Timothy Ridout (viola), Jonathan Ware (piano)
Harmonia Mundi · HMM902787 · 63 minutes
The viola lives in a register that sits almost uncomfortably close to the human voice — brooding, warm, never quite settled — and Timothy Ridout leans right into that quality across this wide-ranging programme of transcriptions and originals. What’s striking here is how he and Jonathan Ware treat the album as a cohesive argument rather than a playlist, finding unexpected threads between composers you wouldn’t necessarily put in the same room. Gramophone called it a knock-out, and with playing this aristocratically poised, it’s easy to hear why.
Awards:
- Gramophone Magazine — June 2026 — Editor’s Choice
“A knock-out album opener and a stylistically wide-ranging programme teeming with fascinating intersections and brand-new transcriptions…the aristocratically poised passion is an album-wide…”
— Gramophone Magazine, June 2026
Cédric Tiberghien (piano)
Harmonia Mundi · HMM90243738 · 2 hours 16 minutes
Beethoven’s variation sets are where you get to watch him think out loud — working through an idea with the obsessive focus of someone who genuinely can’t leave a good thing alone. Cédric Tiberghien brings that same spirit of investigation to this third volume, and the decision to open with Ligeti’s Music ricercata is a quietly inspired one, framing the whole programme as an exploration of structure rather than just a showcase of notes. That commitment to digging into the architecture of the music, without ever losing the charm that makes you want to stay in the room, is exactly what makes this set so rewarding.
Awards:
- Presto Recording of the Week — 19th June 2026
“Ligeti’s Music ricercata makes a striking opening to the album – Tiberghien’s commitment to thoroughly exploring this structural element is unwavering, yet so is his beguiling way with Ligeti’s…”
— Matthew Ash, Presto Music, 19th June 2026
Hanna Hipp (mezzo), Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Philharmonia Chorus, Vasily Petrenko
Harmonia Mundi · HMM90542122 · 98 minutes
Mahler’s Third is one of those mountains where the conductor either finds the landscape or gets lost in it — six movements, nearly 100 minutes, and a philosophical arc that runs from raw elemental force all the way to a final Adagio of almost unbearable tenderness. Petrenko and the Royal Philharmonic dig into that contrast with real conviction, and mezzo Hanna Hipp brings exactly the earthy warmth the “O Mensch” movement needs to land without tipping into sentimentality. At 98 minutes this reading breathes at its own unhurried pace, and that patience turns out to be the whole point.
Jean-Guihen Queyras (cello), Luxembourg Philharmonic, Gustavo Gimeno
Harmonia Mundi · HMM902714 · 75 minutes
Lutosławski’s Cello Concerto is one of those pieces where the soloist and orchestra feel like they’re in a genuine argument — the cello pushing for autonomy against a mass of orchestral forces that keep trying to pull it back — and what Queyras does here is strip away any sense of ideological drama in favour of something more purely musical and personal. His playing has this rare quality of sounding both spontaneous and deeply considered at the same time, which suits the work’s unusual architecture perfectly. Bloch’s Schelomo makes for a rich companion piece, another cello voice searching for something just out of reach, and Gimeno and the Luxembourg Philharmonic give both works a real sense of weight and colour.
“Already at the first hearing I was very intrigued by Jean-Guihen Queyras’s new interpretation, as I could hear no traces of political history or power struggles in his playing. In fact, he makes…”
— Gramophone Magazine, June 2026
Sébastien Daucé, Ensemble Correspondance, Lauranne Oliva, Alex Rosen
Harmonia Mundi · HMM902801.03 · 2 hours 47 minutes
Cavalli’s La Calisto is one of those seventeenth-century operas that somehow feels both completely strange and deeply human at the same time — gods and nymphs behaving badly, with music that slides between comedy and genuine ache in the space of a few bars. Sébastien Daucé and Ensemble Correspondance bring exactly the kind of stylistic fluency this repertoire demands, where ornamentation isn’t decoration but the actual emotional language of the piece. With Lauranne Oliva and Alex Rosen in the cast, there’s real vocal chemistry to dig into across nearly three hours of Venetian baroque at its most gloriously weird.
Les Arts Florissants, Benjamin Alard (harpischord), Paul Agnew
Harmonia Mundi · HAF8905414 · 71 minutes
The Köthen years gave Bach a rare stretch of creative freedom — no cantata deadlines, no church politics, just the pleasure of writing gorgeous, exploratory music for court musicians he genuinely respected. Les Arts Florissants and Paul Agnew bring that sense of ease and delight right to the surface here, and Benjamin Alard’s harpsichord playing has a conversational quality that makes even familiar material feel freshly discovered. When Gramophone calls it “engaging about music that sits at the core of the canon,” that’s actually a harder thing to pull off than it sounds.
“This instalment manages to say something engaging about music that sits at the core of the canon; no mean feat.”
— Gramophone Magazine, July 2026
Mélissa Petit (soprano), Beth Taylor (mezzo-soprano), Bastien Rimondi (tenor), Andreas Wolf (bass-baritone), Les Arts Florissants, William Christie
Harmonia Mundi · HAF8905413 · 53 minutes
The Harmoniemesse is Haydn’s last mass, and there’s something genuinely touching about how much personality he still packs into it — the wind writing alone, those clarinet and oboe lines weaving through the texture, feels almost conversational. Christie and Les Arts Florissants bring exactly the kind of lightness the music needs, never letting the devotional weight tip into solemnity, and the Gloria here apparently buzzes with that irresistible Haydn energy. The solo quartet is a strong one too, with Andreas Wolf anchoring the whole thing with real authority.
“What impresses in this recording is the restrained playfulness with which Haydn – and Christie – utilise these forces. The sprightly joy of the Gloria is especially infectious, set against the…”
— BBC Music Magazine, July 2026,3 out of 5 stars
Samuel Hasselhorn (baritone), Ammiel Bushakevitz (piano)
Harmonia Mundi · HMM902779 · 71 minutes
Schubert’s Hoffnung sits in that quietly devastating corner of his output where hope and longing blur into something almost too tender to name, and Hasselhorn navigates that ambiguity with a baritone that feels genuinely alive — mellow in the lyrical stretches, then suddenly sharp-edged when the music demands it. Bushakevitz isn’t just accompanying here; he’s in full conversation, and you can hear the two of them listening to each other in real time. Gramophone called Hasselhorn’s response to each song “immediate and individual,” and that really is the thing — nothing here sounds like it’s been decided in advance.
“His colourful baritone – mellow and ductile, yet with an incisive cutting edge where apt – is a pleasure in itself, and his response to each of these songs immediate and individual. Nothing…”
— Gramophone Magazine, June 2026
