Best of the Year Discs for 2014

by | Dec 29, 2014 | Best of the Year

* = The 12 Multichannel Discs of the Month, all in Classical

CLASSICAL (incl. HI-RES), CLASSICAL REISSUES, CLASSICAL VINYL & PURE AUDIO BLU-RAY

JOHN ADAMS: The Gospel According to the Other Mary – DGG 479 2243

* The Argentinian Album – Works of PIAZZOLLA, GINASTERA, GOLIJOV – Amsterdam Sinfonietta – Channel Classics CCS SA 33014

BEETHOVEN: Complete Quartets – Tokyo String Quartet – Harmonia mundi (8 SACDs)

BEETHOVEN: String Quartets, Vol. 3 – Quartetto di Cremona – Audite SACD 92.682

* BERIO: Calmo; Quattro version originali della Ritirata Notturna di Madrid di L. Boccherini; Sinfonia – Soloists/ Finnish Radio Sym. Orch./ Hannu Lintu – Ondine SACD ODE 1227-5

* BERLIOZ: Symphonie fantastique, Waverly Ov. – London Sym./ Gergiev – LSO Live audio-only Blu-ray+CD LSO0757

* BRAHMS: A German Requiem – Antoni Wit – Naxos audio-only Blu-ray NBD0039

BRAHMS: String Sextets – Prazak Quartet, et al – Praga SACD DSD 250 297

* BRUCKNER: Symphonies Nos. 4, 7 & 8 – Nagano – Farao audio-only Blu-ray A 108076

* BRUCKNER: Symphony No. 9 – Bernard Haitink – LSO Live SACD LSO0746

The Choral Sea – New music for soprano saxophone and piano – Sue McKenzie, sax/ Ingrid Sawers, piano – Delphian DCD34121

DVORAK: Symphony No. 8; JANACEK: Symphonic Suite from Jenufa – Pittsburgh Sym. Orch./ Manfred Honeck – Reference Recordings SACD FR-710SACD

EDWARD ELGAR: Sea Pictures; The Dream of Gerontius – Chandos SACD CHSA 5140 (2 discs)

The Fricsay Edition – 45 CD set – DGG 00295 479 2691

G. GABRIELI: “Berliner Dom – Music for Brass & Organ” – PentaTone SACD PTC 5186 509

“Horizon 5” – Royal Concertgebouw Orch. – RCO Live SACD – RCO 14001

* Hymn to the Virgin – Schola Cantorum/ Tone Bianca Sparre Dahl – 2L Pure Audio Blu-ray + SACD 2L-095

MAHLER: Symphonies Nos. 9 and 10 (Adagio) – Gürzenich Orchestra, Cologne/ Markus Stenz – Oehms Classics SACD OC654 (2 discs)

* “Mephisto & Co.” – Eiji Oue – Reference Recordings double 45 rpm vinyl RM-2510

CARL NIELSEN: Sym. No. 4, “The Inextinguishable”; Sym. No. 1 – DaCapo SACD 6.220624

ALLAN PETTERSSON: Symphony No.9 – BIS Records 2038

PROKOFIEV: The Five Piano Concertos –  Krainev/Kitaenko – Melodiya MEL CD 10 02227

* ROBERT KYR works – Conspirare/Johnson – Harmonia mundi SACD HMU 807577

SCHUMANN: Piano Quintet in E-flat; BRAHMS: Piano Quintet in f – Joyce Yang, p./ Alexander String Q. – Foghorn Classics CD2014

* SCHUMANN: The Symphonies (1-4) –Berlin Philharmonic/ Sir Simon Rattle (2 Pure Audio Blu-ray discs) Berlin Philharmonic

R. STRAUSS: Metamorphosen; Domestic Symphony – Horenstein – Pristine PASC 428

* “Symphonies of Wind Instruments” – Works of HINDEMITH, SCHOENBERG, STRAVINSKY, WALLIN – Ingar Bergby – 2L audio-only Blu-ray+CD 2L-102

MELINDA WAGNER: Trombone Concerto; Four Settings – Wick – Soloists/ New York New Music Ensemble/ Jeffrey Milarsky– Bridge Records 9345

WALTON and KHACHATURIAN Cello Concertos – Erling Bloemdal Bengsston, c. –  Danacord DACO CD 747 

