you discover an enchanting mixture of Spanish zarzuela and Italian opera seria – all of it the work of a little-known 18th-century Spanish composer who breathes new life into a universal theme with these forms. You will also discover the 31-year-old conductor Alberto Miguéles Rouco, a trained countertenor who is deeply committed to preserving Nebras’ music. The recording with the young, Basel-based ensemble Los Elementos, which he founded in 2018, and the superbly-rehearsed sextet of soloists, is a resounding success – a listening experience in a class of its own! For the jury: Max Nyffeler
Opera
Amilcare Ponchielli: I Lituani
Jūratė Švedaitė-Waller, Kristian Benedikt, Modestas Sedlevičius, Tadas Girininkas, Arūnas Malikėnas, Lithuanian National Symphony Orchestra, Kaunas State Choir, Modestas Pitrènas. 3 CDs, Accentus Music ACC 80642 (Naxos)
News from the 19th century: Until now, knowing that Amilcare Ponchielli (1834–1886) had composed any operas apart from La Gioconda was largely the province of musicologists. With the three-part opera I Lituani, which premiered in 1874 and was successfully revised in 1875, another important work has now been recorded for the first time. In the spirit of the Risorgimento, the work depicts a Lithuanian uprising against the Teutonic Order, a story from the 14th century, spiced up with a failed love affair and recognisable political allusions. Italianità at its finest! For the jury: Wolf-Dieter Peter
Choral Music
Requiem for an Emperor
Pierre de Manchicourt: Missa da Requiem, works by Cornelius Canis, Thomas Crecquillon, Nicolas Gombert, Luis de Narváes, Nicolas Payen and others. Utopia Ensemble, Jan van Outryve. Ramée RAM2401 (Naxos)
Few music-lovers have heard of Pierre de Manchicourt. Yet this man worked in the greatest cathedrals, and was appointed court chapel master to Philip II of Spain in 1549. In this capacity, he composed a five-part requiem for Philip’s father, Emperor Charles V: A sombre, melancholic masterpiece. As distant »mourners« hearing the work, we are intoxicated by an artform on the cusp of modernity, written in a musical language which sounds both urgent and questioning. The Utopia Ensemble’s perfect intonation and sense of style is deeply impressive. For the jury: Wolfram Goertz
Lieder and Vocal Recital
Light and Shadow
Franz Schubert: Lieder. Samuel Hasselhorn, Ammiel Bushakevitz. harmonia mundi HMM 902747
Samuel Hasselhorn and Ammiel Bushakevitz immerse themselves in Schubert’s life during the year 1824/25, a time which was marked by illness and despondency, but also by wanderlust and artistic awakening. The result is an exciting programme featuring well-known and lesser-known works from the same period. »Light and Shadow« – actually, the contrast of the title does not do justice to the special quality of this album. This lies in the art of shading. Between a combative defiance of fate and quiet futility, a world full of nuances opens up in a completely unpretentious way. For the jury: Holger Noltze
Early Music
Georg Österreich’s resurrected Treasures ...
North-German Cantatas around 1700 by Johann Theile, Heinrich Bokemeyer, Johann Philipp Förtsch, Michael & Georg Österreich, Johann Friedrich Meister, Giulio Giuliani. Musica Gloria, Nele Vertommen, Beniamino Paganini. Et’Cetera Records KTC 1819 (harmonia mundi/Bertus)
Georg Österreich (1664–1735) was a musician and composer at the courts of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, Holstein-Gottorf and Coburg. However, his real historical significance lies in his creation of the »Bokemeyer Collection«, which contains numerous unique pieces from the period between Schütz and Bach. The enthusiastic singers and instrumentalists of the Musica Gloria ensemble bring out the predominantly Protestant, sermon-like character of this music with assurance and impressive attention to detail – for example in the correct intonation and appropriate instrumentation of the basso continuo – without coming across as overly intellectual. For the jury: Matthias Hengelbrock
Contemporary Classical Music
Klaus Ospald: Escribí
Pierre-Laurent Aimard, Teodoro Anzellotti, Edicson Ruiz, WDR Symphony Orchestra, Ensemble Modern. bastille musique bm033 (rudi mentaire distribution)
Friction, questions and complexity are at the heart of Klaus Ospald’s work. Unimpressed by aesthetic fashions, he draws inspiration from poetry without directly translating language into sound. The turbulence of modern human existence underlies his music. Seemingly incompatible elements, such as a concertante dialogue between double bass and accordion, prove immediately captivating. The four works, which have been recorded for the first time, pay tribute in exemplary interpretations to a composer who has been virtually absent from the recording market until now. For the jury: Nina Polaschegg
Historical Recordings
Albert Sammons plays Edward Elgar
Edward Elgar: Violin Concerto op. 61 (recordings from 1916 & 1929), Violin Sonata op. 82. Albert Sammons, William Murdoch, New Queen’s Hall Orchestra, Henry Wood. Biddulph Recordings 85054-2 (Naxos)
