Composers
Heinrich Schütz (1585–1672)
Long before he became the most important German composer of the seventeenth century, Heinrich Schütz was just…
Ludwig van Beethoven
Mitsuko Uchida (piano) Decca · 4872064 · 73 minutes These three sonatas ask a pianist to let go of the piano-as-instrument…
Béla Bartók
Marmen Quartet BIS · BIS2693 · 67 minutes Pairing Ligeti’s two quartets with Bartók’s Fourth is such a smart bit of…
Samuel Barber
Johan Dalene (violin), Norrkoping Symphony Orchestra, Daniel Blendulf BIS · BIS2440 · 58 minutes Pairing Tchaikovsky with Barber is a smart…
Johann Sebastian Bach
Víkingur Ólafsson (piano) Deutsche Grammophon · 4835022 · 77 minutes Víkingur Ólafsson approaches Bach less like a monument to be dusted…
Arcangelo Corelli
Rachel Podger (violin) Channel Classics · CCSSA44422 · 67 minutes There’s something almost defiant about a program built entirely on unaccompanied…
Anton Bruckner
Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Manfred Honeck Reference Recordings · FR-733 · 63 minutes Bruckner never got to finish this one, and there’s…
Arnold Bax
BBC Philharmonic, Vernon Handley Chandos · CHAN10122(5) · 5 hours 54 minutes Bax’s symphonies live in this weird, wonderful space between…
Johannes Brahms
András Schiff (piano/director), Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment ECM · 4855770 · 94 minutes There’s something genuinely bracing about hearing…
Alfred Schnittke
Raul Mikson (tenor), Maria Melaha (soprano), Karolina Kriis (soprano), Marianne Pärna (alto), Ave Hännikäinen (alto), Toomas Tohert…
Arvo Pärt
Tui Hirv (soprano) & Rainer Vilu (baritone)Latvian Radio Choir, Vox Clamantis, Riga Sinfonietta, Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir…
George Gershwin
Barbara Hannigan (soprano/conductor)Ludwig Orchestra Alpha · ALPHA293 · 57 minutes Hannigan singing while conducting is the kind of feat that could…
Edvard Grieg
Lise Davidsen (soprano), Leif Ove Andsnes (piano) Decca · 4852254 · 79 minutes Grieg’s songs rarely get the star treatment his…
Jean Sibelius
Lisa Batiashvili (violin)Staatskapelle Berlin, Daniel Barenboim Deutsche Grammophon · 4796038 · 70 minutes Both the Tchaikovsky and Sibelius concertos can easily…
Igor Stravinsky
Vilde Frang (violin), Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, Pekka Kuusisto Warner Classics · 9029667740 · 65 minutes Beethoven’s violin concerto lives or dies…
Claude Debussy
Víkingur Ólafsson (piano) Deutsche Grammophon · 4837701 · 78 minutes Víkingur Ólafsson has a gift for finding the thread that connects…