* “Zoforbit: A Space Odyssey” – Works of HOLST, CRUMB, LANG, SISASK – Sono Luminus audio-only Blu-ray+CD DSL-92178

 

JAZZ, POP, FOLK, WORLD MUSIC (Incl. HI-RES)

The Beatles in Mono set (14 LPs) – Parlophone/EMI/Univeral Music vinyl

Kenny Burrell – Midnight Blue – Blue Note ST-84123 vinyl

Jeff Buckley – Grace – ORG 194 – 2 45rpm vinyls

Billy Childs – Map to the Treasure – Reimagining Laura Nyro – Sony 88843066572

Leonard Cohen – Popular Problems – Columbia/Sony Music 888750142917

John Coltrane – Offering – Live at Temple Univ. (1966) – Impulse/Resonance B0019632-02 (2-CDs)

Michael Dease – Relentless – Posi Tone PR8127

Bill Evans – The Complete Village Vanguard Recordings, 1961 – Riverside RIV-36005-01 4-disc vinyl set

Scott Feiner and Pandeiro Jazz – A View from Below – self 884501972758

Bill Frisell – Guitar in the Space Age! – Okeh/Sony Music 88843074612

Eric Friedlander – Nighthawks – Skipstone SSR018

Vince Guaraldi Trio – A Boy Named Charlie Brown – Fantasy/Concord FAN 35318-02

Louis Hayes and the Cannonball Adderley Legacy Band – CellarLive CL120513

Keith Jarrett, piano; Charlie Haden, doublebass – Last Dance (2 ECM 2399 378 2250 vinyls)

King Crimson – USA, 40th Anniv. Series reissue – Discipline Global Mobile KCSP12 (CD+DVD-audio)

Little Feat – Rad Gumbo – The Complete Warner Brothers Years 1971-1990 – Rhino Music 8122796057 (13 CD set)

Oscar Peterson Trio – West Side Story – Analogue Prod.  CVRJ 8454 SA SACD

Richard Thompson – Beeswing – Acoustic Classics 766930016527

Marlene VerPlanck- I Give Up, I’m In Love – Audiophile ACD-347

Loudon Wainwright III – Haven’t Got the Blues (Yet) – 429 Records FTN17997

Ernie Watts – A Simple Truth – Flying Dolphin FD1009

Yes – The Yes Album – Panegoric GYRBD40106 (audio-only Blu-ray)

 

MUSIC & MOVIE BLU-RAYS & DVDs (Incl. 3D)

Alice Cooper – Super Duper Alice Cooper (Blu-ray) – Eagle Vision/Banger Films EVB334809   

All Is Lost – Robert Redford (Blu-ray) (2013) – Before the Door Pictures/ Lionsgate

BACH: St. Matthew Passion (2011) – EuroArts 3079658 (2 DVDs)

Bears – Disneynature film (Blu-ray+DVD) – Walt Disney Studios 121559

Cosmos – A Spacetime Odyssey, TV series (Blu-ray) 13 episodes on 4 discs – 20th Century Fox

Peter Gabriel – Back to Front (Blu-ray) – Eagle Vision/Done+Dusted EVB334939

Peter Gabriel – Live in Athens, (Blu-ray+DVD) – Eagle Vision/Real World EVB334649

Gravity, (3D Blu-ray+DVD) – Warner Brothers

The Great Beauty (Blu-ray+DVD) (2013) – The Criterion Collection 702

Jodorowsky’s Dune – documentary (Blu-ray+DVD) (2014) – High Line Pictures/ Sony Pictures Classics 44222

Jacques Loussier Trio play BACH…and more (Blu-ray) (2004/2014) – EuroArts

MAHLER: Symphony No. 5 cond. by Chailly (Blu-ray) – Accentus Music ACC10284

Monty Python Live (mostly) – One Down Five to Go (Blu-ray) (2014) – Entertainment One/ Universal EMBRO351929

A Tribute to Krzysztof Penderecki – Accentus Music 20276

The Rolling Stones – Sweet Summer Sun/Hyde Park Live (Blu-ray) (2013) – Eagle Rock Entertainment

VERDI: I Vespri Siciliani (complete opera) (Blu-ray) – C Major (Unitel Classica) 723904

The Who – Quadrophenia – Live In London (Blu-ray) – Universal Music

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