We are able to review only a tiny fraction of the albums released each month. From Brahms to Berg, and Pejačević to Sohy, here are 10 recent releases worth going back to
Despite more than a decade now of dire predictions of the terminal decline of the classical recording industry there’s still no sign of its imminent demise. Companies may come and go, and the emphasis of the repertory may shift from year to year, but the quantity of discs and downloads issued by both familiar and unfamiliar labels seems undiminished. There are so many new discs to sample each month that if you ask any two classical enthusiasts to name their standout releases of the year, it’s unlikely that there will be much overlap. What we do review sometimes seems barely to scratch the surface of what’s available and what deserves attention.
In a perfect world, for instance, Bru Zane’s release of one of the authentic “grand operas”, Meyerbeer’s Robert le Diable, based on performances in Bordeaux conducted by Marc Minkowski, with John Osborn and Erin Morley outstanding as Robert and Isabelle respectively, should have got a column to itself, as would the latest instalment of John Nelson’s Berlioz series for Warner Classics, pairing Les Nuits d’Été with Harold en Italie, with Michael Spyres as the soloist in the song cycle, and Timothy Ridout as the viola player in Harold.