BEST CLASSICAL RELEASES OF 2021

 CUT CIRCLE - JOHANNES OCKEGHEM: LES CHANSONS

Cut Circle has produced a splendid new recording — their enunciation, sense of tempo, phrasing, and blend, and approach to emotional communication are all spot on. What sets this recording apart from others (such as Blue Heron’s stunning 2020 album) is their choice to sing this material with voices only, fully texted - Early Music America

SINFONIA OF LONDON - ENGLISH MUSIC FOR STRINGS

Forget any notions of wistful pastoral this title might suggest: English Music for Strings, performed by the Sinfonia of London, conducted by John Wilson (Chandos), is a collection of works from the 1930s, with a sharp, modernist energy to match - The Guardian

PIERRE HANTAI - HANDEL HARPSICHORD SUITES

At last – a masterful account of Handel’s harpsichord suites on the instrument for which they were written. Pierre Hantaï allows the music to breathe, with unfussy, clean playing.  BBC Music Magazine

LATVIAN RADIO CHOIR - BRUCKNER:  LATIN MOTETS

Sigvards Kļava and his Latvian Radio Choir bring their customary crystalline clarity to this selection of liturgical miniatures along with an empathetic sense of mystery and drama, using the vast acoustic of Riga Cathedral to telling advantage - Limelight Magazine (Australia)

ENSEMBLE LES SURPRISES - PURCELL:  TYRANNIC LOVE

The English Orpheus” remains supreme, but Purcell’s contemporaries contributed vitally to the richness of late 17th-century English musical life, as this unusual compilation performed by the French early-music group Les Surprises demonstrates.  The Sunday Times

HILARY HAHN - PARIS

Hahn's playing is technically flawless: double and triple stopping perfectly tuned, all difficult string crossings and acrobatics dispatched with grace and agility. Her finely hewn is never heavy and the concerto's many lyrical moments are dispatched by soloist and orchestra with sensitivity, grace, and aching beauty - The Classic Review

ILYA GRINGOLTS & FINNISH BAROQUE ORCHESTRA - LOCATELLI:  IL LABIRINTO ARMONICO

Gringolts and co have no problem finding their way around this maze of inventive music.    Ilya masters the extreme technical demands with near perfect intonation and winning flexibility while the small-scale Finnish Baroque Orchestra provides sterling support.  The Strad

KSENIJA SIDOROVA - PIAZZOLLA REFLECTIONS

Clearly a master of the instrument, Sidorova draws out an amazing variety of colors and textures from these pieces. She captures every subtle change in inflection, articulation, and mood: wistful and fragile one moment, sultry and lavish the next - The Classic Review

JODIE DEVOS - AND LOVE SAID

Devos's lovely, light soprano, beautiful throughout its range, grows especially enrapturing when she tempers her voice to a silver thread . . . the beauty of it all will sweep you away - Stereophile

ICELAND SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA - OCCURRENCE

It’s a lineup that is emblematic of Iceland’s radiant new music scene, known for its massive, slow-moving sound sculptures illuminated with delicate instrumental details. Each piece on the album is a gorgeously abstracted soundscape in itself, showcasing the small Nordic island’s all but unparalleled explorations of texture, timbre, and immersive, atmospheric colors in music - Second Inversion

PETER JABLONSKY - STANCHINSKY PIANO WORKS

Throughout all of these pieces, Jablonsky plays with a superb legato and technique as well as a smoldering undercurrent of passion. He is perfectly suited to this repertoire.  The Art Music Lounge

MILOS KARADAGLIC - THE MOON AND THE FOREST

Classical music lovers who have been longing to find a recording of concertos for guitar and orchestra they can enjoy as wholeheartedly as they have enjoyed recordings of Rodrigo’s Concierto de Aranjuez over the years now have reason to rejoice, for this new release by the Montenegro-born guitarist Miloš Karadaglić  - Classical Candor

PETUR SAKARI - FRANCK ORGAN WORKS

Deeply impressive performances, rendered in top-flight sound; organ recordings don’t come much better than this - MusicWeb International

THOMAS TROTTER - DURUFLE COMPLETE ORGAN WORKS

Thomas Trotter seemed to be truly inspired by his return to the scene of his early professional triumphs – King’s College Chapel, Cambridge – to record a programme of Duruflé on the newly restored organ. This magnificent release on King’s own label stood out for me as the runaway champion of organ recordings during the year - Gramophone

RADOS/GERSTEIN - MOZART PIANO DUET SONATAS

Rados with Gerstein he has created substantial, repeat-rich accounts of two staggeringly rich sonatas, in which the duo give the impression of delivering a special kind of non-performance – the music as the players want to hear it just for themselves - The Irish Times

ESTONIAN PHILHARMONIC CHAMBER ORCHESTRA - SCHNITTKE CHOIR CONCERTO

All considered, BIS has done a sterling job with the recorded sound, and these invaluable, sumptuous performances are on an equal footing with the best in an already crowded CD market - Opera Today

PARKER QUARTET - DVORAK STRING QUINTET/KURTAG STRING QUARTETS

In a program of contrasts, the musically sensitive Boston-based Parker Quartet plays the music of György Kurtág with virtuoso panache, and are joined by their mentor, violist Kim Kashkashian, in an Antonín Dvořák work in their ECM New Series debut - The Whole Note

EBENE QUARTET - 'ROUND MIDNIGHT

This is one of the most imaginatively planned discs to have come [our] way in quite a while.  A varied and imaginative tapestry of night music, sumptuously performed - The Strad.

SEAN SHIBE - CAMINO

At less than an hour, the album is short, but musically one is not short-changed. Shibe writes the notes himself, eloquently explain the musical choices. The quality of the recording and the communicativeness of the performances are shining through, making this remarkable release a real testament to Shibe's artistry - The Classic Review

FREDDIE DE TOMMASO - PASSIONE

Like those wonderfully sunny, feel-good movies that came out of Italy in the 1950's, it is a guilty pleasure, tuneful, romantic, an indulgence in every way.  . . . [de Tommaso displays] well-schooled tenor artistry - The Financial Times

IXTAHUELE - EDEN AHBEZ: DHARMALAND

The Swedish band interpret newly discovered sheet music from the Nature Boy composer . . . a striking take on an extraordinary songwriter - The Guardian