Edward Elgar’s Violin Concerto was never as well-known to wider audiences as his Pomp and Circumstance, his Cello Concerto or his Enigma Variations. The work only found its way into the repertoire of numerous violinists after the Second World War. Fritz Kreisler championed the piece, after which it was mainly played by British violinists. This recording presents the first abridged recording and a later recording with Albert Sammons which is of historical interest. Sammons also advised colleagues such as Heifetz on performance issues. For the jury: Stephan Bultmann
Crossover Productions
Masako Ohta & Matthias Lindermayr: Nozomi
LP/CD, Squama Recordings SQM028 (Alive)
Masako Ohta and Matthias Lindermayr met six years ago at an award ceremony in Munich. Since then, the sensitive Japanese pianist and the airy-toned German trumpeter have grown into an established duo; this is their second album. »Nozomi« (Hope) proves immediately captivating, with a dreamlike sound world that sits between chamber jazz and nocturne, and a striking economy of means: from a minimum of notes (sometimes a small melody, sometimes a handful of chords), a beguiling flow of sound emerges, again and again – and with it, maximum magic. For the jury: Christoph Irrgeher
Film Music
Dascha Dauenhauer: No Beast. So Fierce
Digital, DD Records (direct distribution)
Dascha Dauenhauer’s film music for a free adaptation of William Shakespeare’s »Richard III« – which tells a story in which the youngest daughter of the Yorks comes to power as the boss of the Berlin underworld – features dark timbres, tension-filled dynamics, scorching intensity and subtle vocal elements. Dauenhauer’s score is moving, disturbing and fascinating – a soundscape full of depth and expression. Its captivating emotional depth and complexity make it an impressive part of the cinematic narrative. For the jury: Milena Fessmann
Music Film
Element of Crime: Wenn es dunkel und kalt wird in Berlin
[When it gets dark and cold in Berlin.] A Film by Charly Hübner. Element Of Crime, Sven Regener, Jakob Ilja, Richard Pappik, Maike Rosa Vogel, Florian Horwath, Isolation Berlin, Von Wegen Lisbeth, Steiner & Madlaina, Ansa Sauermann. Blu-ray, DCM 4061229512671 (Leonine)
»Where the air is worst/Breathing is more intense/And coughing is more attractive/Than anywhere else in the world.« Melancholic songs full of laconic humour, such as the title track of this documentary, are a trademark of the band Element Of Crime. In 2024, Charly Hübner accompanied the group on a mini tour through five Berlin venues, from a small private club to an audience of 9,000 at the Spandau Citadel. From impressions and interviews, he has stitched together archival material from the 1980s and 1990s to create an unpretentious, atmospherically dense portrait of the band and the Berlin music scene. For the jury: Andreas Kunz
Jazz
Florian Raepke Big Band & Charlotte Illinger: Young And Foolish
JazzJazzRecords JJ51028 (Broken Silence)
This is more than a big band. Among the 19 musicians are instruments rarely featured in jazz, such as harp, oboe, and a string quartet. The eleven tracks on the CD, all gems from the Great American Songbook, are like a nostalgic journey back to the heyday of big bands in the 1930s and 1940s, when swing and pop were still one and the same. Arranger and bandleader Florian Raepke often elicits new, »contemporary« timbres from well-known evergreens, allows the musicians to shine as soloists, and creates the perfect musical setting for Charlotte Illinger’s sometimes gentle, sometimes rough, but always perfectly-judged vocals. For the jury: Rainer Nolden
Jazz
Joachim Kühn: Échappée
(Piano Solo). 2 CDs, Intakt Records Intakt CD 431 (harmonia mundi/Bertus)
The term »jazz« seems almost too narrow for Joachim Kühn’s new double album. Kühn processes material from a wide variety of sources, and his improvisation comes very close to what was called »fantasy« in older music. Échappée is an astonishing masterpiece, recorded in Kühn’s own studio, matured over months, listened to, discarded, improved. Everything you could expect from him is here: polyphony, tension-filled sound swirls, elastic dynamics, high temperature, contemplative pauses and a serene preference for the beauty of the unpredictable. For the jury: Hans-Jürgen Linke
World Music
Piers Faccini & Ballaké Sissoko: Our Calling
CD/LP/Digital, Nø Førmat Nøf 65 (Indigo)
The ten quiet songs of Our Calling provide a refreshingly gentle counterpoint to our often-hectic Zeitgeist. Ballaké Sissoko’s kora arpeggios, accompanying Piers Faccini’s melodies, are harmonious oases for people who, like these two musicians, cultivate the art of listening to one another. The pair have been connected by a respectful friendship for two decades. Cultural barriers between the world of West African Mandinka, the English folk tradition and the rhythms and scents of the Mediterranean have long been overcome, and woven into the compositions. For the jury: Jodok W. Kobelt
Traditional Ethnic Music
Divinerinnen: divinerisch!
