This month’s selection wears its Coates, dances lightly and shows a bit of Pride
JS Bach Cello Suite No. 1 Luis Cabrera (double bass) Luis Cabrera (digital release)
Historicallyinformed recordings of Bach are a dime a dozen – but the Cello Suites on double bass, with a Baroque bow to boot, are far rarer. Cabrera produces a sensitive and graceful performance which brings an earthy quality to this well-known masterwork. (CS) ★★★★
Durante Psalms; Magnificat Nova Ars Cantandi/Giovanni Acciai; Ivana Valotti (organ) Naxos 8.579131 A contemporary of the likes of Pergolesi and Jommelli in early-18th-century Naples, Durante wrote sacred music that is both vibrant and expressive. There are some enjoyable discoveries here, but the regularly wayward tuning detracts from the pleasure. (JP) ★★
Mozart Requiem
La Capella Nacional de Catalunya/ Jordi Savall et al Alia Vox AVSA9953 This release, directed by the 81-year-old Jordi Savall, follows his earlier interpretation from 1991. A deep sense of urgency and inevitability characterises a thoroughly unsentimental account in which dry, clipped strings contrast with a richly powerful chorus. (CS) ★★★★
Caroline Shaw
Is a Rose; Renaissance Davóne Tines, Ella Taylor, Nicky Spence et al Platoon Music PLAT19467 ) The triptych Is a Rose formed the heart of this year’s first-ever Classical Pride in London and its stars each sound glorious in this mini recorded celebration. Taylor’s gorgeous voice reaches new heights in the bonus track, from season two of The White Lotus. (MB) ★★★★★
Beethoven Moonlight, Tempest and Waldstein Sonatas Julian Jacobson (piano) Willowhayne Records WHR087 A nicely presented programme, from moonlit night to the first rays of dawn with a storm in between. The ‘Moonlight’ Sonata’s finale is not as hair-raising as some might like, and the ‘Waldstein’’s sunrise is oddly belligerent – why so aggressive? – but there’s much to enjoy here too. (JP) ★★★
Mikołaj Górecki • Roxanna Panufnik Violin Concertos Amadeus Chamber Orchestra of Polish Radio/Agnieszka Duczmal et al DUX DUX1915 Roxanna Panufnik’s violin concerto Four World Seasons is a thrilling evocation, more of place than season. Albanian folk rhythms, a Japanese warbler-cum-spring harbinger: all are vividly evoked. Like his father Henryk, Mikołaj Górecki shows a gift for slowly released emotion. (SW) ★★★★
Gabríel Ólafs
Lullabies for Piano and Cello Gabríel Ólafs (piano), Steiney Sigurðardóttir (cello) Decca 556 2113 The abundance of room noise in these recordings actually gives the performances of these stripped-back works a live quality and a raw beauty. Based around Icelandic folkl
