Thursday, January 15, 2015

Top Discs for 2014

Recommendations for discs are coming in at this time of year.  We start with recital discs:

Opera News:

The Year’s Top Twelve Recital Discs

  • Ildar Abdrazakov, Power Players (Delos) 
  • Cecilia Bartoli, St. Petersburg (Decca) 
  • Nicole Cabell, Chanson d’Avril (Delos) 
  • Max Emanuel Cencic, Rokoko (Decca) 
  • Alice Coote, Handel Arias (Hyperion) 
  • Sabine Devieilhe, Le Grand Théâtre de L’Amour (Erato) 
  • Vittorio Grigòlo, The Romantic Hero (Sony) 
  • Thomas Hampson, Notturno (DG) 
  • Dmitri Hvorostovsky, The Bells of Dawn (Ondine) 
  • Jonas Kaufmann, You Mean the World to Me (Sony) 
  • Olga Peretyatko, Arabesque (Sony) 
  • Anna Prohaska, Behind the Lines (DG) 

Classical Grammys:

  • Douce France Anne Sofie Von Otter; Bengt Forsberg, accompanist (Carl Bagge, Margareta Bengston, Mats Bergström, Per Ekdahl, Bengan Janson, Olle Linder & Antoine Tamestit) Label: Naïve 
  • Porpora: Arias Philippe Jaroussky; Andrea Marcon, conductor (Cecilia Bartoli; Venice Baroque Orchestra) Label: Erato 
  • Schubert: Die Schöne Müllerin Florian Boesch; Malcolm Martineau, accompanist Label: Onyx 
  • Stella Di Napoli Joyce DiDonato; Riccardo Minasi, conductor (Chœur De L'Opéra National De Lyon; Orchestre De L'Opéra National De Lyon) Label: Erato/Warner Classics 
  • Virtuoso Rossini Arias Lawrence Brownlee; Constantine Orbelian, conductor (Kansas City Symphony Orchestra) Label: Delos 
BBC Music has its own awards:

  • Strauss, Fauré, Debussy, Strauss: Die erwachte Rose; Mädchenblumen Op. 22; other lieder Christiane Karg (soprano), Malcolm Martineau (piano) Wigmore Hall Live WHLive 0062 
  • An die Geliebte Songs by Beethoven, Strauss, Weber and Wolf Julian Prégardien (tenor), Christoph Schnackertz (piano) Myrios MYR012 
  • Stella di Napoli Arias by Puccini, Bellini, Donizetti, Mercadante, etc Joyce DiDonato (mezzo-soprano); Orchestre et Choeur de L’Opéra de Lyon/Riccardo Minasi Erato 2564636562


In addition are suggestions for opera DVDs

Opera News:

  • BACH: Johannes-Passion (Peter Sellars, Berliner Philharmoniker; Berliner Philharmoniker Recordings) 
  • GLUCK: Orfeo ed Euridice (Ondřej Havelka, Baroque Theatre of Český Krumlov Castle; Arthaus Musik) 
  • MOZART: Die Zauberflöte (Robert Carsen, Festspiele Baden-Baden; Berliner Philharmoniker Recordings) 
  • R. STRAUSS: Elektra (Patrice Chéreau, Aix-en-Provence; BelAir Classiques) 
  • WAGNER: Parsifal (François Girard, Metropolitan Opera; Sony) 

The Opera Awards:

  • David et Jonathas (Charpentier), c. William Christie, p. Andreas Homoki (Bel Air Classiques) 
  • The Gambler (Prokofiev), c. Valery Gergiev, p. Temur Chkheidze (Mariinsky) 
  • Médée (Cherubini), c. Christophe Rousset, p. Krzysztof Warlikowski (Bel Air Classiques) 
  • Moby-Dick (Heggie), c. Patrick Summers, p. Leonard Foglia (Euroarts) 
  • Pelléas et Mélisande (Debussy), c. Stefan Soltesz, p. Nikolaus Lehnhoff (Arthaus) 
  • The Rape of Lucretia (Britten), c. Paul Daniel, p. David McVicar (Opus Arte) 
  • The Tempest (Adès), c. Thomas Adès, p. Robert Lepage (DG) 

It is interesting the complete lack of overlap in these lists, except for Stella di Napoli.

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