State-of-the-Art Recordings of Classical Works (SACDs)

[Yuen A.]

Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 3 Violin Concerto (Version for Piano) Olli Mustonen (piano and conductor) Tapiola Sinfonietta (Ondine ODE 1123-5) A Relisten

The Guardian rightly says: "Mustonen's performance of the Third Concerto, however, is one of the finest on disc: big-hearted and free from the Haydnesque prissiness that some interpreters bring to the work. The Tapiola Sinfonietta's playing is sensational too." The Sunday Times says: "...a living dream of pianism, having broken through an expressive barrier that other players do not know exists." The sound is ambient, detailed and realistic.

 

[Yuen A.]

Roussel Le Festin d’Araignée Dukas: L’Apprenti Sorcier Orchestre National des Pays de la Loire, Pascal Rophé (BIS 2432 SACD)

Gramophone correctly says: "Even in the most rhythmically involved and intricately scored passages of The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, every last detail is crystal clear – not surprising, perhaps, given that the conductor spent some of his early years working with Boulez and the Ensemble Intercontemporain ...The orchestra’s performance of Roussel’s ballet The Spider’s Feast is similarly pellucid, revealing all the wonderfully elaborate strands and layers of its piquant scoring." These recordings are as good as you gets. Every instrument of the orchestra here sounded lifelike. The dynamics also sounded like the real thing. The soundscape is spacious and resonant.

 

[Yuen A.]

Maurice Ravel Le Tombeau de Couperin Lennox Berkeley Divertimento in B flat major, Op.18 Adam Pounds Symphony No.3 (2021)
Sinfonia of London/John Wilson (Chandos CHSA 5324 SACD)

These are definitive demonstration recordings! The Sinfonia of London comes alive in my listening room, with lifelike presence, dynamics, impact, etc. The Sunday Times says: "The three composers share a dedication to clarity in their writing, and find their perfect interpreters in Wilson and the Sinfonia of London, who luxuriate in Ravel’s wondrous Le Tombeau de Couperin and make a persuasive case for Pounds’s third symphony in this world premiere recording."

 

[Yuen A.]

Georges BIZET L’Arlésienne Suite No. 1 L’Arlésienne Suite No. 2 (arr. Ernest Guiraud) Gabriel FAURÉ Masques et Bergamasques - Suite for orchestra, Op. 112 Charles GOUNOD Faust - Ballet music Orchestre de la Suisse Romande/Kazuki Yamada (PENTATONE PTC 5186 358 SACD)

The playing is both exquisite and passionate. MusicWeb International says it all: "in Yamada’s hands the Pastorale has welcome lift and energy; as for the Intermezzo it’s seductively shaped. The Menuetto is simply ravishing though, and the harp is ideally placed in the mix. At moments like these it’s as if one were in the concert hall, entranced at this unfolding loveliness and wishing it would never end. The Farandole, which brings the suite to a close, has all the pulse and push one could wish for, and while I’d have liked a bit more air around the orchestra the recording is first class."

 

[Yuen A.]

FAURÉ BALLADE; NOCTURNES; ROMANCES; SONATE INÉDITE; MAZURKE INÉDI Nicolas Stavy (piano) (BIS 2389 SACD)

BBC Music Magazine says: "... go straight for the D-flat Nocturne, played deliciously. Warm, inviting acoustic from BIS. A balm of a recording." Yes, these piano recordings are as good as it gets - lifelike, palpable and resonant.

 

[Yuen A.]

Franck Symphony in D minor Symphonic Variations Denis Kozhukhin (piano) Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg/Gustavo Gimeno (PentaTone PTC 5186 771)

The Sunday Times says: "The young conductor proves an ardent champion of César Franck’s two most frequently played orchestral works ... Kozhukhin plays the solo with romantic bravura; the symphony’s darkness-to-light trajectory is powerfully conveyed." The orchestra is palpable and every piano note is astonishingly present.

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[Yuen A.]

Camille SAINT-SAËNS Symphony in F, “Urbs Roma” (1856) Symphony N0. 3 in C minor, Op 78, “Organ Symphony” (1886) Thierry Escaich (organ)
Orchestre Philharmonique Royal de Liège/Jean-Jacuqes Kantorow (BIS-2470 SACD)

Wow, the sounds are ravishingly beautiful and lifelike! The soundscape is immense and three-dimensional. To me, these performances are perfect. BBC Music Magazine says regarding Symphony in F: "Kantorow elicits vigorous playing, with sharp contrasts, and manages the imaginative die-away ending with sensitivity. The Organ Symphony, by contrast, shows the composer marrying passion and logic with a masterly hand, and this performance is almost entirely excellent."