Best Classical of 2017 – I

by | Jan 6, 2018 | Best of the Year

Best of the Year Classical List for 2017

Recommendations by Steven Ritter

Mahler: Symphony No. 8 – Mormon Tabernacle Choir/ Utah Symphony/ Thierry Fischer – Reference Recordings

Spectacular, moving, and, well, what else do you need?

Link to Review

 

 

 

GORDON GETTY: The Canterville Ghost – Oper Leipzig/ Gewandhausorchester/ Matthias Foremny – Pentatone

A splendid addition to the Getty catalog, one of his best works.

Link to Review

 

 

SHOSTAKOVICH:  Symph. No. 5; BARBER: Adagio for Strings – Pittsburgh Symph. Orch./Manfred Hobeck – Reference Recordings

A breathtaking release of crushing power.

Link to Review

 

Recommendations by Gary Lemco

Reiner conducts Wagner  Pristine Audio PASC 517

Fritz Reiner’s legacy of Wagner from shellac sources proves memorably striking, given a fine restoration by Pristine Audio.

Link To Review

 

 

 

Beethoven: Symphonies 4 & 7 – Koussevitzky/BSO – Pristine Audio PASC 515

Previously unreleased Beethoven performances by Koussevitzky and BSO add significant documents to that conductor’s recorded legacy.  

Link To Review

 

 

 

Kathleen Ferrier Remembered   Somm CD 264

The restoration of long-buried Kathleen Ferrier archives warrants our unconditional praise and support.

Link To Review 

 

 

 

Dvorak: String Quartet, Op. 105; String Quintet, Op. 97 Takacs Qt  Hyperion CDM 68142

Splendid readings of to late Dvorak chamber music staples provide a lush hour of listening pleasure.

Link To Review

 

 

 

Bruckner: Symphony No. 3; Wagner: opera excepts – Knappertsbusch/Vienna Philh.  Praga PRD 350 140

The inimitable “Kna” makes his presence felt in Bruckner and Wagner staples he passionately endorsed.

Link To Review

 

 

Mordecai Shehori: The New York Concerts, Vol. 12  Cembal d’amore CD 189
Add yet another gem to the legacy of New York recitals that impressed admirers of Mordecai Shehori.

Link To Review

 

 

 


Messaien: 20 Anniversary Edition  Warner Classics

Warner Classics has released an exceptional and comprehensive assemblage of Olivier Messiaen’s significant musical corpus.

Link To Review

 

British Music conducted by Sir Charles Groves  Warner Classics

True to its advertisement, this set brings together a fine selection of British music led by a devoted practitioner of his craft.

Link To Review

 

 

 

Rachmaninov: Piano Sonatas   Rustem Hayroudinoff, piano   Onyx 4181
Pianist Rustem Hayroudinoff injects voluptuous energy into the Rachmaninov piano sonatas.

Link To Review

 

 

 

 

William Kapell: Three First Releases   JSP Records JSP 684

JSP Records restores invaluable moments from the most promising of America’s young piano virtuosos, William Kapell.

Link To Review

 

 

 

Schubert: Symphony No. 8; Dvorak: Symphony No. 9 – Celibidache/Munich Philh.  Munich Philh. Archives 0004

The orchestral alchemy of Sergiu Celibidache resonates by way of this first release from the Munich Philharmonic’s label.

Link To Review

 

 

Franz. Schmidt: Symphony No. 2; R. Strauss: Intermezzo excerpt – Bychkov/Vienna Philh.  Sony 8898535522

Semyon Bychkov and the VPO celebrate music that proves endemic to Vienna, in their under-rated favorite son, Franz Schmidt.

Link To Review

 

 

Carl Schuricht conducts Mozart Concerto No. 27; Brahms Symphony No. 2   Audite 95.645

Grand music-making defines these two concerts led by veteran Carl Schuricht.

 

 

 

 

Final Thoughts: Late Music of Brahms and Schubert – Jorge Federico Osorio, piano  Cedille CDR 9000 171

Jorge Federico Osorio invests an ardor of personal authenticity into the late works of Schubert and Brahms.

Link To Review

 

 

Leonard Rose tribute    Doremi DHR-8038

Doremi provides us a template of what a recorded tribute to Leonard Rose should contain, including several significant chamber-music additions.

Link To Review

 

 


Brahms: String Sextets – Cypress Quartet with Barry Sullivan and Zuill Bailey – Avie AV 2294

For their last recording, the Cypress Quartet invites guests to share the music of Brahms.

Link To Review

 

 

 

Schumann: Fantasy in C; Kreisleriana   – Jean-Philippe Collard, piano   La Dolce Volta LDV 30
Jean-Philippe Collard celebrates his long commitment to the passionate and fanciful works of Robert Schumann.

Link To Review

 

 


Liszt: 12 Transcendental Etudes – Barbara Nissman, piano   Three Oranges  3OR-22

Barbara Nissman gives us a dynamic and emotionally aggressive Liszt, virtuosic and poetic.

Link To Review

 

 

 

Dvorak: Piano Trios in F Minor and E Minor – Trio Wanderer – Harmonia mundi HMM 90228

Splendid renditions of Dvorak’s two late Piano Trios, part of Trio Wanderer’s thirtieth-year offerings.

Link To Review

 

 


Haydn: Piano Sonatas – John O’Conor, piano  Steinway & Sons 30058

John O’Conor deftly brings out the variety and infinite charm of five Haydn sonatas.

Link To Review

 

 

 

 

Recommendations by Robert Moon


JOHN ADAMS: Scheherazade.2 – Leila Josefowicz, violin – St. Louis Symphony/David Robertson – Nonesuch 557170

John Adams’ new Violin Concerto is dramatically compelling.

Link To Review

 

 

WEINBERG: Chamber Symphonies 1, 2, 3 & 4; Piano Quintet – Gidon Kremer, violin; Yulianna Avdeeva, piano; Mate Bekavac, clarinet – Kremerata Baltica/Mirga Grazinyte-Tyla – ECM New Series 2538/39

A major Russian composer emerges in these scintillating chamber works.

Link To Review

 

 

WILLIAM WALTON: Symphony No. 1—Symphony No. 2. Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra/Kirill Karabits, onyxclassics ONYX4168

Once in a while a reviewer hears a performance of familiar works that is so unique that it redefines the music. 

Link To Review

 

 

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