August 2012

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

JS BACH Motets, BWV225 30. Ich lasse dich nicht, du segnest mich denn, BWVAnh 159 Monteverdi Choir / John Eliot Gardiner SDG SDG716

Recording of the Month ‘Gardiner challenges orthodoxy in how these a cappella holy grails are fundamentally signposted with persuasive passion and genuine zeal’

JONATHAN FREEMAN ATTWOOD’S REVIEW IS ON PAGE 42

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

BRUCKNER Symphony No 9 Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra / Sir Simon Rattle EMI 952969 2 ‘I can’t think of many recent releases that are more musically important than this. If you love Bruckner’s Ninth, you have a duty to hear it.’

REVIEW ON PAGE 44

DEBUSSY Orchestral Works Royal Scottish National Orchestra / Stéphane Denève Chandos CHSA5102 ‘These performances convey both the dynamism and the delicacy of the music with understanding and stimulating freshness.’

REVIEW ON PAGE 45

4 GRAMOPHONE AUGUST 2012

VIVALDI La cetra, Op 9 Holland Baroque Society / Rachel Podger vn Channel Classics CCSSA33412 ‘Podger plays with her customary beauty of tone, purity of tuning and lively variety of articulation, giving a delightfully unforced, spontaneous impression.’

REVIEW ON PAGE 53

BEETHOVEN Diabelli Variations Andreas Staier fp Harmonia Mundi HMC90 2091 ‘Perfectly judged tempi, angular demeanour, characterful contrasts, biting accents and cumulative sweep add up to a performance that abounds with probing details.’

REVIEW ON PAGE 64

CHOPIN Piano Works Janina Fialkowska pf ATMA Classique ACD2 2666 ‘When you hear her unleash such a formidable tempest of sound in the presto storms of the Second Ballade, you seem to see Delacroix’s pained and tortured portrait of the composer.’

REVIEW ON PAGE 66

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