June 2012

Informed by our unrivalled panel of critics, we choose the month’s must-hear recordings hoice

TCHAIKOVSKY. MENDELSSOHN Violin Concertos Ray Chen vn Swedish Radio SO / Daniel Harding Sony 88697 98410 2

Recording of the Month ‘In his hands, the music is like a living thing; one senses that each performance will have its own individual character’

FOR THE REVIEW BY DUNCAN DRUCE, TURN TO PAGE 38

Hear every Gramophone Choice recording, including Recording of the Month, through the online Gramophone Player at gramophone.co.uk

HANDEL Six Concerti grossi, Op 3, HWV312 17 Concerto Copenhagen / Lars Ulrik Mortensen CPO CPO777 488-2 ‘The performances ooze abundantly with charm, wisdom and warmth…One of the most endearing artistic interpretations of Op 3 in recent years.’

REVIEW ON PAGE 43

4 GRAMOPHONE JUNE 2012

MAHLER Symphony No 7 Bamberg Symphony Orchestra / Jonathan Nott Tudor TUDOR7176 ‘The Mahler we know and love resides in the central section, where the harp glissandos to tranquil heights in music that the Bambergers play and feel most affectingly.’

REVIEW ON PAGE 46

LANGGAARD ‘String Quartets, Vol 1’ String Quartets – No 2; No 3; No 6 Nightingale Quartet Dacapo 6 220575 ‘This young Danish ensemble throws itself into the music with a vehemence and sense of purpose that go far beyond the pioneering venture of the Kontras.’

REVIEW ON PAGE 59

POULENC Complete Chamber Works London Conchord Ensemble Champs Hill Records CHRCD028 ‘A factor that comes across clearly here is that Poulenc had a more or less infallible ear for tapping into the timbre and personality of different instruments.’

REVIEW ON PAGE 61

SCRIABIN Twelve Etudes, Op 8. Six Preludes, Op 13. Five Preludes, Op 16. Piano Sonata No 10, Op 70. Vers la lamme, Op 72 Olli Mustonen pf Ondine ODE1184 2 ‘Scriabin as you have never heard him before, played by one of music’s most formidable and compulsive free spirits.’

REVIEW ON PAGE 71

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