[divine!] Gramola 99345 (Naxos)
Anyone who associates ethnic music with a certain harshness has never heard Divinerinnen, Vienna’s divine female septet. A touch of Schubert’s »Moments Musicaux« and Lanner’s Ländler, combined with crystal-clear Tyrolean three-part singing and a strong dash of Viennese song – all this is brought together here, and the result is indescribably enjoyable. The instrumentalists are all outstanding: a septet consisting of clarinet, button accordion, contraguitar and strings. In the end, it’s easy to believe when you hear (as in track 6): »D’ Weana Tanz san der höchste Spinat« (»Viennese dance is the highest spinach«). For the jury: Jan Reichow
German language Singer/Songwriters
Konstantin Wecker: Lieder meines Lebens – Duo (Live)
[Songs of My Life]. 2 CDs, Sturm & Klang S & K 102 (Alive)
With the album »Lieder meines Lebens« (Songs of My Life), Konstantin Wecker presents a very personal selection from over fifty years; he turned 78 at the beginning of June. The poet, singer, musician, bon vivant, anarchist and romantic, whose outstanding stage presence has thrilled audiences since the beginning of his career, and who shows no signs of slowing down, reveals the many facets of his work here. His programme, together with his long-time piano partner Jo Barnickel, alternates private, political, touching, combative, critical and self-critical poems, songs, texts and speeches to the audience. The result is a magnificent concert evening. For the jury: Rainer Katlewski
Folk and Singer/Songwriters
Broom Bezzums: Standing Strong
CD/Digital, Feel Your Way Music FYW001 (direct distribution)
Superlatives are no longer enough to describe the English duo Broom Bezzums, who live in Germany. Their previous album had already reached the musical Champions League. In what league does their current acoustic mix of wonderful instrumental pieces and exceptionally strong, mostly original modern folk songs play? It is meaningful, catchy and spirited. And anyone who can reinterpret a classic like ’House of the Rising Sun’, which has been played to death, in such an exciting way with just a violin and vocals has to be very, very good. For the jury: Mike Kamp
Rock
Joe Ely: Love and Freedom
Digital/CD/LP, Rack’ em Records RERCD0015 (Membran)
The 78-year-old Texan’s 21st solo album is a rousing collection of country, Americana, Tex-Mex and rock ’n’ roll songs held together by Joe Ely’s unmistakable voice. Ely pays respectful tribute to his idols and friends: Townes van Zandt, country legend Guy Clark and, with »Deportee«, Woody Guthrie. In nine self-penned tracks, he addresses the distressing situation of immigrants in the USA. »These songs are a little radical,« says Ely. »But I think it’s time to speak up.« Good thing he did. For the jury: Manfred Gillig-Degrave
Hard and Heavy
Mantar: Post Apocalyptic Depression
CD/LP/Digital, Metal Blade Records 0039841613605 (Sony)
After the apocalypse, things really get going: instead of wallowing in self-pity, the duo Mantar rages in harmony with the end of the world. The on-stage intensity of singer and guitarist Hanno Klänhardt and drummer Erinç Sakarya is legendary. After their polished predecessor »Pain Is Forever And This Is The End« (2022), the sludge metalheads felt burnt out. »Post Apokalyptic Depression« is their liberation, sounding spontaneous, raw, punky and edgy, but (with »Halsgericht« or »Two Choices Of Eternity«) no less hit-worthy than we’ve come to expect from the German duo. For the jury: Sebastian Kessler
Alternative
FKA Twigs: Eusexua
CD/LP, Parlophone Label Group 0075678603136 (Warner)
British artist Tahliah Barnett (AKA FKA Twigs) achieves whatever she sets her mind to. Her debut album »LP1« made it into the PdSK’s best-of list at the end of 2014, and now she has followed up with »Eusexua«. Contemporary beats and retro electro sounds form the basis for an experimental pop sound that breaks down genre boundaries with confidence. Her versatile voice overlays the instrumental opulence and crowns this complex work. With the invented word »Eusexua«, Barnett describes a state of complete sensual ecstasy – and with this album, she comes pretty close. For the jury: Jan Ulrich Welke
This album won in the Alternative and Pop categories.
