Vilde Frang (violin), Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, Pekka Kuusisto
Warner Classics · 9029667740 · 65 minutes
Beethoven’s violin concerto lives or dies by how well the soloist actually listens to the orchestra, and Vilde Frang gets that on a deep level — her playing here feels like a conversation rather than a performance. She shapes Beethoven’s long, arching lines with a tonal subtlety that never calls attention to itself, just quietly draws you further in. Paired with the Stravinsky, conducted by Pekka Kuusisto with the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, the whole disc has an intimacy and intelligence that earned it the International Classical Music Award for Concerto in 2023 — and honestly, it’s easy to hear why.
Awards:
- BBC Music Magazine — Christmas 2022 — Concerto Choice
- International Classical Music Awards — 2023 — Winner – Concerto
- Gramophone Awards — 2023 Finalists — Shortlisted – Concerto
“Frang’s exquisite tonal subtlety and enhanced range of dynamics allows her to weave in and out of Beethoven’s carefully graded orchestral textures, with a profound sense of listening and responding…”
— BBC Music Magazine, Christmas 2022,5 out of 5 stars
Orchestre de Paris, Klaus Mäkelä
Decca · 4853946 · 83 minutes
Klaus Mäkelä was just 26 when he led these performances, and you can feel that youthful hunger in every bar — there’s a rawness to the Rite of Spring that reminds you how genuinely shocking this music once was. The Firebird is where things get especially interesting, with Mäkelä shaping even the quieter connective tissue of Fokine’s fairy-tale with real theatrical instinct, never letting tension slip between the big moments. The Orchestre de Paris sounds thrillingly committed throughout, and the Opus Klassik win for Conductor of the Year feels completely earned.
Awards:
- Presto Editor’s Choice — March 2023
- Gramophone Magazine — May 2023 — Editor’s Choice
- International Classical Music Awards — 2024 — Nominated – Symphonic Music
- Opus Klassik Awards — 2024 — Winner – Conductor of the Year
“[Firebird] It would be hard to deny Mäkelä his place in the top tier. He creates a vibrant mood in every episode, even the ones that fill in while pantomime takes place onstage in Fokine’s fairy-tale…”
— Fanfare, July/August 2023
Marc-André Hamelin (piano), Leif Ove Andsnes (piano)
Hyperion · CDA68189 · 64 minutes
Stravinsky made the two-piano reduction of The Rite of Spring himself, and it’s a genuinely wild piece of writing — percussive, relentless, and full of moments where you can almost hear him thinking through the orchestral logic at the keyboard. Hamelin and Andsnes attack it with such rhythmic precision and shared intelligence that the famous brutality of the score feels completely earned rather than imposed. There’s also a strange intimacy to hearing all that primal energy filtered through just four hands, and these two find it without ever softening the edges.
Awards:
- Gramophone Magazine — February 2018 — Record of the Month
- Record Review — 10th February 2018 — Recording of the Week
- Gramophone Awards — 2018 — Finalist – Instrumental
- Presto Recordings of the Year — Winner 2018
“The two-piano transcription is arguably as exhilarating as the full orchestration [of The Rite], and Andsnes and Hamelin offer a reading that is in turns thrilling, unsettling and beautiful……”
— BBC Music Magazine, April 2018,5 out of 5 stars
Beatrice Rana (piano)
Warner Classics · 9029541109 · 72 minutes
Stravinsky’s piano reductions of Petrushka and The Firebird are some of the most punishing music ever written for two hands — they demand the kind of fearless physicality that either convinces you completely or falls apart at the seams. Beatrice Rana brings exactly that volatility, attacking these transcriptions with a raw energy that feels genuinely dangerous in the best possible way. Paired with Ravel’s Miroirs and a La Valse that Fanfare compared favorably to Argerich herself, this is a pianist fully in command of her own spectacular instincts.
