Arcadi Volodos (piano)
Sony · 19658879292 · 65 minutes
Schubert’s so-called “Gasteiner” Sonata is a strange, sun-drenched beast — written at a moment of rare optimism in the composer’s life, and it needs a pianist who can ride that buoyant energy without letting it tip into blandness. Volodos absolutely nails that balance, finding the upbeat spirit BBC Music Magazine singles out while also sitting inside the Con moto movement with real stillness and depth. Pairing it with Kinderszenen is a quietly inspired choice, too — both works share that quality of simple surfaces hiding something much more interior.
Awards:
- BBC Music Magazine — July 2026 — Instrumental Choice
“With the ‘Gasteiner’ Sonata…Volodos catches the prevailingly up-beat mood of the whole, and also the meditative beauty of the Con moto movement.”
— BBC Music Magazine, July 2026,5 out of 5 stars
The Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, Paavo Järvi
Sony · 19958444992 · 60 minutes
These two symphonies sit in a fascinating pocket of Schubert’s output — written before the big Romantic ambitions kicked in, they’re nimble, Mozartian, and full of a charm that can easily tip into blandness in the wrong hands. Järvi and the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie clearly understand that the wit here needs to feel spontaneous rather than polished, and that intently-listening quality Gramophone picks up on is exactly what these scores ask for. The interplay between parts in the Fifth’s finale, in particular, sounds like musicians genuinely surprising each other.
“The players of the finely honed Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie evidently delight in their mutual company, listening intently to one another and relishing their lively, witty interplay.”
— Gramophone Magazine, July 2026
Jonas Kaufmann (tenor), Hungarian State Opera Orchestra, Dirk Kaftan
Sony · 19958413542 · 80 minutes
Operetta occupies this wonderfully awkward middle ground between opera and musical theatre, and the best of it — Lehár, Kálmán, Zeller — demands a voice that can charm as readily as it can soar. Kaufmann leans into that tension here, bringing a genuinely warm Bavarian ease to repertoire that rewards singers who don’t overthink it. The Hungarian State Opera Orchestra under Dirk Kaftan keeps things buoyant and idiomatic, which gives Kaufmann’s tenor plenty of room to breathe and seduce.
“Kaufmann’s fans will love it and operetta aficionados will find lots to enjoy, too, if they can overcome their reservations about opera stars as tourists in this music.”
— Gramophone Magazine, May 2026
Michie Koyama (piano), Fedoseyev Friends (strings), Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, Dmitri Jurowski
Sony · SICC19091B00Z · 40 minutes
Rachmaninov’s Second Piano Concerto lives or dies on whether the soloist can make that famous opening — those slowly swelling chords, almost like a bell tolling — feel inevitable rather than merely grand, and Michie Koyama absolutely nails that sense of weight and inevitability. What’s striking here is the chamber-like intimacy the Fedoseyev Friends strings bring to the mix, giving the whole reading a conversational quality that keeps the music from tipping into melodrama. Jurowski and the Tokyo Philharmonic round out a forty-minute journey that feels surprisingly personal for a concerto this heroic in scale.
Lavinia Meijer (harp)
Sony · G0100057956025 · 8 minutes 2 seconds
Eric Whitacre wrote Seal Lullaby with this gorgeous, aching tenderness that makes it feel like the melody has always existed somewhere — you just hadn’t heard it yet. Lavinia Meijer brings exactly the right touch on harp, letting the harmonics shimmer and breathe rather than pushing for drama that was never really the point. Eight minutes feels like the perfect length for something this quietly gorgeous to just wash over you.
Aikodai Meiden High School Symphonic Band (brass, vocal), Hiroki Ito (vocal), Mana Kawaguchi, Shota Tohyama
Sony · SIXX07470B00Z · 86 minutes
Brass band competitions in Japan operate at a level of intensity that most Western listeners genuinely aren’t prepared for — the Aikodai Meiden High School Symphonic Band has built a reputation for performances that feel less like student concerts and more like main-stage events. This recording captures that electricity across a generous 86 minutes, with Hiroki Ito’s vocal contributions adding a dimension you don’t always get in band repertoire of this kind. The interplay between Mana Kawaguchi, Shota Tohyama, and the ensemble gives the whole thing a real sense of shared momentum rather than soloists being tacked on for variety.
Raya Yarbrough, Bear McCreary, Darren MacLean
Sony · 19958444322 · 76 minutes
Bear McCreary has spent years weaving Celtic folk textures into cinematic orchestral writing, and the final season of Outlander gives him room to pull out all the stops — the score feels genuinely elegiac, like a long farewell that knows exactly what it’s mourning. Raya Yarbrough’s vocals are woven right into the fabric of the orchestration rather than sitting on top of it, which gives the whole thing an intimacy that pure instrumental scores rarely achieve. If you’ve followed this series at all, the musical callbacks scattered across these 76 minutes hit harder than you’d expect.
Alexis Ffrench (piano)
Sony · G0100057697250 · 4 minutes 38 seconds
Alexis Ffrench writes piano music that lives right at the edge where classical training meets something more meditative and open-hearted, and these two short pieces feel like a quiet conversation rather than a performance. Blackbird Rising and Blackbird Returns together clock in under five minutes, but Ffrench has always understood that brevity can carry real emotional weight when every note is chosen with care.
