Awards 2012

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

‘LIEUX RETROUVÉS’ Works for cello and piano by Adès, Fauré, Janáček, Kurtág and Liszt Steven Isserlis vc Thomas Adès pf Hyperion CDA67948

Recording of the Month ‘In Adès’s Lieux retrouvés, the sheer panache of the final movement is as persuasive as the tonal refinement preceding it’ ARNOLD WHITTALL’S REVIEW IS ON PAGE 58

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FX DUSSEK Four Symphonies Helsinki Baroque Orchestra / Aapo Häkkinen Naxos 8 572683 ‘Häkkinen is in control of phrase and contour, fetchingly fashioning the music with pithy embellishments from the keyboard.’

REVIEW ON PAGE 63

HOLMBOE Chamber Symphonies Lapland Chamber Orchestra / John Storgårds Dacapo 6 220621 ‘Vagn Holmboe’s three Chamber Symphonies are superb encapsulations of his full-orchestral symphonic manner on a small scale.’

REVIEW ON PAGE 69

4 GRAMOPHONE AWARDS 2012

STRAVINSKY. HONEGGER. MARTIN Violin Concertos Baiba Skride vn BBC NOW / Thierry Fischer Orfeo C849 121A ‘The Stravinsky is little short of a revelation, lean and keen, with the kind of inner clarity that you never get in the concert hall.’

REVIEW ON PAGE 72

SVENDSEN Orchestral Works, Vol 2 Truls Mørk vc Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra / Neeme Järvi Chandos CHAN10711 ‘Järvi and his Norwegians are on scintillating form and the Cello Concerto and dark reading of the Symphony are to be treasured.’

REVIEW ON PAGE 73

SHOSTAKOVICH String Quartets – Nos 3, 4 and 7 Meta4 Hänssler Classic CD98 644 ‘Listen to the highly contrapuntal central section of the first movement of the Third Quartet and marvel at the range and precision of colour and articulation.’

REVIEW ON PAGE 83

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