Awards:
- Presto Editor’s Choice — October 2019
- Gramophone Magazine — November 2019 — Editor’s Choice
- Diapason d’Or — November 2019 — Nouveauté
- Presto Recordings of the Year — Finalist 2019
“I find Rana nothing less than spectacular. Like Argerich, her volatility grips your attention, and it is coupled with musicianship of a high order. [La Valse] Rana is at her very best here,…”
— Fanfare, March/April 2020
BBC Philharmonic, Sir Andrew Davis
Chandos · CHSA5315 · 83 minutes
Stravinsky’s two symphonies occupy a strange, thrilling corner of his output — neoclassical on the surface but full of rhythmic traps and harmonic surprises that keep even seasoned listeners on their toes. Sir Andrew Davis and the BBC Philharmonic bring an almost architectural clarity to both works, letting the textures breathe while never softening the music’s sharp edges. That BBC Music Magazine gave it Recording of the Month and a full five stars says a lot, but honestly the real reward is just how vividly alive these performances feel from first note to last.
Awards:
- BBC Music Magazine — January 2023 — Recording of the Month
“With exemplary control of orchestral balance, clarity of texture and a capacity to draw a fabulous array of colours from the music, these performances are guaranteed to keep the listener riveted…”
— BBC Music Magazine, January 2023,5 out of 5 stars
Genia Kühmeier, Chor des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Symphonie-Orchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Mariss Jansons
BR Klassik · 900201 · 77 minutes
Pairing Pärt’s luminous stillness with Poulenc’s deeply human faith and Stravinsky’s cool, neo-classical severity sounds like a conceptual stretch on paper, but Jansons makes it feel inevitable. The Bavarian Radio forces are in superb form here, and Genia Kühmeier brings a purity to her contributions that matches the spiritual weight of the program beautifully.
Awards:
- International Classical Music Awards — 2023 — Nominated – Choral Music
“One can hardly imagine these three pieces…put together with more coherence and authority than in this version by Mariss Jansons.”
— Choir & Organ, September 2022,5 out of 5 stars
BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Ilan Volkov
Hyperion · CDA67697 · 58 minutes
Stravinsky’s neo-classical period can feel coldly brilliant on the wrong podium, but The Fairy’s Kiss — his tender, melancholy reimagining of Tchaikovsky — absolutely needs a conductor who understands how to let the music breathe and glow at the same time. Ilan Volkov finds exactly that balance with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, shaping phrases with a natural sense of flow that makes the whole thing feel inevitable rather than calculated. The BBC Music Magazine raved about his tempo coordination, and once you hear it you understand why — the transitions that can sound awkward in lesser hands here feel completely organic.
Awards:
- Building a Library — July 2010 — First Choice
- Sunday Times — 2010 — Albums of the Year
“What a joy…to hear a conductor with the right instinct for tempo co-ordination and continuity…If only there were more truly sympathetic conductors out there such as Volkov to observe Stravinsky’s…”
— BBC Music Magazine, June 2010,5 out of 5 stars
Orchestre de Paris, Klaus Mäkelä
Decca · 4870146 · 64 minutes
What a pairing this is — Stravinsky’s Pétrouchka sitting alongside Debussy’s Jeux and the Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune makes complete sense when you remember how deeply these composers were orbiting each other in early 20th-century Paris. Klaus Mäkelä draws genuinely gorgeous color from the Orchestre de Paris, especially in that Debussy Prélude, where the timbres feel almost liquid, the flute melting into the strings in exactly the way Debussy intended. BBC Music Magazine gave the recording a perfect five stars for sound quality, and honestly, put on good headphones and you’ll understand why immediately.
Awards:
- Gramophone Magazine — April 2024 — Editor’s Choice
- BBC Music Magazine — May 2024 — Orchestral Choice
“I was particularly impressed with the gorgeous timbres of Mäkelä’s wonderfully evocative account of Debussy’s Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune, and the performance of the incredibly subtle…”
— BBC Music Magazine, May 2024,4 out of 5 stars(Performance) /5 out of 5 stars(Recording)
