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Susan Platts, Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, Joann Falletta Naxos · 8574735 · 79 minutes Stravinsky’s so-called “fairy tale” pieces occupy this wonderfully strange corner of his output — think Renard, The Soldier’s Tale, and Mavra — where folk grotesquerie and neoclassical wit collide in ways that still feel genuinely surprising. Falletta brings exactly the kind of rhythmic clarity and affection […]
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Christian Zacharias (piano), Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne MDG · MDG10223916 · 72 minutes MDG keeps quietly putting out some of the most thoughtful recordings around, and this new release with Christian Zacharias and the Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne looks set to continue that tradition. Zacharias has always had this wonderful ability to make you feel like you’re […]
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Helen Charlston (mezzo-soprano), Sholto Kynoch (piano) BIS · BIS2704 · 62 minutes Helen Charlston’s voice has this incredible depth to it — that "wine-dark mezzo-soprano" description from The Guardian feels exactly right, like something rich and ancient you want to sit with. She and Sholto Kynoch make a genuinely interesting pair here, with Kynoch stepping beyond the keys to […]
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Sinfonia of London, John Wilson Chandos · CHSA5379 · 68 minutes John Wilson and the Sinfonia of London have quietly become one of the most exciting partnerships in orchestral recording right now, and this Chandos release is a perfect reminder of why. That Gramophone quote about the precision in *The Sorcerer’s Apprentice* — down to a single pizzicato "plop" […]
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Lisa Batiashvili (violin)Staatskapelle Berlin, Daniel Barenboim Deutsche Grammophon · 4796038 · 70 minutes Lisa Batiashvili and Barenboim make a dream team here, and you can feel that connection in every phrase — there’s a real sense of two musical minds completely in sync. Batiashvili’s playing has this gorgeous inward quality, never showy, always searching for something deeper in the […]
