As autumn continues in the northern hemisphere and the temperature outside falls, the instinct it to turn to more cozy settings, which is perfect for chamber music. Two outstanding releases covered this month fit that bill. One is violin sonatas by the friends Brahms and Schumann, performed by the husband-wife team of Yuuko ShioKawa and András Schiff. The other features chamber works by Igor Stravinsky, conducted by Barbara Hannigan (pictured). Cellist Yo-Yo Ma and long-time accompanist Kathryn Stott say a heartfelt “thank you” to each other as she retires from performing on the album Merci. There are also several piano albums, new American compositions, and the first of the holiday music to explore.
John Andrews, BBC Philharmonic Orchestra – Grace Williams: Orchestral Works
Apollo’s Fire, Jeannette Sorrell – Bach’s Coffeehouse
Benjamin Appl – The Christmas Album
ARC Ensemble – Chamber Works by Frederick Block
Alison Balsom, Pinnock’s Players, Trevor Pinnock – Baroque Concertos
Juliane Banse, Johan Reuter, Manfred Honeck – Walter Braunfels: Jeanne d’Arc
Tzimon Barto, Deutsches Sinfonie-Orchester Berlin, Christoph Eschenbach – Bartók: The Piano Concertos
Jean-Efflam Bavouzet, Manchester Camerata, Gábor Takács-Nagy – Mozart: Piano Concertos, Vol. 10
Alessio Bax – Forgotten Dances
Antoine Bernheim, Daniele De Prosperi, Stefano Parisse, Elena Tsvetkova – Paisiello: La finta amante
Bevan Family Consort – Christmas with The Bevan Family Consort
Leon Botstein, TON (The Orchestra Now) – Exodus: Kaufmann, Rubin, Tal
Courtney Hershey Bress, Colorado Symphony, Andrew Litton – Michael Daugherty: Harp of Ages
Benjamin Bruns, Soraya Mafi, Bavarian Radio Chorus, Munich Radio Orchestra, Patrick Hahn – Andrew Lloyd Weber: Requiem
Cappella Romana, Nadia Tarnawsky – A Ukrainian Wedding
The Cardinall’s Musick, Andrew Carwood – The Byrd Edition, Vol. 13: Infelix ego
Zlata Chochieva, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Karl-Heinz Steffens – Works for Piano and Orchestra: Prokofiev, Rimsky-Korsakov, Tsafsman
ChromaDuo – What I Saw in the Water: 21st-Century Works for Guitar Duo
Collegium Vocale Gent, Philippe Herreweghe – Gesualdo: Silenzio mio – Il quarto libro di madrigali
Johan Dalene, Peter Friis Johansson – Souvenirs
Nick Davies, Trondheim Symphony Orchestra – Henning Sommerro: Borders
Jeremey Denk – Ives Denk
Simone Dinnerstein – The Eye Is the First Circle
Peter Donohoe – Chopin: Waltzes; Schumann: Abegg Variations; Ravel: Valse nobles et sentimentales
Doric String Quartet – Beethoven: String Quartets, Vol. 2
James Ehnes, Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, Edward Gardner – Sibelius: Violin Concerto; Serenades; Humoresques; Earnest Melodies; Suite
Eighth Blackbird – David Lang: composition as explanation
Ensemble 96, Current – Pax
Marcus Farnsworth, Eric McElroy – Gurney: Songs, Vol. 2
Ádám Fischer, Danish Chamber Orchestra – Haydn: Late Symphonies, Vol. 4
Edwin Fischer – Bach: Book 2, The Well-Tempered Clavier
Juan Diego Flórez – Flórez Zarzuela
Mao Fujita – 72 Preludes: Chopin, Scriabin, Yashiro
Barbara Hannigan – Stravinsky: Chamber Works
Nikolau Harnoncourt – Bach: Messe in H-Moll
Richard Hickox – Vaughan Williams: A London Symphony
Steven Isserlis – Music of the Angels: Cello Concertos, Sonatas & Quintets by Luigi Boccherini
JACK Quartet – John Luther Adams: Waves and Particles
Alexandre Kantorow – Brahms, Schubert
Ian Koziara, Bradley Moore – Silenced: Unsung Voices of the 20th Century
Rafael Kubelik, Czech Philharmonic – Smetana: My Country
Paul Lewis – Beethoven: Piano Sonatas, Vol. 4
George Li – Movements
Bruce Liu – Tchaikovsky: The Seasons
Nikolai Lugansky, State Academy Symphony Orchestra of Russia, Ivan Shpiller – Sergei Rachmaninov: Piano Concertos 3 & 4
Radu Lupu, Murray Perahia – Mozart: Sonata for 2 Pianos in D major; Schubert: Fantasia for Piano, 4 hands in F minor
Yo-Yo Ma, Kathryn Stott – Merci
Jacek Muzyk, Daniel Kerdelewicz, JoAnn Falletta – The Golden Age of the Horn: Concertos for 2 Horns – Hoffmeister, L. Mozart, Pokorný, Witt
Marius Neset, Leif Ove Andsnes – Who We Are
Víkingur Ólafsson – Continuum
Poiesis Quartet, Nancy Maultsby – As We Are
Jean-Guihen Queyras – Bach: Complete Cello Suites – The 2023 Sessions
Thomas Reiner, Interpreti Veneziani – Italian Baroque: Trumpet Concertos
James Ross, Eloise Irving, Malcolm Riley, Kent Sinfonia – Royal Throne of Kings: Ralph Vaughan Williams and Shakespeare
Sandbox Percussion – Michael Torke: Bloom
Yuuko Shiokawa, András Schiff – Brahms, Schumann
Ksenija Sidorova – Crossroads
Pietro Spagnoli, Matías Moncada, Sesto Quatrini – Donizetti: Chiara e Serafina
Michael Tilson Thomas – Grace: The Music of Michael Tilson Thomas
Daniil Trifonov, Philadelphia Orchestra, Yannick Nézet-Séguin – My American Story: North
Various Artists – Bruckner from the Archives, Vol. 4
Alessandra Visentin, Salvatore Di Vittorio – Respighi: Tre Liriche
Voces8 – Nightfall
Wet Ink Large Ensemble, Eric Wubbels – Kate Soper: The Romance of the Rose
Nardus Williams, Dunedin Consort, John Butt – Handel in Rome
Yuanchun Yu, Hongxuan Chen, Tieshan Liu, Yang Yang – Xiaogang Ye: Song of Farewell Without Words
Zehetmair Quartett – Schumann: String Quartet Nos. 1 & 3
