It's #SymphonistsChoice2022! My Christmas survey of twelve of the year's greatest (*) symphony and orchestral recordings.
For the rest of December I'm counting down my favourites finishing on New Year's Day 2023 with my Record of the Year. Will I pick your favourite?
Follow my playlist to listen to my choices as I add them each day. Let's get this #ClassicalMusic #Christmas Countdown party started. https://spoti.fi/3WK8U5G
Haydn: Symphonies 61, 66 & 99 etc
Kammerorchester Basel, Giovanni Antonini
Polished performances so full of boisterous bounce you're almost glad for the chance to catch your breath in the sublime slow movements. The Toy Symphony once mistakenly attributed to Haydn is a hoot.
Stravinsky: Symphony in C; Symphony in 3 Movements etc.
Superb Chandos Records sound captures all the captivating colour and character of the BBC Philharmonic's beautifully-pointed playing. Andrew Davis matches Igor's metrical ingenuity with humanizing warmth and humour.
Vaughan Williams Live Vol. 1
BBC SO, RPO, Sir Malcolm Sargent
Essential #RVW150 listening. Searing, surging, stinging accounts of The Wasps and #Symphony No. 6 show what a superb Vaughan Williams conductor Sargent was. The premiere performance of No. 9 is a model of how to approach a masterpiece that's still much misunderstood today.
#SymphonistsChoice2022 #9
Adrian Williams: #Symphony No. 1; Portraits of Ned Kelly
The remarkable #21stCenturySymphony project to commission, perform & record nine symphonies from nine different composers passes the halfway mark in memorable style with some of its richest musical bounty so far.
#SymphonistsChoice2022 #8
Dora Pejačević: Piano Concerto; Symphony
Peter Donohoe is as commanding as he is expressive in the grand, luminous poetry of the piano concerto, while the BBC SO and Sakari Oramo bring the symphony's striking sonorities and lush cinematic sweep vividly to life. Yet to discover this wonderful music? Start here!
Paul Wee must possess at least 20 perfectly co-ordinated fingers, but his Liszt/Beethoven Eroica is as remarkable for its symphonic strength and expressive exuberance as it is for his extraordinary technique. Alkan's transcription of Mozart K. 466 is equally astonishing.
#SymphonistsChoice2022 #6
Weinberg: Symphonies 3 & 7; Flute Concerto No. 1
Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla's previous Weinberg was a Gramophone Magazine Recording of the Year in 2020. Its successor is more than worth the wait. This shrewdly-programmed, superbly performed successor makes an even better showcase for a composer who's become essential to my musical world.
#SymphonistsChoice2022 #5
Thomas de Hartmann: Orchestral Music Vol. 2
Ukraine-born de Hartmann is my #DiscoveryOfTheYear. His music is often as brilliantly scored as his teacher Rimsky-Korsakov's, with an expansive scale and cinematic sweep as wide as the Russian steppes. The Symphonie-Poème No. 1 is painted on a vast 65-minute canvas packed with colour, balletic vitality and dramatic incident. The perky double-bass concerto is a delight.
My dream Wranitzky recording is finally here! These magnificent performances quickly make it clear why in his day the symphonies of Paul Wranitzky (1756-1808) were arguably more popular in Vienna than any by Haydn, Mozart or Beethoven. Listen out for impressive special effects including cannon fire, sleigh bells and a thunderstorm complete with howling wind. Storming stuff!
The only problem with the recording phenomenon that is the Sinfonia of London and John Wilson is which of their phenomenal recordings to choose. The attention to detail, superlative playing and stunning sound has made each new release a revelation whether the music is unfamiliar fayre or firm favourites. All five of their 2022 Chandos albums are magical, but it's in Hollywood that their wizardry is most irresistible of all.
#SymphonistsChoice2022 #2
Nielsen: Symphonies 4 & 5
Danish National Symphony Orchestra, Fabio Luisi
Not discovered Nielsen? Get this. Need convincing he's one of the greatest symphonists of all? Get this. Already know he is and own lots of Nielsen symphony records? GET THIS!
If the remaining volumes maintain the standard set here then this may become THE Nielsen #symphony cycle for the 21st-century. That would make me a very happy Nielsen lover indeed.
#SymphonistsChoice2022 #1
#RecordOfTheYear
After a life devoted to early music Jordi Savall turned his hands to Mozart and Beethoven symphonies. Now here's Schubert that stirs my senses and rouses my emotions like no other recording I know.
His orchestra also sound unlike any other, adding menace to the darkness and pain of the Unfinished and so much rustic brio to the Great that I wanted it to go on forever.
Great music making from a great musician.
The Symphonist