Club and Dance
Gaiko: Gaiko
Nous’klaer Audio OEMOEMENOE13 (direct distribution)
This is an impressive debut from Belgian-Japanese producer Gaiko – across nine tracks, he unfolds a contemporary sound design between analogue synthesizer sounds, 1990s references to IDM, downtempo and drum & bass sounds in cinematic wide angle, mixed with his very own 2020s aesthetic. The 25-year-old is also a formidable beat tinkerer, with a keenly musical sense of melody and harmony. Through these tracks, he also pays tribute to his own interrupted career as a pianist. Gaiko describes his refreshingly emotional sound as »introspective club music«. We’d love to hear more of it soon. For the jury: Christian Tjaben
Electronic and Experimental
Das Ende der Liebe x su dance110: Persist
Digital, Anunaki Tabla AT-019 (Broken Silence)
What does the end of love sound like? And who loved whom or what? The new album by the cryptically-named Berlin band Das Ende der Liebe takes us on a wild journey through tense emotional landscapes in fragile times. The voice of non-binary transdisciplinary artist su dance110 adds bright, human elements to the dark, raw sound attacks of multi-instrumentalists Andreas Völk, Laurenz Gemmer, Kenn Hartwig and Thomas Sauerborn. The sounds merge, their sources not always clear. Everything is bubbling, as if an explosion is imminent. For the jury: Guido Halfmann
Blues and Blues-related
Thorbjørn Risager & The Black Tornado: House Of Sticks
CD/LP, Provogue PRD77372 (tonpool Medien)
Very few artists can combine roots and blues with the sounds of modernity as convincingly as Thorbjørn Risager. His songwriting and arranging do justice to the genre’s past with their originality and honesty, but they also take contemporary forms of playing and expression into account. In this album, ten outstanding compositions immediately draw the listener into the spell of the blues, not least thanks to the characteristic sound of an eight-piece band. For the jury: Karl Leitner
R&B, Soul and Hip-Hop
Damon Locks: List of Demands
LP/Digital, International Anthem Recording Company 0634457192218 (direct distribution)
This is an album about the cruelty and beauty of existence. Damon Locks has developed a unique, hypnotic fusion. His snapshots of the present, about racism, loneliness, love, despair and hope, are taken from sources like television series or radio news, and then artfully woven into collages made from poetic fragments of language and sound. The Chicago-based award-winning visual artist, educator and songwriter tells his stories with elements of jazz, hip-hop and soul. The result is twelve soundscapes as disturbing and fascinating as the films of David Lynch. For the jury: Petra Rieß
Spoken Word
Gottfried Keller: Züricher Novellen
[Zurich Novellas]. Frank Arnold, Ulrich Noethen, Stefan Kaminski, Torben Kessler, Martin Vischer, Michael Quast. 2 mp3-CDs with 3 text books, Sinus Literatur ISBN 978-3-905721-66-9 (Sinus Verlag)
Gottfried Keller is One of the most important Swiss authors of the 19th century, Gottfried Keller probably is best-known for his »Der grüne Heinrich« (Green Henry) and the collection of novellas »Die Leute von Seldwyla« (The People of Seldwyla). With the »Züricher Novellen« (Zurich Novellas), Sinus Verlag completes its seven-part audiobook edition of Keller’s works. As always, top-class narrators been engaged, and the complete texts have also been included in the audiobook boxes. In addition, essays and an extensive glossary shed light on the historical and social context of the works. It is hard to imagine a better presentation of Keller’s writing, which is characterised by a deep understanding of human nature. For the jury: Dorothee Meyer-Kahrweg
Recordings for Children and Youth
Bibi Dumon Tak: Regenwurm und Anakonda
Was Tiere über sich erzählen [My presentation today is about the anaconda]. David Nathan, Cathlen Gawlich, Julian Greis, Vanida Karun, Jodie Ahlborn, Matti Krause. 2 CDs, Silberfisch ISBN 978-3-7456-0538-9 (Hörbuch Hamburg)
Bibi Dumon Tak’s new creation is a masterpiece of animal voice translation. These creatures give lectures about their favourite animals, discuss the narrator’s perspective, and ask how this influences their descriptions. The fox, for example, sees only meat in the goose, while the cleaner fish discusses its host animal, the shark. The dramatic reading enriches the multi-perspective form of knowledge transfer, and the narrators succeed in portraying the most interesting animals and their relationships with great vocal diversity, humorously, and with empathy. An outstanding listening pleasure! For the jury: Astrid Henning-Mohr