BBC Music Magazine Choices,
BBC Music Magazine - May 2024 Choices
Category Choices include a feast of 'outstanding orchestral playing and sumptuous engineering' from Klaus Mäkelä and the Orchestre de Paris in Stravinsky & Debussy, the world premiere recording of Louise Bertin's 1831 opera Fausto from Christophe Rousset and Les Talens Lyriques, and a second recording of the complete Bach Cello Suites from Henri Demarquette.
Recording of the Month
'This endlessly fascinating collection is played with style and incredible subtlety...I don't recall ever giving a recording the full ten stars. But then, I hadn't heard Hamelin play his own work.'
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC, Hi-Res+ FLAC
Orchestral Choice
Stravinsky: Pétrouchka & Debussy: Jeux & Prélude à l'Après-midi d'un faune
Orchestre de Paris, Klaus Mäkelä
'I was particularly impressed with the gorgeous timbres of Mäkelä’s wonderfully evocative account of Debussy’s Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune, and the performance of the incredibly subtle and emotionally elusive Jeux is engaging and dramatically convincing.'
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Chamber Choice
Mozart: Piano Concertos Nos. 6 & 8
Robert Levin (fortepiano), Bojan Čičić (violin), Ya-Fei Chuang (fortepiano), Academy of Ancient Music, Laurence Cummings
'The performance is constantly alive, alert and superbly done...If the sound is one delight, others include the deft playing , sprightly tempos, and dynamics that convey drama without ever being exaggerated.'
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC, Hi-Res+ FLAC
Opera Choice
Louise Bertin: Fausto
Karine Deshayes (Fausto), Karina Gauvin (Margarita), Ante Jerkunica (Mefistofele), Nico Darmanin (Valentino), Marie Gautrot (Catarina); Les Talens Lyriques, Flemish Radio Choir, Christophe Rousset
'Fausto may not be a masterpiece, but it is well worth encountering...There’s strong support from the Flemish Radio Choir and Les Talens Lyriques, with conductor Christophe Rousset revealing the extraordinary qualities of this long-forgotten work.'
Available Formats: 2 CDs + Book, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Choral & Song Choice
Rachmaninoff: All-Night Vigil
Igor Morozov, Evgeny Kachurovski, Alexis V. Lukianov, PaTRAM Institute Male Choir, Ekaterina Antonenko
'There are some jaw-dropping bass sonorities here, but the overall impression is far from sombre: indeed, what is most surprising is the sense of lightness and tenderness that emerges from using high male voices.'
Available Formats: SACD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Chamber Choice
Michael Finnissy: Alternative Readings
Lotte Betts-Dean (mezzo), Marsyas Trio, Joseph Havlat (piano)
'Anyone nervous of the so-called New Complexity could do far worse than ease into this style via this recording...The performers all give insightful performances, although mezzo Lotte Betts-Dean’s elegantly inflected delivery is particularly compelling.'
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Instrumental Choice
'His approach here has a debonair confidence...One perceives the lingering influences of the great French cellists: the finesse, lyricism and poetry of Pierre Fournier; the richly shaded tone and articulate phrasing of Paul Tortelier.'
Available Formats: 2 CDs, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Jazz Choice
'The result is a beautiful, semiacoustic and universal folk music that’s shot through with sadness...The set as a whole suggests that Shabaka hasn’t dialled down his intensity – instead, he’s rechannelled it into something more profound.'
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
Chris O'Reilly - Chief Executive
